An Angry Stop Press

Suddenly we're back to two horses actually doing anything in Japan again, as Trovao has been withdrawn from the JDD and will be sent to Northern Farm - a move that puts the horse's career at an end as far as I'm concerned, and certainly ends any chance of revenge for the Tokyo Derby disgrace brought about by JRA interlopers. Now all I'm left with is two mediocre runners out of 18 Japanese nags that include an ex-G1 horse, an ex-S1 horse and several multiple winners, all successfully transformed into donkeys. Disgraceful situation! Basically, Japanese racing has nothing whatsoever to do with racing - it's all just a huge scam to make 'the boys' money at enthusiasts' expense. As soon as the Carrot Club catalogue arrives, I will burn it along with all the Shadai ones in a special ceremony to mark the end of my involvement in this ridiculous farce. I've seen less bullshit in a field full of cows...

PS. Once more, the contrast between Japan and the UK couldn't be stronger, with Sayesse just missing out on a top three spot at Ascot under Charlie Bishop, finishing one length down on the winner. Masterson should make his jumps debut at Stratford on Sunday, and then more action is promised for the following week with Lillyput and Ettie Hart out again. 

PPS. Masterson was a little out of his depth in his jumps debut, with the two-mile distance taking its toll at the end. Still, having watched the video, the sixth place he picked up showed a lot of heart. The future will be interesting with this one, regardless of whether a flat career is resumed or a stronger move towards jumps is made.

A Lot Of Hart

Ettie Hart was allowed to run bravely at Brighton under Charles Bishop, but was pipped at the end to come fourth. What an exciting race it was, though, and we have a lot more English racing to come yet this week, despite having only six horses in training...

In complete contrast, we have just Trovao and Shine Tiara able to run from no less than 18 horses in Japan. I've been asked the question "why so many?" before, and it's easy enough to answer - if you don't have quite a few, you never see any action out here. Now, even with 11 NAR nags amongst them that usually run every month, I'm still not seeing any action. Had it not been for Oak Park (a special event for JLH Racing, which put a couple of races on hold), I'd have seen as many entries from the two Aussie horses as I've seen from the 18 here over the last couple of months! It really is an unacceptable situation, and I'm afraid it has put me off Japanese racing for good. Far too many full-blown injuries, too many niggles and slight injuries that cause seemingly endless delays, far too many unnecessary holidays, far too many excuses for failure whenever they do hit the track (it does happen occasionally), and way too much expense for no return of any kind, not even pleasure.

PS. Looks like War Chronicle has made it to Hakodate, meaning - wait for it - we may have three out of 18 Japanese horses actually doing something, including one JRA nag, and two NAR ones; more trouble for Rush Attack, by the way, although not surprised, as there always seems to be more injuries made at NF than cured. Meanwhile, Lillyput was sixth in an incredibly fast sprint at Bath (in England), her strong run deserving a better place at the end of the day.

Where's The Brillo Pad?

After a vaguely pleasing run (not brilliant, but certainly a damned sight better than the last few outings), Shine Tiara was fifth on the 4th at Kawasaki, the pot for which just about covers a week and a bit of running costs on that one, and naturally doesn't touch the costs of the 16 Japanese nags doing absolutely nothing! Our only other runner is Trovao, scheduled to run on the 13th in the Japan Dirt Derby; Fumio Matoba is taking over the reins for that race, which makes Louis happy (Matoba-san being his favourite jockey), although I do feel sorry for Mar-kun myself. Anyway, fingers crossed, for it's basically our only hope. In fact, Trovao is literally our only hope in Japan right now.

PS. The post-race report on Shine Tiara was fair, and let's hope the horse can get out again at the end of the month - I need one to start paying for itself! At least it looked a lot more like a racehorse than it did during the last three outings, so maybe there's a bit of hope in this one, too? Maybe.

Weekend Runners

For the first time in aeons, we actually had a JRA runner in Infinity Love, although seventh was the best she could manage. In reality, having ran strongly and boldly (which was pleasing to watch), she would have done a lot better had Manabu Sakai not cut sharply across our path - I've seen drunks on a Saturday night take straighter lines than he did! All told then, a vast improvement since 'Infinity' left Yahagi, but I imagine she will only get one more chance, if that.

In Australia, All Rosie was a little disappointing yesterday, walloped near the start to destroy any chance he had, but at least Raining Dollars made up for it with a nice third place (Bonnie Thomson up) on the second day of the Oak Park meeting. The big fella might be going for a holiday after this, as he has a suspected slight tear in a leg muscle, while Jo will have to try and figure out another run in the near future to show what All Rosie can do. Blacklister came a handy fourth at Nottingham in the UK after that - a real fighter, if ever I saw one.

PS. Naturally, being Japan, Infinity Love is now going for an R&R session, with hopes pinned on Kokura for the next (I'm assuming final) run, which means somewhere between the end of July to the start of September. If the past is anything to go by, the horse will pick up a mysterious ailment at NF, and that will rule out Kokura anyway! For now, we can say we are down to two horses running out of a total of 18 in Japan (Shine Tiara and Trovao), which is frankly disgusting show. Seriously, I would get more fun out of sitting in a dentist's waiting room than I get out of Japanese racing...

The Jazz Singer

Trained by Colin McBratney, The Jazz Singer is a five-year old gelding that revives my Irish racing interests in a positive way. Owned by an enthusiastic four-man syndicate within the Supersonic Partnership, he came a good, solid fourth in his first outing under new ownership last night at Perth, and promises to give us some serious fun straight out of the box - the fifth-placed nag was 18 lengths down on 'Jazz', with the one in sixth a further 21 lengths back!

Looking at his bloodlines, his father is Tobougg, with a 3-2-2 record from 12 runs, and Sadlers Wells as a grandpa; on the dam side, Secretariat is there, along with Ribot in the form of Majestic Light. His mother is the Aga Khan's Ridgeway Jazz, who can boast Kalanisi (6-4-1 from 11 races) as her father, with Mill Reef and Nijinsky is the DNA mix, and Northern Dancer, High Top (and St Paddy for good measure) on the dam side of the equation. Super blood, that will hopefully show through with some nice results over the coming season.

Joke Racing Assoc.

The usual reports from Northern Farm, although the cut and paste technique was dropped to inform me that Perfumer has a bad back and neck. I'm sorry, but this points to a lack of care as far as I'm concerned, for there's no way that the light level of training the horses do at NF can bring injuries of this kind, unless it's the lack of exercise itself at fault. Either way, all too often, it seems to me that as soon as anything goes to NF, it goes downhill, or goes to a racing stable as a useless animal, only to be sent back because "it's tired." The sooner I'm out of this farce they have the balls to call racing out here, the better...

PS. Nothing good to report on the NAR front either, with Million Ways not being ready until August. And the way things are going, I can see a report in a couple of weeks stating another delay. Phosphorus is about to be gelded, but the report is coming from some far-off place (naturally part of the Shadai Group), so I can't see a return any time soon - it may be the root of the mental problem, though, as I really can't see him being mentally tired. There will be "a gap" before Another Door's next race, whatever that means, when proper training is what it really needs. That brings us down to just three runners (one JRA, two NAR) out of 18 horses that are supposed to be in training out here. Zero value for money in every avenue of Japanese racing right now.

Monday Blues

Having had races rained off a couple of times (first at Leicester, then Chepstow), Ettie Hart at last got to the line at Wolverhampton today, only to have a poor run due to a variety of mobile chicanes and a distance that didn't really allow her to come back after finally getting a clear run. Oh well, the poor thing will be better for the much-needed run and, looking ahead, we still have Sayesse lined up for the 1st with Lord Ilsley Racing. We've also got some Aussie action at the weekend, with two JLH challengers at Oak Park. Before that, our Irish horse should be out jumping at Perth on Thursday if all goes to plan as well.