Japanese Outlook

I'm amazed that War Chronicle has got a berth at Niigata on the 29th. Of course, it hasn't raced for three months, so the chances of a good performance are remote, or I should say even more remote, for we haven't seen a decent run since rejoining the JRA scene the best part of a year ago. Having just got the race-rust free of Belle Plage, the proposed race for the 29th has been dropped, with the following weekend now being cited. Umm... There are gates available in the stated race, so that's not the reason for cancellation. Doesn't look good, does it?

Pop Label and Magic Key keep having races postponed. The planned one for Magic Key at Kawasaki was overbooked, but the back-up on the 4th has now been dropped in favour of a Funabashi run on the 7th. Hopefully it will run properly this time, whenever it finally does make it to the track! As for Pop, I would just retire it, along with Phosphorus.

Rush Attack is still wasting money, too, having last raced in March, and, just as importantly, having last finished in the top three 14 months ago! So, in reality, we are covering an injury that people should have known was going to take almost a year to clear up, and the chances of getting anything back if and when a return does happen are very slim. The horse should have been retired in the Spring. Larressingle should be heading off to a new stable in the second half of November; the future of Another Door hangs in the balance, with another Monbetsu run being lined up until a new stable is sorted, wherever it may be. For a 16,000,000 yen horse to be unable to qualify for Nankan minimum winnings is a disgrace, but this is what has brought about this crazy situation of trying to find somewhere when stables south of Hokkaido are already full to bursting point.

Chocolat Sucre and Kealoha are supposed to be running at the next Funabashi meeting in early November, when hopefully Lotus Blossom will arrive - at last - at its racing stable there. I have forgotten how many times I've heard that, and a spell at a different Northern Farm site before the final move to Funabashi has me wondering if it will ever make it. Whether Million Ways ever makes it back to base is another question mark. Vertice has a race proficiency test tomorrow, and Trovao has a big race booked for next month - some progress at least.

PS. Vertice has passed the test, and will hopefully be making its debut in the middle of November. Before that, Another Door should be out at Monbetsu on the 3rd. Meanwhile, Phosphorus is supposedly doing well - he's doing well at eating, that's for sure. I don't know where they get the idea of training from, as he's now 30kg overweight - a huge amount that will have to go before a race career can be resumed, which means yet more time away from the track...

Whinging Pom

You've probably gathered that I moan a lot about Japanese 'racing' (the racing is in inverted commas, because it's more like a show they put on involving Thoroughbreds than real racing). Well, maybe I do moan, but my observations are not based on an odd rogue horse - I'm talking from experience I've gained over several years by having had a stake in no less than 44 horses out here, via Carrot Club, Shadai Thoroughbred Club and Sunday Thoroughbred Club. One of the big differences, of course, is I've had shares in many horses in England, Ireland and Australia, too, as well as full ownership of two ex-racers and a part-share in another (a famous Stakes winner). I also have friends in the industry, including top-level grooms and vets. In other words, I know when I'm being told bull! Having just seen 'Bugatti' do over an hour of jumping on one day, and go to him the next and he's in high-tension mode ready and more than willing to go hard again, on a low power diet to boot (compared to what he would have been eating in his racing days), I don't believe that a three year-old is "tired" from doing the odd 17-17 canter. That's warming up stuff, not training, and that's the real root of the problem - the horses are not trained properly, and then there's a mad rush to get a nag prepared by whoever happens to be around and it gets injured. Again! From experience, Japanese horses are three to four times more likely to be off through injury (or "tiredness"), and race three to four times less than their UK counterparts. Oh, and they cost an awful lot more to buy, and a lot more to run once your stake is secured, too. Good value? I don't think so. And that is what gives me the right to moan. Ask Mick Channon how many times I've complained over my years with him. He'll tell you that I've never moaned, not once. That's because I see sincere effort and feel like I'm getting damned good value for my money all year, every year. And as with most European and Aussie outfits, realising that you can go wherever you want whenever you want, taking your money with you, I'm treated like a client rather than a mug. Here, racing is more like the civil service than a business! The sooner I can leave this ridiculous farce behind me to concentrate on real racing abroad, the better...

Daiso Goods, Cartier Prices

The bad joke continues with the news that War Chronicle's chosen race is oversubscribed two-to-one, so the chances of getting a berth in the gate are remote. Is there a back-up plan? I doubt it. So, from having what looked like a few Japanese races fairly close together for the first time in months - literally - we're back to diddly squat except for feeble excuses for non-runners, and nowhere near enough races to go around for those are actually are able to run, or jog, as that's probably a better description of the movement they have the nerve to call running out here. Without a doubt, the most pathetic 'racing' in the world, as well as the most expensive - an observation backed up by the bills that have just come through my door, with the one for Phosphorus being extremely annoying (Another Door's win won't cover it, and there's nothing else coming in because nothing ever runs!). He goes in for a simple snip, and four months later, we're still waiting for a return and being charged racing stable rates! I would say I don't know how they have the balls to keep sending out bills like this, but that's a terrible pun given the operation 'Phos' went for. Whatever, like Pop Label, if he can't run (and gives crap results when he does), he should be retired, as he's completely failing to fulfil his role as a racehorse. The fact that he's cute is irrelevant. Summing things up is simple: He is paid to do a specific job, and if, for whatever reason, he consistently can't do that job, he should be fired and find employment elsewhere.

PS. At least the trainer has acknowledged that Belle Plage's run was unacceptable - considering we've been paying for months and had nothing in return for the best part of half a year, a little effort would have been the least we should have been delivered. As such, it is supposed to be out again next week, although I guess the chosen race will have too many going for it, so I'm not building up any hopes as yet. The only thing you can say is this is proof that a lack of racing is the problem (as it usually is), and I salute the guy for not going down the usual Japanese route of saying "it's tired" as a way of covering up a stable's incompetence, a lack of available races and a backhanded way of filtering money back to NF at owners' expense.

PPS. The Sonoda plan is on hold for Another Door, but it has now missed a chance to race in this week's meeting. It should be out next week, apparently. The week after that is the final Monbetsu meeting for the year, but the pissing about, trying to get a horse to race without proper training, and race bans and downright awful performances that came as a result of the lack of training (which we still paid a hefty bill for each month, by the way), has left owners in no-man's land - I'm assuming the Sonoda plan is being delayed because the stables are all full, and, due to Nankan rules, too little money has been earned up north to allow the horse to go to its proper stable at Funabashi. There seems to be far too little concern for getting the best from a horse once a sale is made. The only effort I see from Shadai TC and Sunday TC is in selling new horses and getting the inflated monthly invoices out. We live and learn. At least Chocolat Sucre has passed its test and should be back in action soon...

Joke Racing Assoc.

Sayesse was entered in the 4:30 at Newbury on Saturday, which is a bit late to stay up JST for an oldie like me, so I got the result and feedback from the race on Sunday morning. Ummm. The poor thing was hampered early on, so the jockey just cruised him home in order to give him a fighting chance next time around. He's given us some wonderful racing this year, though (as has Ettie Hart, his stablemate in the LIR syndicate), so he's allowed to cruise hime as far as I'm concerned, as I know 100% that if there was any chance of finishing well, the horse would be allowed to give his all, and he'd give it willingly.

Next up, a rare JRA entry. Of course, Belle Plage got the outside gate (if I cared as much about Japanese racing as I do English racing, I would ask for an enquiry into how I manage to get so many outside gate draws), which isn't a good way to begin a comeback after an awfully long and almost certainly unwarranted holiday - itself, a handicap of sorts. As such, the odds were awful, even in a race full of supposedly similar level horses. Well, it finished 1.5 seconds off the pace, second from last. Great. Well worth waiting five months for that. Race it next week, now it's shaken off some of the race-rust, or simply retire it!

Pop Label was due to run at TCK on the 25th, but for some reason it's name doesn't appear on the race card. There's nothing up on the Sunday website (probably consulting the book of excuses and struggling to find something they haven't used before), but we can assume the bloody thing is injured yet again! Three years without a win, and still the club is sponging off us. It wouldn't be so bad if it ran often and provided a bit of entertainment, but it has run just six times this year, and provided only two top three finishes - it was 14th in the last outing, which, like Japanese racing a whole, is a bad joke...

Another Door V1

At last, with a proper trainer on the scene, Another Door ran like it was supposed to over four months ago! Although the official winning margin was five lengths, it looked like more to be honest, but one has to remember this was a very low level race - indeed, the winnings only just cover a month's running fees, so to break open anything more than a Max Coffee to celebrate is still going to leave me in the red. If you think I don't sound very enthusiastic for a guy that's just had his 59th winner, it's because I'm not - this horse cost a fortune, and has done nothing but disappoint until today. Now, if the damned thing can keep running for more than five minutes without picking up an injury (something which seems almost impossible in Japan) and run at the kind of level its bloodlines and extortionate price demand, then my mood might change. Unfortunately, the folks at Carrot Club, Shadai Thoroughbred Club and Sunday Thoroughbred Club (and those they employ, particularly the jokers at NF) have combined to dampen my enthusiasm for Japanese racing to such an extent that I don't think I will ever feel an ounce of joy in racing over here ever again. Let's put it this way, it will take an awful lot more than one extremely isolated win (despite having a lot of expensive nags in training in both JRA and NAR, my last Japanese winner came in the first week of May) to smooth things over and raise my spirits as far as I'm concerned...

Far From Magic

Apart from a silly moment soon after the start, where it looked more like a giraffe than a racehorse, Magic Key ran okay. However, the distance proved too much, even with the lighter jockey allowance, and - yet again - we come away from a Japanese race with nothing, despite starting as favourite! The extra two furlongs over and above what the horse has attempted before was really telling, and it was questionable even trying a mile in such strong company. Typical really - you wait for ages for a race, and then the result is as disappointing as to keep being tossed a constant barrage of excuses for why they can't run! I hope Nakano-kun will be put back into the saddle at the next Funabashi meeting (or sooner, as the accounting sheet is full of red again), and a race can be found that is a lot more suitable than this one was...

No luck at Newmarket either, although, as the long odds indicated, Sayesse was fighting above his weight in the G3 race, and, in total contrast to the Japanese nags, he's more than paid for himself many times over, while the stuff out here can't even cover the monthly bills, let alone the ridiculously steep purchase prices! Considering he's just done a G3 race, with a purse 3.5 times higher than Magic Key was going for tonight, and Another Door (a Sunday TC horse that literally cost 20 times more at current exchange rates) can't even get close to a win at the lowest level, I won't have anything said against him. At the end of the day, like all the UK runners, he gives us good sport on a regular basis, and that is all one can ask for. The Japanese horses bring no joy whatsoever, just a string of unjustified expenses, cut-and-paste reports and excuses for failure when they finally do make an all-too rare track appearance.

PS. Mirzam made an uneventful debut at York, although I know Mick Channon and those looking after the horse think a lot of her, so let's just put this one down to gaining experience.

PPS. Graham Lee backed off the gas on Masterson at the testing Windsor track once it was obvious that the leading pair had slipped away, but still finished a handy fourth. Ettie Hart was cruised in at Brighton, this being something of a warm-up in readiness for a proper comeback next time out, and The Jazz Singer was also cruised in at Punchestown after what looked like a promising start - hopes are now pinned on a Down Royal race. In more jumping action over the weekend, Masterson managed to lose his jockey at the second at Kempton!

Plus, Minus

Well, at least I saw some improvement and effort with Another Door today - a good second, at a time that would have won the first race by a small margin. With only six days of keeping fees covered due to the poxy pot, though, it's what happens next that's important. The horse needs to keep improving (by a lot!) and stay free from injuries during a schedule that ideally requires at least two, preferably three, races a month. Unless that can be done, it will end up at a dead end track and any kind of return will be nothing more than pure fantasy - retirement would be a better option if the Monbetsu campaign keeps going at this pace. The Sunday Thoroughbred Club needs to remember that this is a 16,000,000 yen horse, and it needs to perform like one - a purse of 305,000 yen from six races could have been achieved by a blindfolded mule...

PS. There's talk of Another Door racing at Sonoda to get enough money for a Nankan campaign that much quicker. The problem, of course, is the horse can't win a donkey derby level race in Monbetsu, so what chance has it got at Sonoda, let alone Funabashi? No plan for Larressingle, at least as to where it is going to further its career, assuming they don't screw it up at Northern Farm in the meantime (that's assuming a lot), and yet more annoying news on War Chronicle - the "autumn keiba" reports have now been adjusted to "it will take some time" once more. This horse is just too fragile to be a racer, at least in the hands of those keeping it, and should be retired on the spot.

So, hardly anything left compared to previous Japanese levels, but still problems galore - problems that simply don't occur outside JRA and NAR, or when they do, far less fuss is made about it because the problem is caught quickly and dealt with effectively. Phosphorus went for a simple gelding operation in early July and is still miles away from a track return - after half a year out not long before, this is something of a bad (and expensive) joke. Horses get injured, yes, but once in a while, and certainly not every one you own and every five minutes. That kind of scenario stinks of incompetence or poor quality horses. Or both, period.  

Of the other Shadai stuff, Pop Label has come back but done nothing, and now the next race it was being lined up for has been scrubbed in favour of one two weeks later. Why? Because his "movement isn't very good." Piss off! Nearly four months off, one poxy return race, and we're already back to the bullshit flying. I guess the next thing, despite a new date of the 25th being set for the next race, will be another sob story and an excuse to funnel owners' money off to NF until retirement. Magic Key looks like it might do something, and about time after eight months out of action! Kealoha, too, needs to claw back some pennies having spent four months away, while Another Door's situation is a pathetic one that we know about.

As for the Carrot Club nags, Lotus Blossom and Vertice look like they will never race at all at this rate, Trovao might come back to TCK within the next few weeks (assuming nothing goes wrong in the meantime), and Million Ways and Chocolat Sucre have been a disaster zone from day one. War Chronicle is another disaster zone, being injured every few minutes; Rush Attack is another waste of time and money, last racing in the first week of March, and Belle Plage is at last back at the stables after a long five-month break. Who knows what will happen with Larressingle? I guess Northern Farm will keep it as long as possible, generating yet more pennies for the boys, with no thought of what the lack of racing is doing to the horse...