Mild Motion

Having been strong in the early betting, True Motion came home in fourth this morning, albeit almost eight lengths down on the winner. It's a shame that the horse's record reads 0-0-0-4, as there are two fourths in there. Anyway, at least the jockey seems happy enough with her dirt debut, even though she showed signs of not liking the sand being kicked up into her face too much, and if she can get out again quickly, before the real heat of summer sets in, she might just record a top three finish. I imagine that will be her last chance to shine, assuming the trainer gives her another run.

In England, Porthos Du Vallon is booked for the 5:30 at Musselburgh on the 27th (a Class 6 handicap over a mile). Having won his last race, a lot will be expected of the big fella. On the filly side, River Spirit has been booked for Chester on the following day. In Australia, by the way, Jo Hassett is in hospital, having been kicked by a horse. Joining all those that know the lady, I wish her a speedy recovery.

Received the pictures of Phosphorus' second win yesterday - a happy ending if ever there was one! Just got my fingers crossed now that yet another problem plonked on my desk this week turns out the same way...

Porthos V1

Porthos Du Vallon won the D.M. Hall Handicap at Hamilton Park in style yesterday, which I don't mind saying has surprised me - it was a pleasant surprise, and certainly not expected. Of course, dropping from Class 4 to Class 5 helped. But credit where it's due - the big fella won in a field of nine thanks to Jason Hart skillfully guiding him across the turf. With a winning margin of almost two lengths, taking his record to 1-2-1-4, maybe that jumping career isn't a pipe dream after all. Interestingly, Louis saw Wind In Her Hair in Hokkaido yesterday (the grandmother of Porthos' sire). Perhaps this was an omen?

This is the fifth winner we've had in four weeks, with Single Cask winning a JRA race at the end of May, River Spirit claiming victory in England on the 7th June, Phosphorus winning twice soon after that in the NAR arena, and now Porthos taking the spoils in Scotland to take my personal win tally to 15 and counting. Still one more chance to take the four-week figure higher, as SC got things rolling on the 24th May, and True Motion is out on Saturday (Tokyo 2R, with Tanabe-san at the controls). Looking further ahead, Beat The Border runs at TCK on the 22nd in the third race, Irish Harp is being lined up for the 2R at Hakodate on the 28th, and Miracle Rouge is down for Tokyo-Fuchu's 1800m turf race on the 29th.

All Go

Another busy day, although Funabashi put on another superb meeting yesterday, with Kota Motohashi celebrating his 500th win with the help of some faux Kotas, and a gaggle of other jockeys joining in the fun in silks that will definitely confuse historians after the passing of a few more decades.

The auction in Hokkaido is not going to throw up a likely 'Bugatti', although I have my heart set on a stallion closer to home that fits the bill perfectly. I have my fingers crossed that a deal can be struck, as this really is a beautiful animal - the exact image of what I have been after for the last 40 years.

Porthos is supposed to be running at Hamilton Park later today in the 2:55 there. This is a mile race with Jason Hart in the saddle. I'm not saying anything - we'll just wait and see what happens later in the day (the time difference on GMT means the race is 13 hours away).

On the JRA front, lots of holiday postcards, with Joyful Step being about the only horse that looks like it might run any time soon, other than True Motion, which is booked to race on Saturday. The trainer is saying there are higher expectations of Joyful Step this time around, but its second outing couldn't possibly be worse than its debut, so it's fairly easy to say that...

Phosphorus V3

Phosphorus braved the ridiculous heat at Funabashi today to pull off his third victory so far, and his second in just eight days! Starting as second favourite, Kota Motohashi got him out the gates beautifully, kept him marking the leader all the way around, and then powered away off the last corner leaving all but one horse in his wake. Mikamoto-san got a bit close for comfort at one stage, but as soon as 'Phos' felt challenged, he found another gear and pulled away with his usual effortless gait. Thanks to the fabulous team behind Phosphorus, Kota now has a matured horse he can do his best work with, and I look forward to seeing this pairing go further and further up the ladder - there is a huge pool of untapped potential to dip in to. For now, however, the big fella has earned a good rest. Expect to see him hit the track again in mid-July.

In other news, Louis goes off to Hokkaido tomorrow for two days in search of 'Bugatti' - the replacement for 'Jaguar'. The only horse I'm really interested in at the main auction (a Deep Impact kid) is one I've been advised to leave well alone, so who knows? The boy will almost certainly come away empty-handed. Interestingly, though, I think I met 'Bugatti' at Funabashi today! A more handsome horse would be hard to find, as he looks just like Phosphorus. Watch this space, as things should become clearer by the end of the week...

PS. With a 3-2-1-3 record, Phosphorus becomes my most successful racehorse so far (excluding Mayano Time and Tempai, who'd already retired from racing when they came into my life). Pop Label is next, on 3-0-1-2, and I'm sure he'll be chasing 'Phos' as soon as he makes his track comeback.

Yano Stable

I've been meaning to do this for ages, but never seem to get the chance with so many other horse-related events and results to record, along with the time spent watching them and riding them. Oh yes, and there's that thing called work as well, which takes up far too much of my day!

But anyway, for anyone in the know, one glance at Phosphorus' pictures
will tell you he is with the Yano Stable at Funabashi, for the famous black and yellow striped face mask is a signature of the establishment, brought about by the owner's love of the Hanshin Tigers baseball team.

Courtesy Yano Stable

The man behind it all is Yoshiyuki Yano, who was born in February 1951. He was actually the top jockey at Kimiidera Keiba in Wakayama, but he moved to Funabashi when it closed in 1988. Along the way, Yano-sensei claimed 887 wins from 8850 rides, so the younger lads that work for him can't get away with much - he knows what he's talking about from many years and a great deal of success in the saddle.

After retiring as a jockey, the Yano Stable was established in June 2002, with its first win coming just two days after start-up. It took four years to clock up 100 victories, but the 500th came in September 2013, and the 600th is looming even as I write this. He was leading trainer at Funabashi in 2012 and 2013, but it's not just the success that makes him special - a chance to talk to him will soon have you admiring him as a person of the same ilk as another of my heroes at the Funabashi track...

Weekend Probe

A quick look at the results over the weekend reveals that Porthos Du Vallon was fourth at Musselburgh. He weakened over the last furlong again, making that jumping career look less likely than ever. I think he will go down as being an expensive lesson - if you want a jumper, you have to go to a specialist stable, which will be the plan for next year.

Next up, Irish Harp was third in Hokkaido. The winner was in a different league, which is fair enough. At least she tried, and her race record looks a bit brighter for the effort with a second third place. She now stands at 0-0-2-7, although within the seven, there are four fourths and a fifth. The trainer is still confident of a win, and I have to agree that it's only a matter of time before it comes.

River Spirit was fourth with William Twiston-Davies at Bath. Having gone up in class, and with two strong horses we'd been told to be afraid of ahead of her, my spirits are still as high as they were before the race with this girl. As Arnie would say, we'll be back!

Looking ahead on the JRA front, Miracle Rouge and Dinner Bell have gone back to Miho TC, meaning they will race soon. Miracle has a chance of redeeming herself for her last two bad runs, while this will hopefully be Dinner Bell's last race, and we can stop the pain of having to watch her come in at the back of the field as usual.

With the Kawasaki week over in NAR racing, the Funabashi week starts. Guess what? Phosphorus runs again on Monday! He was still as fresh as a daisy after his last win, so Yano-sensei has decided to run him in the 1600m 8R - the race he was originally scheduled for before the snap decision to enter him at Kawasaki. There's also events to celebrate Kota Motohashi's 500th win (with Phosphorus, of course), Syogo Nakano's 100th, and the graduation of Yuta Sato from jockey to trainer. You'll remember we did a profile on Yuta some time ago - a smashing chap...

Hokkaido Dreaming

Irish Harp is definitely running in the opener at Hakodate on the 14th. For a change, I've got a good feeling about this one, sincerely hoping she'll bring me my third winner this week, as I doubt whether Porthos Du Vallon will do it for me in England the day before.

Looking ahead, True Motion is supposed to run on the 21st in a fillies only 1600m dirt race. Tanabe-san should be taking up the reins, but this could change. It would be nice to see Tosaki-san team up with her again...

Reports on the Carrot Club youngsters are filtering through, by the way, but there's nothing really worth relaying at this stage.