1:47 p.m. I've just read an article about a G1 winner participating in this year's Soma no Noma-oi, a horse festival held annually in Fukushima.

Intrigued by the headline, I couldn't resist the urge to read the article and eventually found out, that the G1 winner was Win Cruger. Ah, it brings back the memories! He was a descendent of Taiki Shuttle and had won the NHK Mile when he was 3 years old. I think it was a filly called Summer Candle that came in either 2nd or 3rd place which made the payout quite big, because both of them had been dark horses.

Unfortunately, Taiki Shuttle descendents haven't been performing so well, and I'm not sure if any other has won a G1. But I was glad to hear Win Cruger had found a nice new home and a happy life. The article said the horse was now 16 years old. Not many former race horses lead a happy life after they retire, some even don't live up to that age.

The End

Caterpillar

2:12 p.m. It's still cold but the forecast is predicting warm weather starting tomorrow. March has begun already. It's about time to have warmer days, instead of icy cold wind blasting onto your face, freezing your nose and cheeks and ears just like last night.

When spring comes, so do the classic races. Prep races for this spring's classic races are being run since February and this week we're having Yayoi-sho and Tulip-sho, both important prep races respectively, for Satsuki-sho and Ohka-sho. Leontes and Air Spinel are going to have their second match in Yayoi-sho which is going to be very exciting, considering the previous Asahi-hai Futurity Stakes.

Meanwhile, Win Fabulous who came in 2nd place after Major Emblem in Hanshin Juvenile Fillies is going to run in Tulip-sho. She is the grandaughter of one of my favorite horses Admire Cozzene, and I am secretly hoping she would win a G1. However, I do not support the idea of the stable to enter her in this race before Ohka-sho, especially when the whole idea is based on emotional reaction. It seems to me to be such a self-centered ego regardless of the horse's performance in the future. Don't they realize that Tulip-sho winners have performed badly in Ohka-sho unless they have a huge advantage at this point, such as Harpstar, Buena Vista or Vodka? In this year's case, it's Major Emblem who has that huge advantage against other horses, not Win Fabulous. Since the entry has already been decided though, the best I can wish for her is to go up front and finish in 2nd, preferrably 3rd to 5th place, in order to avoid unnecessary fatigue and stress.

The End

Caterpillar

2:28 p.m. It really did become warm. The forecast could be right after all, sometimes.

Nadeshiko has been performing disappointing and frustrating matches for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics qualification. Personally, I don't think it's because they've lost Sawa to retirement but rather, it seems the team has no consensus.

It is necessary to fill the gap between the players about what exactly their present goal is, and to build a mutual understanding what exactly each player can do in order to achieve that goal. Every player must commit to their performance and result. Sounds like Drucker, but I think that's what they need.

The End

Caterpillar

4:35 p.m. It's looking like another match race following last week's Nakayama Kinen...

There's no doubt Leontes would be the most favored, possibly by the odds of 1 to 1.5 or even lower, with Air Spinel in tow. Not a good race to buy place tickets, I've learned that from last week.

Ahhh, I see. So it's a game of calling the one-and-only-third-place horse.

The End

Caterpillar

2:05 p.m. I've considered my options well, but just couldn't buy the would-be favored Leontes.

In the end, I settled for a place of the all-time-reliable Yutaka's Air Spinel and might-have-a-chance-if-the-track-gets-soft Taisei Summit, hoping Leontes to stumble at the start. I picked Taisei Summit because rain was predicted tomorrow, though it just transpired that rainfall is expected to be slight. Am I finished?

The End

Caterpillar

6:26 p.m. The wound has grown even deeper as the top 3 favored horses came in first, second and third, leaving my other place bet Taisei Summit, in fourth place. With the place payout for Air Spinel a gaping 110 Yen, I wished I'd bought place for Leontes instead.

But then again, it was better than putting all my bet on win of Leontes to lose them all. That is a least blessing.

The End

Caterpillar

4:18 p.m. With yesterday's victory of Makahiki, Satsuki-sho is getting interesting.

Makahiki and Satono Diamond both haven't lost in their career of 3 races, while Leontes is already a G1 winner. And there's Air Spinel. They all have a chance to win so it's going to be an interesting race, will also be a tough race to call, though.

By the way, I've just picked up news that might make the race even more interesting. Christophe Lemaire who rode Makahiki yesterday has another horse to ride, Satono Diamond! No one actually knows which horse he's going to ride in Satsuki-sho. See? Sounds like fun, right? Cow and I are already enjoying swapping the riders of these top 4 horses.

The End

Caterpillar

3:32 p.m. Wearing short sleeves today as the high temperature is hitting 20, but they say we'll be thrown back into winter in the weekend. Darn! You see, I'm pretty fed up with the cold and I think it's not just me.

It seems the invitation from Dubai has finlly reached Hokko Tarumae who's scratched off from February Stakes earlier. I couldn't help bursting out laughing since I knew the crew had scratched off planning to make Dubai the next race, though they hadn't been invited yet at the time. What were they going to do if they weren't invited? The crew must have spent sleepless nights while other horses were accepting invitations and moving towards Dubai's prestigious international races, ha-ha!

The End

Caterpillar

3:50 p.m. Winter came back earlier, much earlier than I'd expected. I was wearing short sleeves yesterday. Today I'm shivering in my fleece jacket even with the heater on.

There is a Japanese expression, "san-kan-shi-on," which I learned recently as people on TV keep using the term over and over like a broke record. It literally means 3 cold days and 4 warm days, and is used during this early spring season when such weather comes repeatedly gradually getting warmer. But my personal impression is quite different. It feels more like "juk-kan-ichi-on (10 cold days and 1 warm day)" to me.

The End

Caterpillar

2:31 p.m. Aaaaaand we're having snow!!? Snow!!!?? At this point of time?

Weather predicting companies have already announced that the blooming of cherry blossoms in Tokyo would start around the 21st. That's only 10 days away and we're having snow!?

Well, there was a time when we had snow after the cherry blossoms, come to think of it.

The End

Caterpillar

3:39 p.m. It seems the rider for Makahiki has been decided, and Yuhga Kawada will take the reins in Satsuki-sho. Lemaire is going to ride Satono Diamond, while Demuro rides Leontes and Take, Air Spinel.

Too bad for Fukunaga, but it should be interesting to see all four match up with Kawada on Makahiki. Where would he take his position? He could lose the race if he stays in the back like Harpstar. Shouldn't someone let him know about that?

The End

Caterpillar

1:55 p.m. I've screwed it! I'd completely forgotten about Nakayama Hinba Stakes which is a G3 race for mares and have bought Filly's Review instead.

I hadn't had much time to spend on horse race this week, so I quickly went through the racing form this morning and narrowed down my choices to 3 horses, Candy Barows, At The Seaside and Win Mireille, eventually deciding to take a chance on a place for At The Seaside.

But I've just realized that Nakayama Hinba was also going to be run on Sunday... And now I'm regretting I should have bought Earthrise running in this race, the payout surely must be more than At The Seaside! If only I had noticed...

The End

Caterpillar

5:19 p.m. Judging from the result, it was good I didn't buy Nakayama Hinba Stakes as Earthrise has sunk in 8th place, struggling vainly from far behind. I blame the jockey for that since he could have even won the racde if he'd let her go in the home stretch, instead of holding her down.

On the other hand, At The Seaside has come in 2nd which was a good enough performance considering the rider. And thanks to Solveig who was the 8th favored in the win odds, the place payout for At The Seaside has inched up a bit to 140 Yen. A slight compensation to my deepening wound.

The End

Caterpillar

1:54 p.m. Cow is pissed because he'd jumped on my bandwagon and bought Earthrise when he usually doesn't buy betting tickets except G1 races, but the horse has sunk in 8th place. He thinks he's been deceived by the rider.

I don't blame him for taking it all out on the rider, that was a terrible performance. Many of the fans actually had bursted with anger, and the BBS of the horse at netkeiba.com had been filled with accusing coments against the rider. Not to mention I wasn't surprised.

The End

Caterpillar

3:48 p.m. On my way to work today, I happened to see an English language school being searched by the police.

There was a police car parked in their parking space with 3 or 4 officers guarding around it, while another was going in and out of the house which seemingly served as the school. At least 3 desk-top computers were carried outside and laid on the side of the road, probably for confiscating. I assume they contain some sort of evidence. That was about all I got in one glimpse, but I couldn't help thinking about what might have happened there, since I've attended their trial lesson once. I didn't get a good impression so I didn't apply at the time. Though the language school is right on my commuting route and I walk past it every day, so I just can't help but wonder what it was that got the police moving. It's been bothering me all day that I'm afraid I can't get to sleep without finding out what exactly had happened!

The End

Caterpillar

3:19 p.m. March 14th is the day known as White Day in Japan, when people who have received chocolates on St. Valentine's Day are expected to gie back sweets in return.

As a matter of fact, I've unexpectedly received chocolates from two people, a) an old man because he didn't like sweets and b) a wife who has a husband suffering diabetes. I thought I shouldn't return candy or marshmallow to these people, though I couldn't come up with any good substitutes. In the end, I settled for a small pack of onion ring flavored snack for the old man and a pack of nuts for the wife.

I really think this custom is such a nuisance, wish it'd stop.

The End

Caterpillar

1:09 p.m. Mejiro Ryan, who won the Takaraduka Kinen in 1991 has died of old age. He was 29 years old.

He must be reunited with one of his biggest fan Keijiro Ohkawa, known as "the horse race God" by now. I can almost hear Ohkawa yelling, "Ryan, Ryan!" Hope he is now enjoying his freedom. Rest in peace.

The End

Caterpillar

2:25 p.m. According to nikkansports.com, Sankei Ohsaka-hai known as a G2 prep race for the spring season, is going to be promoted as G1 from next year.

Because horse race spring season is centered around 3-year-olds' classic races, there are currently few grade races for older horses and as a result, older G1 winners tend to go overseas to enter races in Dubai, Hong Kong or Australia. So JRA has come up with an idea to prevent such horses leaving our domestic races.

I doubt if this solves the problem. Owners, trainers and crews would still choose prestigious, high-prized oversea races over hastily-elevated Ohsaka-hai, I reckon.

The End

Caterpillar

2:16 p.m. The train got delayed this morning, and I was forced to take a detour to get to my work place. This ate up my time to drop by the off track betting, grrrrr. Never mind, I'll have Cow buy my ticket through the Internet later, for tomorrow's Hanshin Daishohten. Humph!

And my bet will be placed on... place of Toho Jackal. I was craving to buy Curren Mirotic, but I decided to go for the safer option. I'm not gonna lose money gambling until I get it back to even. Still, I don't put complete trust in this Kikkasho winner, so will buy place instead of win despite the low payout.

The End

Caterpillar

6:28 p.m. I've blown it. Instead of healing my deepended wound, I'm now suffering critical damage.

Toho Jackal on which I've placed more than half of my remaining bet, came out gaining 18kg since his precious run in Sapporo Kinen last August when he sunk in 8th place. I knew he wasn't conditioned to his topmost as it was his first race this season, merely a prep race for the coming Tenno-sho spring. I thought he would still be able to be in the top 3 positions considering his potential. That's why I bought place to be on the safe side. But I was totally wrong. It seems the horse hadn't been trained at all.

Will never buy this horse again, never.

The End

Caterpillar

7:50 p.m. Now that I've wasted my money on Toho Jackal, my resource has dropped down to a mere 130 Yen. I feel a pang of guilt against Smart Layer who had dutifully paid me back. I'm on the brink of recovering from here or losing all the money to finish this game of win and place.

Luckily or unluckily enough, we're having a G1 race this weekend, Takamatsu-no-miya Kinen, a spring sprint race. Win or lose, either way I'd like to go out loud. Though deep down inside me, I know that won't happen...

The End

Caterpillar

3:59 p.m. Has just received a call from a client that he wants me to help him with his tablet and smart phone.

Oh. I am not so literate of tablets and smart phones myself, I only have average knowledge as I think. But this person drops by from time to time bringing me unexpected questions about his tablet or smart phones, which some things I have no idea to solve since I don't have a clue to what he had done to mess up, while he doesn't have any idea what he had done himself. He's the kind of person who comes for help when his printer gets clogged with paper...

It's quite a nuissance. Arrrrgh! He's coming!

The End

Caterpillar

2:20 p.m. Hearing announcements on the morning commuting train is a quite ordinary scene for workers as myself. But this morning, I have accidentally imagined, what if this announcement was made in the voice of anime voice actors such as Midorikawa Hikaru or Toriumi Kousuke? Or Junichi Suwabe? What would it be like?

Hmmm... just shows how much I'm rottening these days.

The End

Caterpillar

2:33 p.m. JMA (Japan Meteorological Agency) annually announces the start of cherry blossoms in Tokyo, when the first 5 or 6 blossoms come out in the garden of Yasukuni Jinja. And the beginning of cherry blossoms have been announced this year, on the 21st. Currently, we're having another dip in the temperature but this is only temporary until next Monday. The drop in temperature after the first few cherry blossoms are called "hanabie," and is said to last the blossoms longer.

I won't complain about the cold this time, as I know this is going to be the last time. Spring is just around the corner and I can't wait to stroll under those cherry trees!

The End

Caterpillar

1:08 p.m. I overslept and couldn't go to the off-track betting this morning.

I did take a look at the racing form of Takamatsunomiya Kinen last evening, and decided that I would give Big Arthur one more chance. He's let me down before by lagging behind and coming in second where he could have won. It's time he paid me back for my exacta that turned into paper.

If I lose this week, my win-place game would be over so I'm daringly buying... place for Big Arthur. Well, the rider is Fukunaga you see, and I want to play safe.

The End

Caterpillar

7:11 p.m. I was going to try fixing the startup system using recovery discs I'd made when I first booted my computer, but somehow I ended up doing a full recovery. Currently, the computer is "Configurating..." the installation of the firewall I've just downloaded however, the parameter hasn't moved an inch from 8 percent for a while, and when I tried to move the pointer, the computer hung up... Oh pleeeeeaaaase! I've got to restore all the soft wares including iTunes (that's a bummer)! I've got a dauntingly long way to go so don't leave me stuck up here!!

As for the Takamatsunomiya Kinen, I've won for the first time in my career as a horse race fan. My place for Big Arthur has paid me 150 Yen for 100 Yen, thank you very much. Though I've dumped 1900 Yen in trifectas and exactas.

The End

Caterpillar

1:44 p.m. While I've been struggling with my lap-top, Japanese horses have been performing outstandingly in Dubai. Real Steel has won his first G1 title to become a true champion horse. I hope Fukunaga sees the video of the race and learns something from it. Ryan Moore is more than a good teacher, especially when it comes to riding scrappy horses like Real Steel or Gold Ship.

Duramente, on the other hand, was met with the unfortunate accident of dropping his shoe, though he still slid in 2nd place despite his huge disadvantages. That only seems to prove how great a horse he is.

The End

Caterpillar

3:44 p.m. Need to do a thorough search on replacing HDD.

Have come to the point to think that the several hung-ups I've experienced on my lap-top last Sunday, must have been the results of the damages on my HDD. Well, the manufacturer's diagnostic program had detected "damage on HDD" earlier, come to think of it.

The problem is though, the recovery discs I'd made with my lap-top seem to merely serve as recovery means and cannot be used to reinstall the OS onto a different drive. Am still not sure, so must search and gather more infromation on this before I start off with the replacing search.

The End

Caterpillar

2:27 p.m. I have been working pretty hard for the past 2 weeks and am not only sleep deprived but also nearly drained. Must do something to save myself before I whilt and die.

Meanwhile, there was something to look forward to. My friend visiting Tokyo has come up with 2 spare tickets to the Giants' baseball game WAH! Of course I'm going! Too bad Cow can't make it, he was too wimpy to face native English speakers without being able to understand a word of English.

Anyway, since there is such an exciting event to look forward to, all the more reason I need to stay alive till the game.

The End

Caterpillar

2:17 p.m. The past 2 weeks have not only been busy but quite turbulent. My lap-top falliing into a critical state, downloading Messenger Apps on my smart phone and having made to keep my friend company until 2:30 in the morning, searching all over to find out whether or not I can use my recovery discs to reinstall the OS onto a different drive, hopefully an SSD, calling up the customer support only to be put on hold for 20 minutes, etc., etc. I was literally drained last night that I went into the bath without taking off my shirt...

I finally decided that I should give up replacing to an SSD to avoid unnecessary problems, and settled for a magnetic drive after all. Though just when I've decided, it transpires that even similar products weren't marketed any more, possibly because they were old models with low demand. Felt like I was thrown into hell. All hope was lost.

Still as they say, tomorrow is another day. After a slightly longer sleep, I'm feeling I'm okay. I feel I can face the troubles that await me.

The End

Caterpillar