2:26 p.m. I went to sleep earlier than usual last night, but I just couldn't get up. Shows how fatigue is taking a toll on me.

I haven't had a completely free day off since May 4th, nearly a month ago. I've been working through Monday to Saturday and on Sundays have been out to buy betting tickets. Added to this, I've been seeing my friends after work, or going on research to several shops. My ear-plugs have been doing a great job, though it seems I still can't get sound sleep with the radio on all through the night, volume being pumped up even louder from seven in the morning, while I usually get to sleep around 2 or 3.

Moreover, it looks like tudou, the Chinese version of YouTube has deleted all my favorite BL drama CDs from their site. Now, how am I supposed to regain energy? Tears, tears.

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Caterpillar

5:09 p.m. Finally, here's the barrier draw for Yasuda Kinen.

Talking Drum in post number 1, Decypher in 2, Sunrise Major in 3, Ambitious in 4, Contentment in 5, Red Falx in 6, Greater London in 7, Air Spinel in 8, Longing Dancer in 9, Clarent in 10, Black Spinel in 11, Beauty Only in 12, Logi Chalice in 13, Satono Aladdin in 14, Isla Bonita in 15, Logotype in 16, Young Man Power in 17 and Stephanos in 18.

Isla Bonita is the most favored so far as expected, but would Christophe win four weeks in a row?

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2:00 p.m. Hmmmm... this is complex.

I haven't been able to narrow down my options. The only thing I can say for now is that Black Spinel smells of a longshot. So for now, I'd say I'd key Black Spinel.

Options for the wheel is even more difficult to choose, though I'll say Sunrise Major, Red Falx, Greater London, Satono Aladdin and only for safety, perhaps I might buy Isla Bonita but for the third place.�@Oh, and maybe Stephanos.

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Caterpillar

9:10 p.m. Awwww, Lgotype, LOGOTYPE!!

Should have considered that option. Otherwise, I shouldn't have bet on this race in the first place. What happened to Black Spinel, I have no idea. Personally, I think he's not the kind to lose that big. Perhaps there was some sort of trouble in the last stretch? Anyway, I'll have to wait till tomorrow to find out.

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Caterpillar

5:44 p.m. No word of Black Spinel being met with accidents or injuries.

That means there were other reasons why he lost big. The lap of the race was not so fast as they say in the media, as the first three furlongs were run in 33.9 seconds, I reckon. If the first three furlongs were run within 33.5 seconds or faster, then I'd consider that a fast lap, because the gap between the last three furlong's lap would probably become greater than one second. Thus, I don't think it was a fast-lapped race. Besides, Logotype who went up front just like Black Spinel, remained in second place. So it couldn't have been too tough for the front runners.

It's true I've reviewed Logotype's carrier and realized that I've been underestimating this horse for a while. Though leaving this aside, I still can't be convinced about the big loss of Black Spinel.

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Caterpillar

4:47 p.m. Apple has released AI mounted speakers in other words, they've released speakers with Siri.

I still can't understand why these are getting so popular. I'd rather turn on the lights or run music by myself because I think that's more quicker. For me, it's more troublesome to have to speak out my request every time.

I might change my mind though, if AIs sense my feelings and turn on the lights without having me verbalize it.

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Caterpillar

2:26 p.m. This day has finally come.

I've dreaded having to face this day, but like all living creatures, the end will come to this horse, too. My favorite horse Admire Cozzene has died.

He was one tough horse. There aren't many race horses that make a come back after injuries, though Admire Cozzene was twice met with fractures after he won Asahi-hai Futurity Stakes. It took him over a year and a half to come back to turf, then another year until he finally won a G2, Tokyo Shinbun-hai. He's fought well against Believe or Shonan Kanpu in the sprint G1, and at last made a miraculous come back winning Yasuda Kinen. His G1 win with 30-months' gap is still a record. As a sire, he sent out two G1 winners, Aston Machan and Snow Dragon. Even if the world forgot his name, I will never forget as long as I live. Rest in peace.

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Caterpillar

5:09 p.m. Since there aren't any G1 races this weekend, not much is coming in. Perhaps that's why a Japanese horse challenging one of the American triple crown race is gathering attention.

Epicharis, a Japan-trained horse is running in this weekend's Belmont Stakes. He's a 3-year-old winning 3 out of 4 races in his short career, only losing in 2nd in the UAE D'erby. I've just seen the barrier draw, and post number 11 in a 12-horse race I think, is a good draw for the son of Gold Allure. All he needs to win now, is a fast track condition. Though I don't know what the tracks are like in Belmont...

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1:46 p.m. Also running in the Belmont Stakes with Epicharis is an American colt named Patch.

Patch has had his left eye removed when he was still 2 years old due to chronic disease, but have been well trained to compete in the last of this year's triple crown races. As his rider John Velaquez, says there is no problem with him racing, the horse has earned himself this ticket now seeking for the champion's seat from post number 12, next to Epicharis.

As many of you might already know, American race tracks are run couter clock-wise, which means Patch has to run in the direction of his lost eye. That must be difficult for cautious animals like horses. And it's a good enough reason for a typical Japanese as myself who'd sympathize for a tragic hero to cheer him on.

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2:59 p.m. As I've mentioned earlier, we have no G1s this weekend. I'm not in for the Grade 2s and 3s, but since there aren't any big ones, will try calling Epsom Cup (G3).

According to some information source, it seems the most favored comes within third place at a rate of seventy-over percent in Epsom Cup, so might as well key Astra Emblem on a wheel with Meiner Milano, Historical, Tosen Reve, Red Raven and Nasuno Seikan.

As for Belmont Stakes, Epicharis has been reported to have some uneasiness in his front right leg after his workout on June 7th, though he seems to have recovered according to the trainer.

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5:14 p.m. Fully enjoying a relaxing day off in a month.

Unfotunately, Epicharis had been scratched off from Belmont Stakes at the last minute, due to his front right leg inflammation. Too bad, but I'm not going to object to the owner's decision here. Besides, they couldn't let a Japanese horse steal away one of their triple crowns. Patch, on the other hand, came in 3rd. Good for him I'd say. He couldn't make it a one-two finish with Taprit, though he did the best he could.

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Caterpillar

3:40 p.m. I wasn't even close with Epsom Cup, but will leave that aside to start working on Takaraduka Kinen. At least that's what I thought this morning.

It caught me as a surprise when I pulled up the entry page and saw only eleven contendants on the entry list. Eleven!? There had been more names on the list when I checked it out last week, like Denim And Ruby or Satono Nobelesse or the usual members. What happened to them all?

If Takaraduka Kinen would actually be run with only eleven horses this year, it would probably the first time in history that a G1 has been run with such few horses.

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3:34 p.m. It has been a happy surprise to hear about giant panda Shin Shin giving birth to a cub. Her last cub in 2012 had died after only six days after birth, so I'm praying this cub will grow up healthy.

I've always wondered though, why pandas don't prosper in Ueno zoo while pandas in Adventure World (Wakayama) have grown from a pair to twelve. There must be some plausible reason to this.

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1:07 p.m. A simple search has given me the answer to my question. It seems male Ei Mei seems to be the key to the success of a big panda family in Wakayama Adventure World.

According to and article I picked up on the Internet, Ei Mei is the father of ten pandas born in this facility. Considering there are eleven pandas born in Adventure World, Ei Mei stands as a great sire. As though he is Sunday Silence of giant pandas.

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Caterpillar

5:03 p.m. I've had a completely free day-off in a month last Sunday, though it seems that my tired body and soul wasn't able to recover in just a day.

My fatigue is not temporary. I know it's chronic, it's something that has developed over the years of sleep deprivation and stress. So I've been wondering if there is any way to recover from it, sort of reset my condition somehow.

Luckily or unluckily enough, I've come across an article saying that a fifteen-minute nap can reset sleep deprivation. Think I could try this. Okay, let's set the timer for fifteen minutes and close my eyes. Trial and error is my style.

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Caterpillar

2:46 p.m. With Takaraduka Kinen 9 days later, news of workouts are coming in.

Gold Actor has changed his workout menu before Tenno-sho, but has changed it back again after seeing the horse sink into 7th place. Satono Crown lagged behing in his workout but the crew seem relaxed as there is still time. They said the training had been concentrated, so that the horse would become better next week. Meanwhile, Mikki Queen has clocked a marvelous time in her workout. Expectations are rising for this mare who has never lost on Hanshin turf where Tkaraduka Kinen will be held, except for once when she lost in 2nd after a five-month's break.

Have also read an article of Yutaka mentioning the victory with Kitasan Black. Indeed.

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Caterpillar

12:51 p.m. The beating sun and the beginning of horse race in Hokkaido is telling me it's already summer.

There's a sprint G3 and a dirt G3 this week, both of which I'm terrible at. So I won't be so confident in my calling these races. If I'm forced to pick up some horses that seem likely to perform well, I'd say Blanc Bonheur, Seiun Kousei and Levante Lion for Hakodate Sprint Stakes, Rieno Tesoro, Savvy, Antinous and Sunrise Soar for Unicorn Stakes.

That's the best I could do today, my brains are bubbling already...

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Caterpillar

5:02 p.m. The horses I called didn't do well in both races. Hakodate Sprint Stakes became a murderously tight lap which made it tough for horses that performed well in the same distance in their previous races. Unicorn Stakes also became a tight lap so it must have been tough for Rieno Tesoro.

My mind is already on Takaraduka. Should start looking at the race schedules and performances of each horse. I could make up my mind after they announce the barrier draw on Friday. Not to mention my key horse would probably be Kitasan Black.

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Caterpillar

3:49 p.m. All right, all right, so I took a look at the entry form of Takaraduka Kinen. And despite the fact that it's still Monday and betting tickets aren't sold yet, the win odds for Kitasan Black is already 7/10 (-142.90). Well, I did expect it, though.

So the important question is, whether Kitasan will win or not. I'm sorry to disappoint you all, but at this point it is very likely for Kitasan Black to win.

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Caterpillar

1:44 p.m. Seems like we're actually entering the rainy season from tomorrow.

Although the beginning of rainy season has been announced for the Kanto area including Tokyo earlier, we had little rain up till now and I was getting worried about lacking water again in the summer. However, heavy rain is expected tomorrow, which sounds like a full-fledged rainy season has finally come.

The weekly forecast tells that we might have some rain in the Kansai area on Sunday, so must also take this into account when calling the race. Still, I feel like the soft track condition would only advantage Kitasan Black...

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Caterpillar

3:37 p.m. I've just checked the weather forecast for Osaka this weekend. Rain is expected at the rate of 50%. That means they don't know whether it will rain or not, humph.

There are some horses that will advantage from soft track condition due to rain, such as Kitasan Black, Clarity City, Shake Tora, Cheval Grand and perhaps Gold Actor and Mikki Queen, too. Not all of them will perform well in the race, though, that's the difficult part of calling it.

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Caterpillar

2:28 p.m. I thought it would be Friday as it's not a classic race, but the barrier draw for Takaraduka Kinen has been announced, so let's take a look.

Mikki Rocket in post number 1, Gold Actor in 2, Spirits Minoru in 3, Clarity City in 4, Cheval Grand in 5, Shake Tora in 6, Rainbow Line in 7, Mikki Queen in 8, Hit The Target in 9, Kitasan Black in 10 and Satono Crown in 11.

So Kitasan has finally drawn an outward post. Though I don't think that would be much of a problem as he's going to go up front.

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Caterpillar

2:35 p.m. News came in that the baby panda born on June 12th, has had its third medical check and it transpired that it was a baby girl panda. We cannot keep this baby girl panda due to the panda lease agreement between China, but I hope to see her some day in the future. The news reported that she is well, healthy and growing.

Meantime, I'm bumping into a wall of odds. Have figured there seems to be a chance for Shake Tora to make a come back into 2nd or 3rd place, that is, if the track condition softens, though his win odds is already the 2nd favored at somewhere between 6/1 and 11/2. There will be no charm to the payout whatsoever, if I key Kitasan.

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Caterpillar

6:11 p.m. Sorry to upload so late, but I had to deal with some confusion with my meetings re-scheduled and then re-re-scheduled.

So here's my call for tomorrow's Takaraduka Kinen. Will key Kitasan Black not to mention, with Satono Crown on 2nd place. I know, I know, but I can't help it as I think that is the most likely outcome. On the wheel would be, Mikki Rocket, Clarity City, Shake Tora, Cheval Grand and Mikki Queen. Might cut out Mikki Queen, though.

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Caterpillar

9:09 p.m. Awwww, that was a blow.

I hadn't expected this I mean, Kitasan Black losing this big. The reason, well, all I can think of is that the horse had considerable damage from Tenno-sho. Cheval Grand has also sank backing this up. Still, this is not unusual for a horse like Kitasan Black. When he loses, he loses big (it was just like that when helost the D' erby). Yet he'd come back and win when his damage is gone and refreshed.

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Caterpillar

3:47 p.m. Saburo Kitajima, the famous enka singer also known as Kitasan Black's owner, has announced giving up on racing the horse in Prix de l'Arac de Triomphe. As we fans have been all excited, it is a let down.

I've checked the lap time and the usual necessary data of Takaraduka Kinen to analyze the race and the horses' performance however, the facts tell me that it wasn't such a tough race as the damage in Kitasan to surface. If physical damage hadn't affected the results, that leaves only one reason for his loss. Lack of concentration.

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Caterpillar

4:00 p.m. To cut the long story short, Kitasan Black has got tired of racing in the same way and wasn't focused on the race.

For the past three races after last year's Japan Cup, Kitasan Black's position in each race hasn't changed. He goes up front seeking for the chance to take over the leader. But when you keep doing this with a horse like Kitasan, the horse gets fed up with it and gives up focusing on the race altogether. Added to this, Kitasan had drawn an outer post in Takaraduka, which made it even harder for the horse to concentrate on the race. If you watch the race video, you can see that the horse is turning its face outward when turning the first corner. He's also turning the corner putting his weight on the wrong side of his legs. This shows how he was distracted.

A similar thing has happened before in Japanese D'erby when Kitasan Black lost in 14th place, though the critical blow in that race was when Kitasan got bumped into in the last stretch.

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Caterpillar

3:10 p.m. Since the spring G1 season has finished for JRA, now comes the NAR Teioh-sho on Ohi tracks.

There are seven JRA horses competing in tonight's Teioh-sho, which is almost a synonim to a seven horse race. My call is to key Awardee, with All Blush and Sound True on the wheel.

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Caterpillar

3:41 p.m. Arrrgh, it was K T Brave and Chrysolite....

It only sounds like an excuse, but as a matter of fact, I thought I'd put down in my memory to push K T Brave in the morning, though I totally forgot about that by the afternoon. Chrysolite, I had no idea.

Must review the race and work harder on my calling. One thing I learned though, is that Great Pearl the winner of Heian Stakes, was mighty tough.

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Caterpillar

3:02 p.m. The Tokyo Metropolitan Subway is thinking of renewing its fare system.

They have been charging base fare on passengers transitting from Tokyo Metro lines, which makes the total fare higher than when you've used either lines, Toei or Metro, because Toei Lines charge you the base fare on top of the Tokyo Metro base fare. And the Tokyo Metropolitan Subway is saying that the renewal is due to the Tokyo Olympics 2020, since the fare system is "complicated and difficult for tourists to understand."

Ah, so you can get away with anything using the Olympic games as an excuse! Then it must be the Olympics' fault that we're having such muggy weather, Olympics' fault that my client cancelled the meeting, and Olympics' fault that Cow overslept this morning.

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Caterpillar