7:06 p.m. Breaking news tells Grande Venus is scratching off from Yayoi-sho. It was going to be a small-field race but now it's even smaller. One down and there's only 11 horses left to compete.

Because it concerned me, I've done a quick research on the top 3 performers of the past Hopeful Stakes from year 2017 when the race has been promoted to a G1 to 2021. Among the 15 horses I searched, there were only 2 horses that had run more than 5 races over 1800m including Hopeful Stakes, Time Flier and Nishino Daisy.

Both horses have performed well up until Hopeful Stakes, Time Flier never fnishing below 2nd place, Nishino Daisy as well except for Hopeful Stakes. And the sad truth is that both horses couldn't even win 2nd place in a grade race while they were 3 years old. Top Knife hasn't always performed well in his past races like Time Flier or Nishino Daisy though having run 7 races already definitely seems to be a risk to my eyes. A big risk.

The End

Caterpillar

7:48 p.m. It's Thursday and as the entry for the weekend races should have been closed, I went to see the entry form for Yayoi-sho. How come there are only 10 horses? What a pity! It's supposed to be Yayoi-sho, you know?

Well, let's look at the bright side. Perhaps it would become more easier to win. And it would definitely take less time to prepare. And, and... That's about all I could think of.

Rapidly losing interest here. Ocean Stakes is much more intriguing. Sigh. If only I didn't have work tomorrow...

The End

Caterpillar

7:35 p.m. The barrier draw for the weekend have been released though my interest for Yayoi-sho is quickly waning as mentioned yesterday.

It's a 3-year-old race so I can't be for sure but because it's a small-field race with this lineup, it's not likely to become a tight lap race. So I'm guessing the pace to be slow which makes things seem more dull and unimportant.

Inner post drawers will have the advantage except for front runners. Horses that performed highly in their previous races will also have the advantage. Instantaneous speed is necessary. You know, the same old same old.

The End

Caterpillar

8:02 p.m. Whipping up my sleep-deprived brain to focus on the dull lineup of Yayoi-sho. I'm doing my best folks, but getting hard just to stay awake.

If I'm forced to buy betting tickets, I'd probaly key One Direct shutting my eyes to Christophe's recent performmances, on a wheel of Revoltade, Tastiera, Godfather, and maybe Top Knife just in case.

And if I am able to recover from a night's sleep, maybe I can think about buying exactas or trifectas tomorrow. But for now I'm done.

The End

Caterpillar

6:59 p.m. As it seems to have become my routine, I won. But the payout has fallen below my betting amount as expected. That's why I didn't want to buy this race.

Top Knife has finished 2nd to be the first horse in the past 10 years that performed well in a grade race after his high performance in Hopeful Stakes, already running more than 5 races of 1800 to 2000m. Though the situation is going to cange drastically in Satsuki-sho. Surely it would be a bigger field race possibly, much tougher. Besides, he's lost weight ddespite the two months' break. I'm afraid there will be a backlash.

Ame Blanche and Photon Blue both showed good instantaneous speed however, their positions were critical. It would be hard for them to survive in middle distance range as long as they keep positioning in the back. I hope their crew (including the riders) would reconsider.

The End

Caterpillar

8:27 p.m. Man, that took so much time! I had to correct my tax report and although I've done it via the Internet as the initial report, it ate up most of my evening. I really think this system should be revised for better use.

Now I could finally start on checking this week's races. We're supposed to have an older horses' race this weekend (Yay!), Kinko-sho. Let's take a look. 13 horses entered, hmm.

A quick scan tells me Feengrotten, Potager, or Maria Elena looks promising, but Potager has to carry 59kg. That sseems a bit too cruel.

The End

Caterpillar

7:28 p.m. No, no, that's completely the opposite. Even with a quick look at the entry form of Kinko-sho, Feengrotten and Maria Elena are the risky ones, not the promising. What was I thinking? Must have been quite tired.

Kinko-sho usually runs in a lagged lap so it tends to finish with front runners. That gives advantage to horses running either 2000m or shorter distance races previously, which would be bad neews for Grand Officier, Hayayakko, Veloce Oro and Potager. Also because it's run at Chukyo, this race tends to be friendly to Deep Impact descendants.

Given that, horses like Yamanin Salvum or perhaps Deep Monster seem to have a better chance. Prognosis? Yeah, maybe. He's got the instantaneous speed of a Deep Impact descendant, but I don't like how he stays in the back.

The End

Caterpillar

7:44 p.m. Somehow it felt like it was Thursday, but actually it's still Wednesday so the entry hasn't been closed yet.

But the list of names to be entered in Takamatsu-no Miya Kinen has been released. Here it goes

Quite an interesting lineup, isn't it?

The End

Caterpillar

7:57 p.m. And today the entry has been closed while WBC baseball games have started. Huh? I see only 12 horses entered in Kinko-sho. I thought there were 13 of them on Monday. Who scratched off?

Then I guess the situation is getting closer to Yayoi-sho last week. That's discouraging, really. But well, will just have to face it and do what I can to win while taking care of my own fatigue.

Behind the scenes, Resistencia has quietly left the turf. It's a pity her only G1 win was Hanshin Juvenile Fillies. Still, well done my girl. Have a good rest.

The End

Caterpillar

8:00 p.m. Have been busy cleaning, shopping and caregiving. I need to prepare for work but haven't had the time so far. But tonight we're having okonomi-yaki (yay!) though I'm the one to fix it. Stupid Cow sure drives me hard.

The barrier draw for Kinko-sho has long been released when I just pulled the racing form up on the screen. Doesn't look like the pace is going to be tight. So it's going to be a lagged race as I'd expected meaning that the payout could be small. Sigh.

And while I'm diligently writing, stupid Cow is yelling for joy at Nootbaar's hit. The guy's doing a great job so far.

The End

Caterpillar

7:43 p.m. Sleepy again. I'm always sleepy around this time on Saturdays. But I think I've done well since I'm writing my call for Kinko-sho earlier than usual.

Will key Deep Monster on a wheel of Hayayakko, Ruby Casablanca, Grand Officier, Yamanin Salvum, and Prognosis. Forgive me for swaying to dark horses, that was beyond my consciousness. I guess I've been affected by last week's results of Yayoi-sho.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to soak myself in a hot bath to ponder my options. Though I need to get of Mama Cow ready for bed before that. Treats come later.

The End

Caterpillar

7:34 p.m. It took a bit longer to take care of Mama Cow after lunch and I couldn't make it in time for the race. But then it saved me from wasting money on a lost race. I shall be thankful for that. So far I've been repeating the cycle of win and lose dutifully, he-he.

The pace was slow and it turned into an instantaneous speed race as expected. I thought inner post starters would be advantaged in such a situation however, there weren't horses with high instantaneous speed starting from inner posts. I forced myself to choose Deep Monster though as a matter of fact, I feared he would easily be taken over from the outside by Prognosis.

Hayayakko was too far behind while Arata has shaped up a bit to go up front. I've realized his weight loss. Probably would have included him if I made it in time to buy betting tickets. But leaving out Feengrotten was my mistake. Will keep working on my calls.

The End

Caterpillar

7:17 p.m. Have been updating my old lap-top. There's been some trouble when having meetings on zoom with this lap-top and I've finally realized that I hadn't updated the os last year. The updates including zoom have successfully been finished, phew.

Looking at this weekend's older horses' race, Hanshin Dai-shoten. 15 horses entered for now, though anyone can see Boldog Hos would be quite favored. I won't go against that since there's nothing to worry about the horse.

The question, I guess would be, which one would come in second Deep Bond or Justin Palace? At this point, I'd say Justin Palace has a better chance.

The End

Caterpillar

7:44 p.m. Have run over the entry form for Hanshin Dai-shoten a couple of times now but I just can't shake off the feeling that this race would finish on the favorable side.

It's not just because this race traditionally finishes sound and quiet. There simply seems to be a gap in ability between the favored and the non-favored, that I can't have any hope in a turnover or a giant killing. Forcing myself to think that perhaps Iron Barows might have a slight chance to finish 3rd depending on the barrier and track condition, but then he would be among the top 5 favored in win oods, I reckon.

The End

Caterpillar

7:44 p.m. Just checked the weather for this weekend. Rain is expected on Friday and Saturday in Tokyo as well as Hanshin Race Course. Though it doesn't seem to last long. Sunday is predicted to be overcast but you never know.

If there's much rainfall and the track condition gets soft, there may be a slight chance for Boldog Hos to lose against some powerful front runner since he's not that quick at the start... or maybe if it becomes a full-field race and Boldog Hos draws an inner barrier while the turf is dry... Ha! That's what you call wishful thinking.

No matter what the condition could be, the horse with the highest aptitude to meet it whilst having no fatigue or stress is going to win. I wonder how much they'd payout, though for a trio of Boldog Hos, Deep Bond and Justin Palace?

The End

Caterpillar

7:20 p.m. Entry for the weekend's races have been closed but concerning things have popped up. I'm beginning to feel perhaps there may be a risk for Boldog Hos.

Come to think of it, the horse performed highly in both Kikka-sho and Arima Kinen, almost too well. There may be unseen left-over damage. I shall be careful especially, when he's losing weight after three months' recess.

The more concerning, though is that JRA stable crews and training assistants might come out on strike and if they do, the weekend races will all be cancelled. Oh, no, no, no. Please pay them JRA, you've made huge profits during the stay-home period haven't you?

The End

Caterpillar

6:56 p.m. The strike seems to be carried out, but JRA has announced the weekend races will be held with non-union members plus some temporary assistant workers. I'm relieved the races will be run, though the wage system perhaps needs to be revised.

The barrier draw has also been released. Despite my wishful thinking, Hanshin Dai-shoten didn't become a full-field race and only 14 horses are running. However, Boldog Hos has drawn the innermost post number 1. Not sure yet but it looks like a danger sign to me unless the track condition gets soft.

The pace is likely to get slow which makes it all the more risky for horses that stay in the back like Boldog Hos while Deep Bond has drawn an outer post where he could possibly keep a good position up front.

The End

Caterpillar

9:06 p.m. Late, I know. I didn't mean to be but couldn't help it as I had a lot to do.

Hanshin turf turned to soft track by afternoon so I think it would dry tomorrow. With the pace set slow, I couldn't come up with any new names. I'm keying Justin Palace on a wheel of Boldog Hos, Iron Barows, and Deep Bond perhaps, on exactas.

Hate to disappoint you though this is the best I could do. At least I've put Boldog Hos on the wheel and keyed Justin Palace, so cut me some slack.

The End

Caterpillar

8:12 p.m. Why didn't I obediently trust yesterday me? In fact, I've changed my key horse again to Deep Bond to gamble with trifectas. Despite my call, I just couldn't have confidence in both Justin Palace and myself.

Breakup was completely off the mark, too. I thought that 3000m was too long a distance for the horse. Also, that Novelist descendants are specialized just for Tokyo. Well now we all know it was all just fantasy going on in my head.

Now that my routine of winning every other week has been broken, I could start losing consecutively again. Or perhaps I might win this weekend's Takamatsu-no Miya Kinen, since if my routine hadn't been broken it was going to be my losing week. Let's look at the bright side.

The End

Caterpillar

7:46 p.m. G1 races are coming back again from this weekend, starting off with Takamatsu-no Miya Kinen. And because I'm not good at calling (either am I good at winning) classic races, I'm hoping I could win Takamatsu-no Miya Kinen though I've never won it before. No, never, as long as I can remember.

There are several reasons for my not winning. First of all, it usually becomes a full-field race. Second, the unstable weather around this time of year often changes the track condition drastically. Third, there's the problem of track bias. Additionally, the condiiton of each horse is hard to assume.

All these put together makes Takamatsu-no Miya Kinen one of the hardest race for me to win. That's why I can't quit, though.

The End

Caterpillar

7:26 p.m. Japan has won the game dramatically against Mexico in WBC and we're going to the final against the U.S. Noooooooooooo! Win or lose, it's going to be a great game that's for sure.

On the other hand we've got Takamatsu-no Miya Kinen on Sunday. There seems to be several front runners but not any who has to take the lead, so I'll have to wait till the barrier draw to assume how the pace might be.

My attention is drawn to Daddy's Vivid and Toshin Macau for the moment. The barrier draw would be important since the results change depending on the track bias of Chukyo. For your information, heavy rain is expected on Saturday, and a slight shower Sunday afternoon.

The End

Caterpillar

8:21 p.m. Sorry, I haven't been able to do anything yet today.

I had the regular zoom meeting with a friend of mine living overseas but then, the internal web cam of my old laptop didn't work and we had to do it only with audio. What was zoom for if the video wasn't working? Nevertheless, I've learned a new English phrase, "whack-a-mole".

Although it's not just because of my web cam incident, I haven't even been able to check the news. All I know is that we won WBC, thanks to Ohtani, Ohtani and Ohtani.

The End

Caterpillar

7:37 p.m. The entry has been closed for Takamatsu-no Miya Kinen and it'w going to be a full-field race. The weather forecast has changed a bit with the rain seeming to have moved back to Sunday.

According to the forecast, there's a chance of slight rain from late Saturday afternoon with the percipitation increasing overnight until it reaches the peak of 13mm per hour around noon to 6 p.m. I guess the track condition could be soft or even heavy.

From the results of the past 10 years, horses starting from outer posts are doing well when the track condition gets soft so might as well keep that in mind.

The End

Caterpillar

6:40 p.m. The barrier draw is out! Let's take a look.

From the lineup, I'm guessing the pace to be a tight-ish average. I don't know what's with the odds but somehow Water Navillera is the top favored now while Pixie Knight seems to be putting up with the second least favored. This would definitely change, though.

The End

Caterpillar

9:41 p.m. Sorry for being so late but haven't been able to decide which horse to key yet despite my hard work.

From today's race results of Chukyo turf which were held on soft track, I figured the track condition would be heavy tomorrow considering the full-fledged rain expected to fall around noon. Given that, I thought horses that stay in the back might have a hard time.

So far I've narrowed down the candidates to six horses, Kir Lord, Daddy's Vivid, Meikei Yell, Pixie Knight, Aguri, and Toshin Macau. Will ponder this idea some more, check out tomorrow's race 8 to make my final decision.

The End

Caterpillar

8:20 p.m. There's been an incident concerning the internal webcam mounted on my laptop so I tried to renew the webcam driver. Have uninstalled the driver and just relaunched the laptop but it's taking so long to launch I grudgingly decided to write this on my iPadmini.

For Takamatsu-no Miya Kinen, I eventually chose Namura Clair to key on my wheel although I'd left her out yesterday. The track was heavy and I thought that would benefit her. But sadly neither First Force nor Travesura was on my wheel.

And so here I go again starting to pile up losses.

The End

Caterpillar

7:06 p.m. Already thinking about Osaka-hai at the end of the week. I need to review Takamatsu-no Miya Kinen, but that's gonna take up a bulk of time I thought it could wait since I've got a lot of things pending.

The weather forecast for Hanshin seems to be cloudy or partly sunny, so it won't be such a wild race as last week, I reckon. Naturally, the center of attraction of this race would be Stars on Earth. Though I see a twinge of risk in her. In spite of her outstanding instantaneous speed, she tends to lag behind at the start resulting in a back position. That could be considered a risk on Hanshin 2000m.

Personally, I think Geraldina would relatively be a better choice depending on the horse's condition. She must have been exhausted after last year's Queen Elizabeth Cup and Arima Kinen.

The End

Caterpillar

7:51 p.m. Have taken a look at what I've written last year about Osaka-hai, simply from curiosity.

It said that the third favored in win odds peculiarly hadn't performed well and that I had to be careful. It seems I've been too careful and have left out Lei Papale (the third favored) from my wheel although I've bought Jack d'Or, Akai Ito, Efforia, Win Marylin, Arrivo, and Stellaria.

Well this year me is a different person compared to the last year me. Think I've learned more and became a little better. At least I've solved the webcam problem. I can say that I have no doubt in succeeding with my next zoom meeting unless they release another update that causes trouble by then.

The End

Caterpillar

7:41 p.m. Last year's Osaka-hai was run in a tight lap because Jack d'Or had been pressured from the outside by Lei Papale. It doesn't look like there are any apparent front runner that'd definitely want to take the lead this year, so I guess Jack d'Or would set the pace. If so, I assume the pace won't be tight.

As I always say, if the pace is going to lag, the race would become another instantaneous speed contest. However, what Hanshin course requires is not the kind of speed that instantly shoots up to the top but the kind of speed that gradually accelerates, and the power to run up the hill at the end of the stretch. For example, if it's a match between Gran Alegria and Chrono Genesis, Chrono Genesis suits Hanshin better.

Among the horses that are entered in Osaka-hai this year, if I were to choose a couple of horses that would suit the features of Hanshin, I'd say Geraldina, Hishi Iguaz, Hindu Times, and Lagulf. Unless well, Jack d'Or draws an inner post while North Bridge draws an outer post, and Jack d'Or gets pressured again. Then things might turn out differently.

The End

Caterpillar

8:19 p.m. Busy as usual. But at least the it's become a bit warmer, in fact warm enough that the cyclamen on our balcony has drooped its head.

Okay, and the entry for Osaka-hai has been closed. 16 horses entered which means 2 have scratched off. Prognosis had announced much earlier, it just wasn't reflected on the entry form. Wonder who was the other one that scratched off? Or maybe I've got the numbers wrong. Maybe there were only 17 horses from the beginning. I'm not quite sure. As you know, I'm not so confident lately.

Have came across a piece of news today by the way, that horses belonging to Miho Training Center haven't performed well in Osaka-hai for quite a long time. That could be bad news for Stars on Earth, North Bridge, Hishi Iguaz, and Lagulf as they all belong to Miho.

The End

Caterpillar

7:52 p.m. The barriers have been drawn. Unluckily, North the World has drawn the outmost post so Jack d'Or could get targeted again from the outside. Though the pace won't be that tight this year I believe, since the rider has changed to Yutaka Take.

Weltreisende has drawn a good post as well as Lagulf, Jack d'Or, Potager, Stars on Earth (perhaps not quite) or Killer Ability. Will have to check out tomorrow's race results to be sure, though.

The End

Caterpillar