8:57 p.m. Freezing as yesterday. Though am quite satisfied ith myself having finished typing in all the data for Champions' Cup. Will start crossing out the horses which I think have less chances to perform well.

First, I'm looking at the paedigree background since Sunday Silence blood possibly could be the reason for giving the necessary instantaneous speed to make good results on Chukyo dirt 1800m. Damn, have just painted the horses with Sunday Silence blood in their background to let them stand out and now almost all the horses are painted.

Well, I've got other means to whittle down to the candidates. But as I said, I'm freezing, my hands are getting numb, snf my pot dish is waiting with my name on it so will hand that task to tomorrow.

The End

Caterpillar

8:59 p.m. Have been allowed to use the heater as I had a client coming over this afternoon. I had the heater going for about an hour while my client was with me. The room was warm enough at the time but now freezing as usual. All the warm air has somehow evaporated.

The consequence of Champions' Cup (in freezing condition), I think it's going to be a match between Lemon Pop and T O Keynes. Crown Pride is one step behind from my point of view. Yes, Crown Pride did finish 2nd last year but the race was much more tough the year before when T O Keynes won. Thus, I think it's going to be a battle between Lemon Pop and T O Keynes.

It won't be hard to imagine I decided my exacta without much trouble. Exacta formation of T O Keynes, Lemon Pop, and Crown Pride on the second. The problem is my trifecta which I haven't quite been able to narrow it down yet. I have T O Keynes on the first, Dura Erede, Crown Pride, Lemon Pop on the 2nd, Meisho Hario, Dura Erede, Ater Astraea, Crown Pride, Seraphic Call, Icon Tailor, and Lemon Pop on the 3rd row so far.

The End

Caterpillar

7:53 p.m. What? Who? What is that horse (and rider) doing to my Lemon Pop, T O Keynes and Dura Erede? Who? Wilson Tesoro? I've never heard of that name. Was he really entered in Champions' Cup? Are you sure?

T O Keynes had the best position and yet he couldn't beat Dura Erede. No wonder the horse is retiring but couldn't soeone have told me that earlier? Dura Erede and Bauyrzhan Murzabayev (now I've completely remembered your name) has done a good job living up to my expectations. This is the second time he has met my expectations including the time when he rode Time Flyer in Santa Anita Trophy. I'm putting full trust on him in dirt races.

Sighs, only sighs come out. Still, another lesson learned from Champions' Cup. And we already know it's a G1 that annually goes wild. One of these days I'm going to win it, you wait and see.

The End

Caterpillar

8:11 p.m. I judged that Champions' Cup was a bit different from other dirt grade races in the sense that it requires speed and instantaneous force to win. And that it was also important not to have distance losses regarding the race was run on Chukyo.

I tried to figure out the horses with speed and instantaneous force from their pedigree background, but failed to see them in Wilson Tesoro. The horse has drawn an inner post which was fairly advantaged yet I let him pass because he had only won G3 races. He didn't have much leftover damage whatsoever as he'd lost in 5th place in JBC Classics, his previous race which was a G1 that sort of carry over the boost to the mext race. Plus Wilson Tesoro was shortening the distance which suggested the chance of him taking position way behind than the usual front.

All this missed, just let it pass with the blowing wind. I could be blind.

The End

Caterpillar

8:18 p.m. Done with the reviewing (and blaming), I'm starting my preparations for the weekend's races. There's the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies as you all know of course, which I'm eager and willing to win this year.

I've done pretty well with Hanshin Juvenile Fillies in the past, actually won some big pay-outs so am looking forward to it. And this time I'll try to keep my blind eyes open as best as I could. Meanwhile, Mr. N-jima's T M Tokkyu is entering Capella Stakes, the only dirt 1200m grade race at Nakayama, so might as well look into it, too.

Just drew up on the screen, the race card for Hanshin JF to see Safira entered. Well, sure, she should be entered when her older brother Salios has won Asahi-hai on the same course and in the same distance. There's no reason to think his baby sister won't perform well. Though I'm sure she'd be favored, tsk.

The End

Caterpillar

8:12 p.m. Checking the past results of Capella Stakes just for the sake of cheering me up a bit.

Hmm... American blood seems to be doing a good job here, providing the necessary power and speed to win a Nakayama dirt sprint race. It's interesting that Vice Regent line or Sunday Silence line are also performing quite well, asI believe they are the types of blood that provide instantaneous force.

Anoter thing I recognized is that there are some repeaters such as Snow Dragon, Kopano Kicking, Justin, Dancing Prince, or Ryuno Yukina. If Ryuno Yukina could enter, perhaps there might be another chance for him? But well, the horse is 8 years old. I'm afraid it would be hard to win.

The End

Caterpillar

9:12 p.m. Had a long day and I'm weary (and cold). Had to go out shopping but not the usual shopping for groceries. As it also served as exercise, I carried weight in my back pack. The weight started from 5kg though have grown into 9.2 as of today. Going shopping means carrying additional shopped goods resulting in a quite energy-consuming task.

Cleaning had to be done after I got home and work after that. I had a pending document to correct and send back. I was going to type in all the data for my weekend races today and now my time seems to be up for the day. Sigh. Well, I'll work on it tomorrow. Will type, type, and type my heart out.

Need a little correction BTW. Sunday Silence provides instantaneous force, that's true. Vice Regent on the other hand, provides hmm, how can I express it? Sustainability of top speed, should I call it? The ability to keep top speed for a certain amount of time.

The End

Caterpillar

9:29 p.m. Another tough day and it's already past nine, thank god. Day flies by without your knowing. I'd better check out the barrier draw for Hanshin Juvenile Fillies.

Uh-oh. Safira has drawn an outer post. That is not a good sign if you ask me. And she's the 2nd favored! Sarios started from post number 6, by the way. On the contrary, T M Tokkyu has drawn an inner post for Capella Stakes.

The End

Caterpillar

8:54 p.m. Have unexpectedly been struggling with Hanshin Juvenile Fillies that I'm not sure if I could have enough time to call Capella Stakes.

The reason I'm struggling is because most of the horses have performed well in their previous races that they can't be just crossed out. What I can do in such a case is to depend on the pedigree background or weigh the unseen damage caused by their former races' performance. Seeing the unseen damage takes a lot of skill and time that I'm halfway giving it up.

My concentration is wearing out so I should announce my call before it wears out completely. Haven't decided my bet specifically, but the horse currently remaining on my list are Catfight, Ascoli Piceno, Corazon Beat, Chicago Sting, Safira and Donna Betty.

The End

Caterpillar

7:59 p.m. Oh, no. This one's another ouch pattern.

I decided late last night (or should I say early this morning?) that the winner would be either Ascoli Piceno or Corazon Beat and fixed them on the first (second, third) place of both exacta and trifecta. All was good until then. The problem was that I got caught in a boobie trap of Catfight I mean, I weighed Catfight too heavily although it was just a &39;catfight&39; that I had no room for Stellenbosch on the 2nd row. Eventually, I put her on the third row and look what happened?

And the worst thing is, I did the same kind of blunder for Capella Stakes fixing T M Tokkyu on the first, Meta Max on the second. I've bought the top 6 horses of Hanshin JF, top 5 horses for Capella Stakes only to lose because the order was a wee bit different. Mr. N-jima who might (or might not) have won both races has been bombarding me with one-upping messages, rubbing salt into my deep wounds.

The End

Caterpillar

8:47 p.m. Have reviewed last week's races well, so well that I feel like I could definitely win Capella Stakes next year, and moving on to previewing this week's Asahi-hai Futurity Stakes while my messenger app keeps whistling. Work messages, humph.

Darn, I wish they'd leave me alone for two hours. Is two hours' silence too much to ask for? What did I do so wrong to be pestered with messages so much every day, yesterday by Mr. N-jima, today by my clients? Why can't they keep their own problems to themselves, I wonder?

Well, I guess they're just feeling insecure. And I always become a perfect target to relieve someone's insecurity or loneliness because I'm such a nice caterpillar and respond to all the sent messages even when I'm kept busy. Ha! I've just soft-landed my iritated emotions.

The End

Caterpillar

6:00 p.m. Checking out the past results of Asahi-hai Futurity Stakes. Thought I'd took a note somewhere about Asahi-hai being a different race from Hanshin JF although it's run on the same course in the same distance, but somehow I can't find that note anywhere so have settled for a review on the past results.

From the pedigree backgrounds, it looks like the Sunday Silence line such as Deep Impact or Heart's Cry, Daiwa Major are doing well every year. No surprise there. Another thing I recognized is that horses with Storm Bird, Bold Ruler, or Vice Regent line are also doing well. Hey, I've seen that before. It looks like they're running Nakayama dirt 1200m. Perhaps high apptitude for speed is necessary on the currently record-breaking fast turf of Hanshin?

Am also considering Turquoise Stakes, if I have the time and energy left. Gotta go. I have a meeting pending.

The End

Caterpillar

8:39 p.m. As I was having a zoom meeting, the connection went down several times. We've just had optical cable installed and it was the first zoom meeting after that, so I didn't expect the interruption not to mention the frustration.

After the meeting had finished, I checked the speed of connection for the cable. The downloading speed was a satisfactory 600 to 700 Mbps however, the uploading speed recorded 5.11Mbps. 5.11 Mbps? How on earth could such a thing happen? That's even slower than ADSL! What's the use of installing optical cable if the uploading speed is slower than that of an ADSL line?

Top performers of Asahi-hai by the way, have all won either their previous race or the one before. Arma Waioli and Kurino Gaudi were the only two horses that lost below 4th place in their previous races, but they'd both won in the race before their previous. The entry hasn't been closed yet, though that already crosses out Clean Air and Miltenberg. I'd like to keep Miltenberg, though. If Bauyrzhan Murzabayev is riding.

The End

Caterpillar

9:01 p.m. Okay. So I've looked into the Internet speed traffic incident only to discover the uploading speed has recovered to a similar level as the download speed merely a day later. So what exactly was the problem? It makes me uneasy but well, I don't mind as long as my meetings aren't disturbed.

On the other hand, stupid Cow was fumbling with his desktop too, since his computer recorded an astonishing 1Mbps traffic speed. How could that be possible? If it's that slow, surely he won't be able to view any videos? Cow's been searching for the reason for the past 2 days and finally seems to have found a solution, if not the specific reason for the slow traffic. I'll leave a note here for your information.

His recently updated OS Windows11 seems to include this app(?) called Killer Network something, which seems to be a tool to optimize traffic for gaming. What he did was launch the app from its "K" icon and stopped what seemed to be limiting traffic and BOOM! He now has a traffic speed of over 600Mbps, both download and upload. So it really was a network killer after all.

The End

Caterpillar

9:26 p.m. Darn, what have I been doing, calling Turqoise Stakes when I haven't even uploaded the barrier draw for Asahi-hai? So here's the barrier draw result.

BTW, I'm keying either Fierce Pride or Sound Vivace on a wheel of basically, Cona Coast, Rouge Eclair, Miss New York and So Dazzling for Turquoise Stakes. Might cross out So Dazzling since there's NEVER been a horse starting from post number 11 or 12 and finished within 3rd place, at least for the past 10 years. There must be some reason for that.

The End

Caterpillar

8:49 p.m. Another ouch for Turquoise Stakes. Rouge Eclair screwed her start to sink in 14th place. Feeling quite regretful that I chose Rouge Eclair over Feel Sympathy.

Fortunately or unfortunately, my weekly afternoon meeting has been cancelled. So I tried to take this opportunity to ponder Asahi-hai however, the pain from Turquoise Stakes couldn't been washed away that easily and I couldn't focus on Asahi-hai.

There's been two horses in my mind since the beginning of the week, and unable to focus, I settled for those two. Am keying Awesome Stroke and Danon McKinley on a wheel of Satomino Kirari, Tagano Elpida, Namura Hooker, Enya Love Faith, and Strauss. Bye-bye Jantra Mantra, I'm once bitten twice shy with Daily-hai winners.

The End

Caterpillar

7:53 p.m. It was all too late. I came back from my daily exercise to buy betting tickets but then, I suddenly felt insecure about Awesome Stroke. Perhaps I'm weighing him too heavily? Once I started doubting myself, I couldn't stop.

And while I was changing here and there on my exactas nad trifectas, the clocke ticked away without my knowing. You might have guessed by now what have happened. I missed the race. In other words, I couldn't buy betting tickets in time for the race. After all the time and energy spent on calling it. How stupid could I be?

Not to mention I was down when the barriers opened and the horses started. But then, my Danon Kingley was struggling on the home stretch while Jantar Mantar, the horse I waved goodbye broke through the field to hit the wire first. With my key horses (and wheel horses, too) sinking low, I couldn't understand what just happened. This outcome just didn't register in my head.

But well, I might have been lucky in a way since I didn't pay a yen.

The End

Caterpillar

7:19 p.m. Have reviewed Asahi-hai Futurity Stakes THOROUGHLY and learned what actually happened.

Because Strauss screwed his start and went uncontrollable, the first half of the race passed in an unkindly tight pace. Many of the front runners got involved especially, the ones that started from outer posts to run out of stamina earlier than they'd wished. On the rather soft track (as a matter of fact it was only the previous race 10 when the track condition announcement had changed to firm) which I totally neglected to check, the tight pace must have taken away the stamina of many horses.

The tight pace, together with the track condition created a flow advantaging mnotonous speed / power horses that perform rather well in 1400m races. Now, I understand actually, pretty well.

So now, on to Arima Kinen. Well, I'm already down to several horses at this point, though.

The End

Caterpillar

8:52 p.m. The data input for Arima Kinen already done in a comfortable room with heater on, thank god. I wish I didn't have to leave this room since other rooms are not heated at all. Brrr...

Well, it's finally looking like Christmas season, what with the cold weather and of course, Arima Kinen, though I prefer it held later in the year. Am working on the trends from the past 10 years' results but when it comes to Arima Kinen, what's required in a horse is speed, stamina, power and the skillfullness to handle such a characteristic course as Nakayama 2500m.

From the pedigree backgrounds, the Roberto line (power, speed and stamina indeed!) seems to be doing well while the Sunday Silence line including Deep Impact needs to be strengthened with speed and power. Hope to look into it closer and get back to you.

The End

Caterpillar

8:31 p.m. Leaving aside Stars on Earth who most of us thought would be the most favored in expected win odds, something I didn't expect is happening. Justin Palace has suddenly jumped up to the 2nd favored. Just as I was starting to think he might meet the required conditions best. What, has someone read my mind? Or have I been talking my thoughts out loud?

What's intriguing about Justin Palace is that he's entering Arima Kinen directly from Tennno-sho (fall). This schedule has been working successfully in the past 5 years, thanks to the change in stable system that enables top stables to rest and train horses and send them directly back to the races. Before 2017, it was mainly horses from Japan Cup that performed well.

Justin Palace also has pedigree background. His broodmare has Nureyev (perhaps some of you might remember To the Victory who finished 3rd behind Manhattan Cafe) in her sireline while having Roberto in her mother's blood. Fits the pedigree condition considering his sire to be Deep Impact. He reminds me of Fierement a bit. I still have to figure out whta happened to him last year, though.

The End

Caterpillar

6:57 p.m. Have just finished the meeting, so let's take a look at the result of the barrier draw.

Drawing the outmost post would be a huge disadvantage for Stars on Earth when it comes to winning, I suppose. I don't remember a horse that performed well starting from the outmost post. On the contrary, Titleholder has drawn a good post as well as Justin Palace and Tastiera.

The End

Caterpillar

7:53 p.m. Forgot to mention yesterday that an outer post is not good for Through Seven Seas either. Assuming from her performances in Takaraduka Kinen and the Arc, she performs better starting from inner posts. Nevertheless, Through Seven Seas and Stars on Earth both have the last boost which can be a threat, a huge threat.

Have narrowed the candidates down to about half but what's concerning me now is the track condition. They say the turf condition is quite good compared to the past couple of years. This suggests a firm track that could become a blessing for particular horses, so I've gone and checked last week's racing video to learn that horses with instanataneous speed are doing well. The best option I reckon, would be a horse that could keep its position up front or around the middle at worst, while also having instantaneous speed.

A timely help right on time, we're having Grateful Stakes tomorrow, in the same distance as Arima Kinen and on Nakayama turf. I'll check this out and see if it gives me any clues or back up my firm track hypothesis.

The End

Caterpillar

8:37 p.m. Okay, so I've watched Grateful Stakes and analyzed it carefully. The race was run in an average pace which means the inner post starters and front runners had the advantage and yet there was only one front runner that hanged in there in 3rd place. The winner and runner-up were both horses from behind bringing out their last boost in 33.9 seconds and 34.3 seconds, respectively. In a 3-wins class, man, if you don't call that fast track, what is?

On such track condition, I'm guessing the winning time for Arima Kinen could be in the 2 minute 30s in a while. Horses that don't have high aptitude for a speed track won't be able to reach the top 3. Additionally, it's likely to be in an average pace so the outer post starters and trailers will be disadvantaged, unless they take the risk to go up front.

That said, I'm keying Justin Palace with Do Deuce. Justin's great instantaneous force is needless to point out, I think. Do Deuce has a high aptitude for fast tracks and if he's gonna make it, it'd be this time. On the wheel would be Sol Oriens, Titleholder, Win Marilyn, Tastiera, Through Seven Seas and Stars on Earth. Will go through a couple more ponders, though to delete 1 or 2 from the wheel. Happy Christmas and Happy Arima Kinen, everyone!

The End

Caterpillar

7:24 p.m. Blunder, blunder, a huge blunder. I didn't expect Stars on Earth to make such a rocket start like Mozu Mei Mei to take her position 2nd from the top. That's why I put her on the third row, not second. But then, Christophe had the horse do a power race in which Duramente descendants perform well and she finishes second, not third. Darn, I can't go against Chrisotphe anymore!

Indeed, Duramente descendants (or Kitasan Black descendants) perform better in power races when they go up front or stay back. This also explains for Titleholder hanging on at third place.

Another blunder was overestimating Justin Palace. I thought he'd do well on a fast track as he was a Deep descendant however, I'd totally forgotten that the horse needed to be handled with care. A naughty boy. Besides, the horse wasn't good at building up speed while turning a tight corner.

The End

Caterpillar

8:32 p.m. Well, my 2023 isn't over just yet. I still have Hopeful Stakes and Tokyo Dai-shoten, though I'm at a loss looking at the racing form of Hopeful Stakes. I mean, they're 2-year-olds. How am I to predict which horse would win?

Starting anyway from looking at the trends. As you might already know, Deep Impact descendants have been performing well in this race, and horses having Deep Impact in either their sire line or broodmare sire line has been finishing in the top 3 for the recent 4 years. So basically, I should go with the Sunday Silence line, I guess.

Most high-performing horses have won in their previous races in the past 10 years, and there are actually only 6 horses that hadn't. These six horses, though had either won or at least finished 2nd in their races before. Horses running in Tokyo Sports-hai in their previous race also seem to be doing well. It's a prestigious race with its winners succeeding in their later career. Wagnerian, Contrail, Equinox, you name it.

The End

Caterpillar

8:55 p.m. Sorry I forgot to upload the barrier draw yesterday. I've been driven by the annual year-end things to do, though I'm not the type to do the full-fledged cleaning at year-end. I clean regularly so there's no need to make a big deal about it.

So I've been staring holes in the racing form but nothing exciting is happening, no ispiration striking. I give up. I have no idea which horse would win, let alone likely to finish 2nd or 3rd. All I can tell is that perhaps Gonbade Qabus may be a good horse? And since Tokyo Sports-hai winner Strauss is not running, Shonan la Punta would be the only horse to buy from that group.

The horse to key has been thus decided as Gonbade Qabus and Shonan la Punta. On the wheel would be Shin Emperor, Regaleira, Win Maximum, and Century Bond. I can't go against Christophe after he's shown me what magic he uses with Durezza, Equinox and Stars on Earth. One will have to buy him no matter what.

The End

Caterpillar

9:05 p.m. I was out shopping this afternoon and because I 'd done a blunder of missing the race the other day, I decided to buy betting tickets on the spot via smartphone. But then, one of my key horses has been grayed out.

Gonbade Qabus I believe, was quite favored wasn't he? Without him the race could change drastically. I've pondered and called the race simulating what might happen with Gonbade Qabus included in the 17 competitors and now they tell me things are going to be different. Hey, that isn't fair. And you know what? Tariff Line retired from the race to eventually leave 15 horses running.

My only remaining key Shonan la Punta was in disharmony with his rider and sank miserably in 7th place. He could have done better if not for the rider, tsk. Have taken a look at Tokyo Dai-shoten in ground level motivation, sigh. There isn't much left for me to do but put my last bet on Mick Fire. 1st row Mick Fire, 2nd row Ushba Tesoro, Dura Erede, Wilson Tesoro, 3rd row Ushba, Dura, Wilson plus Notturno.

The End

Caterpillar

8:02 p.m. Wearing ankle warmers and my dragon scale gloves. Protection against the chill is perfect, though having slight trouble typing. Still it's better, much better than freezing in this unheated room.

Mick Fire must have had the damage from his previous race, screwing up his start like that. He couldn't even take the lead. Sank in 8th place, second from last. Perhaps information was out that the horse wasn't in shape, but I neglected to pick it up. It's just that I didn't want to be on JRA's side.

Well, like it or not my racing year is over. Looking back, I thought I got on the updraft when I won Kikka-sho, but then it turns out it was just my imagination. I tried hard and indeed had my chandes with some races especially, Yasuda Kinen, Takaraduka Kinen, and Arima Kinen however, I couldn't seize these opportunities. Hope I can get off to a good start next year.

The End

Caterpillar

8:45 p.m. Only a day left to go till 2023 is over and I'm reviewing Tokyo Dai-shoten. What am I doing? Don't I have anything better to do at year-end? Well, I'm afraid not.

Looking at the race result, I feel like the local race tracks are being invaded by JRA since it's usually JRA horses that win the integrated local dirt G1 races, taking all the purse while dropping possibly less money. I wonder what the local stables are thinking?

Grrrr, I still have Hopeful Stakes to review before I start thinking about next years Kinpai and it makes me itch. What's worse is that Kinpai is run on Saturday which is my work day. Hasn't Kinpai been held on the 5th every year? Why suddenly on the 6th?

The End

Caterpillar

5:32 p.m. Am being rushed by stupid Cow to finish things early as today is the last day of 2023. So I was scanning through my news notifications when a headline caught my eye. It said the Ohi Race Traack trend has changed since the replacing of sand (dirt). WHAAAAAT!? When did the replacing take place? When?

I went on searching and it traspired the track sand (dirt) has indeed been replaced in October and along with this replacemment, the thickness had also been changed from 8cm to 10. Darn! Why didn't anyone tell me such important information before Tokyo Dai-shoten? No wonder I was completely off the mark as I mainly bought speed horses with American blood. The required condition was totally different.

Now I will have to look into this to confirm and clear my doubts. What an year-end! Now they tell me, humph. It wasn't a nice ending for me this year but I hope it's been good for you all. Okay folks, have a Happy New year!

The End

Caterpillar