9:08 p.m. Another day of hard work. Tired, tired indeed.

The more I think, the more I feel like Soul Rush would easily beat all these underdogs despite his age. But then, it's the first time he's running a turf 1800m while it's also his first race this year, and he's charged with 59kg weight. Even though I do respect last year's Mile Championship champion, I couldn't put my full trust in Soul Rush.

I don't trust the two 4-year-olds either, and since the only 5-year-old Cruzeiro do Sul seems unreliable, drawing the outmost post in a full-field race at Nakayama, the best I could do would be to take y chances on the 6-year-olds.

Keying Matenro Sky on my trios. Among the mentioned five 6-year-old horses, Matenro Sky has already proven to have high aptitude for Nakayama Kinen becoming the winner in 2024. Although the situation might be different from then, with the track firm and the pace possibly much slower, my guess is that he could do well if not win. On the wheel would be Born This Way, Time to Heaven, Meisho Titan, Soul Rush, and Al Naseem.

My quinellas will be Matenro Sky and Al Naseem combined with Soul Rush.

The End

Caterpillar

7:00 p.m. I'm sorry for doubting your potential, Sixpence and Ecoro Walz. I appologize. I renewed my awareness never to go against Christophe again.

Still, the 5 and 6-year-olds were so disappointing, they should be ashamed of themselves while I'm being ashamed of myself.

Really, I'm not sure what to dowith myself flying so low when Takamatsuno Miya Kinen is waiting at the end of this month. Well, I'll cheer up with curry and rice.

The End

Caterpillar

7:02 p.m. Come to think of it, I got it wrong from the very first step where I tried to narrow down the candidates from the past ten years' results. We start doing stupid things when the losses pile up.

You see, I haven't been winning races lately as you know, and I thought I needed a change. The thing is, I didn't think much about what to change specifically. Deleting the horses that seem to have less chances from the past results I thought, was easier as well as time-saving. It looked as though it was a good idea if I could save time to use it later when I really need to concentrate. However, the result was disastrous as you already know.

Will get back to my usual process. Meanshile, will seek ways to save time. Surely, there must be better ways than to narrow down my options.

Now let me get down to my review of Nakayama Kinen.

The End

Caterpillar

7:54 p.m. There's only one grade race on Sunday this week, Yayoi-sho. The race also crowns the name of that great Deep Impact from when I forgot, though I've been refusing to add the horse's name. The race has always been Yayoi-sho to me and it always will, period.

In recent years, Yayoi-sho that once was the main step race for Satsuki-sho has sadly lost its glitter to be held with small fields, and as a result I've been losing interest in it. However, 14 horses seem to be entered this year. Perhaps I could try this year.

Since I did a disastrous blunder trying to save time last week, I will get back to my usual process. No big deal. It's what I always do when I get stuck or lost, get back to box one and start all over again.

The End

Caterpillar

7:40 p.m. So, Yayoi-sho.

It's a step race for Satsuki-sho limited to 3-year-olds and because it's been run with small number of horses lately, the race tends to be run at either average or slow pace. I can't guess what the pace is going to be like this year, at least not at this point yet. But on the premise that it won't be run at a tight pace, the profile of my candidates would be as follows: that the horse has performed highly in its previous race preferrably, at an average or tight pace, in either the same or shorter distance compared to Yayoi-sho, and has enough speed to go up front. In addition, it would be even better if the horse meeting these conditions have already performed well on Nakayama turf 2000m.

Might need to be careful on horses coming back from a break after running in Hopeful Stakes, since if a horse peforms well in Hopeful Stakes, that could be a double-edged sword concerning Yayoi-sho. While the horse has proved its high aptitude for Nakayama turf 2000m, the damage could backfire on the same course.

On the other hand, running a G1 previously could also boost the horse's performance. Seeking the balance between left-over damage and the horse's potential would be the difficult part.

The End

Caterpillar

8:37 p.m. Checking out the horses entered in Yayoi-sho especially, the ones that ran in a G1 race previously. There are four of them in all.

On the premise that the pace won't be tight, basically I should choose horses that finished first or second. That means Museum Mile can't be left out, no matter how favored he might be. Aw, that's daunting when Miyuki is riding. The horse has been performing better in small-field races, so I'm guessing it would be better to draw a middle to slightly outward post. He might prefer a soft track as well since he probably has power.

The remainig three I'm afraid, all depend on conditions. Faust Rasen has swept up from the outside in Hopeful Stakes. If he could do the same race again, he probaly deserves attraction however, there's the risk of left-over damage from his high performance in Hopeful Stakes.

Claudiai's instantaneous speed is fascinating, but he also seems to dislike locked in the field. In addition, it seems harder for him to go up front.

Ask Stein may be more interesting in that sense if he could make a good start to take the lead. If the track gets soft, it would advantage him even more.

My current evaluation for the G1 group would be Museum Mile, Ask Stein, Faust Rasen, then Claudiai.

The End

Caterpillar

7:56 p.m. The result of Yayoi-sho's barrier draw has been released.

If Ask Stein runs away to take the lead, I assume the pace would be either average or slow as expected. That means outer post drawers would be disadvantaged, because they will have to bear the brunt of course loss. Ask Stein will probably be taken over in case he drops his lead to a slow lap.

Museum Mile has drawn an almost ideal post. Whether he'd perform well or not is now up to Miyuki, his rider as well as the track condition.

Coincidentally, rain is expected in Nakayama from late tomorow afternoon, possibly turning into snow at night. It's forecasted to stop early Sunday morning, but the question is how much the percipitation would be and how well it would dry by the time of Yayoi-sho.

The End

Caterpillar