Boris the Deserter - TAGHROODA will be a painful Miss for you once more fella (doths cap respectfully)
Weather update! Rained about 8pm but as I was on the underground so only about 10mins and same again on way back about 12! Shouldn't have affected the ground thus far
Fromm the Tineform Website; New Timeform customers get £10 FREE downloads! Click HERE and simply enter code TFF10 when you register. Ladies and gentlemen, the proud father… "Arigatou. And can I firstly say what a wonderful occasion this is, though when my daughter said she wanted to have her big day in France I must admit to feeling slightly nervous, because the last time I was in front of this many people, in Paris, I fluffed my lines. But it was give and take. I gave, and Yutaka Take. Yutaka Take, I sink a sake. That's why I failed the test. The experience left a lasting impression on me, or a Deep Impact, you could say. My own father gave me the cold shoulder all day, a Sunday Silence. But he's celebrating with us today, as is my mother, the lady-in-waiting's grandma, who got here just in time via taxi moto, Wind In Her Hair. And now it’s time for me to Harp on about the latest Star of the family. We are gathered here today to celebrate one of life’s greatest moments. You always want your children to have what you never had, and this day has been a long time in the planning. It wasn’t raining when Noah built the Ark. He was in the know. We’re in the know. She’s in the know. It’s a knower’s Arc. There are two things which we as parents try to give to our children: roots and wings. Well, three if you count a monster turn of foot. And I do see a lot of myself in her: that proud head, that smudge white star on that proud head, and that flashy stubbornness to leave things until the last minute, sometimes too late as anyone who was at the engagement party at Tokyo in May will testify, though she assures me that was her partner Yuga’s fault. Their relationship is the same as any - clingy one second, explosive the next: she explodes and he clings on. They know their jobs. Let’s toast it now: ladies and gentlemen, the ride and vroom." That’s Deep Impact (pictured) giving away Harp Star, and the Arc itself is something of a giveaway this year, a free-for-all feel to it, akin to a prized relic locked away in lost property, with the few claims forms that have been sent in not standing scrutiny nor more rigorous testing. Like the bride’s bouquet at a wedding, it’s up for grabs. Harp Star is the modern-day Japanese war bride. At home in Japan, on match.com, she’s overmatched in the speed dates all year, merely thrill-seeking when playing with Nuovo Record, who she’d twice turned away before the Oaks. But her destiny has always lay further afield, founded in the traditional Japanese custom of ‘miai’ – an arrangement – whereby two compatible parties are introduced in the hope of matchmaking. Harp Star, meet the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Her ‘save the date’ card was posted a long time ago. All the planning, all the arrangements, all the dieting and training, and all the investment have been undertaken to enable her to shine on her big day. The blushing bride will be rushing wide, but the timing is down to Yugu Kawada. His job is simple: pull out the stopper, unleash the whopper, and get her to the perch in time. The problem, as with all weddings, is the guests. They come in droves, and they come in categories, as identifiable in horses as in humans… THE UP-STAGERS Those faux-friendly females, of the same age, who see the bride not as a centrepiece but as a challenge, dressing and behaving accordingly. And it’s a cosmopolitan catfight, with the national sweethearts of England, France and now Ireland – with Taghrooda, Avenir Certain and fashionably late-arriving Tapestry – all out to steal Harp Star’s projected limelight. It’s not so much an afterthought as an after-fought for both Taghrooda and Tapestry, the pair having slugged it out mid-summer, including against each other, while local lady Avenir Certain just hasn’t the same level of form as Harp Star, partly because she’s played the junior tour, yet to face the seniors, and her vulnerability is compounded by a recent break-up from long-term partner Gregory. THE STRIKING STRANGER He’s unorthodox, even incongruous, looking slightly out of place amongst the regular crowd, though he’s a classy, alluring individual, the sort that, as the saying goes, males want to be and females want to be with, but will he stay to the end? He’s Just A Way. THE EMBARRASING AUNT It’s getting that way for Treve, sadly. Growing old ungracefully, forever reminiscing about her own wedding, and still taking to the dancefloor but not moving near so well as she used to. Nice to see her, all the same, and you won't have to worry about her in the latter stages, as in the course of the event she'll gravitate towards Aunt Chicquita on the bitter biddies table where they'll natter about where it all went wrong. THE SEASONED PROS Your dependable, middle-aged, middle-of-the-road faction who'll contribute without overstepping their established mark, the fleet of bailing taxis pre-ordered to get out ahead of the youthful and vibrant end to proceedings. So, just as it's getting interesting, and a little raucous, the DJ fades down the music and announces that a carriage awaits for Ruler of The World, Ivanhowe and Flintshire. I suspect Gold Ship might grab a lift at this stage, too. THE LATE ABSENTEES 'It's such a shame that 'X' or 'Y' couldn't get time off/a babysitter/a date/a cure. It's not the same without them.' For 'X' see Sea The Moon, and 'Y' equals Australia. The question with 'Y' is why? At least Sea The Moon had an excuse. Australia really should be here. THE LAST MINUTER A participant who doesn't quite grasp the fact that a big event is weeks and months in the planning, not hours. One is just making up the numbers (Al Kazeem), to be treated like a plus-one, but the aforementioned other has paid a lot to get here (Tapestry), so needs due respect and consideration. Still, it would have been better if 'X' or 'Y' was coming instead. THE CHARMER There's one at every wedding. A flirt. A seducer. Old or young, male or female, you can't help but be drawn to him. He's engaging, and he's damned handsome. Perhaps he's engaging because he's damned handsome. And, of course, he's French, so he has that je ne sais quoi. But he's surreptitiously on the pull, and his keenness is a potential weakness. Still, there's just something about Ectot. Ask Gregory Benoist. Nevertheless, let's not forget why we're all here. This is Harp Star's day in the sun, for the land of the rising sun. There's an old Japanese proverb: Amadare ishi-wo ugatsu - tenteki ishi-wo ugatsu. Drops of water will drill through a stone - slow and steady wins the race. Persistent effort adds up and turns into great achievement. Japan's quest to win the Arc is persistence personified, and this time they're doing it differently: not by bringing three, but by bringing a three-year-old filly, and no ordinary three-year-old filly at that, as Harp Star looks something special. It's impossible to watch her races and not think there's a bigger performance in her, and it's impossible to not think that bigger performance will come on Sunday in Paris. The Arc is in her capabilities, in her destiny, and in her blood, through her sire Deep Impact. The time has come, and the time is right, for a Harp Star-led Japanese march on Paris, and that march is Mendelssohn's in C major. New Timeform customers get £10 FREE downloads! Click HERE and simply enter code TFF10 when you register.
The more I look at the Arc, the more I think it's a terrific value market. The top 5 in the betting are all drawn in double figures or, in Avenur Certain's case, in stall one. Stats say the horses drawn high or in 1 irregularly win. 3 year olds get all that weight allowance. Fillies get even more. Tapestry and Dolniya are both drawn low and get weight allowances. I really think, at 14/1 and 25/1, they are the value in the race.
Even though her breeding would suggest otherwise, I think Avenir Certain will stay the trip. Has to overcome a bad draw though for a fast-finishing filly? Needs luck in running, for sure. Erm, En Français, mais très intéressant néanmoins http://www.paris-turf.com/multimedia/tous-les-medias/emission-speciale-arc-de-triomphe-1-80021
Treve still has some problems with her back but her feet are OK says CH. That's enough to put me off. So it's Harp Star and Tapestry ew for me.
