Since there is no graded race on Saturday recently, I can sleep better than usual. I would like to ask JRA to hold all graded race on Sunday.
Life in Germany
New year party
We had a new year party with Japanese colleagues at Friday night. I also had a similar party with Japanese colleagues of the same generation last week, but this time it included all generations. One colleague happened to visit Heidelberg as a business trip from Japan and he also joined the party.
The first round was mahjong and the second one was delivery Chinese foods. I can maybe call it Chinese party considering both rounds. It was fanny that the visitor from Japan was enjoying Chinese things even though he came to Germany.
The party was held at Kana-san's house. She was already mentioned in this blog. She is Japanese and got married with German. She has worked in this company since many years ago and kindly often advise Japanese expats how we can live well in Germany.
She has a 14-year-old son and I met him just after I came to Germany 2 years ago. However, I had no chance to meet him since then and I saw him yesterday for the first time in a while. I was surprised that he became much taller and I recognized children grow up so rapidly. After finishing dinner, he suggested playing chess together. Although I knew only how chess pieces can move and I had no idea about basic theory or technique, I accepted his invitation. As you can expect, I was completely beaten by him. At the end of the game, I had only a few pieces while he still had many pieces. When I was thinking about a next step, he advised me like "It's better to move like this!" and "I'll give you this piece!". Nevertheless, my King, which is my last one piece in the field, had no way to move and he said "Checkmate!". I was so disappointed and I decided to study chess. I would like to hold a rematch with him before I leave Heidelberg.
Prediction
シルクロードステークス（GIII、中京、芝1200m）
My favorite : ①Shine Garnet (7th favorite)
・Since heavy handicaps are imposed on horses gathering more votes, I'm reluctant to bet on them. On the other hand, the handicap for ①Shine Garnet is relatively light. Moreover, I selected her as my favorite in the same race last year and she got the 2nd place at that time.
・As I already mentioned, I would like to avoid betting on famous horses. That is why I bought the following QUINELLA tickets, where included horses are not getting much attention.
Betting ticket
Total : ¥1,000
根岸ステークス（GIII、東京、ダート1400m）
My favorite : ⑬Lemon Pop (1st favorite)
・Until he got the 2nd place in the last graded race, he won 4 races in a row. In addition, all of those 4 races were held in this course, Tokyo dirt 1400m. In other words, this course is his home. I can't imagine he will lose in this condition.
・The horse who beat ⑬Lemon Pop in his last race was ⑥Gilded Mirror. She originally ran in turf races, but she changed her field to dirt. After that, she has shown a stable performances. I can't help betting on not only ⑬Lemon Pop but also ⑥Gilded Mirror.
・Since the above 2 horses are gathering most votes, I have to buy TRIFECTA tickets in order to get enough money. Besides them, I would like to bet on ②Helios and ③Ho O Amazon. The former horse got the 2nd place in this race last year. The latter horse will challenge a dirt course for the first time. I would like to believe his unknow potential. The following tickets are my conclusion.
Betting ticket
Total : ¥1,000
Total in 2023 : -9,000 (JPY)
Collection rate : 0%
Hitting rate : 0% (0/9)
Ino-meter : Losing 28 race in a row
