How a Japanese fan club's world came crashing down
Off-the-wall race fans going ballistic, the most bizarre camera angles and cutaways this side of a David Lynch film and a brilliant headcase named Orfevre sent on a mission to restore his reputation: all compelling reasons to watch Sunday’s Japan Cup.
Orfevre is likely to start favourite on home turf and his legion of fans will be desperate for the flashy chestnut to make amends for his dramatic loss in the Arc de Triomphe, where he was gunned down by French filly Solemia right on the line.
Christophe Soumillon found the front a little too early in the Arc – actually about 200 metres too early, the Frenchman probably stunned when Orfevre rounded the entire field up in about five strides. But this was still “premature jock-ulation” at its worst.
Orfevre played his part in the dramatic defeat, hanging in so badly that only an aversion to the running rail stopped him from killing someone on the infield at Longchamp. Soumillon is now off the horse and regular rider Kenichi Ikezoe gets back on board for a thrill-a-minute ride. Meanwhile, Orfevre remains a hero.
Rather than watching the race replay, it's far more fun to relive it through
the eyes of the people who care most. A video was taken of some soon to be shattered Japanese fans – and tells you everything you need to know about the crushing nature of the loss.
Who knows how much of his hard-earned “Japanese Roger” had on Orfevre, but I reckon it’s safe to assume rent was not paid and the debt collectors are still calling. An interesting cameo is the guy wearing the Bono ‘fly’ glasses at the back of the room, clearly the stoner of the group, who also gets involved in the ill-fated celebrations. Nothing really happens for a couple of minutes, so click to the two-minute mark on the scroll bar and let our commentary begin:
2.13: Sitting calm until this point, Soumillon makes his move; watch Roger’s head nearly explode in punting joy as Orfevre powers past his opposition.
2.24: Roger exalts in his punting glory, arms aloft and bottle of celebratory champagne about to be cracked open. What follows is the greatest five seconds of this tragic’s life.
2.29: Pause it here and let’s examine the look of sickening despair. He has seen the future and it’s not pretty. Orfevre is shortening stride. Quickly.
2.30: What we see here is a classic desperate punter move: The “yell at television/air punch” combo. A last-ditch, but complex veteran move that will surely help Orfevre hang on … I’m sure the horse can hear him in Paris. Roger follows the combo with a hollow stare as his life begins to move in slow motion.
2.36: Solemia nails Orfevre right on the line and sends a spiritual samurai sword through Roger’s stomach.
3.50: Japanese Roger is down, and what follows is about a minute of him writhing around on the ground. Bono, meanwhile, cannot comprehend the reality that just hit him between the bug eyes.
Surely something as gut wrenching can’t happen again on Sunday, but this horse does have a history of erratic displays – check out this effort as 10-1-on favourite in the Hanshin Daishoten.
The AWOL colt is the best thing beaten, ever. The fun begins at about the 1.35 mark as they round the turn out of the home straight. It does illustrate just how remarkable, if just as flawed, this horse is. He makes numerous runs, and seemingly destroys his chances each time – but keeps coming back.
Even without the unpredictability of Orfevre, the Japan Cup is worth it just for the hilarity of the television coverage. Has anyone ever mentioned to the Japanese Racing Association, which seems to do most things right, that its television coverage’s habit of slowly panning back through the field with about 200m to go is infuriating and nonsensical?
It’s the WORST possible moment to focus the camera on one or two particular runners. It can also happen at other random times during the race, which can be the basis of a good prop bet with mates during the run: will the leader still be in front when the camera returns to the leading group?
Other things to look out for on Sunday:
1. Silly racehorse names: While there is an overall lack of silly names in Sunday’s feature race, one horse does deserve special mention: Oken Bruce Lee. He should really stand out being a wild-looking chestnut with a white blaze, and a jockey riding him wearing red and black, skin tight silks. Kick-arse name, pardon the pun.
2. The best-dressed and most efficient barrier attendants in the world, who may actually be robots.
3. The underrated use of a cherry picker as a pre-race ceremonial device: Witness the crowd go wild and wave their race books in unison when the starter is hoisted three metres into the air to wave his starting flag on the same type of cherry picker electricity companies use to fix power lines.
4. Japanese commentary: Pronunciation of Orfevre is the same in Japanese, so while you won’t be able to see what is going on at the front of the race, you can keep up to date with a race caller screaming “Orfevre!” – but hopefully not too early.
