Hokkaido Horse Racing Story

Finally arriving at the horse owner's seat, Kitano cast his eyes towards the track before he even sat down.

In the sight, Baima had already entered the gate facing the cool breeze.

I learned from Master Tanaka that the tactic of leading the release will still be adopted tonight.

If you position yourself too far back, you may not be able to accelerate in the straight line.

Although they can rely on Rugo to conserve their physical strength, both trainer Tanaka and main rider Ochiai have such concerns.

"Although it's a big reward for a local exchange, the opponents are basically the same guys from the Beidou Cup. There hasn't been much change in terms of strength."

"So if possible, it's better to choose a safer tactic."

At the pre-race meeting, the trainer and the rider put forward similar ideas.

Despite a winter of intensive training, Tanaka was still unsure about how Medaipei would perform in the unknown 2000-meter distance.

Thinking of this, Kitano couldn't help but think of Ma Hanya's model that analyzed the suitability of horse racing venues and distances based on cadence and stride length.

At this point, he could only pray that the distance suitability item with the question mark followed by an upward arrow on Baima's panel had grown to a level sufficient to cope with the current game.

"Good evening, Mr. Kitano."

Ogawa Jō, wearing a casual suit, hurried over, followed by the siblings Ogawa Masaru and Ogawa Kanna.

"Good evening, Mr. Ogawa."

Kitano nodded slightly in greeting.

"Wait a minute, would it be convenient for us to chat after the game?"

After returning from Australia, Kitano registered a livestock contract company with a capital of one million yen, whose main business was "racehorse production".

In addition, when registering, he also added two business categories: R (service industry) and H (accommodation industry, catering service industry).

Compared with KK (Co., Ltd.), which is more popular in the horse racing world today, contract companies, which are further products of limited companies, have obvious advantages in terms of cost and tax burden.

As for the disadvantages of contract companies, such as difficulty in financing and borrowing, and difficulty in expanding their scale, these were not a big deal for Kitano. Anyway, he had no intention of operating on a large scale from the beginning.

Of course, the funds and breeding mare resources on hand did not support him to do so.

The name of the club is [Mejiro Shoji].

Although it has the same name as the former Mejiro Shoji, in fact, "Shin Mejiro Shoji" is just like the American "Horse Breeder", in a state of being an empty shell that does not live up to its name.

"Of course, no problem. I also want to know what Kitano-kun saw and heard in Gouzhou."

Xuhe Zhang agreed with a smile.

"The 54th Hokkaido Derby, a Grade 1 race in Hokkaido, featuring the 'Wind Rises' event, a 2,000-meter race with nine horses."

After the gate popped open, the live broadcast sound finally came from the radio.

"Game start!"

In the straight line extending towards the stands, the gray-white horse body was the first to emerge from the gate of No. 6.

All kinds of noisy sounds rang in his ears, and Kitano's mouth, which had been unconsciously pursed, relaxed slightly.

Then, the heartbeat in my chest began to quicken.

As everyone expected, Baima adopted the leading strategy.

Although the opponent near the fifth gate shifted slightly to the outside in the direction of Medaima after leaving the gate, it did not seem to cause any interference to Ashima.

There were not many participating horses, and there were no other escaped horses to grab the leading position, so the Reed Horse quickly gained the upper hand.

"It doesn't seem very intense."

Ochiai checked with his peripheral vision and saw that although a few horses were trying to move to the inside, other than that the initial stage was not very intense.

"Want to try slowing down now?"

He rejected the idea as soon as it came up.

Besides bad timing, slowing down on the straights is also easily noticed by other riders.

If their intentions are discovered, they will become the passive party.

Therefore, apart from leaning slightly to the inside to prepare for the turn, Ochiai did not make many movements with his hands.

"Probably a more even pace."

In the absence of a reference, the judgment of the game rhythm becomes somewhat uncertain.

When passing in front of the stands, the horses behind became a little impatient because of the noise.

As a result, after the white horse started, the gap of less than one horse length was about to be caught up.

However, before Ochiai could urge him on, the approaching riders all slowed down their pace on their own initiative.

"It seems that trick may not work."

Ochiai was not surprised by this.

This is what is called magic.

No matter how magical it is, there is a risk of being discovered after repeated use.

but--

Even without his pace magic, Meda Hirama would still have won the race.

He has unwavering trust in his partner.

Pegasus will not lose a match of this magnitude.

Chapter 135 The True Face Behind the Magic

Turning into the first bend, Ochiai slightly pulled in the reins.

However, there was a sense of resistance coming from the armature.

"It's not time to slow down yet!"

Mudaiba raised his head slightly, and seemed to make the opposite judgment with some dissatisfaction.

"There won't be any problem if we continue running at the current pace."

So far, the back feels smoother.

Then there is no need to change the pace for the time being.

In horse racing, being able to run in coordination is much better than not being able to do so.

However, if the target is a horse like Meduhira, who is running to some extent on the basis of fighting spirit, then it is a different matter.

In the leading position, its overly strong fighting spirit can serve as a driving force for moving forward.

As for what happened after Medaima lost his fighting spirit—

Just one experience like this with JBC’s 2-year-old Youjun was enough.

So, he relaxed his control over the reins a little.

Even on the curves, I didn't try to control the speed.

The distance between the horses closed and then widened, and the gray-white figure was still in the front.

“The rhythm should be about the same.”

After entering the straight line opposite, he slightly tightened the reins in his hands.

This time, Mudaiheima carried out the order very happily.

Just like some naughty children, if you don't let them play from the beginning, it is likely to provoke a rebellious mentality.

If you let it play freely to a certain extent, it will be much easier to rein it in when it is really needed.

While partnering with Medairo Hirama, Ochiai also began to think of some things that he had not considered before or had subconsciously ignored.

On the surface, horse racing is determined by the final leg of the race on the final straight.

However, the direction from the start to the initial set often has a greater impact on the direction of the game.

There are no other escape horses in the race, which means there is no need to put too much effort into fighting for position.

In this regard, we have accumulated certain advantages from the very beginning.

However, the situation is not that optimistic.

Opponents who see through the "pace magic" are likely to launch attacks earlier than normal.

Moreover, Beihai Youjun is the twelfth game today.

This means that a considerable amount of sand has accumulated on the innermost track.

For the escaped horse advancing in the inside lead position, this can be said to be a very unfavorable track development.

The key to winning at the escape horse race is "how to maintain your own rhythm."

If the horses in the second and third positions exert pressure in advance, the leading strategy will become passive.

So in this game, Ochihei did not slow down the pace in the middle as he did in the previous games.

Although I controlled the speed slightly when turning into the straight line, it was more for the consideration of cutting into the route.

The pace did not slow down at this position as the outside world expected.

At present, it is still maintaining a good forward momentum, and there is no sense that Baima is struggling.

Moreover, the pressure from the rear is not so obvious yet.

With his lips slightly pursed, Ochiai made no movement to tighten or loosen the reins.

"It's okay to keep running like this."

Before the game, the anxiety about the distance made it inevitable that the team was a little restrained when formulating tactics.

However, after realizing that "there is a high probability that he can run 2,000 meters", Ochiai decisively overturned several previously formulated tactics.

No need to slow down, just keep running -

If the overall pace tends to be uniform or even slightly faster, the situation will be reversed to a more unfavorable direction for the leading group.

In addition, due to the continuous rhythm after leaving the gate, the herd of horses quickly spread out in a long strip.

If the pace remains the same, the horses behind will have to expend more energy to catch up.

Only when the rhythm changes significantly and the herd becomes compact will the attack from the rear become easy.

At the beginning of the third turn, Ochiai turned his head sharply and looked behind him.

Among the horses left behind, it seemed that many riders had already started to urge them on.

Turning my gaze back to the track ahead, the last bit of uneasiness in my heart dissipated.

it's here--

The winner has been decided.

For a runner, the key to victory or defeat lies in maintaining one's own rhythm.

Turning to the chasing side, if you want to win the race, you have to follow the momentum of the herd, conserve your energy while seizing opportunities to move forward in time.

This is not an easy task in a gate with a tight route and short straight lines.

After taking the lead, try to keep as much distance as possible from the horses behind you. Even if you cannot win, you still have a chance to get a good ranking.

For local competitions, this level of tactics is sufficient.

However, Ochiai was not satisfied with this.

Although it felt like hammering nails into rice bran, he still made tactical adjustments based on the situation on the field.

Faced with the challenge of an unknown distance, the rider's choice is to "believe".

Trust your own judgment and trust Pegasus's strength.

After passing the last corner, Ochiai whipped his whip and headed straight for the finish line.

Amidst the joy and cheers, the faces of the man and the horse had similar expressions.

Medaima's calm demeanor was just like Miyamoto Musashi who had kept Sasaki Kojiro waiting for a long time on Ganryu Island.

The distance is not that long but it is always difficult to close.