Hokkaido Horse Racing Story

The fantasy of being caught up by the horses behind was ruthlessly shattered halfway down the straight, and it became a one-man show with only one horse in the front.

"The one leading is Medahira!"

"Sixth-ranked Medaihiramachi achieved his second crown!"

Ochiai raised two fingers, struck a victory gesture, and patted Medouha's neck.

In the stands, Kitano clenched his left fist, swung it gently, then released it and hugged Ogawa Katsu beside him.

Ogawa Jō's tense shoulders suddenly relaxed.

But then, a hint of helplessness appeared on his face again.

Almost half of this year has passed.

However, after searching through the ranch's classic annual horse winning records, only Bai Ma's name still appeared.

In any case, this is no longer something that can be simply attributed to bad luck.

"Good job, Pegasus!"

"Congratulations, President Kitano—"

The noise, which had been going on for quite some time before the finish line, became even louder when Kitano walked down from the stands.

“Thank you very much for your support!”

Arriving at the front of the stands, Kitano bowed repeatedly to express his gratitude.

The commendation ceremony ended, but the crowd in the racecourse remained stagnant.

For today's local horse racing fans, there is another aspect that is almost as important as the competition.

Mejiro Sakuya and Mejiro Baima merchandise, presented by Kitano Ma's owner personally—

For this reason, many horse racing fans come from the city or even further afield.

HRA was also happy to facilitate this and even provided the square behind the entrance as the event venue free of charge.

"Mr. Kitano, is this really necessary?"

After helping to distribute the peripherals, Xuhe Zhang asked with some confusion.

If this happens after every game, it will accumulate to be a considerable expense.

Kitano leaned over and picked up the last baseball cap in the cardboard box.

Then, he put it on his head.

"of course."

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"March 3 Derby! The Mejiro curse is history!"

——【UMA】Nikkan Sprot Horse Racing Official

“(Ｔ▽Ｔ) I forgot to buy the commemorative ticket for this race.”

——n○tkeiba·Muddayama·The latest comments on the bulletin board

@MejiroShoji: To thank everyone for their continued support, our president, Yuki Kitano, will be distributing free merchandise to spectators at the Monbetsu Racecourse after the Hokkaido Uejun Race on the 11th of this month.

At present, the Baima number is full of derby! 】"

——(Same as) MEJIRO Shoji Formula

“Although I was very tired when I first returned to Japan, I seem to be gradually recovering.

I hope it can keep up its spirits and be ready for the big battle in the second half of the year."

—Trainer Yoshito Yahagi mentions Mr. Caesar

Chapter 136: Second Round Conversation

In the second game after the camp celebration party, Kitano and the Ogawa family moved to another secluded izakaya.

"So, it will be difficult to grow in a short period of time."

Opening the beer bottle, Kitano continued the previous topic.

Regarding Ocean Fleet's 2024 debut plan.

"terribly sorry."

There was obvious shame on Xuhe Zhang's face.

After entering his second year, Ocean Fleet2024's physical growth momentum remains slow.

Even in June when people of the same age started to debut, his weight was only 362 kg.

"No, it's not true. Mr. Ogawa was a great help in taming me, and I will never forget that."

Some character flaws in racehorses can be corrected through training.

Both Ogawa Jo and Kitano hold this view.

This is also verified in Ocean Fleet2024.

Although the process was not easy, Chestnut Ma finally overcame a lot of the timidity in his character and successfully completed all the necessary training programs before his debut.

After pouring a glass of beer for Ogawa Jō and himself, Kitano poured a glass of juice for the Ogawa siblings.

"No, I didn't play any role at all, and I'm really sorry about that."

When mentioning Xunzhi, the shame on Xuhe Zhang's face became more obvious.

It is undoubtedly a disgrace to the ranch to let the horses participate in the competition with things like shadow tape.

For a long time, he regarded this sentence as his creed.

Ultimately, handing problematic horses over to trainers and riders is a complete disqualification on the part of the ranch in terms of breeding and training.

With this philosophy in mind when running the ranch, Ogawa Jō has devoted a lot of effort to the training of yearlings.

Amidst the ranch's dismal performance, the only thing that made him feel relieved was the almost 100% pass rate in the ability tests of the production horses.

However, for Ocean Fleet 2024, he had to repeatedly relax the standards.

"Please have the stables provide her with a masking tape, earmuffs, and an eye patch during the match."

As he said this, Ogawa Jō felt his cheeks getting hot.

The sense of shame seemed to become tangible at this moment.

Kitano, the horse owner, was impressed by Ogawa Jō's training results.

It can make a kid who could barely walk at the selection meeting become a qualified racehorse—

In his opinion, this is a very remarkable thing.

After expressing his gratitude again, he was the first to raise his glass.

After the toasts were over and everyone started eating, Kitano asked after a while, "Mr. Ogawa, could you give me some advice on opening a ranch?"

"That's right."

Putting down his wine glass, Xuhe Zhang was not too surprised by such a question.

After Mejiro Shoji was re-established, many people believed that it was only a matter of time before the Kitano family returned to the horse breeding industry.

"If it's convenient, could you please tell me about the location, scale, and management direction of the ranch that Mr. Kitano envisions opening?"

Ogawa Masaru and Ogawa Kanna also cast curious glances at Kitano at the same time.

"As for the location, it's better to go to Hidaka New Crown if possible."

Kitano answered, placing the Datemaki on a small plate at hand.

He didn't have too much obsession with the old Mejiro Ranch in Lake Toya.

Although there are some good memories, there are also many bad memories.

and--

Opening a ranch near an active volcano is not a reasonable choice no matter how you look at it.

Although I have no intention of speaking ill of my deceased ancestors, I can't help but grumble about it when I think of it.

"That's it."

Ogawa Jō nodded, but soon shook his head.

"It's not easy to find a ranch for sale here, and it would take a lot of effort to convert it from another ranch."

Even if a ranch is forced to be transferred due to poor management, it will often be taken over by a large ranch such as Beifang or Shetai as a branch.

"Is this the situation—"

Kitano nodded, picked up the Datemaki with chopsticks and swallowed it in one gulp.

Then, he couldn't help but frowned slightly.

If all the people in Sendai treat fish like this, they will go to the eighth level of hell.

Of course, it is also possible that the quality of this izakaya is just not good enough.

After taking a few sips of beer, he continued, "It doesn't matter if it's a small scale at the beginning."

"In addition to production, I also want to try to expand my business scope to include tourism and other areas."

Ogawa Jō raised his eyebrows slightly and nodded slightly at the end of the sentence.

After a brief pause, he asked, "Speaking of which, Kitano-kun registered a contract company, right?"

After receiving a positive answer, Ogawa Jō nodded again.

"If the contract company is combined with the small ranch, it may be disadvantageous for future expansion, but Kitano-kun should have considered this issue."

He took a sip from his wine glass, then put it down and continued, "I don't know much about production, so I can only give you the advice of 'better to have less than enough'."

As he spoke, a trace of helplessness appeared on the old man's face.

In addition to the failure in bloodline matching research and the element of luck, the failure in the classic year of Nishiken Ranch and the ancient horse front was also influenced by another important factor.

In Japan, small and medium-sized ranches have almost no access to high-quality breeding mare resources.

Whether at home or abroad, those super-large ranches firmly control the top part.

If you don't want to follow in the footsteps of those ranches that went bankrupt and dissolved due to a vicious cycle, you can only honestly take the path of careful budgeting and reduced production.

Even if the ranch is idle, you should not just buy those carefully selected breeding mares.

Although a bit extreme, many small and medium-sized ranch operators do have similar ideas in their minds.

"understood."

Kitano lowered his head seriously.

Afterwards, everyone ate in silence for a while.

"It's Versailles, isn't it?"

Ogawa Kana suddenly raised her head and asked thoughtfully.

Ogawa Katsuya seemed to understand something and showed an expression of enlightenment on his face.

“There are indeed considerations in this regard.”

Kitano nodded in acknowledgment.

The way Versailles Ranch was run did give him some inspiration.

Although it has a generally bad reputation among other ranch operators, Kitano believes that this internet celebrity-style operation method still has more advantages than disadvantages.

Even in traditional sports, this is a business approach that has had countless successful cases.

"In this case, we will have to invest more money in renovation."

Kana Ogawa also picked up a piece of Datemaki and took a small bite.

"That's right."

Kitano swallowed the small octopus in his mouth and replied, "The location of the ranch should also be considered to facilitate the visit of students."

Before purchasing the ranch, he was prepared to invest heavily in renovations and decoration.