Hokkaido Horse Racing Story

After bowing to the young rider again, Kitano turned around and patted the deer-haired horse's neck.

"You must work hard."

After saying that, he turned and walked towards the best observation point in front of the gate, smiling and nodding to the trainer who was looking at him curiously.

"Good morning, President Kitano. I finally get the chance to meet you."

The gray-haired trainer was exceptionally friendly, with a smile on his face that was even a little creepy.

"Hello, Mr. Majima."

Kitano stepped forward again and bowed slightly to him.

"Please just call me Majima. My good-for-nothing son is grateful to President Kitano for his support."

This local legendary horse trainer, who was described by Majima Daisuke as "quite serious and not very joking", now held Kitano's wrist with an exaggerated smile that seemed to be passed down in Majima's school.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, the two finally walked together to the observation position in front of the gate.

However, I didn't miss anything because of this.

Although the venue had been set up long ago, it still took quite a long time before the test began.

Another racehorse participating in the test from Majima Motoku's stable showed great resistance to entering the gate.

With the efforts of three stable boys pulling and pushing, the uncooperative reed-haired horse was finally stuffed into the gate with difficulty.

Raising his head, Kitano cast a somewhat nervous look at the gate.

After closing the baffle behind the gate, the stable attendants quickly bent down and spread out to both sides of the track.

"Cleared—"

After the gate popped open, the reed-haired horse was obviously stunned for a moment before taking another step.

Mejiro Noah in front came out of the gate very cleanly and neatly, and almost from the beginning he had already opened up a gap of two or three lengths over Ashima.

“The movements are very standard!”

Hattori said with a happy look on his face.

Kitano, on the other hand, secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Go through the gate."

After leaving the gate, Mejiro Noah was not disturbed by the surrounding environment and quickly followed the instructions of the rider on the saddle.

It seems that the deer-hair horse is not used to running on sandy ground, so its running posture seems a bit clumsy.

Despite this, the onlookers can still feel the seriousness of "Ah, you ran well after all."

Soon, the deer-hair horse came running from the opposite track, and the gap between it and the reed-hair horse behind it became increasingly larger.

In the stands, a few horse racing fans who had entered the venue were waving their arms desperately.

However, as if they were worried about disrupting the testing process, they tacitly remained silent.

"Very good--"

It wasn't until Mejiro Noah crossed the finish line with somewhat unsteady steps that belated cheers finally broke out.

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“【@KW7MBql9fYjANgE:

Mejiro Noah!!! He ran very hard and passed the ability test with a beautiful start from the gate.

Looking forward to his future performance]

——Chi Xingzhou

Chapter 215 Saga's Morning

"Well done—"

The test had just ended when Tobita patted Mejiro Noah on the head and praised him.

The deer-haired horse's ears immediately stood up, but it still put on an expression that said, "The work isn't over yet, hurry up and cheer up."

Kitano and Hattori stood at the exit of the track waiting for the one-man-one-horse combination.

"It's incredibly maneuverable, and accelerating and decelerating on the road is even more agile than a mackerel."

Flipping off the horse's back, Feitian rubbed the nose of the deer-haired horse while speaking.

"SABA?"

Kitano repeated the word with a hint of confusion.

Fortunately, the misunderstanding was resolved the next moment, and Tobita raised his hand and imitated the movements of a fish swimming in the water.

It really is a fish——

Kitano breathed a sigh of relief.

It seems that it is not some strange Kyushu dialect.

"Moreover, Mr. Noah has also done a good job of following the planned route."

The young rider said this, and hurriedly bent down to work with Hattori to untie the abdominal belt.

Although he had just finished a 900-meter race with a competitive atmosphere, there was no obvious sign of fatigue on Noah's face.

After lowering its head and enjoying the caress for a while, the deer-hair horse gradually relaxed from its serious state.

"The run was a little immature, but the forward momentum was still very good."

Hattori clasped his hands together towards Noah in a somewhat comical manner, then held the removed saddle in his arms.

"Can I go see the stables?"

At this time, Kitano asked to visit the stable.

"Huh? The stables aren't in great condition. Is that okay with President Kitano?"

Looking a little surprised, Hattori suddenly opened his eyes which were originally narrowed into slits.

"It's okay. It would be a great help if Master Hattori could agree to this."

"Then please follow me. How about Tobita-kun come along too?"

Hattori barely freed his hand to gesture, and the young rider immediately agreed.

"Okay, please."

Having said that, Tobita naturally took over Noah's leash and walked in front of the group.

The stables are just behind the track, but it's quite a distance to walk there.

There was no shade along the way, and the long and narrow road under the scorching sun made my back completely soaked with sweat.

Arriving at the bathing area shared by several stables, before Tobita could fasten the leash—

With hurried footsteps, an Indian stable boy rushed over, carrying a small bucket of cleaning tools.

Noah swung his tail as if he had noticed something, and his raised three white eyes showed a bit of reluctance.

However, he still cooperated with the stable boy and started the post-match bath.

"Taking a bath in the summer will make you feel cooler—"

Faced with the stable attendant's somewhat broken Japanese, Shikamakoma put on a very vivid expression of helplessness.

"Well, please stop reading."

The short "grunt" nasal sound seemed to express such resistance.

While Noah was taking a bath, Kitano visited the Hattori stables accompanied by the trainer and rider.

When most people think of stables in Saga, they think of them as "dirty, messy and poor".

Even Kitano, who had actually visited before, was no exception.

However, the Hattori stables, which only had a trainer and a stable boy, were kept very clean.

Although it still looks a bit simple, it gives the impression of being generally neat.

There is a plastic sign with the identity of the racehorse in front of each stable, and amulets given by horse fans are hung on the railings.

Because of the draft shed, the perceived temperature inside the stable is not as harsh as one might imagine.

Although, it will look even more weird from the outside.

"Mr. Noah's fading wasn't noticeable around the bends, and his route was basically as planned."

Continuing with the original topic, Tobita continued to talk about his feelings while riding.

"It seems like he's the type to be able to get started with Xiao Hui. Noah's horse body is really flexible."

Hattori smiled and picked up an old-fashioned broom that looked quite old.

Tobita nodded, then pursed his lips nervously.

Hesitating about what to say.

Kitano stepped forward and said with a smile, "Please, Rider Tobita, don't hesitate to speak."

So the young rider nodded again, and although his voice and expression were tired, his eyes were serious and a little surprising.

"Mr. Noah's horse is quite relaxed, and it will be difficult to pick it up again after slowing down."

He paused before continuing.

After noticing that there was no noticeable change in the owner's and trainer's expressions, Tobita continued speaking.

"I think he might be suited to running from the back, slowly building up momentum and giving it his all."

Isn't this the way the Golden Ship runs?

The image of the white figure who was related to Mejiro Noah by blood immediately appeared in Kitano's mind.

However, specific tactics are not what he is good at.

So he quickly turned his head and looked at the trainer who was holding a broom and thinking about something.

"For things like this, you really have to run around and see to find out."

Having said this, Hattori raised his head.

"But feedback from the saddle is also important."

“That’s true.”

Kitano expressed his full agreement with Hattori's seemingly polite remarks.

Apart from the racehorses themselves, who cannot speak, the riders on the saddles have the most intuitive riding feedback in the camp.

Even the most accurate advice from the Advisory Panel can be inaccurate due to fluctuations in the horse's condition or even accidental events like stepping on a horseshoe nail or dropping a shoe.

After the discussion about the ability test ended, Tobita yawned and hurriedly left.

Both the voice and the expression were exhausted.

Hattori had a similar look of hard work on his face.

Looking away from the young rider's receding figure on his electric scooter, Kitano half-jokingly said, "It seems like life in Saga is even harder than in Hokkaido."

"Yeah, here we have to get up at one or two in the morning."

Hattori sighed and nodded.

"One or two o'clock isn't morning—"

Kitano was a little surprised and almost thought that Hattori had slipped up and said the wrong time.

“Although there are relatively few horses in training, the field here is very small. In order not to delay others, we have to start training as early as possible.”

"Wouldn't it be even harder for riders with training missions?"

"Yeah, on game days, there's only a few hours of rest at noon."

No wonder Majima went to Ooi—

Putting aside complaints like this for the time being, Kitano turned to another important matter.

"The main battle rider's words—"