Hokkaido Horse Racing Story

"is that a lie?"

There was a cry of surprise from outside the lounge.

Tanaka and Ochiai also showed some surprise on their faces.

Looking at the scattered backs of the stable attendants, Tanaka shook his head helplessly.

"Will you not hold on a little longer?"

After closing the door, he turned around and asked.

"Never mind. It's too hard for me to be a jockey and prepare for the trainer exam at the same time."

Hattori waved his hand and gave a seemingly casual answer.

The expression on his face seemed as if he had already made up his mind.

"Is that right?"

Tanaka took a deep breath.

It seems that Hattori is serious this time.

"Then let's treat JBC Year Two as our last dance and work hard."

"Oh--"

Before the two riders arrived, some scattered responses came from outside the door.

He rubbed his temples with a headache, but the two people beside him had smiles on their faces.

On a late summer morning, light slants into the lounge through the window.

[Goal——JBC 2 years old!!!]

The undried handwriting on the whiteboard was cut in half by the sunlight, like butter that had not completely spread in the oven.

From JBC 2 years old to the start of the urgency -

29 days left.

Chapter 58 Nishiken before the competition

"Sorry, but this ranch is only open to those with connections."

At the entrance gate of Nishiken Ranch, Kana Ogawa bowed slightly to the figure in front of her.

"Is that so? No wonder I couldn't find a reservation on Twitter."

The young man who came scratched his head in embarrassment.

"Feel sorry."

The girl refused the other party's request for an audience in the most polite manner possible.

"No, I am the one who disturbed you rashly."

Despite the obvious regret on his face, the young man bowed solemnly.

"But please at least leave this to Pegasus and Sakuya."

After rummaging through the backpack behind him for a while, the young man handed over two amulets.

"I don't know if it will be of any use, but I still asked for it from Katsuma Shrine."

As he spoke, a smile appeared unconsciously on the corner of the young man's mouth.

Ogawa Kana folded her hands in front of her stomach, bowed slightly, and said, "I will pass it on to them."

After seeing the young man off, the black-haired girl sighed softly.

Today alone, we have had four groups of visitors.

As a small farm with only three people, Nishiken simply cannot spare the energy to receive visitors outside of their daily work.

Moreover, racehorses in season are not something to be spectated at.

This is common sense among industry insiders, but among ordinary horse fans and lighter horse racing enthusiasts, a similar understanding does not seem to have been formed.

Although a tweet saying "No irrelevant visitors allowed" has been pinned to the top of "X" a long time ago, the number of visitors has continued to increase in the past few days.

As for the reason, it all started a few days ago.

After the registration for JBC's 2-year-old elite race ended, the Hokkaido Racing Club released a preview video on social media as usual.

At the suggestion of a Wakasha Generations staff member, two runaway horses named Mejiro were used as a publicity gimmick.

The result seemed to spark quite a bit of discussion, and even became a popular video in the horse racing category for a while.

After that, the popularity of Mejiro Baima and Mejiro Sakuya, which was already higher than that of ordinary local racehorses, continued to rise and reached a point where it was out of control.

Someone claiming to be an insider of the camp took the opportunity to announce on the n○tkeiba bulletin board that the two horses were grazing and training at Nishiken Ranch.

As a result, visitors with various purposes began to visit in large numbers.

Although most of them are easy-going scholars like the young man just now, there are also some who are unreasonable.

At times like this, she misses her life in Kentucky even more.

The ranchers there are not so good-tempered.

"A Sheng!"

Back inside the ranch, the girl lazily called out her brother's name.

"What are you doing?"

A somewhat listless response came from the stable.

Due to the recent intensification of training tasks, Xuhe Zhang transferred most of the training work of yearlings and one-year horses to him.

As a result, the already heavy workload suddenly increased to an suffocating level.

As the training became more intense, Medaima's temper worsened to the point where people unconsciously wanted to escape.

Even when taking a shower every day, Ogawa Sheng had already begun to have a vague premonition of hair loss.

This premonition is becoming clearer as time goes by.

"Forget it, I'll do it myself."

Looking at her brother with a "burned out" expression on his face, even Ogawa Kanna couldn't bear to order him around.

Reaching the end of the stable, the girl stood on tiptoe.

Then, two new members were added to the fence full of amulets.

"He's truly a guy that people love."

Looking at the densely packed amulets, the anger in my heart dissipated a little.

After the address was exposed, he received many gifts from fans.

Although there were toys and grass and other things, most of the gifts were amulets expressing the hope for safety.

Unlike trainer Tanaka, who declared that "not striving for victory means failure", most fans hope for a "smooth finish".

The cool breeze from the stable blew across the girl's face, making her bangs a little messy.

On an autumn afternoon, the sunlight lazily streamed into the wooden lattice window like filtered aged whiskey.

The deer-hair horse's body sank into the soft hay, its abdomen rising and falling slowly with its breathing, and its eyelashes occasionally trembling slightly.

After hanging up the amulet, Ogawa Kana tiptoed out of the stable.

On the other side, after completing a round of inspection, Xuhe Sheng also walked towards the grazing ground.

"Ah, did you get so dirty again today?"

As expected, the reed-haired guy who was grazing alone had exhausted himself to the point that his entire body had to be washed.

"Pegasus!"

He picked up the leash and walked towards the grazing area dedicated to Mudaiba, and at the same time quietly added bathing the other party to the next itinerary.

When the fence was opened, the white horse came running over happily.

Then, he successfully rubbed Ogawa Katsuya all over his body with dust.

"Okay, it's not too late to act coquettishly later."

He patted the equally dirty head of the reed horse and successfully fastened the traction rope.

Before leaving the grazing ground, the white horse's furry little ears suddenly stood up.

Then, under Ogawa Masaru's somewhat nervous gaze, he rubbed his body against the railing.

"Just leave the tickling to me."

With a sigh of relief, Xu Hesheng scratched Mu Baitian's lower lip on the way to collect the herds.

The reed-haired horse immediately snorted, as if expressing disdain for the boy's massage skills.

But soon, she tilted her head and rubbed her wet upper lip against Ogawa Katsu.

When he arrived at the bathroom, Ogawa Katsu's shirt was already covered by the rich scent of grass.

Taking a shower after that was still a struggle.

After being tortured to exhaustion, he finally managed to send Mu Tianma back to the stable.

“Thank you for your hard work—”

At this time, Kana Ogawa, who was squatting at the door of the stable in a posture that was completely unladylike, handed over a can of Coke.

"Is there any laxative in it?"

Ogawa Masaru took the Coke with a skeptical look on his face.

Even in such a tired state, he still remained vigilant towards his biological sister.

This is the lesson he learned after paying many painful prices.

At least for now, Medairo is still only ranked second on the threat list.

The position of number one has been firmly held by Kana Ogawa for more than a decade.

"Tsk, forget it if you don't want it—"

Ogawa Kana's expression suddenly turned cold.

I was kind enough to prepare a Coke for my stupid brother, but this guy didn't know how to appreciate it!

Next time, I'll use room temperature miso soda to play the trick.

"Who said no!"

Xuhe Sheng subconsciously protected the Coke, unscrewed the can and took a sip with a fearless attitude.

"Huh? It's actually just regular Coke—"

Surprised, the boy looked down at Ogawa Kanna's cold face.

This is a little bit bad.

In the stable cubicle, Muduima, whose hair had become light and fluffy after taking a bath, poked his head out.

Then, as usual, it roared and threatened Ocean Fleet2024 on the other side.

Chapter 59 Towards the Autumn Finale

In November, a noticeable chill was already spreading across Hokkaido.

Pushing open the window, the Shinka Mountain in front of me has wiped away the last ochre and burnt brown of autumn, and the top of the mountain is wrapped in a white that is not real like gauze.

In the silent air, the air conditioner made a clanging sound as it fought against the cold.

Standing in front of the mirror, Kitano skillfully put on the suit he had become accustomed to.

The morning chill mercilessly stimulated the exposed skin on the back of the neck, and the remaining sleepiness was quickly dispelled.

Today is the day when JBC’s 2-year-old Youjun is released.

A conspicuous white breath came out of his mouth.