Hokkaido Horse Racing Story

“As for the cost, there is no problem.”

Kitano nodded, then returned his gaze to the tablet.

"But is one layover rest enough?"

The long-distance transport of racehorses carries various risks, the most likely of which is "transport fever".

This is a flu-like illness caused by fatigue during transportation.

According to JRA statistics, the probability of a racehorse developing a fever due to long-distance transportation is 10% within 18 hours of the start of transportation, 20% after 24 hours, and 25% after 26 hours after arriving at the destination.

If you suffer from transport fever, not only will you be unable to participate in training or competition immediately after transportation, but in severe cases it may even worsen into life-threatening pneumonia.

From a veterinary perspective, the way to deal with transport heat is to minimize the time of each transport.

As a veterinarian, Kitano is naturally aware of this.

"Ah, don't worry about that. The distance of each transport is planned, and the rest period is more than enough."

As he spoke, Fu Gong tapped the tablet again.

The transportation routes have been made more detailed, and there are even hypothetical diagrams showing how the fatigue status of racehorses changes over time.

It does look quite reliable.

"Then there's no problem on my end."

Kitano turned his gaze towards the location of the transport vehicle.

Several stable boys were pulling Mejiro Sakuya onto the carriage with the help of the transport truck driver.

It didn't take much effort to complete this task.

"This kid shouldn't be on the expedition for the first round anymore, right?"

Putting the tablet away, Shikimiya raised his head with a smile.

"No, at least this is the first time for long-distance transportation."

Kitano shook his head, and the expression on his face became slightly brighter.

It seems that the transportation will proceed a little more smoothly.

Putting on the hood of his coat, he walked towards the transport truck.

"Finish!"

After fastening the leash, stable attendant Kobayashi wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Inside the carriage, Mejiro Sakuya quickly calmed down.

He even tilted his ears slightly forward and gave a short neigh as if to greet the other racehorse accompanying the transport.

Kitano just looked on in silence, and the cold wind blowing past his face seemed to become less aggressive.

Holding the edge of the carriage, Kobayashi, the stable attendant, made an "OK" gesture.

Several reporters from the Hokkaido Racing Association raised their cameras.

“Please don’t use flash.”

On the side, Tanaka, who was wearing a mask, reminded.

At this time, the blue LED light indicating the transportation status lit up in the car.

Whether it is a closed dark environment or a brightly lit environment, it may cause racehorses to feel uneasy about the environment.

In this case, most experienced transport companies will use relatively soft LED lights to ease their emotions.

The tailgate slowly closed with the sound of camera clicks.

In the passenger seat, Shikimiya played soft music.

The transport truck moved slowly, and Kitano subconsciously followed it and jogged a few steps.

After realizing what he was doing, he quickly sighed and stopped.

Then, wave your arms toward the shrinking silhouette in front of your sight.

Sure enough, I'm still a little worried.

The cold wind blowing through the stables kept hitting the water pipes, making a high-pitched sound.

Countless white chips fell from the gray sky.

Snowing.

Turning around, Kitano quickened his pace and walked towards the stables.

"Goal? Just do your best. If you run at your own pace, you should be able to do well."

In front of the stable door, Tanaka was being interviewed by reporters.

"Two thousand wins is a very close number. Have you ever thought about achieving this goal in an important game?"

A reporter asked.

"It's impossible to say I haven't had such thoughts, but at this stage, the priority is to continue to advance the work at hand."

A strong wind blew, and Tanaka's gaze towards the camera changed subtly.

After expressing his gratitude, the reporter put away his camera.

As he passed by Kitano, he smiled friendly.

After finishing the interview, Tanaka looked a little tired.

"Thank you for your hard work."

Kitano said.

"No, for a horse trainer, this is still within the scope of his duties."

Shaking his head, Tanaka pointed in the direction of the stable.

"Let's talk about the rest inside."

In addition to long-distance transportation matters, there are also discussions on the route of the white horse race.

Although some brief discussions had been held last month, the specific route plan was postponed to today.

After entering the lounge, the temperature warmed up a little.

Rubbing his fingers that were a little stiff from the cold, Kitano exhaled a puff of white air.

As long as you move a little, the morning chill will sneak in through the gaps in your clothes.

This is exactly the weather in Hokkaido in winter.

"For Pegasus, this year's season has ended."

Tanaka rubbed his hands as well and nodded.

"Next year, the first game will be against the future star Kitanihon."

It has been more than five months since the last time I went out in early November.

For racehorses, such a long rest period is likely to seriously affect their condition during the race.

But if the target is Pegasus, I can feel a little more at ease.

Moreover, due to the winter snowfall, the Menbetsu Racecourse has been closed since mid-December and will not reopen until April of the following year.

Even if there are a very small number of racehorses that will recover their form by traveling to other racecourses in advance, it is mostly for the purpose of preparing for transfer.

"Next up is the Beidou Cup."

As the first stage of the Daoying Triple Crown, the 1600-meter Beidou Cup is also within the range of Mudai Baima.

Next year, the secondary prize of the Stallion Series Beidou Cup will be the "Qizi Award" which has been continued since 21 years.

The winning horse owner will receive the breeding rights to the stallion “Qi Zi Hao” provided by BSS for the next year.

The real challenge lies in the second level.

Beihai Youjun, the range is an unknown 2000 meters.

Since the South Kanto Triple Crown was upgraded in 2023, the winner of the Beihai Youjun will no longer have the priority to leave the Hokkaido region of the Japanese Clay Derby.

Although this has reduced some of the appeal of horse racing to other regions as a local-national exchange reward, the competition within the discipline is still fierce.

"In the winter, I want to try to focus on endurance training."

It is impossible to say that Tanaka has no ideas about Beihai Youjun next year.

However, many owners of strong two-year-old horses have recently expressed their intention to relocate them to South Kanto.

In this case, Medairo Boku is likely to become the representative of the stable's classic year line next year.

To this end, Tanaka slowly weaved a winter training plan in his mind.

"So, if possible, how about Pegasus staying here in the stables during the winter?"

At Nishiken, training was starting to become difficult.

In preparation for the coming winter, the time devoted to Medaima will become even more limited.

Such a discussion took place between Ogawa Jō and Kitano a few days ago.

After a brief consideration, Kitano nodded.

"Just do it."

Chapter 71 A Small Storm in the Morning

I opened my eyes and saw the electronic clock on the wall showing [05:30].

As if unaware of the cold outside the quilt, Ochiai sat up from the bed.

It was still dim outside the window.

As the winter solstice approaches, the sun appears later and later.

It quietly peeked out from the east, streaked across the sky, and then quietly sank.

The nights thus became longer.

In such an environment, getting up is quite difficult.

I changed my clothes at least twice as fast as usual, my teeth chattering the whole time.

Although he was arbitrarily given the title of "Ice General", he is actually a cold-resistant and skilled warrior.

Of course, for someone from Aichi Prefecture, there's nothing to be ashamed of not being good at dealing with the cold.

After washing up with my numb hands from the cold, I went to the hot spring pool in the hotel which is open 24 hours a day.

Today is not a day for drills or competitions.

In order to concentrate on dealing with the huge reward tomorrow, he turned down all the commissions from Menbie in the past few days.

He promised Kitano horse owners that he would give his all to tomorrow's All Japan 2-Year-Old Championship.

At the same time, it is also a commitment to myself.

After changing into a bathrobe, I followed the staff's instructions to the sauna room.

This time, we stayed in a different cheap apartment than the one we stayed in during previous expeditions to Kawasaki.

Mr. Kitano, the horse owner, readily covered the expedition expenses, including accommodation.

The hotel we chose was the "Dormy Inn", which is close to the racecourse and has a natural hot spring.

"It's difficult to offer any support on matters related to horse racing, so we can only try to find solutions from other aspects."

This is what Kitano said at the last meeting.

Every time I recall the scene at that time, my heart is slightly touched.

The sultry steam hit me in the face.

Sitting down on the bench, Ochiai closed his eyes and thought about his strategy for tomorrow's game.

At the 1600-meter left turn at Kawasaki Racecourse, the gate position is Group 7, No. 8.

The gate position is slightly biased to the outside, but it does not have a particularly big impact on Mejiro Sakuya.