Hokkaido Horse Racing Story

Xu Hesheng curled his lips imperceptibly, feeling somewhat disdainful of the hypocritical flattery among people in society.

Then, I felt reluctant to leave.

As the ranch representative, Ogawa Jō was giving final instructions to the trainer and accompanying riders.

This is commonly known as the instruction manual submission ceremony.

"This child has a very smart mind, but can be a bit stubborn at times, so please don't hesitate to be strict with him or crack the whip if necessary."

"Smart but stubborn? Got it."

Tanaka pulled a palm-sized notepad from his pocket and quickly wrote something on the blank page.

"remember."

Rider Ochiai nodded somewhat coldly.

"I already have a general understanding of the situation."

Closing the notebook, Tanaka nodded.

"Mr. Kitano, could you please go over there and talk for a moment?"

He pointed to a spot a little further away.

The Xuhe siblings, who were playing eye contact, stopped and looked at their father with some concern.

"no problem."

Kitano followed Tanaka with a normal expression.

"Well, I'd like to ask Mr. Kitano, as a horse owner, what he thinks about the production and ranching aspect."

"Especially in terms of training."

Tanaka spoke slowly, carefully choosing his words.

He was vaguely disappointed with Mudashi Kuroba, who was about to join his stable.

At first, I thought that Mr. Kitano, who was said to be a veterinarian, would have chosen a very special horse.

The result was ordinary.

It wasn't the kind of thing that was worth his attention among the more than a hundred racehorses.

However, although he gave up the idea of ​​training the horse himself, he did not want to neglect or offend the "Kitano family" in front of him.

To do this, a solution that is acceptable to both parties must be found.

"Nishiken Ranch?"

Although it was unclear what Tanaka meant, Kitano gave a brief thought and replied pertinently, "Although this is a very new farm in many ways, Mr. Ogawa's abilities are unquestionable, and his attitude is also very responsible."

After getting Kitano's answer, Tanaka felt a little relieved.

"Then, what do you think about letting them continue to be responsible for Mudahima's training?"

Concerned that Kitano, a new owner, wouldn't understand the intricacies of the situation, Tanaka quickly explained, "Look, I manage over a hundred racehorses, and with my abilities, I can only take care of a limited number. Even with the help of assistants and stable boys, I can barely manage the rest."

If you don't have the ability, why do you take on this job?

As if anticipating Kitano's question, Tanaka continued, "Actually, the situation is similar at the local and even central levels. Only the top racehorses are often given the best care."

In other words, Medairo Bokuro is not there, at least not in Tanaka's judgment.

Kitano accepted this fact calmly.

There's nothing surprising about that.

As a veterinarian, he could somewhat empathize with Tanaka's explanation.

He is fully aware of the difficulties of caring for large livestock.

Seeing that Kitano's reaction wasn't as intense as he'd expected, Tanaka breathed a sigh of relief and patted his chest. "Of course, if Mr. Kitano isn't satisfied with the conditions offered by the production ranch, or if he prefers to trust the stables, that's fine too. We'll definitely do our best to take care of him."

Kitano remained skeptical about Tanaka's words "as much as possible".

"And you don't have to worry about the competition at all. Whether it's the route selection or the rider selection, we will do our best to strive for it."

Kitano is also skeptical about how big the "maximum extent" is.

Of course, this sentence is slightly more credible than the previous one.

"Then I'll try to communicate with Mr. Ogawa first."

In the end, Kitano chose to accept Tanaka's proposal.

He was also uneasy about handing over his only racehorse to a trainer who was already responsible for hundreds of racehorses.

At least there are fewer horses on the Nishiken Ranch side.

After finally reaching a consensus, Tanaka breathed a sigh of relief.

"The stables currently have a rider in mind for Medaimaru's main battle, Genta—the guy who came with me. Of course, if you have another rider you're interested in or you know well, we're always open to discuss it."

Tanaka pointed in the direction of Genta Ochiai.

Some serious riders were holding carrot sticks they had taken from the stable, trying to close the distance between themselves and Mu Baima.

"Don't underestimate Xuan Tai's youth. The cumulative number of races he has participated in over the past two years has exceeded 1,500. At least in Menbie, he can be considered a good rider."

In case Kitano expressed doubts about Ochiai's age, Tanaka did not forget to introduce his apprentice.

In fact, long before today, Kitano had secretly looked up relevant information about Trainer Tanaka and Rider Ochiai through software such as "n○tkeiba".

Even as a new horse owner, he would not wait foolishly without taking the initiative to learn any information.

Tanaka certainly didn't lie.

Ochiai, who is only one year older than Kitano this year, has considerable riding experience and is fully worthy of the title of "local strong rider" in terms of strength.

At Monbetsu Racecourse, rider Genta Ochiai's yellow and black grid three-scale sleeves one-round winning suit is also quite famous.

“As for the riders, I have no problem with that at the moment.”

Kitano nodded, accepting Genta Ochiai as Medaipei's main rider.

"That would be great!"

The two simply shook hands, which was considered a preliminary agreement.

After that, the rest is easy.

"Will we continue to be responsible?"

Even though he tried hard to restrain himself, he could not hide the joy on Xuhe Zhang's face.

The production ranch is responsible for the training and conditioning of the racehorses, and the horses are not handed over to trainers and riders until just before the race.

This way of operating is nothing new even today.

But he didn't expect that Kitano would trust his own ranch, which had just opened, so much.

On the other side, Ogawa Katsu was also waving his fists excitedly.

For him, this is also the best outcome.

"Don't you like it?"

Looking down at the radish strips in his hand that he hadn't touched at all, Ochiai scratched his head.

Medaihira made a nasal sound of disgust.

Chapter 8 Debut Plan

Time quickly came to mid-May.

Representative Ogawa, Trainer Tanaka, and Rider Ochiai were gathered together to discuss Mudai Hakuba's debut schedule.

"This bloodline has a lot of experience in dirt racing, and with Pegasus's relatively wide hooves, it shouldn't be a problem tackling other tracks."

As the actual trainer of Mudaiba, Ogawa Jō spoke first.

"How's the horse's growth?"

Tanaka asked.

"Compared to last week, there's no noticeable change in weight."

Ogawa Jō answered hesitantly.

Medaima is a type that is quite picky about food. Apart from apples cut into small pieces, he is not interested in fresh grass, let alone compound feed.

This is exactly what Xuhe Zhang is worried about.

"Xunta, what do you think?"

Without rushing to express his opinion, Tanaka put down the schedule in his hand and turned to ask Ochiai a question.

"The movements are very smooth. Although the flexibility is not too outstanding, there is no extra energy wasted when running."

Ochiai, who had already had several experiences of working with Medairo Baima, quickly gave his own evaluation.

"How's it feeling mentally?"

Tanaka continued to ask.

"He's a somewhat unpredictable type."

After a slight pause, Ochiai continued, "But he's very quick to receive and learn instructions, and he has a very good memory."

"That's it-"

Tanaka nodded, then lowered his head without saying a word and began to think.

"How about trying the 1,000-meter run on the 23rd of this month?"

For those born in March, the end of May is not too early to debut.

And according to the person in charge, the current growth seems to be a bit slow.

Then there is no need to wait for the horse to continue growing.

It is said that horses grow four times faster than humans.

However, as Medaima was born relatively earlier than other horses of the same age, he does not have much advantage in weight.

If you wait any longer, you might end up wasting the last bit of advantage that comes with early birth.

Although it seemed like he was forcing himself to move forward, Tanaka believed that his judgment was still sound.

"We will cooperate well here."

Although he felt that time was a bit tight, Ogawa Jō finally nodded in approval.

"I have no problem here."

Ochiai also agreed very readily.

"Then, let's report this to Mr. Kitano."

Taking out a pen, Tanaka added a new column to the densely packed schedule.

The tripartite discussion ended without Kitano's attendance.

As for Kitano——

He and a middle-aged man in a suit were observing the excrement on the ground intently, like elementary school students completing their holiday insect observation diary.

Merino sheep excrement, to be exact.

"Look, these are undigested milk lumps.

Kitano spread out the excrement and began to explain with a normal expression.

The man in the suit looked a little embarrassed.

"If the milk lumps are small and do not form a serious obstruction in the gastrointestinal tract, the milk lumps will most likely be slowly pushed out with the normal peristalsis of the lamb's intestines and eventually excreted with feces."

Kitano took off his gloves and suddenly stood up and opened the lamb's mouth.

After a quick glance, he let go.

The oral mucosa was normal and there was no abnormality in gait when walking.

The possibility of foot-and-mouth disease infection was preliminarily ruled out.