Hokkaido Horse Racing Story.

Chapter 134 Farewell in the Rainy Season
The time has come to June 11, the day when the second stage of Daoying Triple Crown - Beihai Youjun starts.

The experience of watching racecourses is particularly poor at this time of year.

In addition to the high temperatures in summer, humid weather is also a big problem.

Various places have entered the plum rain season.

Hokkaido is no exception.

However, the "Ezo plum rain" often mentioned by the locals is actually an atypical plum rain phenomenon.

Experts in the news give popular science lectures on this point almost every year.

Of course, there are still only a few people who can readily change the name after being called that for so many years.

"Even if it's not the plum rain season, you can still call it that."

This is the view of most Taoists.

There is a subtle difference from the sauna-like rainy season experience on Honshu Island. The feeling in Hokkaido is like a freezer with the door open.

From this point of view, the Ezo plum rain is indeed quite different from the traditional plum rain.

And today is the plum rain weather predicted by the weather forecast.

However, the 60% chance of rain did not materialize.

In the early afternoon, the sky was already a caramel color.

But no raindrops fell until night fell.

At eight o'clock in the evening, the temperature dropped below 20 degrees Celsius.

After entering the arena, Kitano still felt a subtle sense of heat.

When greeting the riders during the parade, I sensed a similar feeling in their eyes.

Maybe it's due to psychological factors.

However, those lights that are as bright as daylight are indeed emitting heat continuously.

On the way to Chairman Ma's seat, he signed his name on Mejiro Sakuya's poster several times at the request of fans.

After returning to the racecourse after several months, the atmosphere seemed a little different.

The silhouettes in the stands are no longer uniform images of drunks of similar age and wearing similar clothes, but a slightly chaotic mix of men, women, young and old.

Kitano doesn't think of himself as a celebrity, but most people here greet him as if they already know him.

Unable to tell who was who, I had to respond to everyone I could.

Finally arriving at the horse owner's seat, Kitano cast his eyes towards the track before he even sat down.

In the sight, Baima had already entered the gate facing the cool breeze.

I learned from Master Tanaka that the tactic of leading the release will still be adopted tonight.

If you position yourself too far back, you may not be able to accelerate in the straight line.

Although they can rely on Rugo to conserve their physical strength, both trainer Tanaka and main rider Ochiai have such concerns.

"Although it's a big reward for a local exchange, the opponents are basically the same guys from the Beidou Cup. There hasn't been much change in terms of strength."

"So if possible, it's better to choose a safer tactic."

At the pre-race meeting, the trainer and the rider put forward similar ideas.

Despite a winter of intensive training, Tanaka was still unsure about how Medaipei would perform in the unknown 2000-meter distance.

Thinking of this, Kitano couldn't help but think of Ma Hanya's model that analyzed the suitability of horse racing venues and distances based on cadence and stride length.

At this point, he could only pray that the distance suitability item with the question mark followed by an upward arrow on Baima's panel had grown to a level sufficient to cope with the current game.

"Good evening, Mr. Kitano."

Ogawa Jō, wearing a casual suit, hurried over, followed by the siblings Ogawa Masaru and Ogawa Kanna.

"Good evening, Mr. Ogawa."

Kitano nodded slightly in greeting.

"Would it be convenient to talk after the race?" After returning from Australia, Kitano registered a livestock contract company with a capital of one million yen, whose main business was "horse racing production".

In addition, when registering, he also added two business categories: R (service industry) and H (accommodation industry, catering service industry).

Compared with KK (Co., Ltd.), which is more popular in the horse racing world today, contract companies, which are further products of limited companies, have obvious advantages in terms of cost and tax burden.

As for the disadvantages of contract companies, such as difficulty in financing and borrowing, and difficulty in expanding their scale, these were not a big deal for Kitano. Anyway, he had no intention of operating on a large scale from the beginning.

Of course, the funds and breeding mare resources on hand did not support him to do so.

The name of the club is [Mejiro Shoji].

Although it has the same name as the former Mejiro Shoji, in fact, "Shin Mejiro Shoji" is just like the American "Horse Breeder", in a state of being an empty shell that does not live up to its name.

"Of course, no problem. I also want to know what Kitano-kun saw and heard in Gouzhou."

Xuhe Zhang agreed with a smile.

"The 54th Hokkaido Derby, a Grade 1 race in Hokkaido, featuring the 'Wind Rises' event, a 2,000-meter race with nine horses."

After the gate popped open, the live broadcast sound finally came from the radio.

"Game start!"

In the straight line extending towards the stands, the gray-white horse body was the first to emerge from the gate of No. 6.

All kinds of noisy sounds rang in his ears, and Kitano's mouth, which had been unconsciously pursed, relaxed slightly.

Then, the heartbeat in my chest began to quicken.

As everyone expected, Baima adopted the leading strategy.

Although the opponent near the fifth gate shifted slightly to the outside in the direction of Medaima after leaving the gate, it did not seem to cause any interference to Ashima.

There were not many participating horses, and there were no other escaped horses to grab the leading position, so the Reed Horse quickly gained the upper hand.

"It doesn't seem very intense."

Ochiai checked with his peripheral vision and saw that although a few horses were trying to move to the inside, other than that the initial stage was not very intense.

"Want to try slowing down now?"

He rejected the idea as soon as it came up.

Besides bad timing, slowing down on the straights is also easily noticed by other riders.

If their intentions are discovered, they will become the passive party.

Therefore, apart from leaning slightly to the inside to prepare for the turn, Ochiai did not make many movements with his hands.

"Probably a more even pace."

In the absence of a reference, the judgment of the game rhythm becomes somewhat uncertain.

When passing in front of the stands, the horses behind became a little impatient because of the noise.

As a result, after the white horse started, the gap of less than one horse length was about to be caught up.

However, before Ochiai could urge him on, the approaching riders all slowed down their pace on their own initiative.

"It seems that trick may not work."

Ochiai was not surprised by this.

This is what is called magic.

No matter how magical it is, there is a risk of being discovered after repeated use.

but--

Even without his pace magic, Meda Hirama would still have won the race.

He has unwavering trust in his partner.

Pegasus will not lose a match of this magnitude.

(End of this chapter)