Hokkaido Horse Racing Story.

Chapter 55 Tanaka's Concept

It is said that the celebration banquet was often visited by other riders and trainers, and Kitano received a very warm welcome on his first visit.

"cheers!"

Sitting down in the private room, everyone raised their glasses.

The atmosphere is harmonious yet polite.

There will always be people in the world who try to use impolite behavior to show the intimacy of their relationship with others.

But being rude is just being rude, nothing more.

Once the relationship becomes close, getting along with each other will naturally become easier.

As for things like names or actions, they are just a continuation of this.

In order to make up for his mistake of not going to watch the game in person last night, Mr. Kimura took the initiative to perform a stand-up manzai.

Regardless of whether they understood or not, everyone laughed along.

Just then, the barbecue arrived.

Everyone first crowded aside and took a group photo.

After that, not many people actually turned their chopsticks to the expensive barbecue.

The so-called celebration banquet is actually something like this.

Or rather, most banquets in the world are like this.

Everyone was chatting quietly with the people next to them, occasionally raising their glasses.

"JBC turns two next month. With Sakuya's abilities, maybe we can give it a try."

Halfway through the banquet, Tanaka suddenly lowered his voice and spoke into Kitano's ear.

Like spies exchanging information.

Kitano looked sideways.

Tanaka didn't look like he was joking, and his eyes looked very serious as he held the wine glass.

As the person involved, he stretched out his chopsticks at this time.

He went around the neatly cut fish fillet and grabbed the snow-white radish underneath.

When reviewing the game last night, a vague idea emerged in Tanaka's mind.

To do this, he repeated the video over and over again.

Then, such thoughts began to spread like weeds.

"It seems we can give it a try."

Although it was not certain how confident he was, he did not even have time to prepare reasons that would be enough to convince the horse owner.

But it was brought up anyway.

For Tanaka, this is a rare opportunity.

He must hold on tightly to things that are more important than grades, money, and reputation.

Those things that have supported him in sticking to his job as a horse trainer for twenty years.

"Sorry, just treat it as nonsense."

Tanaka took a deep breath and continued, "But Sakuya does have such talent."

The surroundings suddenly became quiet.

The horse owner, the producer, the rider, the stable boy, everyone looked at Tanaka.

"Let's see what the situation is like then."

Kitano hesitated.

A one-month interval between races is naturally not a problem for normal horse racing.

But when it comes to Mejiro Sakuya, who suffers from Stringhalt, it inevitably adds a bit of uncertainty.

He looked at Xuhe Zhang.

Although I have veterinary training, I still have to seek advice from other professionals when it comes to things like conditions.

After a brief thought, the old man nodded.

"Then Sakuya, you can try this direction first."

In the end, Kitano gave a relatively positive answer.

"And Pegasus, too."

Then, Tanaka said something that surprised everyone.

In the Future Stars competition, Mudashi Baima, who was ranked third in popularity before the game, only finished seventh.

At least in terms of the local prize money in Hokkaido, there's not much of a class advantage left. With strong centrally-managed horses leaving for high-paying exchanges, the prospects are far from optimistic.

"Pegasus?"

Even Ochiai, the main rider, had a puzzled look on his face.

As early as the third 1500m Xinguan Town Horse Special, Medaima's range was almost clear.

Given that he barely won the 1500m by relying on his natural instincts and his performance in the major reward race was not up to par, the 1800m JBC2 year old was not a reasonable choice for a second race no matter how you looked at it.

The JBC 2-year-old elite horse event, scheduled to be held on November 3rd, has five runner-up spots allocated to the central and local governments.

This means that even in a class with few trainers, not every stable can send a horse to compete in this event.

And Tanaka will take up two of them at once.

One of them is Mudhime, who doesn't seem to be suitable no matter how you look at it.

At this time, Tanaka had already put down his chopsticks.

"Pegasus will also participate."

he repeated.

"Have you forgotten how we won third place two years ago?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the members of the stable nodded their heads, revealing an expression of "I see".

Even Ogawa Jō and Kimura seemed to have noticed something and looked at Tanaka with meaningful eyes.

It seemed that among all the people present, Kitano, the horse owner, was the only one who was still in the dark.

"Is it the electric rabbit?"

Ogawa Jō tapped the table with his fingertips and pursed his lips slightly.

"Electric Rabbit. If you put it that way, it's indeed a similar tactical concept."

Tanaka turned his gaze to Kitano: "However, the final decision still lies with Mr. Kitano."

"me?"

Kitano, who was looking down to guess what the tactics of "Electric Rabbit" were, raised his head.

"Yes."

Tanaka took out his phone and clicked on a video.

The video was not unfamiliar; it was the recording of the Future Stars' match last night.

Tanaka clicked play.

"At a relatively fast overall pace, Sakuya ran very comfortably."

After the video was over, Tanaka spoke.

Kitano nodded.

He could still see a little bit about this.

“But by the time JBC turns two, there’s no guarantee it will be a rhythm similar to last night’s.”

Kitano nodded again.

He was naturally aware of this.

The overall pace of the race is determined partly by the lead horse and partly by the willingness of the horses behind to follow.

"So if you want to increase your chances of success, you need to try your best to guide the match to a rhythm that suits Sakuya."

As of now, this is not even a theory.

However, similar practical experience had already occurred two years ago.

In the 2023 JBC 2-Year-Old Excellent Horse, in addition to the original stable ace Black Butler, Tanaka also sent another less popular horse to participate for various reasons.

"Make Black Butler's run as comfortable as possible."

This was the instruction Tanaka gave to Iwahashi, the rider of the horse at that time.

Deyuan, the horse owner, also agreed to this approach.

In the end, Black Butler finished third behind only the two central horses with popularity among the top five horses in the race.

And this time, he saw the possibility of going a step further.

"So, Pegasus will be in charge of creating a rhythm that suits Sakuya, right?"

Kitano asked.

Several people, including Tanaka, nodded at the same time.

(End of this chapter)