Hokkaido Horse Racing Story.

Chapter 138 Ranch Purchase
In the early morning, Shin-Hidaka Town was filled with a layer of granular mist.

The air during the rainy season sticks to my skin, and I feel a damp chill permeating my entire body almost as soon as I open the car door.

People here are more accustomed to calling it "gas" rather than fog, and it is also a unique feature of the Hidaka area.

Kitano put on the bowler hat in his hand and bowed slightly to the people behind him.

"I'll leave it to you today."

The purchasing group, consisting of real estate appraisers and livestock law specialists, also responded.

The German hoof trimmer with messy blond hair blinked in confusion as if he was still asleep.

As the only full-time member of Mejiro Shoji besides Kitano, he naturally cannot escape occasions like today.

but--

Even Zep couldn't say what purpose his coming here would serve.

After Grandma Gaocun fell ill, the outside world believed that it was only a matter of time before the ranch was closed.

Generally speaking, the first to take action are the operators of large ranches.

They rarely miss any good grazing land.

Mr. Takamura's original plan was to close the ranch and sell it as a large ranch for training or grazing.

However, the big operators are unusually uninterested in Gaocun Ranch.

The southern extension of the Hidaka Mountains surrounds the pasture on both sides, and the grazing land is cut into two discontinuous parts by the rolling hills.

Although the nearby Gunmai River provides convenient water access, for large ranches, the geographical limitations on expansion are more worthy of consideration.

Although they visited several times to inquire about quotes, most large ranch operators chose to wait and see for the time being.

For Kitano, the downsides of expansion are not a problem, at least in the short term.

The 9.5-hectare pasture area seems too crowded for the operators of large ranches, but it is just acceptable for Mejiro Shoji, which currently has only two full-time employees.

After several talks with Takamura and on-site inspections, Kitano thought this would be a good deal.

The ranch is conveniently located, connected to the Ushun Romantic Street via the Minowa Bridge, and there are also round-trip buses to Tomakomai within the town.

The quotation proposed by Gaocun was also very reasonable, and even including the investment in subsequent reconstruction, it was within his affordability.

However, before the formal negotiations began, Kitano commissioned several specialized appraisal agencies, including the Hokkaido Livestock Asset Appraisal Agency, to conduct on-site surveys and assessments of the ranch.

The results of the evaluation also made both Kitano and Takamura breathe a sigh of relief.

Although the shape of the Gaocun Ranch's land is not ideal, other aspects such as road accessibility, deep well water quality, sewage discharge capacity and winter snow removal costs all meet the RSI (Pasture Survival Index) standard values.

So today's negotiations took place.

Kitano and the acquisition team walked side by side towards the ranch, with Zep chasing after them.

At the entrance of the ranch, a plump man in his thirties or forties was already standing there waiting.

Unlike the general impression of lawyers as tough and tough, Takamura gives people the impression of being more amiable.

"Good morning, Mr. Takamura."

Kitano nodded slightly in greeting.

Mr. Takamura smiled and responded softly.

After obtaining permission, the acquisition team dispersed and began to assess the specific value of the ranch.

Kitano followed Takamura, took off his shoes at the entrance, and walked into the house, chatting while waiting for the results of the formal evaluation.

Takamura brewed black tea for the two guests, then gently patted Grandma Takamura who was sitting on the sofa.

"Mother, Mr. Kitano is here."

He almost shouted into Grandma Gaocun's ear.

Grandma Gaocun nodded blankly and didn't say anything.

Kitano walked up to her and bowed to greet her, but Grandma Takamura also seemed to have no reaction.

"I'm sorry, my mother has become increasingly slow to respond to the outside world. Even I find it difficult to speak to her for more than a few words a day."

Gaocun smiled apologetically and made a cup of tea for Gaocun's grandmother and himself.

"It would be great if the ranch could be handed over to Mr. Kitano."

The defense lawyer's face showed no trace of nostalgia, but instead an expression of almost relief.

Kitano was not surprised by this.

Not everyone from a horse racing family can accept the way the horse racing industry treats horses. Takamura was one of those who became completely disillusioned and considered leaving the industry.

Because of this, he seemed to have had a big fight with the late Mr. Takamura.

The topics mentioned in the casual conversation between the two sides often deliberately avoided topics related to horse racing.

After a while, the acquisition team reported the results of the evaluation to Kitano.

Since there have been multiple rounds of surveys beforehand, this time is actually just the final confirmation similar to the insurance mechanism.

In terms of time, it was also much faster than the previous times.

"The stables, consisting of twelve double-row stables, are in relatively good condition, but considering the wooden structure, the price is quite high."

As an old ranch with a history of nearly 50 years, the maintenance condition of Gaocun Ranch surprised the real estate appraiser.

However, in order to lower the price for his employer, he still tried to point out some shortcomings.

Kitano quietly listened to the acquisition team's experts' assessment and asked, "Are there any other points that haven't been explained?"

The experts all shook their heads.

So he turned his head and looked at Gaocun again.

"In that case, let's sign the contract."

Although it is called a negotiation, in fact both parties are ready to sign the contract today.

The price was agreed upon early on and was slightly lower than the market valuation of 1.9 million yen.

In exchange, Takamura made a request—

Continue to adopt two retired horses from the ranch, including Aru-chan.

Kitano readily agreed to this.

"Then, the introduction is established."

Of course, the acquisition process is not that simple.

After signing the contract, it is necessary to submit a change permit for the livestock business entity to the Hokkaido local agricultural bureau within the specified time.

In addition, due to changes in farm type and representative, updated farm information needs to be submitted to JRA and NAR.

The registration of farmland conversion and business license also takes a considerable amount of time to review by the Agricultural Committee of Shin-Hidaka Town.

Even if Kitano completes the capital increase of the contract company ahead of schedule and uses an asset acquisition method that is as simple as possible and avoids continuous debt, it will take at least four weeks to complete the acquisition process.

There is no way we can catch up with this year's breeding season.

But, it's not that depressing.

To look at it another way, there is still a whole year to prepare for the next breeding season.

Plus, there’s more than one thing to do in the summer.

During a meeting a few days ago, WJS [Taketoyo Team] leader Taketoyo himself invited Kitano to be a guest at the Japan station.

In its first year, this global series, which features twelve of the world's top riders, encountered many difficulties.

In addition to receiving far less attention than expected, they also received very little support.

Jockey clubs in various countries are generally not interested in this event organized spontaneously by riders, and some even oppose it.

On social media, industry critics and the like have largely scoffed at the idea.

In comparison, the lack of funds raised for the event is not a big problem.

After careful consideration, Kitano made a suggestion that surprised Taketoyo.

In addition to his participation in the WJS Japan event as a guest, Mejiro Shoji will also provide sponsorship and promotional assistance for the event.

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[@MejiroShoji:

Full-time employee√ Part-time employee√ Trainee√
[Global Recruitment]

——(Same as) MEJIRO Shoji Formula
　Thanks to the Magic Dragon Durin for the 100 starting coins reward

　　Thank you for your support

　　Ciallo～(∠ω<)⌒★
　　I originally planned to put the recruitment information of Mejiro Ranch at the end of the article, but for everyone's reading experience, I will list it separately and put it in the work-related information volume.
　　If you are interested, you can go and have a look

　　
　
(End of this chapter)