Hokkaido Horse Racing Story.

Chapter 170: The Victory in Baishajian
On December 29, 2026, the Oi Racecourse, soaked in cold rain, welcomed the largest number of attendees since the 8th year of the Heisei era.

Sixty-two thousand people exceeded the maximum capacity.

This year's competition will still be jointly broadcast by multiple broadcasting stations including Fuji TV, and Fuji TV's live commentator is the usual famous commentator Tatsuya Aoshima.

Following the surging crowd, Kitano struggled to squeeze towards the reviewing ground.

As they were walking on the road with their shoulders almost touching, cheers suddenly broke out not far ahead.

It was a call from Mejiro that nearly broke my eardrums.

When I reached the front of the railing, the deer-colored body of the horse unfolded before my eyes like a scroll.

Amidst the hysterical shouts and crazy cheers, he cast a calm look towards the field.

As their eyes met, the rider nodded slightly.

After taking a deep breath, a subtle emotion that was neither nervous nor relaxed came to my mind.

At this point, seven months had passed since the Kentucky Derby.

After the fierce battle and surgery, Mejiro Sakuya fully recovered and showed her strength in the final chase training, which made the camp very happy.

The anxiety from the outside world was swept away.

"It's just another two thousand meters of chase!"

A horse racing commentator from Dongti Sports even made such a high-profile statement.

Almost the total number of runaway votes for the second and third place, double the popularity of the station, and the favorable gate position of the third place among the eight runaway horses -

With the local horse racing team failing to regain the Tokyo Grand Prix after 20 years of sadness, Wada puffed out his chest and picked up the whip.

At this moment, all distractions unrelated to the game were thrown behind.

Once on horseback, the combination of man and horse is already on a battlefield unrelated to the outside world.

In the Fuji Main TV studio, the camera also cut to Mejiro Sakuya at this moment.

Beneath the bright, curious eyes was a delicate braid of black mane, and below that was a horse's body that looked like a heavy chariot and was completely out of place.

"Sanbanmejiro Sakuya, weight gain or loss of two kilograms."

The commentator, Junko Hosoe, looked at the host, Daisuke Kurata.

"She's been incredibly impressive in all the races since her debut. She even pulled off a stunning comeback victory in the Kentucky Derby as a local mare. This race probably won't be too challenging for her."

Kurata nodded slightly and said with a smile.

"Even though that's what I said, we still can't be careless."

After that, Xijiang began to introduce the next horse to run away.

"Fourth round, secret fire, weight gain or loss of one."

A deer-haired horse with a brown and white star mask followed behind Mejiro Sakuya, its mane wet from the rain clinging to its neck in a messy manner.

Huangshan, who was wearing a black suit, was unable to come back to his senses for a long time and was still staring at the figure in front of him.

It's the same deer hair as then.

It was the same mare as then.

The boundary between reality and memory suddenly melts at this moment.

He slowly withdrew his gaze and nodded deeply to Kitano.

It was not until recently that Kitano learned that Master Arayama had also won the Tokyo Grand Prix when he was a rider.

The trainer at that time was his late father, Trainer Tokuichi Arashiyama.

“As a trainer, the event I most want to win is the Tokyo Grand Prix.”

Kitano saw this kind of thing by chance in a magazine.

Master Huangshan continued to manage and train as usual, burying the thought deep in his heart, as if it had never existed.

It wasn't until the pre-match meeting that the trainer nervously approached Kitano. "President, may I bring my father's portrait with me?"

He naturally would not refuse such a request.

"That way, we'll work even harder to win."

Memory and reality overlap once again at this moment.

After wordlessly patting the trainer's tense shoulders, Kitano turned and walked towards the stands.

Huangshan followed silently behind him, with a hint of red at the corners of his eyes.

During Fuji TV's preview session before the race, everyone, including the special guest trainer Yuichi Fukunaga, thought that Mejiro Sakuya would start the race at the back.

"Back to Mr. Caesar's side, the key to winning the game is to try not to let Mejiro Sakuya get into a position where she can sprint."

After saying this, Hosoe looked at Fukunaga, who was also one of the "Twelfth Generation of Flowers of Jingma School".

"That's true, but I'm not sure how effective this will be against Wada."

Fukunaga nodded slightly and deliberately put on an angry expression.

"After returning from the United States, that guy completely betrayed our Neilan-style riding style."

Amidst the laughter, the guest nicknamed "Great Devil" Hiromasa Sasaki raised this question:

"If there's a mass exodus like the one that happened in the autumn of '22, is there a chance?"

"Well—it's not impossible."

"Yes, yes."

The other guests all smiled and expressed their agreement.

The camera cuts back to the scene, and after adjusting the microphone, Aoshima begins his live commentary of the Tokyo Grand Prix in an excited voice.

"On the day of the final battle on the muddy track, at the Oi Racecourse, the 72nd Tokyo Grand Prix, a world-class event, with a prize of 100 million yen per move."

At this point, Aoshima's speech speed subconsciously became faster.

"This year it's a two-thousand-meter return, a race against eight horses on white sand."

The annual glory horn sounded at this moment, and the starting tower just rose to the top.

The heavy clouds quietly dissipated at some point, and the warm winter sun with a slightly moist breath spread over the track.

After getting off the horse, Chang Wennan, who was in charge of guiding the rider, immediately took off his stuffy top hat, and when the camera turned, he quickly put it back on his head.

The coordinated applause of the 62,000 spectators was perfectly intertwined with the trombones, and in the second half it became an indistinguishable noise.

"The applause almost drowned out the horn sound. Such enthusiastic cheers must have penetrated the clouds and reached everyone in front of the TV!"

"So, regarding the topic just brought up, what do you think about Itatsu?"

After saying that, Aoshima suddenly turned his head and looked at his partner beside him.

"That's right. I think Mr. Caesar might indeed adopt a leading strategy, but Mr. Yokoyama is here too. He and Pijibaru might also cause some trouble today."

"Oh! Is that so? Now, even though Mejiro Sakuya is quite popular in terms of tactics, she actually has to take into account quite a bit of things."

"Yeah, falling behind at the start really puts us in a disadvantageous position. It would be great if we could move up a position or two."

"That's right, the last of the four divisions, the Nanguan Triple Crown Secret Fire and the Goshinmoto Rider, also successfully entered the gate."

"Okay, all eight heads of the 2,000-meter Tokyo Grand Prix have entered the gates. The Grade 1 race on the white sands has begun!"

The gate sprang open before he could finish his words.

Aoshima's eyes widened, just like the spectators in the stands who were exclaiming in surprise.

The next second, the live broadcaster grabbed the microphone and shouted hoarsely: "The game is over!"

(End of this chapter)