Hokkaido Horse Racing Story.

Chapter 208: Morning in Saga

"First up in the morning is the 400-meter wildebeest training. I'll be in charge of Noah's horse physical exam."

Swiping his finger across the tablet screen, Hattori quickly completed the plan for today's training, took a screenshot and sent it to the stable attendant.

"learn."

The cell phone rang, and the dark-skinned stable boy glanced at it and nodded.

"By the way, does that kid want to try the wildebeest track too?"

"No, that's not necessary."

Hattori waved his hand, the corners of his lips raised confidently.

"That child's development level—it's a full 120 points!"

Usually, the level of development of two-year-old horses sent directly from non-Shetai ranches is often unbearable to watch.

Not to mention ability tests, even normal level of training in a short period of time is impossible.

Especially for breeding horses from small ranches, they have to spend several months in the stable after entering the stable to make up for the basic training such as wildebeest field, bit and saddle, rein operation, etc. that should have been completed on the ranch.

This situation is actually similar whether in Hokkaido or Saga.

Even some two-year-old horses that are declared to be fully bred often need extra time to fill in the gaps in the basics after entering the stable.

It can be said that these "semi-finished products" from small ranches are the hot potatoes that horse trainers are most worried about.

Do not--

To be frank, it's not even a semi-finished product.

In contrast, racehorses transferred from South Kanto or even Central Japan not only have a certain guarantee of strength, but also save possible additional training time.

Of course, new trainers usually don't have much to do with such good things.

"Okay, let's get to work."

Putting away the tablet, Hattori walked towards the still deserted stable.

"If the number is smaller than others, then try to spend more time on each one."

With this awareness, he carefully checked the condition of each horse and finally stopped in front of the stable door at the end of the corridor.

With a grin on his face, the trainer looked inside and asked gently, "Good morning, Noah. How are you feeling today?"

As if he understood the trainer's greeting, Mejiro Noah twitched his ears.

The deer-hair horse took a light step forward with its front hoof, and then began to stretch in the center of the stable.

"Hey, hey, be careful not to hurt yourself."

Hattori couldn't help but laugh.

At this time, the Indian stable boy also came over with a racehorse that had a practice schedule.

The two of them worked together to fasten the abdominal belt and then began to install the saddle.

After everything was ready, the stable boy fastened his helmet and climbed onto the horse's back.

At the beginning, Hattori would also try to practice riding by himself.

However, nowadays, such work can basically only be handed over to stable attendants or riders in other stables.

After leaving the stables, the view gradually opens up, and the rolling hills outside the racecourse are dotted with lush greenery.

If there is anything really worth boasting about the Saga Racecourse in the mountains, it is probably only that the environment is quite good.

On the practice track, several horses were preparing to practice the gates.

Maybe there will be an opponent for Noah's debut battle——

Thinking of this, the horse trainer couldn't help but slow down his pace.

"Sorry, you go first."

"I understand. Then I will start practicing right away."

After watching the man and horse walk into the fence of the wildebeest field, Hattori turned his gaze back to the gate in front of him.

“Oh eh—”

A stable boy who was acting as the starter shouted in a serious tone.

however--

When the gate opened at a much slower pace than usual, the three two-year-old horses in practice were still startled and took a few steps back. The trainers and stablemen on the sidelines burst into laughter.

It was not until the riders urged them with a smile that the three obviously immature racehorses hesitantly stepped out of the gate.

"One wave, twenty-one seconds and three seconds—"

The stable boy standing at the furlong pole clicked the timer on his cell phone and shouted out the number.

"At least it got out of the gate smoothly."

"When the gate opened, my back suddenly became stiff."

"Haha, I feel the same way."

"Hey - Hattori, you are here to gather information, right?"

At this time, a trainer waved to Hattori and asked half-jokingly.

"How despicable! They're already using tactics before the Xinma War even begins."

"That's right, you have to treat us to lunch as an apology."

"Okay, enough joking around. We still have a second practice session later."

The gray-haired horse trainer smiled and waved his hand, stopping the spread of the situation in time.

"How about slowing down the speed at which the gate opens?"

"If it's any slower, it won't even count as training."

“I think the key is the sound.”

Even as Hattori left the practice walkway and headed for the corner horse arena in the center of the racecourse, the trainers and stable boys were still discussing the gate training that had just taken place.

"What's going on, Hattori-sensei?"

Inside the arena, the stable attendant who had already started training asked casually without even looking up.

"Should be. You can try the fifth ability test at the end of the month."

[The foot is too soft, resulting in insufficient explosive power, making it impossible to achieve a stable and quick start after the gate.]

This is the section about gate training in the thick stack of breeding reports sent from the ranch along with the pedigree and other information.

however--

The standards used by Mejiro Ranch, which is responsible for breeding, seem to be different from normal ones.

At least, that's what Hattori, who watched Mejiro Noa, then known as Hoshifune, practice on the spot, thought.

After the morning practice, an inspection officer from the NAR visited the stables.

Hattori nervously led Mejiro Noah from the stable to the open space outside the stable.

This is his first time going through this step as a trainer.

"Xiaobai has a broken nose and a white left front hoof."

Comparing the characteristic information on the pedigree book, the inspector kept muttering as if he were speaking in a different language.

"Okay, the characteristics are confirmed."

The moment the pedigree was put down, the new trainer, who was sweating coldly on the side, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The samples for blood type testing were delivered yesterday.

However, it took several days for the results to come out.

At that time, the deer-haired horse named Mejiro Noa was truly allowed to enter the Hattori stables.

"If you're not a Kyushu horse, you won't be able to register for some racewalking events. Please be aware of this."

Before leaving, the inspecting officer did not forget to give a reminder.

"I'm causing you trouble."

Hattori bowed like a real estate salesman, and only straightened up slowly after the inspecting official completely disappeared from his sight.

Then he pulled up the leash and said, "Come on, Noah, let's go back."

Without getting impatient due to the long wait, the deer-hair horse took a step forward very obediently.

　Chapter 2: Late
　　
　
(End of this chapter)