Hokkaido Horse Racing Story.

Chapter 221 Farewell to the Well and the Door

On Wednesday, the third week of June, the morning weather forecast indicated a 60 percent chance of rain in Tokyo.

However, the raindrops did not fall.

Despite this, most pedestrians walked hurriedly under the gloomy sky of gray clouds.

But thanks to the rain that was about to fall, there seemed to be fewer passengers on the tram than expected.

This means being able to just barely hold onto the handrails without completely suffocating.

Perhaps because it was only noon, the proportion of horse racing fans on the monorail was not very high.

Even the one or two people who glimpsed through the crowd only greeted me politely with their eyes from a distance.

After getting off the bus in front of the racecourse, Kitano walked towards the north gate of Oi Racecourse with an umbrella.

After greeting them, I received a message from the security guard saying, "The number of applicants for admission has exceeded 60,000."

Cross the pedestrian walkway and the L-Wing stand and stop at the plaza in front of the G stand.

In the center of the square is the TCK mascot statue, which can be considered a tourist attraction. You can vaguely see the bronze statue of Hesek further behind it and the horse racing fans gathered in a circle in front of the statue.

The "STAR LIGHT" sign lit up before my eyes, and people were already leisurely drinking beer at the tables and chairs under the parasols in front of the door.

As we approached the restaurant, horse racing fans kept greeting us from both sides of the road.

"We've won quite a bit since the beginning of last year. President Kitano is truly amazing."

"Keep winning today and this year too."

"Even though I'm a fan of Michi-chan, I'll also be cheering for Sakuya today!"

He took some time to thank the horse racing fans who had sent their support before continuing his walk towards the restaurant.

There weren't many people in the store, and we were seated quickly after queuing.

However, you need to queue up and be seated before you can start ordering, which seems a bit redundant.

Kitano ordered a set meal of teppanyaki grilled meat and three beers, which cost 1720 yen, which was in line with the stereotype of Tokyo.

The price of beer seems a bit expensive compared to other places, but since it’s a rare opportunity, I still tried it anyway.

“If you come to Oi, you must try the beer here.”

I have heard similar words more than once from familiar trainers such as Arashiyama and Majima.

Although, Kitano once suspected that they were just advertising.

After ordering, I found Dr. Kobayashi, the person we had agreed to meet, by the window where I could see the statue in the center of the square. I greeted him and walked over to him.

"At first I thought Kitano-kun would go to Monbetsu's side. After all, the games here are really boring."

After greeting with a smile, Dr. Kobayashi said with a relaxed look.

Apart from Miki Dojo, who is pursuing a three-peat in the tournament with the tragic determination of "even if the opponent is that Mejiro Sakuya", there are no other noteworthy opponents on the list of runners-up for the Emperor's Award today.

Even Mr. Caesar avoided today's game and chose the Mercury Cup as his comeback match after the Saudi Cup.

In the special project of the East Sports University "Emperor's Appreciation Week", the focus of public opinion was all on the suspense of "how will Mejiro Sakuya win?"

"To say it's completely unfun is a bit of an exaggeration."

As a comeback match after a long break, it is normal to have ups and downs in condition.

Of course, the media and most horse racing fans tend to deliberately ignore this point.

As for the camp at the center of public opinion—

Both the trainer, who is always cautious, and the rider, who was already nervous due to the pressure of riding, started preparing for this race very early on.

The preparations of the Mejiro Sakuya camp for the Emperor's Prize are by no means as easy as advertised by the outside world as "another 2,000-meter chase."

"and--"

At this point, Kitano stood up and bowed to Dr. Kobayashi across the table. "Things went so smoothly thanks to the doctor's help."

Let Wu Shi obtain the riding rights through the Tokyo Derby and participate in the Emperor's Prize——

Although we got this opportunity with the support of TCK, we encountered difficulties in the first step.

Including the owner, trainer and rider, there is no horse in the camp that can run in the Tokyo Derby.

At this time, Dr. Kobayashi took the initiative to contact Kitano.

"If you don't mind, how about letting Takeshi ride my horse in the Tokyo Derby?"

Dr. Kobayashi simply waved his hand indifferently regarding his cooperation.

"That kid is always one step short. It would be great if he could take the championship title by riding on Kitano-kun and Takeshi's luck."

"Anyway, thank you very much for your help."

"Haha, it's just a small matter."

The two chatted for a while before finally getting Kitano's number to pick up his meal.

"How's that kid from the auction a few days ago?"

After looking around as if he was on guard against something, Dr. Kobayashi asked in a low voice with a mysterious look on his face.

Putting the plate on the table, Kitano smiled helplessly.

"If it were a running race, that kid probably wouldn't win a single one."

"The child the doctor bought can at least demonstrate the strength between the local reward and the exchange reward."

Dr. Kobayashi immediately smiled and patted Kitano on the shoulder.

"After all, when you praise someone, you should at least give them the compliments of a Derby horse—"

"Eight thousand Derby horses every year are already a lot. In comparison, wouldn't it be more impressive to win the Summer Championship with a Kyushu horse?"

"That's true, then. From now on, I'll have to tell everyone I meet, 'This is the horse that President Kitano has identified as the one that will win the big prize.'"

"Please forgive me for this kind of thing."

"By the way, didn't any of Kitano-kun's staff come along?"

"They all ran to the door."

Having said that, Kitano paused and took a sip of beer.

I don't know if it's because the weather is too hot, but it does taste better than ordinary beer.

As for the teppanyaki part——

In comparison, the Genghis Khan barbecue in Menbetsu, which is served with bean sprouts as a side dish, does not seem so unacceptable.

The two of them spent a lot of time chatting until the meal was over.

However, as the number of horse fans dining began to increase, they moved to the horse owners' lounge.

I took a short nap in the air-conditioned room until I heard a short vibration from my phone.

The expedited order of hay balers arrived.

After sending a reminder message to the ranch group, he stretched and looked at his wrist.

There is still some time before the Tokyo Derby, which will serve as a warm-up for the Emperor Award.

However, at the invitation of Dr. Kobayashi, the two of them set off for the reviewing ground in advance.

When we arrived at the reviewing ground, the predicted rain finally fell from the leaden sky.

(End of this chapter)