Hokkaido Horse Racing Story.

Chapter 235 Under the Moonlight
On their way to the handover area, they happened to run into the duo of Takeshiro Take and Yoshitaka Matsumoto.

Good evening, President Kitano.

Koshiro raised his hand to greet him very enthusiastically.

Looking somewhat tired, Yoshitaka smiled and bowed slightly.

"Congratulations, Mr. Kitano."

"Haha, isn't it a bit too early to say such things now?"

"After all, they were chosen by President Kitano, so we really look forward to their future performance."

Kitano responded to Yoshitaka's congratulations with a polite smile.

Even he couldn't guarantee how well the three horses introduced as breeding mares would perform in the race.

In order to maintain as much leeway as possible during the auction season, there hasn't been time to investigate their abilities.

At the summer auction, the number of special horses was much higher than expected, and the [Detector] became somewhat nervous as a result.

Although most of the detected characteristics are negative and difficult to describe.

After exchanging pleasantries, the two sides briefly discussed their gains from the auction.

Continuing Chairman Matsumoto's previous auction strategy, Yoshitaka purchased three Hidaka horses on the first day of the summer auction.

Two of them came from small ranches in the Puhe area.

Mr. Meijang's decades-long support for high-yielding Japanese horses has become as natural as a habit.

However, in Kitano's view, this was still quite remarkable.

What Haolong said next surprised him.

“Just a few days ago, my father was talking about starting a fan club for Hidaka Sanma with Mr. Kitano.”

"Eh--"

But upon closer reflection, it does seem to be true.

Including the two horses I'm holding today, most of the horses I own are from Hidaka, especially those that were born after COVID-19.

It's probably just a coincidence.

After all, they never even considered revitalizing high-yield Japanese horses.

However, Kitano jokingly replied, "At that time, Chairman Matsumoto will have another title to hold."

After passing through the somewhat noisy crowd that had dispersed, we arrived at the open space in front of the temporary stables.

"Thank you very much for your support of our ranch."

At the Kyowa Ranch, the production team of Miracle Journey 2026, two stable hands who had been waiting in the handover area since early morning bowed to Kitano.

The chestnut-haired pony, sandwiched between the two, snorted impatiently.

"I'm very sorry, this child is a bit too lively."

One of the stable boys immediately bowed his head and apologized.

"The pastures affected by COVID-19 are not very good at domestication and breeding."

When Kitano first became a horse owner, he received a similar reminder from a veterinarian friend he knew well.

While some ranches in the neighboring Yutaka County have begun exploring "future breeding," most ranches in Shin-Kin and Hidaka are still sticking to the old methods.

Even Kimura, who provided Kitano with a lot of help in breeding, only began to imitate Ogata Takeshi and adjust the ranch's breeding methods in the last two years.

Production and breeding ranches, which are often overlooked, are actually a crucial part of horse racing.

As a horse owner, whether you consider it a hobby or a career, if your racehorses cannot compete, nothing else matters.

How to ensure horses purchased at auction can successfully get onto the racetrack—

This is a lesson that all horse owners must learn.

A successful debut and good results on the field are the "results".

The "reason" for achieving this result stems from the daily accumulation within the incubation facility.

For horse owners, buying a racehorse is just the simplest first step.

While auctions are a place to select horses, they are also an important opportunity to build a team of people around those horses.

The key to successfully purchasing a yearling horse at auction lies in two points—

First, the domestication work should be completed as soon as possible.

Secondly, it facilitates the smooth transmission of information about the horses and their related data to potential future stables, and ensures continuous sharing of progress.

Make full use of the resources at hand to advance all tasks in the limited time before the debut season begins.

Excellent production ranches can play a significant role in this process, and can even give horse owners the sense of security that "everything will be fine once the entire operation is entrusted to them."

In contrast, most ranches in Hidaka and Kobe are in the opposite situation. They cannot guarantee the quality of taming, nor do they have any stable resources to boast about.

Therefore, the prices at which foals are auctioned off are often easy for Kitano to take advantage of.

"Now we've found the reason."

However, compared to such convoluted reasons, Kitano felt that the issue of the horse ownership ratio was more due to good luck.

Just like the chestnut pony in front of us, the problem of temperament cannot be entirely blamed on the farm's inaction.

Hello, pretty young lady.

Ignoring the little horse's ear-pressing gesture, which seemed more cute than intimidating, Kitano stepped forward and greeted him.

Then, unsurprisingly, it was rejected by the chestnut pony.

"They are indeed descendants of that golden journey."

He shifted his gaze from Didus's eyes and turned to look at Zep, who was trotting over towards him.

"Boss's on board, both copies!"

He shoved all sorts of documents into Kitano's hands, and the German instinctively bent down to examine the hooves of the chestnut pony.

"This child's parents are from the Golden Journey."

After taking the leash from the stable hand at Kyowa Ranch, Kitano spoke up to offer a reminder.

Zep paused in his steps.

However, they quickly moved to a slightly more distant location to begin their observation.

"The hooves are rather small and narrow, but the sturdy feel is quite strong."

While keeping a close watch on the pony's movements, the German muttered something to himself.

Kitano held the tow rope with one hand, while using his other hand to swipe on the screen to contact the transportation company.

"What a beautiful horse body. It would be even better if the hindquarters weren't so straight."

Having completed his detailed observation of the hooves, Zep stood up and stated his conclusion with certainty—

"This child should be able to run and explore whether it's grass or mud."

My gaze briefly lifted from between the screens.

"I have the exact opposite view."

"Eh?"

The German scratched his head, somewhat puzzled.

"It's the type of field that struggles to perform well on both grass and mud."

"Eh!"

The tone of doubt turned into surprise.

Even Kitano, who was directly involved, was slightly surprised when the test results came out.

In terms of suitability, both grassland and mud are triangular in shape.

This means they can't escape at all.

but--

The real world doesn't have the same kind of setting as games, where you can be good at one thing and bad at another.

"At least as a breeding mare, she's still quite capable."

After first loading the somewhat unruly chestnut pony onto the wagon, he turned and headed towards the temporary stables.

Because he was already fully trained, Xiao Ma's slight movements did not pose any threat.

However, Zep's comforting words kept nagging me the whole way.

When they returned to the temporary stables, a figure was waiting in the corridor.

"Thank you so much."

After removing his rather old-fashioned baseball cap, Sato bowed quite solemnly.

"That's not true. Representative Sato is truly remarkable."

Kitano quickly bowed in response.

"In any case, it's really great that President Kitano bought this child."

As if awakened by the noise made by the two, the little pony opened its eyes sleepily.

Then, he yawned widely in the moonlight.

(End of this chapter)