Hokkaido Horse Racing Story.

Chapter 256 The Last Tropical Night

"That's really an exaggeration—"

The queue stretched from the station exit all the way to the racetrack entrance, with no end in sight.

People continued to stream in from the other end of the pedestrian bridge, with layers of colorful umbrellas stretching to the horizon.

Pushed and jostled by the crowd towards the north gate, it took quite a bit of effort to finally step into the racecourse.

Even while queuing, Zepp was already excitedly scrolling through his phone, just like the other horse racing fans around him.

Those who make an online reservation can participate in TCK's lucky draw.

"It didn't work!"

"I really want Feng-chan's autographed jockey card!"

Lamentations of missing out on the grand prize rose and fell.

I tried participating in the lottery.

As expected, the result was the same as in Zep—

I didn't win anything.

The two glanced at each other simultaneously, their eyes filled with slight disdain.

As more and more people arrived, their pace gradually came to a standstill.

Everywhere you look, both the L-WING grandstand and the plaza in front of the G grandstand are already packed with people.

The noise almost drowned out all other sounds, and one had to raise their voice even when speaking to their companions.

"Got it!"

Next to the gift shop, a young female horse racing enthusiast suddenly cheered.

Kitano immediately noticed the doll that she was holding high in her hand, as if showing it off.

"What is this thing?"

At first I thought it was a limited edition horse puppet, but upon closer inspection I realized it was a rider puppet with a similar design to a seated horse puppet.

On the cartoon-sized head, Wu Feng's indescribable eyes are perfectly reproduced.

Although I had seen similar designs in the initial planning stages of the project, the impact of the actual product was ultimately incomparable to that of the draft.

It was as bizarre as a humanoid figure from an urban legend.

"How can something like this be so popular?"

Or rather, it's a wonder those riders were able to nod in authorization.

As I was feeling sentimental, I turned my head and realized that Zep, who had been beside me, had suddenly disappeared.

The Germans somehow managed to squeeze into the crowd surrounding the gift shop and, taking advantage of their height, managed to get to the front row.

"Please give me three large-sized dolls of rider Mao Zhenpeng, and one small-sized doll each of He Zeya, Mai Daolang, and Dai Tuli!"

At that moment, the phone seemed to have been conspiring to start a vibration.

Swipe open the screen, and several unread messages pop up in the ranch group.

[Please, President, I need a signed doll of the Deturi rider!!!]

[Xiao He's too! This is a once-in-a-lifetime request (*≧▽≦)]

Please also kindly request Mr. Moya's autographed card.

Using a once-in-a-lifetime request in this kind of situation is such a waste.

Despite muttering to himself, he still agreed to what the group said.

After squeezing in front of the gift shop for almost ten minutes, they finally got the plush toys and jockey cards they wanted.

"In that case, I should be able to get their autographs from those riders when I find another opportunity, right?"

"Boss, you bought too many. I can just use the few autographs I have."

After finally managing to squeeze out of the crowd, I was immediately met with criticism from Zep.

"It's alright, consider the extra one as a token of my appreciation. After all, I don't usually have anything worth giving away."

Kitano sat down at a table and chairs with parasols, opening his newly bought travel bag as he spoke.

"By the way—what about mine, Boss?"

"It's disgusting for men to act cute."

I'll just give him a special edition ice cream with "YUTAKA" printed on it for now.

It's worth mentioning that almost everything inside the venue has been replaced with WJS exclusive designs.

Even the snack packaging is covered with various rider-themed designs.

On the way to the reviewing stand, I kept hearing horse racing fans complaining, "Why haven't they released any information about the race yet?" and "What are they even writing in the newspapers?"

Following the crowd forward, all you could see was a sea of ​​phones held high.

The restless crowd only quieted down slightly when the announcement of their departure was broadcast over the loudspeaker.

"World Riders Series 2027, the first race in Japan."

"The 2-year-old mixed race at the Oi Racecourse, 1400 meters on dirt track, saw 12 horses run."

After a brief introduction to the track conditions, the broadcast suddenly fell silent. Forget the long-awaited star riders; there wasn't even a glimpse of a trotting horse.

Whispers quickly rose from the crowd: "What's going on?"

Suddenly, a strangely stirring piece of music began to play.

"First up is the Wu-Feng team!"

Six riders wearing identical shirts ran into the center of the reviewing stand while waving.

Upon closer inspection, each person's clothes were decorated with red hearts and printed with capital letters in the center.

Even Kitano thought the outfit was rather outdated.

Amid cheers from the fans, the six quickly adjusted their positions—

The letters on the clothes were arranged in the order of "YUTAKA (丰)".

Lao Hengshan, who was in the crowd, suddenly became playful and raised his arms to make a heart shape, which the other riders followed suit.

It feels even more outdated.

Nevertheless, the fans still smiled and gave them a very enthusiastic round of applause.

Fortunately, the rider teams that followed were at least much more normal in terms of clothing, with Li Muhua's team, dressed in matching fitted suits, attracting a lot of camera shutters.

Six teams, with a total of 36 riders, took turns going down to interact with fans. Zepu, taking advantage of his height, successfully got rider Mao Zhenpeng's autograph.

Then I heard another round of German shouting and yelling.

Next is the on-site extraction method.

The two riders representing their respective teams will draw lots to determine their starting positions and horses.

It is said that this was a proposal from a rider from Takefuyo, and a similar idea had already been proposed during the Sapporo station last year.

Although neither Sapporo Racecourse nor the JRA approved of it at the time.

"The riders are Yokoyama Kazuo and Yokoyama Takeshi."

Because it was too noisy around, Kitano looked up at the electronic screen, unable to hear the broadcast clearly.

At this point, the Yokoyama brothers, representing the Wufeng team, had begun drawing their respective gate positions and riding partners.

The result was four and five gates connected, but Takeshi drew a mares.

It wasn't until then that some fans who hadn't studied the WJS rules beforehand belatedly started applauding.

This should have been a highly anticipated match—

Despite having world-class riders, the four WJS competitions did not deviate too much from the usual standard.

However, in terms of popularity, it is indeed much more lively than the dismal Sapporo Station.

In addition to the rider standees, a series of new support items, including plush toys, were also held high and shaken by horse racing fans.

The scene looks even stranger than last year.

As the final All-Star Riders Race concluded, the L-WING grandstand was illuminated by dazzling LED lights.

Amidst continuous applause, Kitano, who was serving as a guest, jogged towards the award stage.

"Thank you for your hard work, President Kitano."

Chairman Saito handed over a trophy with a smile; the trophy's design was rather flamboyant.

"You're the one who's worked so hard."

Kitano carefully accepted the crystal trophy, which was carved into the shape of a riding whip, and then handed it to the winning rider, Okuten Shin.

The Puerto Rican rider thanked the two men in slightly broken Japanese.

Among the other award presenters, besides the female voice actress whom I still don't recognize, there were also two horse owners, Sasaki and Fujita.

After the awards ceremony, the two took another photo with Kitano.

Fortunately, it didn't take too long. Before the riders left, I managed to shamelessly sign all the merchandise in the travel bag.

Feeling a bit tired, I took out my phone. On the Japanese trending list for "X", the top three topics were all related to the match I had just watched.

"Wufeng Dolls" are somewhat out of place, ranking sixth.

Looking up, the LED lights shone brightly under the evening curtain.

The last tropical night of late summer.

------------

"[@tck_keiba：

The winner of the final WJS Oi Star Rider Competition was Kobayashi Parker (rider Otsuka Shin).

The four celebrity rider competitions have now concluded. Many thanks to all stakeholders for their support.

——Tokyo City Racing (TCK)

"[Time report]

Cloudy, who missed the Oaks (a mares due to foot problems), will return for the Purple Garden Stakes.
Saito Takashi said, "Our plan is to take it one step at a time; whether she leaves the Akika Prize will depend on her performance in the next match."

——《n○tkeiba》

(End of this chapter)