Hokkaido Horse Racing Story.

Chapter 303 Year-End and New Year Beginning
"Towards the final 300-meter battle of the year-end Grand Prix, Doi no Jun takes the lead!"

"But there's still the renowned general Yuegui on the outside! The renowned general Yuegui is coming up!"

"It's the famous general Yuegui, the famous general Yuegui and Wu Feng!"

"Master Takeyuki Shiro and rider Takeyuki, then the famous general, a victory linked by fate!"

"On this day, the great general's tragic wish was fulfilled!"

The television kept broadcasting hysterical screams and frantic images.

A woman sobbing in the stands, a man screaming incessantly—

More than 90,000 horse racing fans gave the winner a grand round of applause with indescribable enthusiasm.

However, Meguro was nowhere to be seen sponsoring this Grand Prix in the second half of the year.

At this point, a week had passed since the Nagoya Grand Prix.

At the Nagoya Grand Prix, where two of the six popular players left the Central Horse team, the final result of the six departing players, Mehaeba, was a result that surprised many people but was also reasonable.

—Even Kitano himself was somewhat surprised that he was able to beat one of the central horses.

On the rider's side, Ishikawa, who had previously partnered with Pegasus during training, gave an evaluation that "even someone who doesn't know how to ride a horse can easily control it."

At this time last year, Ishikawa, who was doing morning exercises with Pegasus, was still complaining, "How unfortunate."

However, this concludes this year's competition.

Of the ranch's active horses, apart from Noah, who stayed in Saga for what Hattori called "holiday tutoring," the rest are in relatively good condition.

Surrounded by his henchman Atalanta, the white fellow, smug as if he had won a battle, quickly became the most conspicuous figure on the ranch once again.

Sakuya, who is in retirement, is wholeheartedly continuing the weeding work on the pasture with Anna, who has also retired.

On the ranch, preparations and repairs are still underway.

Although the weather has become quite cold, the construction of windbreaks and fences continues to ensure the smooth progress of winter grazing.

Trembling and moving slowly like a snail, I began to work on my tasks.

Next up is the occasion for a one-year-old horse.

They must be allowed to thrive.

However, an overweight horse can put extra strain on its hooves.

To ensure the hooves maintain a proper growth curve, Zep spends every day of winter racking his brains in an agonizing struggle.

Gradually, all the stables on the ranch were fitted with Slow Food nets.

An elderly woman with failing teeth and two deer-haired horses with excessive appetites became Rachel Ho's primary targets for surveillance.

Then comes breeding mares.

Although the due date was in mid-to-late February, the dazzling performance was moved to the birthing stables of Gumoia long ago.

Thanks to the information sent from there, I learned quite a bit about the care of pregnant mares.

In this respect, the expenditure of 35,000 euros is more than worthwhile than usual.

Although it's too early to tell after the foal was born, the ranch has already begun to consider the next breeding plan.

"The year after next, we will still produce many great masters."

In situations involving flashy behavior, the opinions from club members were not too strong.

However, on the other side—

"Let's think about it some more, Boss!"

"They'll be laughed at for ten thousand years to come!"

"Personally, I would recommend Ocean Star."

"It's not that the Golden Horn is impossible, but is this really something you seriously came up with, President?"

From the moment the decision to breed Divine Anna with Golden Horn was announced, the voices of opposition have never stopped.

Since returning from Hong Kong, such voices have grown louder.

However, decisions made based on the recommendations of the advisory group cannot be shaken by such reasons.

Until the very end of the struggle, the members had no choice but to convince themselves with the reason that "the first child is just the president pursuing his dream."

The second child is still the Golden Horn—there's no need to say that for now.

After several days of working on the farm's hardware and software aspects and discussing matters with the members, the year 2027 came to an end.

Those working in the horse racing industry don't have a real year-end holiday, but this can be considered a turning point.

After submitting the documents to the agricultural cooperative, I took a break from my busy schedule to visit Nishiken Ranch, carrying some sake I had bought in town.

There is no parking lot.

The snow in front of the building was shoveled away, revealing the concrete ground and creating a small courtyard.

Park the car in a corner of the courtyard.

The air was so cold it made you shiver, and the surrounding area was covered with thick snow, a peculiar feature of Hokkaido.

Even if you don't shovel snow for just one day, your shoes will probably sink in easily.

After getting off the car, the breath I exhaled was white.

My cheeks were so cold they felt numb and tingly.

He picked up the sake from the passenger seat and hurried toward the building that resembled both Japanese and American styles.

"excuse me--"

He pushed open the door familiarly and called out to the house while changing his indoor shoes in the entryway.

Passing through the entryway into the living room, Mr. Ogawa, wearing reading glasses, was flipping through a foreign language magazine on the sofa.

"Here you are, Kitano-kun."

The old man looked up from the magazine with a smile.

"Yes, it's really cold outside."

"That's right, our water pipes almost froze and burst."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, I followed Mr. Xuhe's lead and sank into the sofa.

You can hear footsteps through the wall, followed by the sound of someone entering the room.

"Congratulations, Mr. Kitano, you've maintained your ranking until the very end."

Kanna Ogawa scooped a spoonful of pudding from the refrigerator and put it in her mouth, squinting her eyes like a cat.

The so-called ranking refers to the world's best racehorses ranking for the current year.

Thanks to her performance in the Breeders' Cup Classic, Sakuya maintained her number one ranking until the end of the year.

"We've gotten this far thanks to everyone's help, and Ah Sheng has also put in a lot of effort."

That idiot is just making things worse!

The year comes to an end on this day.

Although busy, I had a fulfilling experience with everything related to horse racing and ranching.

I feel very happy.

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Rank: 1
Rating: 132
Mejiro Sakuya
Year of Birth: 2023
Gender: F
Owner: Sachi Kitano
Trainer: Hatsunori Arayama
Training location: JPN
Course: I
Venue: D"

——2027 Longines World's Best Racehorse Ranking

"[Time report]

Tokyo Grand Prix winner Mr. Caesar will go straight to the Dubai World Cup next year.

Yahagi

"He overcame many difficulties along the way, and it was really not easy to win a Group 1 race."

Next year, his physical and mental maturity will be further improved, and I believe he will be able to perform well even in competitions of that level.

The rider on the saddle is undetermined.

——《n○tkeiba》

(End of this chapter)