Hokkaido Horse Racing Story.

Chapter 325, the countdown to Cinderella's Fairy Tale

I left my travel bag in the hotel room and only moved the essential personal items into my shoulder bag.

But then he didn't rush to leave the room.

After confirming that my phone was connected to Wi-Fi, I first opened the live broadcast page of the YouTube channel.

Because the stadium passes haven't been processed yet, this is the only way to watch the final day's practice.

In mid-March, the sunrise in Dubai is just after 6 a.m., so it's still dark.

No matter how much you turn up the phone's brightness, all you can see is a hazy gray area.

However, judging from what can be confirmed with the naked eye, it seems to be a fairly good momentum of progress.

Although based on the remote communication with the instructor before departure, his weight was still not exactly optimistic.

Although there's still much work to be done, overall, things seem to have improved somewhat.

This is the reason why people are willing to pay out of their own pockets and incur additional expenses for staying in Dubai, even if it means arriving in Dubai early.

As for the rest, that's not something a horse owner can worry about.

I stared at my phone screen for a while longer, and the chase sequence for Sakuya was completed exactly at six o'clock.

Through the crescent-shaped viewing platform that cuts the sky into an irregular shape, a glimmer of light could be faintly seen rising on the other side of the horizon.

It's a sunny day.

It will probably be very hot today.

"So although there is still plenty of time left for adjustments, we still have a lot to do, especially in terms of the horse's physique."

Switching to the Dongti channel, Huangshan Shi's voice came from the other end of the phone.

The comments were still the same familiar and rather negative ones.

but--

This time, even the horse owners who had previously mobilized their "advisory group" were unsure whether the actual situation was more optimistic than the trainers had described.

Good morning, boss!

A few minutes later, a somewhat casual greeting came from outside the door.

As soon as I opened the door, I saw Zepu's tall figure in the hotel corridor.

"Good morning—Zep?"

The hoof trimmer seemed a bit slow on the uptake, only turning his eyes to look after hearing the response.

This year's Dubai World Cup Night will begin on the last Saturday of March, the 25th.

That is, the same day that Atalanta left for the Nikkei Prize.

For horse owners, it's just a somewhat happy dilemma: "Which way should I go?"

Meanwhile, Zep, the hoof trimmer, has been busy traveling back and forth between Dubai and Japan these past few days.

"thank you."

"It's alright. Also, today I changed Sakuya's equipment with the 7mm toothed horseshoes from the Middle East Special Forces!"

After letting out a long yawn, the German suddenly perked up for some reason.

Even if you put it that way, I still don't quite understand.

"Simply put, the hind hoof has been reinforced, especially compared to the model in Japan where both the front and hind hooves are limited to two millimeters."

Zepp took a can of thoroughly chilled coffee from the small refrigerator in the living room and continued.

"Sakuya's steps were quite good today. Even Arashiyama, who has been clamoring to withdraw from the competition, is starting to look forward to it."

"Now that you mention it, I'm starting to look forward to it too."

"However, my weight has stubbornly remained at 520 units." After saying that, the German picked up his coffee and took a big gulp.

"This is really bad. It's happening on both sides."

He shook his head slightly and then looked at the coffee in Zepp's hand.

"Speaking of which, is it okay to drink coffee when you're so sleepy?"

"Oh, it's not a cocoa drink after all!"

Who would be so foolish as to put cocoa in the refrigerator?

Before he could even voice his complaints, he watched Zep's shouting figure disappear behind the door as he ran towards his room, and couldn't help but sigh.

Although he can seem reliable at times, he's still the same carefree Joseph.

I opened the n○tkeiba app on my phone and entered Sakuya's name in the search bar.

Besides the rare opportunity for face-to-face communication and searching related terms on "X", browsing the bulletin board on n○tkeiba is one of the most direct ways for horse owners to understand the feedback from horse fans.

Many horse owners like to kill time on race days in this way.

Opening the bulletin board page, besides the freshly released performance reviews, the latest comments all maintain a neat, pre-arranged queue of "nothing wrong with the crew and horses".

Occasionally, one might catch a glimpse of a duel declaration from the Yahagi stables or Mr. Caesar's die-hard horse fans.

I was scrolling through my phone for about twenty minutes when I was getting a little hungry when I received a message from Master Huangshan.

"It might be a match that requires compromise and reliance on other options."

When we met at the hotel's buffet restaurant, I heard this idea from Master Huangshan.

"The running process was easy, and I could feel the excess weight being reduced to some extent when the saddle was on my back. However, I started sweating very quickly when I took off the saddle."

Jin Meiqi, the rider who was sipping her vegetable juice, nodded and then shared her own feelings.

"Let's be prepared for both possibilities."

After picking up where the two left off, the horse owner made this decision.

"No problem, I will keep in touch with the Sai team's veterinarians at all times."

Not surprised by the decision, Huangshan Shi, who had just rushed over from the track and was covered in sweat, nodded firmly.

"I'll keep a close eye on Sakuya's condition too!"

Ogawa Katsumi followed closely behind the trainer and said the same thing.

"Then, I'll leave it to you."

More than nervousness, worry occupied my mind.

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

"The unease has dissipated!"

Although, as trainer Katsutoku Arashiyama said, this will be a 'winner determined by form', in my opinion, if Mr. Kaiser is rated at 89 points, then Sakuya is over 110 points!

Although it seems like everything is going smoothly, last year she experienced the most challenging dirt track races that most horse racing fans can't even imagine. If she showed even the slightest hesitation, she would be completely crushed. This is something that most domestic horse racing fans can hardly imagine.

but!

Meguro Sakuya did it!
After experiencing the Dubai World Cup and the Breeders' Cup Classic, two world-class stages, this young girl, who was still a bit naive during the Kentucky Derby, has completely transformed into a superstar who can show her strength in the game!

but--

In this state, Sakuya, compared to her usual dominant style and overly simplistic all-out attack, might just reveal a different side of Cinderella at the Dubai World Cup!

—East Sport horse racing commentator ■■■■

(End of this chapter)