Hokkaido Horse Racing Story.

Chapter 341 Unexpected Australian Horse Racing
The second to last day of April.

As is customary, after finishing their morning work on the ranch, they would spend the rest of the day in a relatively relaxed atmosphere.

but--

Today is the day I need to go to Australia on a business trip.

Therefore, I became exceptionally busy starting the night before.

Fortunately, thanks to the assistance of Inglis, the organizer of the two upcoming auctions, the planning, including flights and hotels, was easily resolved.

The Inglis William Hotel, where I will be staying, is adjacent to the racetrack and the stables where the auctioned foals are kept, and the auction will be held inside the hotel.

Buyers who are only interested in participating in the auction can stay in the hotel for the entire auction.

—The level of convenience is completely unimaginable for those who are used to auctions in Hokkaido.

In addition, when the trip to Australia was announced on social media, a horse racing group founded by Japanese people living in Australia offered to act as their agent.

It is said that during the Japanese horse racing expeditions to Australia, the horse racing syndicate called "Asahi" provided assistance to some extent, and has accumulated a fairly good reputation among Japanese trainers and owners.

Therefore, after confirming with several acquaintances, an advisory and agency agreement was signed with Sunrise Syndicate for participation in the auction in Australia.

When the flight arrived at Sydney Airport, the sky I looked up at was gray.

The mention of overcast skies in the novel could be a harbinger of unease about the future.

but--

Whether a real event occurs or not has absolutely nothing to do with the weather.

They met up with Kawakami, an advisor from the "Rising Sun" team, at the agreed-upon location. The man, who looked somewhat fierce, greeted them warmly.

"You must be tired from the night flight. This is a coffee I bought on the way. Please don't mind it, President Kitano."

I took the coffee from Kawakami. The slightly hot packaging had "Nineteen43" printed on it in cursive script.

Sydney is only two hours ahead of Japan, so it's not as bad as normal international travel.

However, I am indeed very sleepy.

"You're too kind, Mr. Kawakami."

"It's nothing, it's just what we should do."

As he said this, Kawakami then took out a paper bag from the car.

"You probably haven't had breakfast yet, how about we make do with this before lunch?"

"Lunch?"

"In Australia, this is also part of the auction."

The banquets or even horse racing festival celebrations hosted by the organizers during the auction—

Hearing this fact from Kawakami's mouth, I couldn't help but be somewhat surprised.

I always thought that the Keaneland model was the limit of how meticulous horse racing auctions could be.

"After all, horse racing in Australia is like a festival!"

He nodded silently, opening the paper bag while updating his understanding of Australian horse racing in his mind.

A dish that looks similar to taco, supposedly called "Four Cheese Kaak" from Australia.

While driving to the auction venue, Warwick Farm Racecourse, about half an hour from downtown Sydney, Kawakami quickly finished his breakfast with coffee while continuing to listen to the other party's advice on Australian auctions.

Regarding the presentation of horses, in Australia, almost all horses scheduled to participate in the auction arrive at the designated stables about five days in advance, which differs from the situation in Japan. Furthermore, like in Japan, Australia also experiences a brand effect based on the reputation of the seller's ranch; horses from popular and large ranches tend to fetch higher prices.

—Although it's not as exaggerated as in the north or in Taiwan.

Another characteristic of Australian auctions is that the reserve price is not announced in advance, which is a major difference from other auctions that have a reserve price.

However, according to Kawakami, auction bidding in Australia is usually divided into "reserve price" and "real price," and experienced buyers can often quickly detect the reserve price set by the seller by observing the pace of the auction.

For example, if the reserve price is AU$50,000, it doesn't necessarily mean that you'll be willing to sell only if the price reaches AU$50,000.

The sellers in the audience might push the price up to 40,000 or 45,000 in a short time, and the price will freeze instantly, as if to say, "Okay, let's start the auction from here."

This is a signal that it's ready to be sold.

If they believe the price is acceptable, the buyer will continue to bid in increments of one to two thousand Australian dollars.

On the other hand, Australia has a unique feature: it has several prize systems to promote stallions. If you buy the offspring of a stallion at an auction and win a specific race, you can receive additional rewards in addition to the prize money.

As a buyer, this is something you have to consider before attending an Australian auction.

Although I had learned some things from my conversations with Mahana, I still learned a lot of new things through Kawakami's introduction.

After getting off the car at the parking lot at the entrance of the ranch and asking the staff to take my luggage to my room, I immediately began observing the horses that would be featured in tomorrow's auction.

Although the weather outside had become even more gloomy than when we got off the plane, the stables still looked quite cozy.

"This place is usually used for banquets and weddings."

"Eh?"

"After all, it's an Australian horse racing event—"

The scene inside the stables was rather quiet compared to Japan and Europe. The stable staff standing in front of the various stables would only speak when a buyer approached them to ask questions, and even when there was conversation, they would only maintain a volume that was just loud enough for the other person to hear.

In addition, posters with exclusive designs from each ranch are printed in specific locations in front of the stables.

A large number of buyers gathered for a long time in front of a poster featuring a person making an "OK" sign and a horse whose pose looked somewhat familiar.

However, upon seeing the section on historical transaction records of foals on the poster, I immediately looked away as if fleeing from the scene.

"Um, Mr. Kawakami, do you know where the stable for this horse is?"

After wandering around for a bit, he showed Kawakami a picture of a child he had been somewhat interested in while browsing the auction catalog.

"Let me see. Ah—it's her."

Kawakami's tone suddenly became somewhat subtle.

"Because it's a very interesting bloodline, I really want to see it for myself."

"Haha, it's okay, it's okay!"

For some reason, he pointed in a certain direction with a certain familiarity, and then muttered to himself—

"After all, he's that mare's child."

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

"【Tokyo 6R 3 years old 1 win (clay court 1600)】"

Yokoyama and Isamu, who fell from their horses, sustained injuries of varying degrees to their ribs, wrists, and heels; the specific extent of their injuries is unknown.
"The rider performed a jump and a post-race examination showed no abnormalities."

——《n○tkeiba》

(End of this chapter)