Hokkaido Horse Racing Story.

Chapter 367 Summer and Early Debut

Summer—

Looking at the cloudless blue sky, Mr. Sugiyama sighed.

It is said that the owner had been aiming for the CBC prize for four consecutive years, but it's best not to mention the results.

"I want to win this game no matter what."

While the declaration itself might seem somewhat lacking in confidence, Mr. Sugiyama himself appeared brimming with self-assurance from the very beginning of our meeting.

Summer races, when horses are usually resting and grazing, allow even slightly weaker horses to demonstrate competitiveness.

—Although there are quite a few others who left for the Summer Split with similar thoughts.

including yourself.

Compared to other runners, Noah's victory in the Former Run Stakes earned him the most popularity among the 18 runners in the full gate.

In handicap competitions, the weight that needs to be carried also increases accordingly.

The starting line is also not a good one, with seven bars and fifteen gates. If it weren't for the relatively long starting straight, being assigned such a gate position would put you at a disadvantage in the short race.

However, according to Master Uchida, Noah behaved very maturely in the transport wagon. He always left some feed uneaten after the transfer to the stable, but this time he ate it all. After arriving at the Nakakyo Racecourse, he also showed a fairly good appetite.

Furthermore, he did not feel any decline in physical condition due to fatigue during the pre-match training, and even his first partner, Takeshi, gave him the evaluation of "excellent physical condition".

It'll probably be a good match.

Thinking of this, he looked up as if confirming something.

On the morning of the 13th of mid-August, there was no sign of rain.

The intense sunlight made me blink involuntarily.

The narrow gap between the two stands did not bring strong winds as expected. During the lunch break, most of the fans stayed inside the air-conditioned stands.

"Can't this place be renovated? It's freezing cold in winter and unbearably hot in summer."

Mr. Sugiyama kept wiping his sweat and complaining.

"Instead of this, it would be better to adjust the location of the station again first."

As a tram commuter, after getting off at the nearest station, I had to walk quite a long way under the scorching sun.

—It's clearly a stop in front of the Nakakyo Racecourse.

However, let's set aside complaints like that for now.

As noon approached, I started to feel a bit hungry.

Instead of stopping at the snack shops in the stands as usual, they headed towards the horse owners' area under Mr. Sugiyama's guidance.

As the elevator ascended to the fifth floor, Mr. Yoshitaka Matsumoto, carrying a food box, walked past.

"Please take good care of me today as well, President Kitano."

"You're the one here, President Matsumoto."

After exchanging pleasantries like this, Matsumoto and Sugiyama greeted each other like brothers in arms.

The three chatted as they walked into the horse owners' lounge, where many familiar faces were among the people coming and going.

Summer races, which club horses typically don't consider, naturally attract owners who are either individual owners or breeders.

Of course, breeders and owners rarely attend such races in person because the auction is approaching.

Nevertheless, I still met quite a few individual horse owners, such as Dr. Kobayashi's eldest son, Teruhiro Kobayashi, and Mr. Takezono, whom I had met once.

After exchanging pleasantries and business cards with the horse owners I wasn't very familiar with before, I was finally able to catch my breath for a moment.

I plopped down on the sofa and, like Mr. Sugiyama, first took out a towel from my travel bag to wipe away the sweat. Antiperspirant patches and the like were only a temporary measure in the sweltering heat of Honshu.

During lunch, the horse owners started talking about horse racing.

"This year, my two-year-old team has suffered a complete defeat. All the early debuters have been sunk."

Mr. Hirai of Rongjintang gave a wry smile, half-jokingly, while Mr. Sasaki next to him spread his hands as well.

"Me too. We finally nurtured a kid who could debut early, but during the rehearsal, we almost ran into that monster from President Kitano's family, so we had no choice but to postpone our debut."

"Not at all, not at all, I don't deserve such praise."

As another party involved in the incident, I put down my chopsticks and chimed in with this comment.

"This guy who went from registering as a racehorse to winning his first race in just nine days shouldn't be modest anymore!"

Mr. Sasaki patted him on the shoulder with a smile, then revealed an exaggerated expression of curiosity.

"Tell me quickly, how did you do that?"

Several other horse owners nearby also turned their interested gazes towards the scene.

"The most important thing is still to own a good horse."

Upon hearing this, everyone laughed while simultaneously commenting, "This didn't say anything at all."

That being said, during lunch and the rest period afterward, I still managed to discuss quite a few topics related to the early days of the horse's debut with a few horse owners.

In the current Japanese horse racing system, both central and local authorities have an advantage in having two-year-olds debut early.

Especially for central horses not owned by clubs, if they do not debut early to explore their adaptability, it will become increasingly difficult for them to compete in the environment where club horses are dominant after the Classic Year.

Local horse racing involves lucrative prize money for two-year-old races, so if riders want to participate in subsequent important races, they must start accumulating prize money from the age of two.

However, racehorses are generally more delicate and have a limited ability to withstand systematic training as they get younger.

Generally speaking, it takes about 25 months for a Thoroughbred's skeleton to calcify.

In terms of skeletal development alone, getting a two-year-old horse to undergo high-intensity training is already quite an achievement.

Regarding the development of strong bones and limbs, the best breeders from various countries I've encountered have adopted the same approach—

Complete early domestication as early as possible.

Many new horse owners might take it for granted that it is common sense to immediately send a foal purchased from an auction to a breeding ranch for basic training and allow it to rest fully before starting subsequent riding training.

If this process is strictly followed, most foals, unless they are extremely weak or underdeveloped, can be ready to be ridden ahead of time.

If training can be completed in advance, a rest period can be allowed before formal training to allow the foal to recover its physical strength; otherwise, training may be interrupted due to time constraints.

However, taming a foal is not so simple.

Even among club horses with more abundant resources, most breeding ranches, while equipped with riding stablemen, severely lack professional trainers.

With both central and local horse racing entering a period of development, situations such as tight schedules at ranches and blockages in the training process are also common.

Even Mejiro Ranch, which only has one yearling horse and one later-developed horse, is finding it significantly more difficult to handle its work than it did in the previous two years.

The conversation among the horse owners gradually shifted towards the upcoming Hokkaido selection event, but the horse owner and breeder was still thinking about the original topic.

"Manpower is indeed very important—"

Couldn't help but sigh.

The late Chairman Matsumoto said something similar more than once.

(End of this chapter)