Hokkaido Horse Racing Story.

Chapter 71 A Small Storm in the Morning

I opened my eyes and saw the electronic clock on the wall showing [05:30].

As if unaware of the cold outside the quilt, Ochiai sat up from the bed.

It was still dim outside the window.

As the winter solstice approaches, the sun appears later and later.

It quietly peeked out from the east, streaked across the sky, and then quietly sank.

The nights thus became longer.

In such an environment, getting up is quite difficult.

I changed my clothes at least twice as fast as usual, my teeth chattering the whole time.

Although he was arbitrarily given the title of "Ice General", he is actually a cold-resistant and skilled warrior.

Of course, for someone from Aichi Prefecture, there's nothing to be ashamed of not being good at dealing with the cold.

After washing up with my numb hands from the cold, I went to the hot spring pool in the hotel which is open 24 hours a day.

Today is not a day for drills or competitions.

In order to concentrate on dealing with the huge reward tomorrow, he turned down all the commissions from Menbie in the past few days.

He promised Kitano horse owners that he would give his all to tomorrow's All Japan 2-Year-Old Championship.

At the same time, it is also a commitment to myself.

After changing into a bathrobe, I followed the staff's instructions to the sauna room.

This time, we stayed in a different cheap apartment than the one we stayed in during previous expeditions to Kawasaki.

Mr. Kitano, the horse owner, readily covered the expedition expenses, including accommodation.

The hotel we chose was the "Dormy Inn", which is close to the racecourse and has a natural hot spring.

"It's difficult to offer any support on matters related to horse racing, so we can only try to find solutions from other aspects."

This is what Kitano said at the last meeting.

Every time I recall the scene at that time, my heart is slightly touched.

The sultry steam hit me in the face.

Sitting down on the bench, Ochiai closed his eyes and thought about his strategy for tomorrow's game.

At the 1600-meter left turn at Kawasaki Racecourse, the gate position is Group 7, No. 8.

The gate position is slightly biased to the outside, but it does not have a particularly big impact on Mejiro Sakuya.

The thickness of the sand on the Kawasaki track is 8.5cm, which is thinner than that of Menbetsu.

For Mejiro Sakuya, who is used to the Monbetsu Atsusa track, this is a place that she must pay attention to.

However, judging from the training in the past two weeks, I have already adapted well to the track here.

The strategy we plan to adopt is the one we planned at the beginning.

On the Kawasaki, which is relatively easy to exert power, it is no problem to sit a little further back.

Ochiai, who already had many expedition experiences, kept simulating the timing of exerting force in his mind.

It's also worth noting that the Kawasaki's final straight is a shorter distance than the Menbetsu.

In addition, the popular Mr. Caesar's position in the first two games was slightly behind the team.

but--

The opponent is Sakai Rusei in the center.

He frowned unconsciously, and beads of sweat quietly slid down the ends of his hair.

Both he and his predecessor, the Hattori rider, had lost to Sakai before.

At the same time two years ago, in the All Japan 2-Year-Old Best Race, Sakai, who started from the outside, decisively chose a position quite forward.

Then, he started to move into first place at the third turn and managed to maintain the advantage until the end.

Even though there are reasons related to horse racing itself, Sakai is still an opponent that cannot be underestimated.

When I opened my eyes again, my forehead was covered with sweat.

The back of the bathrobe was also completely wet.

He shook his dizzy head and pushed open the door of the sauna room.

There seemed to be people already at the hot spring opposite.

"Master?"

Looking at the familiar figure, Ochiai shouted in surprise.

"Can't you sleep either, Genta?"

Raising his head slightly amidst the lingering steam, Tanaka let out a sigh.

"It's not just that I'm used to getting up at this time."

Untying his bathrobe, Ochiai carefully tested the temperature with his toes.

This is more than enough for the people of Donghai.

So I went in with confidence.

Then, he sighed to the same degree as Tanaka.

"Are you nervous?"

Covering his face with a towel, Tanaka made a somewhat muffled sound.

"A little bit."

Ochiai also followed his example, wet the towel and covered his face with it.

"Being nervous might actually be a good thing."

“However, if it’s too tight, it will become a bit of a problem.” With that, Tanaka lifted the towel.

Then, he gasped for breath.

"Who the hell said this could improve your appearance?"

He frowned and reached for his phone next to the hot spring.

"No matter how much you take care of yourself, Master, your skin can't be saved."

Ochiai also took off the towel and smiled faintly.

"You little bastard—"

Tanaka cursed and shook his head.

Then, the two of them soaked in the hot spring for a while.

When he stood up, he let out a groggy sigh of satisfaction.

Outside the hotel, the sky was getting brighter.

While slowly enjoying the breakfast service, there was a loud noise at the door.

Moreover, it seems to have the intention of continuing to expand.

Many people in the restaurant cast curious glances.

Several hotel staff members stepped forward in time to maintain order.

Soon a long line appeared, stretching from the conference room to the restaurant entrance.

"What are you doing?"

While stirring the salad in the bowl, Ochiai looked at the direction of the team with some curiosity.

The faces of the people queuing up looked quite excited.

"Maybe it's a lucky draw or something like that for the hotel's anniversary."

Tanaka silently quickened his eating pace.

Then, the two of them came to the end of the team with some curiosity.

Mr. Kitano, with his white eyes, is delivering free peripherals——

Got such an unexpected answer.

Before this, Kitano had mentioned possible related activities to others in the camp.

However, it is said that it is only under control within a small range.

The team in front of me must have more than a hundred people.

Ochiai estimated the number of people in the team before him.

and--

Outside the hotel, it seemed as if people were starting to gather.

"I'll go over and take a look."

Having said this, Tanaka took the lead and walked around the crowd towards the meeting room.

Ochiai followed behind.

Along the way, horse racing fans who occasionally recognized the two would pull them over to take photos.

It took a while to successfully reach the meeting room.

Inside the door, Kitano was shaking hands and taking a photo with a horse fan.

Behind him, there were not many souvenirs left.

Seeing the two of them, Kitano quickly greeted them.

Then, he immediately started taking photos and signing autographs.

"It doesn't look good, Mr. Kitano."

Scratching his head, Tanaka stood beside Kitano and whispered.

"I never thought it would become such an exaggerated scene."

Kitano shook his head and gave a helpless smile.

The fame of "Mejiro" was beyond his imagination.

"Let us help too."

Ochiai suggested.

The original plan included the participation of trainers and riders.

This was also what they had discussed early in the morning.

I just didn't expect it to be so large.

Soon, all the peripherals were distributed.

However, the crowd still showed no sign of dispersing, so Kitano had to continue taking photos and signing autographs with every fan who came.

The jockeys and trainers were also surrounded by quite a few people.

As time went on, the items fans handed Kitano for autographs became increasingly bizarre.

At first, it was more normal things like shirts, horse dolls, posters, and winning flags.

Later on, it has become various styles of figures.

It was not until noon that the meeting, which was originally scheduled to have less than 100 people, was barely over.

Looking at the messy venue, the three of them showed the same expression.

　Thanks to the 100 starting coins reward from the Phantom Shot Down King.
　　Thank you for your support
　　Ciallo～(∠ω<)⌒★
　　
　
(End of this chapter)