Hokkaido Horse Racing Story.

Chapter 94 Horse Farm Inspection

Before leaving the hotel, Wada changed into riding boots.

Ten minutes later, the trio of trainer, rider and farrier arrived at the King Abdulaziz Racing Course.

After showing their passes, the three of them entered the stadium smoothly.

Several racehorses had just finished their morning exercises and were walking slowly towards the stables.

While Zepu was negotiating with the stadium authorities, Hetian and Huangshan were talking at the railing.

"How's the situation at the horse racing?"

Looking in the direction of the track, Wada asked.

It was not yet 7 o'clock, but as the sun rose, the temperature continued to rise.

It feels like being in the southern hemisphere, as summer comes especially early in the desert.

"I'm a little mentally exhausted, but other than that there aren't any major problems."

The tie on Huangshan's suit was slightly loosened and swayed violently as he shook his head.

“Overall, the horse is in a relatively relaxed state both physically and mentally. If his recovery goes as expected, we should be able to train him this week.”

Although the expectation was relatively optimistic, Huangshan's face was still tense.

Although I have quite a lot of experience in domestic expeditions, overseas expeditions are a completely different matter.

Even the Great Shock Camp, which was originally composed of the original Condor crew, made a lot of jokes when they went on an expedition to the Arc de Triomphe in France.

Don't be careless for a moment——

With this awareness, Huangshan began preparations for the expedition quite early.

However, when I say it's preparation, it's actually just something that would make people laugh out loud if I told them about it.

With no overseas experience of their own, they could only gather fragmentary intelligence from records of past Japanese expeditions.

Then, like a training assistant, he absorbs the experience of the expedition from the few words inadvertently revealed by trainers with an international perspective.

It was through such clumsy imitations that we managed to piece together a path to overseas.

In this sense, the "Yahagiri of the world" can be considered as half of his teacher.

"They agreed to open the track to us after the training session, but we had to leave before the next group of training horses arrived."

After completing the negotiations, Zepu came trotting over to report.

"Thank you for your hard work, Joseph."

Huangshan nodded slightly to the German hoof trimmer.

Then, the three of them looked towards the exit of the track.

The last racehorse to finish training finally walked out.

Hetian and Huangshan crossed the railing almost at the same time and entered the area inside the track.

After a while, Zep also scratched his head and followed.

Hotan was inspecting the racecourse horizontally, while Huangshan was measuring the track vertically with his footsteps.

After looking around several times, Zepu followed Huangshan with his butt sticking out.

On the other side, Hetian silently felt the feedback from the soles of his boots.

The Saudi track has a completely different feel from the mud tracks I've experienced before.

He bent down to check the materials on the track.

Dirt tracks in Japan usually have a rough surface made of sand.

The Saudi one is more delicate and has a powdery texture.

He tried several more times at different positions on the track.

Generally speaking, it feels like something between grass and sand.

Hetian then pushed his feet backwards, imitating the way a racehorse exerts force.

It's not too strenuous.

The dust kicked up behind them was different from the usual clumps or granules; it felt more like a spray. It didn't significantly affect the herd of horses behind them.

In terms of quality, the dirt track at King Abdulaziz Circuit is undoubtedly the best in the world.

Grasping a handful of materials in his hand, Hetian pursed his lips slightly.

It was the first time he encountered such a strange track layout.

The mental picture of how the game would unfold was constantly being constructed, overturned, and then reconstructed.

The dust-like material slipped from his palm like a chipped sand clock.

"Wada Rider, it's time to go."

Huangshan said as he walked over.

"Can horseshoes be replaced with a style with stronger adhesion during official competitions?"

After leaving the track under the supervision of the staff, Huangshan turned his head and asked Zep.

The track was much looser than expected.

Compared to the traditional mud, it is more like a grass field.

In this case, the horseshoes that Sakuya Mejiro originally used to cope with the Japanese sand track had to be adjusted.

"No problem. How about the lighter aluminum alloy?"

Next to the horse trainer, a tall German farrier was crouching over and explaining something with gesticulations.

As a rider, Hetian also joined the discussion.

"In terms of design, if you don't need to drain the mud, you can replace the V-shaped edge with a deeper bottom pattern!"

Zep imitated the movement of horse hooves with his hands with a serious expression.

"In terms of texture, the track is slightly harder than in Japan, so it is necessary to consider lightweighting and increasing adhesion."

Huangshan nodded, then asked, "What do the Hotan riders think?"

"I think the adhesion considerations can be taken to a more exaggerated level, and it would be fine to even treat it as a grass track."

Recalling the situation during the horse farm inspection not long ago, Wada replied.

Both the inner and outer tracks tend to have a loose and dry texture.

On the day of the Saudi Cup, the Saudi derby will start in the third match earlier.

So when the race comes, the track will most likely be similar to today.

"Think of it as a grass track?"

After consideration, Huangshan decided to follow the advice from the rider.

However, if the texture is really more like grass, the escape strategy must be adjusted accordingly.

The three of them chatted as they slowly walked towards the hotel.

Although Mejiro Sakuya had a good performance on the dirt when she was two years old, both the trainer Arashiyama and the rider Wada have cautious expectations about the prospects of the competition.

There may be situations that you can adapt to easily, but there may also be situations that you cannot adapt to.

When the track type changes, any direction is possible.

Therefore, in the horse racing industry, many people are unwilling to change.

One could even go further and say that they hate change.

It’s best if everything is familiar to you.

Every year the schedule is familiar, the track is familiar, the route is familiar, and even the rhythm of the race is familiar.

In this industry that is extremely particular about tradition and rules, change often costs more than you imagine.

All they can do now is to pray that Mejiro Sakuya can perform as expected during the actual training.

　Thanks to the book friend 141109014757290 for the 100 starting coins reward,
　　Thank you for your support

　　Ciallo～(∠ω<)⌒★
　　Chapter Two will be posted tomorrow morning. I'm not feeling well today, so I'll go to bed early.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)