Hokkaido Horse Racing Story

As if attracted by the movement outside, Mejiro Sakuya poked her head out from between the bars with some curiosity.

"It seems like we should be a little more vigilant."

As he rubbed the slightly wet nose of the deer-hair horse, this thought emerged in Hetian's mind.

As the derby approaches, we must not be careless at all.

Instead of feeding carrots as usual, he just patted Mejiro Sakuya's head and ended his visit to the stable.

He unzipped his clothes with a swish, put his sportswear over his head, and trotted into the rain.

"There are umbrellas in the stables—"

Before he could say anything, Huangshan watched the rider's back as he walked into the heavy rain and soon disappeared.

Only at times like this can one vaguely sense the other side of the rider's character.

At this time, the deer-hair horse beside it made a grunting sound of grievance.

Huangshan patted Mejiro Sakuya's head, turned over his palm and took out thin carrot strips as if by magic.

The deer-haired horse's ears twitched, and its three white eyes looked at his palm in surprise.

After a moment, he slowly put the carrot strips into his mouth.

"We have to start training harder tomorrow."

The trainer said with a smile.

Mejiro Sakuya chewed the carrot sticks in small bites and seemed to nod her head.

"You have to work hard too."

He shouted again towards the stable on the other side.

In response, there was only a snort full of disdain.

After a while, Kitano came to the stable.

He folded his umbrella and placed it in the corner, smoothed his turned-up collar, and then walked up to the horse trainer.

"That horse called Katuna is truly remarkable."

After a brief greeting, Huangshan spoke in a somewhat subtle tone.

"Oh, really?"

Kitano hesitated for a moment.

He scratched Mejiro Sakuya's chin which was sticking out of the fence, then turned around to observe the chestnut-haired horse on the other side.

Katuna was leaning against the wall with his eyes slightly squinted, and there was a large green mark on the edge of his lips.

Kitano began to observe the condition of the horse.

The proportions of the front and hind limbs are coordinated, there is no obvious abnormality in the gait when standing, the hair is smooth and shiny, the muscles maintain a relatively good level of firmness, and the subcutaneous fat layer does not look very thick.

Looks like it can still run.

However, he soon saw the specific meaning of "incredible" in the trainer's words.

As if dissatisfied with the footsteps walking back and forth outside the stable, Katuna opened his eyes and made a loud noise like a motorcycle engine.

Then, he turned sideways, raised his hind legs and kicked the wall.

Now, Kitano finally understood why the previous owner and trainer chose to castrate him.

"It's indeed a bit troublesome."

Chapter 118: Chasing before the Derby

The Kentucky Derby was on April 25th, a week ago.

Mejiro Sakuya and Katuna will practice chasing together on the dirt course at Churchill Park.

At 4 p.m., the sun shone obliquely on the track.

The wind was weak and the air was hot and humid.

"please."

Wearing goggles, Wada nodded slightly to Ogawa Katsu on the back of Katuna's horse.

What is about to begin is the six-wave chase.

This time, the purpose of chasing is still not to create time.

However, it is not an adaptation to the venue either.

A few days ago, I tried to let Sakuya Mejiro run on the main track of Churchill Park.

After a brief gait adjustment, the deer-hair horse quickly adapted to the mud under its feet.

After that, I tried long-rein pacing in a relatively damp environment.

Although it became a little more difficult, I was still able to run.

At least in terms of adaptability, there is no need to worry too much.

On the other hand, Katuna's progress was somewhat unsatisfactory.

He would throw tantrums as if provoked when other horses were around, so he could only be trained in private time.

“A very aggressive horse.”

This is the evaluation from Kurama Hitoshi and Tian after the initial training.

Even if it is a relatively easy training program, the momentum can be as good as that of the main competition.

but--

The results of the training were quite ordinary.

"I just can't run fast."

This is the second half of the review.

After receiving the signal from Wada, Ogawa Katsu, riding on Katuna, took the lead in pulling the reins.

The two horses in pursuit have similar goals – to be as activated as possible and to get their muscles to optimal competitive tension.

The original plan was to start at a slightly slower pace.

What actually happened was that after receiving the order to speed up, Katuna rushed out of control.

Ogawa Masaru's face became a little nervous.

He tried to pull the reins, but the chestnut horse continued to accelerate.

On the other side, Mejiro Sakuya also took steps slowly.

In the first two waves, the gap between the two horses quickly widened.

But with a light wave of the whip from Hetian, the situation on the track quickly turned around.

In the setting sun, a gleaming, strong body came rushing from behind.

Easily squeezing through Katuna, Lumao's figure was the first to enter the straight line.

“It’s very easy to run and feels very smooth on my back.”

After the chase ended, Wada commented calmly.

"Is there anything unusual when entering the straight line?"

Huangshan leaned forward slightly, supporting himself on the railing with both hands and asked.

He noticed the contact between the two horses at the end of the bend.

"I don't feel anything."

After a pause, Hetian answered truthfully.

If he hadn't confirmed it with his naked eyes, he wouldn't even have noticed the collision.

Huangshan's gaze passed over Wada and looked towards Ogawa Katsu who was slowly approaching from behind.

"The bite was very severe."

On the back of Katona, who was breathing heavily, Xuhe Sheng shook his wrist.

The tug-of-war between him and Katuna lasted for most of the race.

However, after the collision, the chestnut horse suddenly slowed down.

As to whether it was a stall caused by a collision or premature exhaustion caused by the bite, even Ogawa Katsu on the saddle couldn't tell.

However, the goal of pursuit has been achieved.

"It performed very well. It didn't push itself at all. It ran as easily as if it was warming up."

When interviewed, Huangshan gave a rare positive evaluation.

However, as the interview progressed, the atmosphere gradually became depressing.

When asked about his expectations for Mejiro Sakuya's race, the trainer replied with a look of frustration: "It's hard to predict how she'll perform in a race. It's also completely unknown whether she can maintain her original athletic ability with such a large body."

"Our opponents were very good at chasing down and it was not easy to beat them."

As he spoke, the trainer even made some hand gestures.

"Especially Mr. Caesar, it just flew across the straightaway like a whoosh, I couldn't even see its shadow."

After the translator relayed the message, the American reporter's expression became somewhat subtle.

"So can you tell me about your goals for the Kentucky Derby?"

He asked the last question of the interview.

"We just want to maximize Sakuya's abilities and strive for a ranking commensurate with them."

Huangshan gave this somewhat ambiguous answer.

Taking small and easy steps, Mejiro Sakuya approached the reporter who was packing up the interview equipment.

"Well, do you want to say something too?"

The reporter jokingly handed over the microphone.

The deer-haired horse opened its mouth slightly and licked the microphone with its tongue.

Then, he turned his head away with some disgust.

"Haha, this is not edible!"

The reporter smiled and handed the microphone to the rider on horseback.

"Wada, how do you feel?"

Without the help of an interpreter, Wada replied in somewhat stiff English: "We will enjoy the game."

“So where are you going to start the Kentucky Derby?”

The reporter raised the microphone and continued to ask.

“We’ll fight for our spot as much as we can.”

Before he knew it, beads of sweat had already appeared on the rider's forehead.

"You mean the right position?"

The reporter then asked.

"Yes, that's it."

Wada nodded repeatedly, and the reporter breathed a sigh of relief the moment he put down the microphone.

After the chase ended, Katuna and Mejiro Sakuya walked back to the stables one after the other.

"It looks like I should be able to run a good race."

Holding the leash, Huangshan spoke with emotion.

Mejiro Sakuya's weight, which had been increasing continuously, was finally reduced after she was released from quarantine.

However, after discussing with Kitano, Huangshan decided to maintain his weight at 505 kg, which is two kilograms more than UAE.