"The front pack was coming off the fourth turn and entering the final stretch. Number seven, Huastra, continued to lead along the rail, but number four, Eichi, was closing in from slightly farther out!"
Waving the betting slips in their hands, the racing fans seemed to have entered some kind of frenzy.
Though it was only a local maiden race for three-year-olds, the emotions invested in it were no less intense than those of a Year-End Grand Prix like the Arima Memorial.
As expected, gambling made people lose their minds.
Amid the shouts, the horses reached the stretch directly in front of the grandstand.
It was completely different from watching through a broadcast camera. Seeing it with his own eyes was far more overwhelming.
Dust billowed across the white dirt track like first snow, while the thunder of hooves resembled the explosive roar of F1 cars blasting out of Sponi Bend.
Before he even realized what had happened, one fit figure after another had already swept past his eyes.
In the face of such extreme speed, even someone who knew nothing about Racehorse racing would probably feel their heart race.
"Eichi crossed the line first! In second, one to two lengths behind, was number eight, Biluvika! Third went to number three, Angel's Heart!"
The results board flashed for a moment before quickly displaying the final order.
"Favorite Eichi delivered! In the saddle was jockey Shigeshi Hattori!"
Sheets of betting tickets were thrown into the air, then slowly drifted down amid the heartbroken cries of the racing fans.
The winning jockey excitedly patted his horse's back, then removed his goggles and waved toward the stands.
Most people were still immersed in their own emotions. Even the few scattered responses were quickly swallowed by the crowd.
As he observed all those details, a subtle feeling began to ferment within Kitano.
For him, this was an exceptionally novel experience.
Despite having been born into a family closely connected to Racehorse racing, this was still his first time watching a race in person.
A few minutes later, the Jockeys began leading their Racehorses away, but hardly anyone in the grandstand moved.
This was only the first race of the day. At most, it was merely a warm-up for them.
"What the hell was Yoshimoto thinking? He spent the whole race burning through the horse's stamina along the rail. How was it supposed to have anything left for the final stretch?"
"Kuwamura was ridiculous too, all right? He actually spent forever adjusting his riding posture after the gates opened. Was he really pretending to be a Jockey—"
Behind Kitano, two racing fans who had finally come back to their senses began reviewing the race and loudly assigning blame.
He remained silent, with no intention of joining in.
"Maintain reverence toward things beyond your understanding. That way, you can at least avoid most of life's misfortunes."
It was something Kitano's mentor often said, and he deeply agreed with it.
Besides, he truly knew nothing about Racehorse racing.
[Watch a horse race live: 1/1 (Completed)]
He rose from the spectator seats, leaving the clamor gradually behind him.
Unfortunately, despite repeatedly confirming that he had equipped the Title, Kitano had not met a single so-called industry insider by the time he left the racetrack.
Like most pay-to-win games, the probability provided by the system was likely terrifyingly low in practice.
However, taking off the Title just like that was not an option either.
At the very least, he was still counting on the tiny bonus it provided.
By the time he returned to the clinic, the sky had begun to darken.
Even today's earliest race had been held in the evening.
Under the somewhat glaring lights, there was a dusty track and drunks in the stands drinking themselves senseless. That was most people's impression of local horse racing.
As someone who had personally watched races at a local racetrack, Kitano could confidently answer that stereotype—
It was absolutely true.
After entering the new century, the glory of the eighties and nineties had become an irreproducible miracle for local Racehorse racing.
Whether in terms of horse quality, personnel, or facilities, it had been left far behind by central racing.
Yet the NAR's official website was just as outdated as the JRA's.
It had taken Kitano quite a while back then to find information related to registering as an owner.
He had no plans to rush into becoming a registered horse owner anytime soon.
He still had little understanding of Racehorse racing as a sport.
If he rashly got involved as an outsider, it was entirely possible that he would fall flat on his face.
"And picking Racehorses is a huge problem too..."
Thinking of his C-rated [Horse-Sense Eye] and E- [Inspiration], Kitano could not help but feel a headache coming on.
Relying on his own judgment alone, he would probably have a hard time picking out a good horse in his lifetime.
As for improving [Inspiration], he still had no clue how to go about it.
Kitano opened the system panel.
Although both items in the store were expensive, he decided to give it a try and used the Green Omamori he had saved over the past week to exchange for the relatively cheaper [Detector].
[Detector: Instantly reveals one random basic attribute or breeding attribute of the selected horse (3/3 uses)] [Note: Can be used up to three times on the same horse.]
This really was a huge help.
Though the cost was rather steep.
He held the system panel and studied it again and again for quite a while. Only after confirming that there were no additional notes regarding the [Detector] did Kitano dismiss the panel before him.
Considering its cost-effectiveness, there was no particular reason for him to deliberately exchange for [Detector] at his current stage.
The cost of a single scan might even be enough to buy a horse.
But it could not really be calculated that way.
[Detector] could be said to be Kitano's only current means of evaluating horses.
Having resolved to squeeze as much value as possible from the [Detector], Kitano flipped through Yushun.
No house-call requests came in before the end of the evening business hours.
He could not help but breathe a sigh of relief.
After closing the clinic, Kitano returned home, just one street away.
Compared to the slightly cramped clinic, the detached house he used as a residence had changed hands many times, but it was still much more spacious.
Quite a few facilities were already rather old, but that was not much of a problem for Kitano.
Besides, thanks to the increasingly severe population loss in recent years, the air in Hokkaido was exceptionally fresh.
Even someone like Kitano, who only cleaned when he happened to remember, could keep his home quite tidy.
"I'm home."
It was not as if anyone was actually waiting for him. It was merely a force of habit.
Rubbing his lower back, he changed into slippers, then fumbled through the darkness to switch on the lights.
His vision suddenly brightened.
Listening to the water gradually come to a boil, Kitano surveyed the patchy nightscape beyond the window.
A few minutes later, he could not help but yawn several times in a row.