Summer and Early Debuts

This book was first published on Taiwan Novel Network, offering a practical, error-free, properly ordered reading experience.

"Summer..."

Looking up at the cloudless blue sky stretching as far as the eye could see, Mr. Sugiyama sighed.

This was supposedly the fourth consecutive year he had aimed for the CBC Cup as an owner. As for the results, it was better left unmentioned.

"A race I wanted to win no matter what."

It sounded somewhat lacking in confidence for a declaration, yet Mr. Sugiyama had looked utterly confident from the moment they met.

Summer races were when strong horses were usually out resting at pasture, so even somewhat weaker horses could show their competitiveness.

—Though there was no shortage of stables entering summer races with that very same idea.

Including his own.

Compared to the other entrants, Noah's victory in the previous Aoi Stakes had earned him the top popularity rating among the full field of eighteen horses.

As this was a handicap race, the weight he had to carry had increased accordingly.

His draw was the seemingly unfavorable Gate 15 in the seventh bracket. If the opening straight had not been relatively long, drawing such a gate alone would have put him at a disadvantage in a sprint.

However, according to Trainer Uchida, Noah had behaved maturely in the horse transport. Since transferring stables, he had always left a little feed behind, but this time he had eaten everything. After arriving at Chukyo Racecourse, he had also shown a fairly healthy appetite.

Furthermore, during his pre-race timed workout, there had been no sign of his physical condition declining from fatigue. Even Takeshi, riding him for the first time, had rated him as being in "excellent condition."

It would probably be a good race—

With that thought, he raised his head