Two Colors Beneath the Clear Sky

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December 16.

That morning, aside from Rachel Ho staying behind, nearly everyone at Nishiken Farm headed out. Even Zepp had unusually put on formal attire.

Their destination was Nakayama Racecourse in Funabashi City, Chiba Prefecture—or, more accurately, Nakayama Racecourse, which was located in Funabashi City.

The day's Nakayama Race 3 was an unraced race restricted to two-year-old fillies. At Trainer Matoba's suggestion, Zhibao would attempt a turf race extended to 1,800 meters.

Of course, such a large group had not gathered solely to watch the race, nor had they mistaken the date of the Arima Memorial.

Mr. Yokoyama, now over sixty, had decided to formally bid farewell to the track after finishing his rides at Nakayama that day.

—In Mr. Yokoyama's own words, "My back's been hurting terribly these past two years, so this time I'll just have to admit defeat to that Yutaka fellow for now."

As one grew older, both maintaining a top jockey's schedule and keeping one's weight down became extremely difficult. The old injuries accumulated in youth also gradually became more apparent—Mr. Yokoyama and other jockeys had mentioned such things during the occasional chats.

So, Yutaka Take, who was still active among the first- and second-tier jockeys, truly deserved admiration.

Honestly, no particular jockey had initially been chosen to ride Zhibao. It was not until after race registration had been completed that they learned Mr. Yokoyama was retiring.

Even Mr. Yokoyama had laughed when he received the offer, saying something like, "What a coincidence."

They arrived at Nakayama Racecourse before the gates opened and entered through the personnel-only entrance.

"Whoa—"

Seeing the poster JRA staff were putting up ahead in the corridor, Zepp's mouth slowly fell open.

They had meant to head straight to the owners' lounge, but their eyes were drawn over