The Late-Summer Blue Sky Beyond the Starting Gate

After the Summer Sale ended without any action beyond taking the stage to receive awards, the final week of August arrived.

The reason they had been restless since early that morning, desperate to learn the results ahead of time, was a faint sense of foreboding.

Failed the gate test—

Then, as expected, word came from Ikee.

Poetic Banquet had not done anything rash like throwing a tantrum in the starting gate, but even at the familiar Ritto Tracen, she still failed her first gate test.

"From the moment she entered the track, she kept getting distracted. Even after entering the gate, she constantly looked from side to side, and it took her a while to respond after the signal... At the moment, she is still completely a child in terms of temperament."

That was the feedback from Yutaka Take in the saddle.

Well, she really was just a child in terms of actual age. Of course, since they had insisted on registering her to Racehorse in Japan in the Northern Hemisphere, complaints like that had to be put aside completely.

"If only half of Sawin's brains could be given to Poetic Banquet."

Miura said that with a helpless look on his face.

Sawin had been brought in as a two-year-old, and the late-stage training originally planned for him had barely begun before it was already complete.

His response to the reins, the starting gate, and even running itself had all been excellent—Yan Zhu'an, his breeder, had truly been a tremendous help in that regard.

At the same time, it once again made them realize the gap that still existed between Japanese breeders and top-tier overseas breeders.

"Still, the plan was never for an early debut, so there is no need to get too nervous already."

Even so, failing the gate