Miracle Bloodline

Seeing Kitano's gaze shift away from Performer's Step 2023, Ogawa Joe sighed inwardly, then quickly rallied and introduced the next colt.

"This one's sire is Creator II from the United States, while its damsire is Casino Shuttle, winner of the American dirt G2 Peter Pan Stakes. You can rest assured about its suitability for dirt."

Kitano turned his gaze to the colt Ogawa Joe had introduced, and the relevant information immediately appeared on the panel.

[Flax2023 (Unnamed)]

[Colt, 2]

[Gray]

All other ability information was still unknown.

As the colt tilted its head and studied Kitano, he lowered his head slightly and sank into thought.

Although he had been a complete racing novice not long ago, Kitano had spent the past month cramming a great deal of horse racing knowledge with the diligence of a veterinary student.

On the system's ability panel, his [Pedigree Knowledge] had risen from E- to C+.

At the very least, he could now make sense of several stallion lineages popular in modern Japan.

What Kitano hesitated over now was whether to use his two remaining [Detector] uses.

In his eyes, this colt was simply far too ordinary.

Neither its body structure nor its gait had anything particularly eye-catching about them.

But Kitano did not dare place too much faith in his own ability to judge horses.

"And Flax 23 has been a very rare gray for three consecutive generations!"

Ogawa Joe seized the chance to add.

"Hmm, perhaps I should still..."

Just as Kitano was about to ask to see the other colts, he felt a faint tug on his sleeve.

Releasing his sleeve, Flax2023 raised its upper lip high.

It looked as though it were laughing at Kitano.

In reality, the scientific name for this behavior was the "Flehmen Response."

The flehmen response was an instinctive behavior in which horses gathered scent information through a special facial movement.

When a horse smelled something it could not identify, it curled its upper lip, brought its head closer to the source of the scent, then exhaled, pushing airborne information into the vomeronasal organ in its nasal cavity to detect and analyze its chemical compounds.

So although it looked like laughter, the emotion expressed by this movement was usually curiosity.

Patting Flax 23's upper lip, Kitano casually wiped the saliva marks from the railing.

Opening the panel, he used his second [Detector].

[Flax2023 (Unnamed)]

[Colt, 2]

[Gray]

[Distance Aptitude: ?]

[Track Aptitude: ?]

[Running Style: ?]

[Growth Type: ?]

[Temperament: ?]

[Personality: ?]

[Speed: ?]

[Stamina: ?]

[Competitive Grit: ?]

[Explosiveness: ?]

[Power: ?]

[Health: ?]

[Wisdom: A-]

[Mental Strength: ?]

[Flexibility: ?]

According to the system's explanation, the higher a horse's [Wisdom] value, the more easily it could understand a rider's instructions. It might even judge the race situation on its own before the rider did.

An A- rating was enough to show that this was quite an intelligent horse.

"Then, Mr. Ogawa, what price did you have in mind for this colt?"

Kitano asked.

"Eight hundred thousand yen. What do you think?"

Ogawa Joe rubbed his hands together and smiled as he held up the number.

"Eight hundred thousand yen..."

For local horse racing, eight hundred thousand yen was already a fairly expensive price.

Kitano paused, then asked, "Could I see the pedigree certificate?"

"Of course! Of course!"

Ogawa Joe hurriedly picked up the document envelope in his hand, pulled out an A4 sheet, and handed it to Kitano.

"Oh?"

After taking the pedigree chart and examining it carefully, Kitano revealed a surprised expression.

Unlike the "Miracle Bloodline" of 3×4 crosses found everywhere in Japan, Flax2023's pedigree contained no inbreeding within four generations.

"3×4" was a term used in thoroughbred breeding.

On a racehorse's pedigree chart, if the same racehorse appeared in the "X" generation and the "Y" generation, it would be called an "X×Y" cross.

From the perspective of genetics and the long-term development of pedigree depth throughout Japanese horse racing, breeding without inbreeding was naturally the best option.

But it was also the least realistic one.

If that breeding philosophy were truly enforced, the vast majority of small and medium-sized ranch owners would go bankrupt.

They simply could not afford the cost of breeding horses with no repeated bloodlines within five generations.

Moreover, inbreeding within four generations was generally considered more likely to produce offspring with explosive potential.

Even though most people could not clearly explain the basis for that claim.

"That's a very rare pedigree combination..."

Putting down the pedigree chart, Kitano could not help but sigh.

"Um... actually... Flax 23's pedigree... is still pretty good."

"Its maternal grandmother's sire's sire is Sunday Silence!"

Ogawa Joe's tone immediately became much less confident.

He had taken Kitano for one of those owners superstitious about "Miracle Bloodline" and the "SS Lineage."

"I'm a veterinarian. I've learned at least a little about genetics and heredity."

Kitano said.

Sunday Silence was an unavoidable mountain in modern Japanese stallion lineages.

Strictly speaking, Kitano's family decline was also inseparable from Sunday Silence.

But he was not the sort to take his misfortune out on an animal.

"So please don't worry too much."

Ogawa Masaru, who had been watching from the side, could not help laughing.

At the same time, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

It seemed this Kitano fellow was not the kind of person who acted recklessly.

In truth, Flax2023's pedigree and the physique it displayed on the surface made its price of eight hundred thousand yen somewhat of a stretch.

Even for a gray horse.

As for Sunday Silence's bloodline—

In contemporary Japanese horse racing, there were probably not many racehorses left that were not related to Sunday Silence in some way.

"Eight hundred thousand is still a bit of a stretch."

Handing the pedigree chart back to Ogawa Joe, Kitano slowly spoke.

Ogawa Joe's expression tightened, and an accidental crease appeared on the A4 sheet in his hand.

"However, I'll take it."

Kitano continued.

Joy appeared on the faces of all three members of the Ogawa family.

For a newly established ranch, selling every colt was especially difficult.

Especially at such a relatively high price.

At that moment, Kitano used his final [Detector].

His target was still Flax2023.

[Growth Type: Late Bloomer]

With that, the [Detector] worth one million yen had been completely used up.

The later a horse's growth type, the slower its development.

Late-blooming racehorses usually did not show their ability until the latter half of their four-year-old season.

It looked like there was a considerable chance he would lose money.

Through the railing, Kitano stroked Flax2023's head, feeling little emotional turmoil.

Perhaps it was an inadvertent resonance between man and horse, perhaps trust in that A- [Wisdom] rating, or perhaps the mindset of a gambler at the end of his rope—

In any case, Kitano did not call off the transaction.

Seemingly unaware that it was about to gain a new owner, Flax2023 continued looking around curiously with its pair of black, beady eyes.