Rumors, Weight, and an Uncertain Request

Duman Lai Jockey—

The moment that name was spoken, Wada, who usually wore the same poker face, opened his mouth wide.

I had never imagined that real people could make those exaggeratedly shocked expressions from manga.

Still, to be honest, when I first saw the candidate recommended by Adviser Kappoki, my reaction had been much the same as Wada's now.

So Duman Lai Jockey hadn't retired yet? That was followed by another concern.

Certain rumors about him.

Aside from his forceful personality and frequent conflicts with those around him, he was said to routinely ignore or even defy instructions from his camp.

More importantly, Racehorses for which he served as the regular Jockey seemed to suffer injuries more often than those ridden by other Jockeys.

Overall, he had the image of a Jockey whose talent was matched only by his instability—though, of course, that had been several years ago.

It wasn't that I doubted the advisers' judgment, but before entrusting a Racehorse to a Jockey with such a distinctive personality, I had at least done a certain amount of research.

In addition to asking contacts in Japan and the United States, I had searched on my phone as well—though after Duman Lai Jockey left Japan, information from either side had become pitifully scarce.

Based in California on the United States' West Coast, both his win rate and in-the-money rate had noticeably recovered compared with his final years in Japan. However, most of his mounts were claiming races and Handicap Races at small tracks, and his number of starts was pitifully low. His most recent graded-race appearance even dated back to the spring of the first half of the year.

That was roughly the impression I had formed.

So while discussing the projected Jockey list with Wada, I had also left