He slipped his locked phone back into his pocket, let out an absentminded sigh, and looked up at the Hokkaido sky at four in the afternoon.
It was so blue it almost felt unfair.
The decision to cancel the summer overseas campaign had just been made after careful consideration.
In Teacher Sakamoto's words at SHC, it was an injury that "could heal before the race if things progressed well."
In other words, the odds of being able to race and being unable to race were roughly fifty-fifty.
Even so, everyone involved—including Trainer Wada and Jockey Duman Lai—readily agreed with the decision to cancel the campaign after learning of Sawin's injury.
The stable's efforts, the Jockey's efforts, the owner's and other stakeholders' efforts, and all the expenses so far—entry fees, race participation fees, and part of the transport costs paid in advance as a deposit—had all brought them to the point where only the final showdown remained. It would be a lie to say they did not care about suddenly withdrawing now.
But Racehorse racing was, after all, an industry where luck—or rather, chance—often made its presence known.
And there was also the strain of the campaign itself to consider.
To avoid pointless regret in the future, their dreams of summer would have to end here this time.
While Sawin's camp was briefly ruled by emotion, each of them immersed in the feeling that summer was over, Ikee and Ryan Moore, who had originally planned to partner Traveler in the Goodwood Cup, remained exceptionally rational.
Since Sawin's campaign had been canceled, Traveler's side should also reconsider matters, given the increased costs of traveling alone—that was the joint suggestion from Ikee and Ryan Moore.
Avoiding a race because of increased racing costs was a reason that had barely appeared among Japanese camps,