"Oh, if only she'd drawn a better gate, she definitely could have won!" After leaving the racecourse chairman and meeting up with the team, they found old Mr. Ikee looking thoroughly disappointed.
On the bright side, things had gone according to the team's original plan. Poetic Banquet had not used up too much energy in the Shuka Sho, a race where her chances had been considered slim from the start. Even while being unsaddled, she still had enough energy to rub against Ikee's shoulder and beg for attention.
It was still a shame, of course.
Kyoto at dusk.
They followed the departing crowd through the racecourse's underground passage for several minutes. Then Ikee led them through alley after alley until they had almost lost their sense of direction. At last, they reached an izakaya that Yutaka Take and Ikee himself were said to visit often.
"Sorry to trouble you again."
"Not at all. Your table is ready, Mr. Ikee."
After exchanging familiar greetings with the izakaya's chef, Ikee led everyone inside. They took off their shoes and entered a private booth separated by old-fashioned bamboo curtains.
Ikee opened his tablet, and he and jockey Devon Coe reviewed the race over drinks and snacks. Meanwhile, the conversation with old Mr. Ikee turned to other subjects.
"I hear your off-site stable is about to open, Kou?"
"Not at all. It's still only in the planning stages.
"Even if we bought the land right now and got through every approval without delay, construction would mean we couldn't open until this time next year at the earliest. I don't know where that rumor started."
Besides, even with stud fees to support it, investing in an off-site stable with the resources of a single farm—
Or rather, in a large-scale project like a training farm—was