Stabling and a Choice

"That really is a beautiful physique!"

Having just met with Kitano, the owner, and the farm representative, Tanaka could not wait to offer his praise.

It was a lie.

In truth, at two years and two months old, Mejiro Tenma was in the stage of not quite turning gray, her body covered in dirty-looking gray spots.

Even Kitano, who had personally given her the name "Pegasus," could not see any connection between the dusty-looking filly before him and the legendary winged horse.

Mejiro Tenma's physique was also entirely ordinary. At 467 kilograms, she was not undersized for her age, but none of her muscles stood out in particular.

As for her gait, suppleness, or mental qualities, there was even less to discuss.

Ogawa Masaru curled his lip imperceptibly, somewhat disdainful of the hollow pleasantries exchanged between working adults.

Then he felt reluctant at the thought of the coming separation.

Ogawa Joe, the farm representative, was giving the trainer and accompanying jockey his final instructions.

In other words, the customary handover of the instruction manual.

"This girl is very intelligent, but she can be stubborn at times, so please do not hesitate if you need to be strict with her or use the whip."

"Smart, but stubborn... Understood."

Tanaka pulled a palm-sized notebook from his pocket and quickly wrote something on a blank page.

"I'll remember that."

Jockey Ochiai merely nodded somewhat coldly.

"I have a general grasp of the situation."

Closing his notebook, Tanaka nodded.

"Mr. Kitano, could we speak over there for a moment?"

He pointed toward a spot some distance away.

The Ogawa siblings, who had been sparring with their eyes, both stopped and looked worriedly at their father.

"No problem."

Kitano followed behind Tanaka with an unchanged expression.

"It's like this. I would like to ask what Mr. Kitano, as the owner, thinks of the breeding farm."

"Especially regarding training."

Tanaka weighed his words carefully and spoke slowly.

He was faintly disappointed in Mejiro Tenma, who was about to join his stable.

At first, he had thought that the horse selected by this supposedly veterinarian-born "Mr. Kitano" would be something extraordinary.

Instead, she was ordinary.

She was not the sort of horse worth diverting special attention to among more than a hundred racehorses.

However, although he had given up the idea of personally training her, he did not want to neglect or offend the "Mr. Kitano" before him because of that.

To that end, he needed to come up with a solution both sides could accept.

"Nishiken Farm?"

Although he still did not know Tanaka's intentions, Kitano gave a fairly objective answer after a brief moment of thought. "It is a very new farm in every sense, but Mr. Ogawa's abilities are beyond doubt, and his attitude is very responsible as well."

After receiving Kitano's answer, Tanaka faintly relaxed.

"Then what would you think of letting them continue to handle Mejiro Tenma's training?"

Worried that Kitano, as a new owner, might not understand the intricacies involved, Tanaka immediately explained, "Look, I manage more than a hundred racehorses under my name. With my abilities, I can only attend to a limited few. Even with assistants and stablehands helping, handling most of the rest is extremely difficult."

If he lacked the ability, why had he taken on the job in the first place?

As though expecting Kitano to raise such a question, Tanaka continued, "Actually, it is much the same in local racing... even in the central circuit. The racehorses that receive meticulous care are usually only the very best ones."

In other words, Mejiro Tenma was not among them—at least not by Tanaka's assessment.

Kitano calmly accepted that fact.

There was nothing surprising about it.

As a veterinarian, he could even somewhat empathize with Tanaka's explanation.

He understood perfectly how difficult it was to care for large livestock.

Seeing that Kitano's response was not as intense as expected, Tanaka let out a long breath and patted his chest. "Of course, if Mr. Kitano is dissatisfied with the conditions offered by the breeding farm, or if you would rather trust the stable, that is fine too. We will absolutely take care of her as well as we possibly can."

Kitano remained skeptical of Tanaka's "as well as we possibly can."

"And there is no need to worry about racing either. Whether it is selecting her campaign or choosing a jockey, the stable will strive as hard as possible for her."

Kitano was equally skeptical about just how hard "as hard as possible" was.

Of course, that statement was slightly more believable than the previous one.

"Then I'll try speaking with Mr. Ogawa first."

In the end, Kitano chose to accept Tanaka's proposal.

He was also uneasy about entrusting his only racehorse to a trainer already responsible for more than a hundred horses.

At the very least, Nishiken Farm had fewer horses.

Having finally reached an agreement, Tanaka relaxed completely.

"At present, the stable has Ochiai Genta in mind as Mejiro Tenma's regular jockey—the young fellow who came with me. Of course, if you have another jockey you prefer or know well, we can discuss it anytime."

Tanaka pointed in Ochiai Genta's direction.

The rather unsmiling jockey was holding a carrot stick pilfered from the stable, trying to close the distance between himself and Mejiro Tenma.

"Don't let Genta's youth fool you. His combined number of starts over the past two years has already exceeded fifteen hundred. At least here in Monbetsu, he can be considered a fairly capable jockey."

Afraid Kitano might doubt Ochiai because of his age, Tanaka did not forget to introduce his apprentice.

In fact, well before today, Kitano had secretly looked up information on Trainer Tanaka and Jockey Ochiai through software such as "n○tkeiba."

Even as a new owner, he was not foolish enough to wait around without taking the initiative to learn anything.

Tanaka had indeed not lied.

Ochiai, only a year older than Kitano this year, had considerable riding experience and fully deserved to be called a capable local jockey.

At Monbetsu Racecourse, Jockey Ochiai Genta's yellow-and-black checkered three-scale sleeve, single-ring racing silks were also quite well known.

"I have no objections to the jockey for now."

Kitano nodded, accepting Ochiai Genta as Mejiro Tenma's regular jockey.

"Then that's wonderful!"

The two briefly shook hands, thereby reaching a preliminary agreement.

What remained after that was simple.

"We'll continue to be responsible for her?"

Even though he tried to remain restrained, Ogawa Joe could not hide the delight on his face.

Having the breeding farm handle a racehorse's training and condition management, only handing the horse over to the trainer and jockey before races.

Even today, such an arrangement was no longer anything novel.

But he had not expected Kitano to place so much trust in a farm like theirs, which had only recently opened.

Meanwhile, Ogawa Masaru also waved his fist excitedly.

For him, this was also the best possible result.

"Don't like them?"

Ochiai lowered his head to look at the untouched carrot sticks in his hand and scratched his head.

Mejiro Tenma gave a disdainful snort.