Cloudstream Flying Shadow's Jockey and the Gate Draw

With Shan Yao's mount decided, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and enjoyed the rest of their grilled chicken.

Back at the hotel, Zhang Jun fell into a deep sleep.

He didn't contact Yoshito Yahagi late at night to look for a jockey. The Yasuda Memorial was held on the first weekend of June, and it was still the fifth week of May. The gates hadn't even been drawn yet. He could call a jockey tomorrow and give them time to get used to the horse.

Early the next morning, Zhang Jun went with Zheng Shan to see Yoshito Yahagi and asked him to recommend a few jockeys suited to riding Cloudstream Flying Shadow in the Yasuda Memorial.

Yoshito Yahagi thought for a moment. "Most of Japan's top jockeys have already accepted mounts for the Yasuda Memorial. I can only recommend a few capable ones who haven't taken a booking for it yet."

He gave Zhang Jun several names and contact numbers.

Ryuji Wada, Yuichi Kitamura, Kenichi Ikezoe, Takeshi Yokoyama...

Zhang Jun went through them one by one, quickly searching his memory for the information he had gathered on Japanese jockeys.

Ryuji Wada had eight career G1 wins. He had ridden Japan's legendary racehorse T. M. Opera O to an unbeaten season and a string of G1 victories. He had an excellent reputation and would keep riding even the poorest-performing horses until they retired.

His drawback was that most of the horses he rode were slow to respond, so he used the whip heavily and liked to strike several times in succession.

Kenichi Ikezoe had considerably more G1 wins than Ryuji Wada. He had ridden the Japanese Horse of the Year Orfevre to the Triple Crown and was skilled with hot-tempered horses, but there were rumors of domestic abuse.

Takeshi