Founding Celebration Venue

By the time they reached the capital, it was already noon. Luo Yong drove the four of them to the hotel they had booked. After checking in, putting down their luggage, eating lunch, and resting for a while, Zhang Jun followed the Luo family, who knew the way well, to the capital's Central Racecourse.

The capital racecourse was holding its seventh race of the day, a conditions race for three-year-olds with two wins. After that, there would be another three-win race as a warm-up for the first Founding Celebration Series event of the National Day holiday—the Founding Celebration Turf Middle-Distance Championship.

During National Day, the capital racecourse truly lived up to its reputation as the gathering place of Huaxia's finest racehorses. Even in a simple two-win conditions race, all eighteen entrants displayed attributes of at least B rank, and their speed was no lower than E rank.

Zhang Jun even spotted a racehorse whose speed was D rank, the same as Shadow Hunter. Its name was Prelude to Water Melody. It had the same owner as West River Moon, but it had not been bred at a ranch in Min Province.

Prelude to Water Melody's other two racing attributes were B+ burst and A strength, yet it was only the fourth favorite in this race. In the end, it exceeded expectations and finished third.

Zhang Jun could not help clicking his tongue in amazement. Shadow Hunter was certainly strong, but in this race, he would only have been on the same level as Prelude to Water Melody. Fortunately, Shadow Hunter was still a two-year-old and had room to grow.

After watching another three-win race, the Turf Middle-Distance Championship finally arrived. There were eighteen runners in total: twelve local Huaxia racehorses and six foreign horses that had come to Huaxia to compete for glory.

Zhang Jun lowered his head to look through the information in his hands. Every horse had an illustrious record. Each of the six foreign runners had won at least two G1 races, while the most outstanding was Golden Cathedral, a three-year-old colt from France. He had raced nine times in his career, won six times, and claimed five Grade One Race victories.

The twelve Huaxia racehorses had all won Grade One Races as well. Leading the home team against the foreign visitors was the previous champion, Clear Skies for Miles, a five-year-old colt with twelve wins from nineteen career starts, including six G1 victories.

In the spacious parade ring, eighteen world-class racehorses emerged under the guidance of stablehands, walking around the ring beneath the gazes of nearly a hundred thousand spectators and the media's cameras.

The commander, Clear Skies for Miles, the two lieutenants with five G1 wins—Golden Sands for Miles and Snow-Stepping Pegasus—and Golden Cathedral were the focus of the entire venue. Clear Skies for Miles and Golden Cathedral, in particular, were the focal points among focal points.

Zhang Jun fixed his gaze on Clear Skies for Miles's silky black coat.

[Horse Name: Clear Skies for Miles

Sex/Age: Five-year-old colt

Coat Color: Black

Racing Attributes:

Speed: A

Burst: S

Breeding Attributes:

Foals: 4]

Two dazzling attributes and one merely average foal-producing attribute—poor by the standards of a breeding stallion—appeared before him. Zhang Jun secretly clicked his tongue. This speed was a full six ranks higher than Shadow Hunter's, and the burst attribute was also the highest Zhang Jun had seen so far.

It was just that his lower-body ability was much poorer, a full three points lower than Shadow Hunter's. Once he retired to become a breeding stallion, his offspring would probably disappoint quite a few people.

Zhang Jun looked at the other horses. The lowest displayed speed was B rank, while their other attributes were all at least A rank. None of them were weak. The three horses acting as lieutenants and challengers had attributes no lower than Clear Skies for Miles's, each possessing an S-rank attribute.

After examining every horse, Zhang Jun finally felt somewhat reassured and went to the betting window to buy several tickets.

The atmosphere during the two earlier warm-up races had already been incredibly intense, but only when the Turf Middle-Distance Championship began did Zhang Jun truly understand what madness was.

The instant the race began, the cheers in the racecourse shot into the sky. As the race progressed, the roar of the crowd grew louder and louder. By the final stretch, it nearly seemed capable of blowing the roof off the racecourse.

Even the commentator was extremely worked up, practically shouting himself hoarse.

"Clear Skies for Miles takes the lead! Clear Skies for Miles is the first to break away from the pack! But Golden Cathedral refuses to yield! He is pursuing relentlessly on the outside!"

"Snow-Stepping Pegasus and Golden Sands for Miles are also charging in from the inside and outside respectively!"

"They pass the four-hundred-meter mark! Clear Skies for Miles still leads! But Golden Cathedral is rapidly closing the gap! Snow-Stepping Pegasus and Golden Sands for Miles are tied for third!"

"The final two hundred meters! The three horses behind are constantly closing in! Will Huaxia triumph, or will the visitors from afar take the crown? Will Clear Skies for Miles defend his title, or will the new generation surpass the old?"

"Golden Cathedral and Snow-Stepping Pegasus surge forward in pursuit! Golden Sands for Miles lacks stamina and gradually falls behind! They cross the line! Three horses cross together! Who will be the final winner?"

As the finish-line replay appeared on the screen, deafening cries of astonishment erupted. Snow-Stepping Pegasus and Golden Cathedral had crossed the line together, with Clear Skies for Miles a nose behind.

"It's a dead heat! It's actually a dead heat! Snow-Stepping Pegasus and Golden Cathedral cross the line together! Clear Skies for Miles is third, Golden Sands for Miles fourth! In the end, the new generation has surpassed the old! Three-year-old Golden Cathedral and four-year-old Snow-Stepping Pegasus finish in a dead heat!"

The commentator roared himself hoarse. The audience applauded the magnificent race, while the shock in Zhang Jun's heart was beyond words. He silently made up his mind. One day, I'll breed horses this outstanding—no, horses even better than them!

Four more days passed. Zhang Jun successively watched the Dirt Sprint Champions Cup held as the twelfth race on the evening of the first, the Dirt Middle-Distance Championship and Turf Long-Distance Champions Race on the second.

There was also the Dirt Queen Cup and Turf Sprint Champions Race on the third; the Turf Queen Prize, Dirt Long-Distance Grand Prix, and Dirt Mile Grand Prix on the afternoon of the fourth. Then, in the evening, West River Moon's Turf Mile Champions Race finally began.

This race also had eighteen entrants. Rather, any racehorse eligible for such a major race would participate. A full gate was only natural.

There were again twelve local Huaxia racehorses and six foreign runners, but unlike the Turf Middle-Distance Championship, this was a contest between two Huaxia racehorses.

Although the foreign contingent included three excellent racehorses—Nix, Palace by the Sea, and Poetry in Bloom—their competitiveness was still lacking.

One of the two Huaxia racehorses was West River Moon. Since he had been sold by Jianzhou Ranch, Zhang Jun had followed Luo Fei and the others to the stables to visit him over the past few days. His attributes were astonishing.

[Sex/Age: Four-year-old colt

Coat Color: Blue roan

Racing Attributes:

Speed: A+

Burst: S+

Growth Type: Late normal.

Breeding Attributes:

Foals: 7]

His speed had reached A+, the highest Zhang Jun had seen so far, as was his S+-rank burst. His late-normal growth type indicated that West River Moon was currently right at his peak. This year would belong to West River Moon. If his peak lasted long enough, then the first half of next year—or even the entire year—would also belong to West River Moon.

Zhang Jun had also seen the other horse in the stables. His name was Moonlight. Zhang Jun had not seen his speed, but his will to win was S and his foal-producing attribute was 5. However, his growth type was early normal. Now that he was already four years old, his peak had most likely passed.

"Do you think West River Moon can win?" In the owner's box, Luo Heng nervously rubbed his hands together.

West River Moon was a racehorse the owner had purchased from Jianzhou Ranch. The contract they had signed was a breeding-stallion buyback contract, meaning that after retirement, he would return to Jianzhou Ranch as a breeding stallion.

West River Moon's sire, Jianzhou Gentleman, had previously been Jianzhou Ranch's main turf breeding stallion. However, a year ago, he had reached the age where he had no choice but to retire from breeding and move to the retirement area of Jianzhou Ranch.

Among Jianzhou Ranch's four breeding stallions, only Jianzhou Vanguard, who had lucked into a single G1 victory, served as his successor. But his breeding results had been poor. Now they were simply waiting for West River Moon to retire and take up Jianzhou Gentleman's burden.