Online Auction and the Flying Cloud Colt

After the Turf Mile Championship Cup ended, Luo Fei, Liu Shixing, the trainer, and the jockey first took photos, then attended the press conference and answered questions.

Back at the hotel, after savoring the outstanding racehorses from the Founding Celebration Series for a while, Zhang Jun decided to speed up his plans to open a ranch. He would buy more race-ready horses from various places, earn prize money, and use it to buy a ranch.

He turned on his computer and logged into his account on the Huaxia East China Online Secondhand Horse Trading Platform, intending to see whether the secondhand horse market held any overlooked gems that had been entered in the wrong races, over the wrong distances, or with the wrong running styles.

Secondhand horse markets existed in every country, though their formats differed. In the United States, they took the form of races, with horses listed for sale competing in a race while prospective owners watched and placed bids afterward.

Huaxia's system was similar to Japan's, with dedicated online trading platforms. The difference was that Japanese platforms only provided photos and videos for inspection, while Huaxia's platforms offered photos and videos as well as auction-style livestreams, allowing bidders to observe the horses more closely.

Because Huaxia was so large, each geographical region had its own online trading platform. Buyers could inspect every secondhand horse on the platform or select a province to view only the secondhand horses within that province.

There were three online sales every month, one every ten days, held on the sixth, sixteenth, and twenty-sixth. Horses entering the auction were registered and handed over to the local racing association on the third and fourth of each month, while the auction list and livestream were released on the fifth.

Purchased horses would be transported by the regional racing branches of the Huaxia local racing associations, with transport planes carrying them together to the provincial capitals of each province. Buyers would then arrange horse trucks themselves, though those living far from the provincial capital could also rent planes from the provincial racing branch.

After logging in, Zhang Jun checked the October auction list for secondhand horses in East China. There were actually 150,000 racehorses across the entire East China region, but most horses put on the secondhand trading platform had poor results. There were currently 245 secondhand horses listed for October.

Zhang Jun selected mares of all ages and two- and three-year-old colts in the filters.

If a four-year-old racehorse matured early, it would already be past its peak. Buying one would not leave much time to race it, whereas a two-year-old could at least still race through its three-year-old season.

As for three-year-olds, most were still at their peak. With some adjustments this year, they could at least race for another half year at four, while those with longer peaks could keep racing for a full year without issue.

He selected all mares in hopes of finding some with decent breeding attributes to serve as the core broodmares after he opened his ranch. He could keep them at Jianzhou Ranch or with Luo Heng for the time being, then breed them next year.

In September this year, Jianzhou Ranch's breeding division expanded, adding three eighteen-stall barns. Luo Fei assigned one of them to Luo Heng and gave him a sum of money, allowing him to choose mares and stallions for breeding himself as experience for eventually taking over Jianzhou Ranch's breeding division.

Luo Fei had promised in advance that all proceeds from the sale of foals bred by Luo Heng would belong to Luo Heng himself. He could also rent out the stalls for income, though he would be responsible for paying the stablehands' wages.

By placing broodmares with Luo Heng, Zhang Jun could rest easy about their safety, help Luo Heng earn some boarding fees, and fill out his barn. Luo Heng currently only had one mare gifted by Luo Fei, and she was terribly lonely.

After looking through the listings, Zhang Jun used the attributes displayed on the system panel to narrow the field down to fifteen racehorses. Eight were mares with fairly good breeding attributes; all had a foaling attribute of at least five, with two reaching six.

The mares whose foaling attributes were not displayed still possessed a positive genetic factor under breeding traits. They were excellent mares capable of establishing specialized maternal lines for his ranch.

As for the colts, Zhang Jun selected two-year-olds with speed attributes of E or above and at least one other attribute above C, as well as three-year-olds with E speed and Normal Late or Late Maturing growth types, ensuring they would have at least another year at their peak to earn prize money.

There were also three colts whose speed attributes were not displayed but whose key attributes, such as burst acceleration and fighting spirit, exceeded B.

Not long after spending 160,000 to purchase Cloudstream Flying Shadow, she won the Jian'an Fillies Championship. The first-place prize was 1.1 million, bringing Zhang Jun 110 points and 610,000 in prize money.

Now that it was October and the January dividend payout was close, Zhang Jun's funds had become much more ample. He now had 1.7 million available.

Zhang Jun planned to spend ninety points to unlock the attributes of these fifteen racehorses, six points per horse, leaving twenty points in reserve for the broodmare auction at the end of October.

As for Shadow Hunter and Cloudstream Flying Shadow, the attributes they had displayed were already sufficient. The two young fillies were still far from their debuts, so there was no rush.

After spending the ninety points, Zhang Jun crossed out three colts and four mares from the fifteen horses. Of the three colts, the six newly revealed attributes showed either G- or F-grade speed, or crucial track adaptability ratings of X and △. They simply could not run.

As for the four mares, three had initially displayed the Copper Pony breeding trait, but after Zhang Jun unlocked their foaling attributes, none reached four.

The remaining mare had a breeding attribute of six, but her breeding trait was the Rainbow Pony trait Frailty. Her offspring would either have glass legs or problems elsewhere.

Although it could offset Shadow Hunter's Health trait, Shadow Hunter's Health trait was not guaranteed to be inherited. Zhang Jun did not want Shadow Hunter's descendants—at least those under his ownership—to be injured, so he ruled her out.

Of the remaining eight racehorses, the most outstanding was a three-year-old colt named Flying Cloud Colt. Zhang Jun had initially selected him because of his B+ burst acceleration and Normal Late growth type, but after spending six points, the attributes revealed were exceptionally good:

[Horse Name: Flying Cloud Colt

Sex/Age: Colt, 3

Coat Color: Black Bay

Racing Attributes:

Speed: D

Strength: A

Burst Acceleration: B+

Flexibility: C

Health: B

Track Adaptability: Turf ○, Dirt ◎

Distance: 2000–2500

Growth Type: Normal Late.

Breeding Attributes:

Foaling: 5

Inherited Trait: Burst Acceleration (Copper Pony).]

His D-grade speed was on the same level as Shadow Hunter's, and he also had a Normal Late growth type. His upper limit could be said to be entirely on the same level as Shadow Hunter's. Unfortunately, his trainer had delayed him before this, entering him in six or seven short-mile races on turf and dirt, and he had not won a single one.

Zhang Jun marked Flying Cloud Colt's name with a star in his loose-leaf notebook, preparing to buy him as the ranch's second stud stallion.

Of the remaining four mares, three had foaling abilities of five. Their breeding traits were Copper Pony Speed, Copper Pony Health, and Iron Pony Burst Acceleration respectively.

The final mare had a foaling ability of six, but unfortunately possessed no breeding trait. Zhang Jun still intended to buy her as a broodmare and send her straight to Luo Heng's stable for breeding next year.

Of the three colts, two were two-year-olds. Both had E speed and Normal Late growth types. At full maturity, they might reach D-grade speed, and their other attributes were all quite good. Both had simply been racing over the wrong distances.

The last was also a three-year-old colt with a Normal Late growth type, but his speed was E+. He had merely been using the wrong running style, trying to close from behind with D burst acceleration. Worse, he had been racing in Lu Province, where the final stretches were the longest at both local and central tracks, so he had not won a single race.

However, this bay colt, named River Moon Libation, had extremely high fighting spirit at A+, and his preferred running style was front-running. Zhang Jun wondered how sad the youngster must have been after trying so hard and still losing five consecutive races.

The foaling abilities of these three colts were nothing special. Zhang Jun decided that after buying them, he would race them until their peak had passed, then send them to Jianzhou Ranch's retirement branch or a riding club to earn their own retirement expenses.