Three Races

Time passed quickly. October was gone in the blink of an eye, and November arrived.

At the end of the month, Zhang Jun took his school's in-person midterm exams. Thanks to paying close attention in both online and offline classes, he scored very well, with every subject above ninety and most of them perfect scores.

In the first week of November, three horses under Zhang Jun's name were set to race: River Moon, Mountain Patrol Leopard, and his favorite, Shadow Hunter.

Fortunately, the three races were not held on the same day. River Moon's Class C Middle Division race was the third race on Tuesday, while Mountain Patrol Leopard's Class C Lower Division race was the second race on Wednesday.

Shadow Hunter's CN3 race, the Banyan Tree Stakes, would be held as Mindu's ninth race on Friday, so Zhang Jun had time to watch them one by one.

Jian'an Racetrack was gloomy on Tuesday, with dark clouds covering the sky. Fortunately, it did not rain, and the track was still rated good.

In the paddock, River Moon walked around under the lead of a stablehand. Shan Yao emerged from the jockeys' room. Since they had worked so well together, Zhang Jun had also entrusted River Moon and Mountain Patrol Leopard to Shan Yao.

Zheng Xing held one of Shan Yao's legs to help her mount, then gave her a few instructions. "Watch the break, then just go straight to the front and run away with it. River Moon has enough stamina to lead for sixteen hundred meters. If the advantage is big enough at the end, I shouldn't need to tell you what to do."

Shan Yao nodded. "Once victory is secured, I can stop accelerating or even slow down. Safety comes first."

Zheng Xing smiled and patted River Moon's neck. "Go for it, buddy."

The race went smoothly. River Moon broke from the gate with a one-head lead over the other horses. Shan Yao seized the momentum and accelerated, opening up a gap of seven lengths as soon as they entered the backstretch, then stretching it to twelve lengths along the straight.

After entering the third and fourth turns on the uphill section, Shan Yao used the slope to slow down and recover stamina, tricking the jockeys behind into accelerating after her. They closed to within six lengths of River Moon.

But the moment Shan Yao entered the stretch, she began accelerating again. After opening the gap back up to eight lengths, she stopped pushing, ultimately winning by one length.

After the race, Zheng Xing happily hugged River Moon, while Zhang Jun stroked River Moon's forehead.

(≧∇≦)ﾉ

They fed him some carrots and sugar cubes in the stable, then pulled Zheng Xing and Shan Yao along for a celebratory feast.

The next day was sunny and cloudless. Mountain Patrol Leopard entered a fifteen-hundred-meter turf race in the two-year-old-only Class C Lower Division. He would use a stalking style and break from gate five.

Shan Yao strictly followed Zheng Xing's arrangements. After the break, she stayed right behind the two front-runners, holding the ideal stalking position in third and forcing the leaders to set a pace suitable for Mountain Patrol Leopard. In the end, he burst out in the stretch and won by one and a half lengths.

Zhang Jun did the same thing again, feeding him carrots and sugar cubes, patting his head, and praising and encouraging him. (≧∇≦)ﾉ

After the race, Zheng Xing drank until tears streamed down his face at the celebration, thanking Zhang Jun again and again.

After resting in Jian'an for a day, Zhang Jun took a car to Mindu on Friday morning. Shadow Hunter would run in that afternoon's ninth race—the Banyan Tree Stakes—and had drawn gate seven before the race.

The first thing Zhang Jun did after arriving in Mindu was visit Shadow Hunter in the Mindu Racecourse stables. Zheng Shan and Lin Zhi were both there. Zheng Shan was preparing Shadow Hunter's lunch, while Lin Zhi was checking his horseshoes.

When they saw Zhang Jun enter, they greeted him with broad smiles. (｡･∀･)ﾉﾞ

Zhang Jun responded and walked up to the stall. Smiling, he hugged Shadow Hunter's horsey head as it reached toward him, rubbing his ears as they flicked back and forth.

"Good boy, good boy."

After letting Zhang Jun rub him for a while, Shadow Hunter poked his head toward Zhang Jun's pocket and rummaged through it with his lips. When he failed to find what he wanted, he angrily bumped Zhang Jun, snorted, ╭(╯^╰)╮, then turned around and presented his rear to him.

Zhang Jun laughed helplessly and patted Shadow Hunter's rump. "Wow, you little rascal. You only let me rub your head because you wanted the snacks I made, didn't you?"

He took out some homemade treats from his bag, waved them around in his hand, and made a little noise. "Look what this is."

Shadow Hunter turned around. The moment he saw the horse treats, he immediately rushed over like a puppy, his eyes sparkling. (✧ω✧) He shoved his horsey head back into Zhang Jun's arms and let out soft whimpering sounds.

Ever since trying the horse treats Zhang Jun had specially made for him, Shadow Hunter had become a snack addict. When there were treats around, he would not even eat carrots or sugar cubes.

Zhang Jun smiled and fed Shadow Hunter several pieces, then handed the rest to Zheng Shan to put away as rewards for Shadow Hunter's future victories and diligent training.

After playing with Shadow Hunter for a while, Zhang Jun and Lin Zhi stepped outside the stable. Zhang Jun rubbed his hands together. "How is Shadow Hunter doing? Are we confident about this race?"

Although he had already experienced Cloudstream Flying Shadow's Graded Stakes race, Shadow Hunter was different. Zhang Jun was still nervous.

Lin Zhi answered with a smile, "There's absolutely no problem. I've observed the other horses in this race. None of them are a match for Shadow Hunter."

He took out his phone and opened the Jian'an Racetrack race page. "Look. Shadow Hunter is the overwhelming favorite before the race. The fans supporting him outnumber those supporting second through fifth place combined."

Zhang Jun relaxed and smiled. "Then I'll leave this afternoon to you all. I'll be watching from the owners' stand."

The weather was sunny and cloudless. Warm sunlight fell over everyone, making people want to crawl into bed and sleep.

The commentator's voice rang out from overhead. "The last horse, number fifteen Goo Goo Ga Ga, enters the gate. Can the top favorite, number five Shadow Hunter, deliver the result everyone has been hoping for?"

"Mindu Racecourse, race nine, the CN3 Banyan Tree Stakes, sixteen hundred meters on dirt. The track is rated cool. And now... they're off!"

The gates burst open in sync with the commentator's call. Shadow Hunter did not break particularly well this time, coming out eighth among the fifteen horses. Shan Yao took her position accordingly, settling at the front of the stalking pack.

"A fairly even break. The top favorite, Shadow Hunter, did not enter the front-running group like in his previous race. Instead, he has settled at the front of the stalking pack. Currently leading the field is number seven, Rose Romance."

Shan Yao felt a little uncertain. Because of the break, her position this race was much farther back than in the previous one. She was unsure whether she should move up again.

A trace of doubt flashed through her mind, and her hands unconsciously loosened the reins a little. Shadow Hunter instantly sensed what Shan Yao was thinking.

(≖_≖)

He raised his head slightly, let out a dissatisfied grumble, and tugged the reins.

Receiving her partner's feedback, Shan Yao's doubts vanished. Since you're confident, then I'll definitely believe in you, partner!

She tightened the reins and lowered her body, reducing the pressure of wind resistance as much as possible.

The field quickly left the turn and reached the eight-hundred-meter marker on the backstretch.

"The first eight hundred meters have been covered in forty-eight seconds. That is a somewhat slow time. Still at the front of the field is..."

In Huaxia's local sixteen-hundred-meter dirt Grade Three races, the usual eight-hundred-meter split was between forty-six and forty-seven seconds. In central races, it was even faster, often under forty-six seconds.

At the front of the stalking pack, Shan Yao looked toward Goo Goo Ga Ga as he entered the turn, locking her eyes on him. She urged Shadow Hunter forward with both hands. "It's time to close the distance!"

Because Mindu's track was entirely flat, without any rolling slopes, Shan Yao did not need to worry about Shadow Hunter expending extra stamina on an incline. By accelerating now to improve position, he could break free from the pack and unleash his finishing kick as soon as they entered the final stretch, securing an early advantage.

Moreover, it was an unwritten rule of horse racing that the stalking pack would accelerate through the third and fourth turns to catch the front-runners, then run alongside them as they exited the final bend. Unless there was a vast gap in ability between the horses, stalking jockeys would generally choose to do this.