Flying Clouds

After the race, Zhang Jun and the others took part in the post-race interviews. Everything went smoothly.

Zhang Jun also responded to Shadow Hunter slowing down rather than accelerating in the final stretch of two consecutive races. He stated that it had been his instruction, saying that one victory was not worth an entire career. His response earned praise from many people.

Since Shadow Hunter's next scheduled race was the Eight Min Two-Year-Old Championship in the fourth week of December, seven weeks away, Lin Zhi had Shadow Hunter return to Jianzhou Ranch for a week of turnout.

This would let Shadow Hunter rest from training and racing while also allowing Jianzhou Ranch's more advanced, professional equipment and staff to examine him and prevent any problems from arising.

Fortunately, Shadow Hunter was perfectly fine. Nothing was wrong.

In the second week after the race, Flying Cloud Colt and Forest Hero were also about to race.

Forest Hero's 1,000-meter dirt race was held as the first race on Monday. Since it was a sprint and did not require a full lap of the 1,600-meter track, the race began two-thirds of the way down the backstretch at Jian'an Racetrack.

After the start, they ran 230 meters down the backstretch before entering the third and fourth turns, which were 470 meters in total and uphill throughout, then entered the final stretch for the last 300 meters.

There was little drama in the race. Since Forest Hero's health was only C+, Zhang Jun had specifically instructed the jockey to avoid collisions as much as possible.

Thus, after breaking from the gate, Forest Hero stayed on the outside of the stalking group. Though he gave up some ground, he avoided contact throughout the race, conserved his stamina, and was not boxed in.

He unleashed his finishing kick upon entering the final stretch and won by one length.

Flying Cloud Colt's race was held on Wednesday.

The weather that day was cloudy. Thin clouds drifted across the sky, blocking the sun. The sky was pale blue, and a gentle breeze rustled the golden leaves.

Zhang Jun arrived at the racetrack two hours early to visit the ranch's future second stallion. Flying Cloud Colt, a blue roan, had only roaned out halfway by now. Half black and half gray, he was not especially handsome.

Since Zhang Jun treated all the young horses under his care well, Flying Cloud Colt immediately rose in his stall when he saw Zhang Jun enter the stable and poked his head out through the stall window.

(^▽^*)/

Zhang Jun greeted Flying Cloud Colt's groom, then took out some horse treats he had made himself and fed them to Flying Cloud Colt. They were round, watermelon-flavored snacks.

After learning to make horse treats, Zhang Jun had created different snacks according to each horse's preferences.

Though Shadow Hunter alone received treats in assorted shapes made with premium ingredients and molds, while the other horses only got round or square treats made from blended mid- to high-grade ingredients.

(¬_¬)

Zhang Jun was not worried about this Class C Middle Division race.

Flying Cloud Colt was now no weaker than Shadow Hunter. Though he was a year older and did not have Shadow Hunter's potential, he was still more than capable of winning at local CN2 races and central G3 races, let alone a mere local Class C Middle Division.

After bribing Flying Cloud Colt with treats and stroking his long ears, Zheng Xing arrived after supervising the morning training of the other horses in the stable.

Zhang Jun exchanged a few pleasantries with Zheng Xing and discussed Flying Cloud Colt's pre-race physical examination from yesterday. Everything was fine. Then he watched Zheng Xing inspect Flying Cloud Colt's horseshoes and condition.

Zheng Xing put down Flying Cloud Colt's right hind hoof, stood up, and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"His condition is excellent. He finished all his feed this morning and even got quite a bit extra. The horseshoes are secure too, so there's no need to worry about one suddenly coming off during the race."

"That's good." Zhang Jun breathed a sigh of relief. He was not afraid of some powerful horse suddenly appearing in a race; he was afraid of a horse suddenly developing a problem and getting injured during one.

Horseshoe issues in particular were a concern. Quite a few horses in Huaxia had been injured after losing a shoe during a race.

After chatting with Zheng Xing for a few more minutes to build rapport and informing him that he had already booked a restaurant, Zhang Jun took his leave.

He planned to watch from the owners' seats to see whether any mares in the earlier races had exceptional breeding attributes, or whether there were any colts he could buy back after retirement to serve as stallions.

After Shadow Hunter won the Graded Stakes race with a first-place prize of 1.2 million, Zhang Jun had gained 120 points. Including the earnings from the other three racehorses and Flying Cloud Colt's race, he now had 138 points to use.

I'd never fought such a well-funded battle before! (smug grin)

Unfortunately, after watching several races, Zhang Jun did not find a single racehorse with breeding ability above 5 points or a silver-grade trait or higher that was worth spending points on.

Soon, it was 11:15, and Flying Cloud Colt and the other racehorses were gradually entering the gates.

Because Shan Yao had won two CN3 races in a row aboard Cloudstream Flying Shadow and Shadow Hunter, she had gained considerably better opportunities in Graded Stakes races. Today, she was riding a horse in a CN2 race over at Jiageng.

Since Zhang Jun also intended to develop more jockey resources, Flying Cloud Colt was ridden in this race by Ning Fei, the child of Zheng Xing's neighbor. Forest Hero, who had raced on Monday, had also been ridden by him.

Like Shan Yao, Ning Fei had debuted four years ago. However, because his father, Ning Zhi, was one of the top ten trainers in Jian'an's adult rankings, and because Ning Fei himself was talented, his resources were far better than Shan Yao's.

He had already won seven CN3 races and three CN2 races. He was a famous genius jockey in Min Province—albeit with the qualifier that he was only a local one.

"Jian'an Racetrack, race five: a 2,000-meter dirt Class C Middle Division race. The track condition is good, with fifteen runners. The final horse is in the gate. All right, the race begins!"

"They're off! A very clean break. Number Four, Between Legacies, takes the early lead for now, but Number Six, Slashing Blade, refuses to yield and surges out of the pack to contest the lead. Number One, Black Swordsman, also pushes forward along the rail."

Because Jian'an's dirt circuit was only 1,600 meters long, the race began on the 70-meter second auxiliary stretch, entered the 330-meter final stretch—300 meters to the finish line, followed by another 30-meter straight into the first turn—and then completed one full lap. The field would cross the finish line twice during the race.

Ning Fei observed the field, tightened the reins, and slowed Flying Cloud Colt slightly, keeping him second in the stalking group, a quarter of a length behind the horse on the inside.

Flying Cloud Colt had drawn a poor gate for this race: stall fourteen out of fifteen, second only to the outside stall fifteen. Fortunately, Flying Cloud Colt was using a stalking style in this race, so the draw was not especially important.

"They enter the straight. Perhaps because of the previous four races, the field is currently running two or three paths off the rail. The pack is gradually spreading out now, forming groups of front-runners, leaders, stalkers, and closers."

The commentator's voice carried over. "Number Six, Slashing Blade, is currently leading at the front. Number One, Black Swordsman, is a quarter-length behind on the inside, and half a length farther back is Between Legacies, at the head of the pressing group."

"...Number Fifteen, Breakthrough, is last, one length behind. From first to last, the field is separated by eight to nine lengths."

At the very front of the field, the black and bay figures refused to give way as they battled for position.