Post Position Draw

[Noon updates got the most readers, so both chapters would be updated at noon.]

After visiting the five fillies, Zhang Jun went to see Wind-Chasing Hound and Lightning Chaser.

The two young fillies had now undergone nearly five months of pre-race training.

Wind-Chasing Hound was still as shy as ever. Her first reaction upon seeing Zhang Jun was still to retreat into her stall, though she was much better than before and would slowly poke her head out to observe him.

Once she saw that the visitor was the familiar Zhang Jun, Wind-Chasing Hound seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. She lowered her head slightly before slowly walking over to accept Zhang Jun's strokes.

Lightning Chaser was the complete opposite. The moment she saw Zhang Jun, she excitedly ran over, poking her head out of the stall to beg him for food.

GOOGLE SEARCH TWKAN

Zhang Jun smiled as he patted both horses on the head, fed them some horse treats, and asked the stablehand.

"How has their training been progressing?"

The stablehand responsible for the two young fillies replied, "Wind-Chasing Hound is no longer afraid of sounds. She's now undergoing whip acclimation and circle training."

"Although Lightning Chaser is timid, she adapts better than Wind-Chasing Hound. Her whip acclimation is nearly complete."

Zhang Jun nodded in satisfaction. Leaving behind some horse treats as rewards for the fillies' future development training, he got into Jianzhou Ranch's car and headed to school.

Mindu Racecourse would hold the post position draw for Cloudstream Flying Shadow's CN1—Eight Min Mile Turf Championship—the following evening. Zhang Jun needed to stay in Mindu for another day, so he decided to spend the night in the school dormitory.

In a conference room at Mindu Racecourse, the owners, trainers, and jockeys of every competing horse's camp were already seated separately by camp.

Zhang Jun sat with Luo Yong. Lin Zhi and Shan Yao sat to Zhang Jun's left, while two middle-aged men sat to Luo Yong's right.

Jian'an Club had a horse named Jian'an Black Crane entered in this Eight Min Mile Turf Championship. He was a four-year-old colt who had raced sixteen times locally, won five times, and claimed one CN3 victory.

Seeing Zhang Jun looking somewhat nervous, Luo Yong teased him. "You've really been making waves lately, kid. You've won two CN3 races in a row, and the horse you bought from the secondhand horse market won on his very first start. Quite a few people have started paying attention to you."

Zhang Jun rubbed his hands together and grinned. "(^▽^) Just lucky, just lucky."

Luo Yong patted Zhang Jun on the shoulder. "All right, stop being modest, and don't be nervous. Post positions are purely a matter of luck, but aside from the draw, the most important things in a race are still the horse's ability and tactics."

"I watched Cloudstream Flying Shadow's last race too. He's among the strongest in this field. As long as there's no issue with the tactics, it'll come down to raw ability in the end."

Zhang Jun nodded and relaxed. If it came down to raw ability, Cloudstream Flying Shadow had no problem at all.

Earlier, when he had visited Cloudstream Flying Shadow in the stables at Mindu Racecourse, he had discovered that Cloudstream Flying Shadow's speed had already risen from D to D+.

If Cloudstream Flying Shadow's speed had still been at its original D rank, Zhang Jun would have worried about whether he could win. Based on Zhang Jun's previous conclusions, winning a CN1 required D+ speed.

Cloudstream Flying Shadow's D rank had given him some chance of winning, but he would most likely have merely been making up the numbers and collecting prize money. Now that he had risen to D+, he truly possessed the ability to win.

At the same time, Zhang Jun had formed a prediction about when Cloudstream Flying Shadow's peak period would arrive.

Cloudstream Flying Shadow was a late bloomer and would reach his peak sometime between the latter half of his fourth year and the first half of his fifth. His speed had already risen by one rank at three years and eleven months, so Zhang Jun believed there was an eighty percent chance that Cloudstream Flying Shadow would peak in the latter half of his fourth year.

The person in charge of Mindu Racecourse stepped onto the podium at the front of the conference room and began his speech. "Thank you to all the owners, trainers, and jockeys for coming to the Eight Min Mile Turf..."

Zhang Jun patted his cheeks and pulled himself together.

Once the official finished explaining the history and glory of the turf championship, the post position draw would begin.

Two boxes sat on the podium, each containing fifteen small balls. The balls in the box on the left bore the names of the competing horses, while those in the box on the right held the post position numbers.

For the draw, an industry celebrity invited by the racecourse and unrelated to the race would first draw a horse from the box on the left. Then someone from that horse's camp would personally draw its post position.

The speech ended quickly. When the official introduced the guest, applause erupted throughout the conference room. The guest was Mu Fei, the head of the Min Province Local Racing Association.

He walked onto the stage, said a few brief words, and began drawing the horses.

Zhang Jun held his breath and stared at Mu Fei's hand.

Mu Fei slowly withdrew his arm from the box, a small ball clenched in his hand. He turned it around for everyone to see, showing that it had not been opened.

Then he opened the ball, took out a slip of paper, and read the name written on it. "Golden Spear, Iron Horse."

Zhang Jun let out a breath. The three people seated around a table to the left exchanged a few words, then a middle-aged man in his fifties stepped onto the stage. He reached into the draw box, felt around for a moment, and took out a small ball.

Mu Fei accepted the ball, opened it, and announced loudly, "Post position nine!"

Golden Spear, Iron Horse's owner breathed a sigh of relief. For Golden Spear, Iron Horse, who excelled at coming from behind, post position nine was neither good nor bad—about average.

One horse after another was called out: Mindu Laser, Green Mountains, Clear Waters... Some beamed after drawing the post positions they wanted, while others shook their heads and sighed after drawing poor ones.

"Cloudstream Flying Shadow!" Zhang Jun's heart tightened at the name Mu Fei read aloud. He looked toward Lin Zhi and Shan Yao.

Lin Zhi also turned to Zhang Jun. "Mr. Zhang, this is the first time one of your horses has taken part in a draw. You should go up and draw it yourself."

Shan Yao nodded in agreement, and Luo Yong also urged him to do so.

Zhang Jun was in a daze. He merely nodded mechanically, rose to his feet, walked onto the stage, reached into the box, felt around for a moment, and took out a small ball.

Mu Fei took the ball and opened it. "Cloudstream Flying Shadow, post position six!"

Only then did Zhang Jun relax. He finally felt like his body belonged to him again. He staggered back to his seat, breathing heavily, then realized his back felt chilly. Reaching back to touch it, he found it drenched in sweat.

Luo Yong patted Zhang Jun on the shoulder. "It may be your first time, but with your eye for horses, you'll have plenty more chances to go onstage for draws in the future. How did it feel?"

Zhang Jun sat in his chair with weak legs. "I didn't know anything. I just went up there in a daze. It wasn't until the post position came out that I felt like my body belonged to me again."

Luo Yong comforted him for a few moments before his own horse was called. He went up and drew a small ball: post position fifteen, the outermost gate.

ㄟ(▔,▔)ㄏ

Luo Yong sighed and spread his hands with a bitter smile. "We're probably done for in this race. Jian'an Black Crane runs on the pace, and we drew the outermost gate..."

Zhang Jun sent Luo Yong a few words of consolation.

Afterward, all the post positions for the turf championship were drawn and published on Mindu Racecourse's official website:

Post Position 1: Green Mountains, Clear Waters

Post Position 2: Brilliant Starlight

Post Position 3: Treading Snow in Search of Plum Blossoms

Post Position 4: Song of the Min River

Post Position 5: Song of the Immortals in the Grotto

Post Position 6: Cloudstream Flying Shadow

Post Position 7: Pearl of the Eastern Sea

Post Position 8: Rongcheng Flying General

Post Position 9: Golden Spear, Iron Horse

Post Position 10: Mindu Laser

Post Position 11: Beyond the White Clouds

Post Position 12: Bamboo Shadows of South Mountain

Post Position 13: Misty Rain over the Lake

Post Position 14: Scenery of the Northern Land

Post Position 15: Jian'an Black Crane