[Most people are watching at noon, so I'll update both chapters 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 shrink back into her stall, but 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, then slowly walked over and accepted Zhang Jun's petting.
Lightning Chaser was the complete opposite. The moment she saw Zhang Jun, she eagerly ran over, stuck her head out of the stall, and begged him for food.
Zhang Jun smiled, stroked both horses' heads, fed them some horse treats, and asked the groom about their progress.
"How is their training coming along?"
The groom responsible for the two young fillies replied, "Wind-Chasing Hound is no longer afraid of sounds. She's currently doing whip acclimation and circling exercises."
"Lightning Chaser may be timid, but she adapts better than Wind-Chasing Hound. Her whip acclimation is almost complete."
Zhang Jun nodded in satisfaction, left behind some horse treats as rewards for the two young fillies' future training, then got into a Jianzhou Ranch vehicle and headed to school.
Mindu Racecourse would hold the gate draw for Cloudstream Flying Shadow's CN1—the 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.
Inside a meeting room at Mindu Racecourse, the owners, trainers, and jockeys from each participating camp were already seated separately.
Zhang Jun and Luo Yong sat together. 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 competing in this Eight Min Mile Turf Championship named Jian'an Black Crane. He was a four-year-old colt who had run sixteen times in local races, won five of them, 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 even the horse you bought from the secondhand horse market won on its first start. Quite a few people have started paying attention to you."
Zhang Jun rubbed his hands and chuckled. "(*^▽^*) Just lucky, just lucky."
Luo Yong patted Zhang Jun on the shoulder. "All right, stop being modest. And don't be nervous. Gate draws are purely a matter of luck, but aside from the gate, the most important things in a race are the horse's ability and tactics."
"I watched Cloudstream Flying Shadow's last race too. Her ability ranks among the best in this field. As long as there's no problem with the tactics, the final stretch will come down to raw strength."
Zhang Jun nodded and relaxed. If it came down to raw ability, Cloudstream Flying Shadow would have no problem at all.
That was because, when he had visited Cloudstream Flying Shadow in the Mindu Racecourse stables earlier, he had discovered that her speed had risen from D to D+.
If Cloudstream Flying Shadow's speed had remained at D, Zhang Jun would still have worried about whether she could win. Based on his previous conclusions, winning a CN1 required D+ speed.
Cloudstream Flying Shadow's D-level speed had still given her a certain chance of winning, but she would most likely have merely made up the numbers and earned prize money. Now that she had risen to D+, she truly possessed the ability to win.
At the same time, Zhang Jun had also formed an estimate of when Cloudstream Flying Shadow's peak period would arrive.
Cloudstream Flying Shadow was a late bloomer. She would reach her peak from the latter half of age four to the first half of age five. Her speed had already risen by a grade at three years and eleven months, so Zhang Jun believed there was an eighty percent chance that her peak would arrive in the latter half of age four.
The person in charge of Mindu Racecourse stepped onto the podium at the front of the meeting 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 gate 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 participating horses, while those in the box on the right contained gate numbers.
For the draw, an industry celebrity unrelated to the race, invited by the racecourse, would first draw a horse from the box on the left. Then someone from that horse's camp would personally draw its gate.
The speech soon ended. After the official introduced the guest, applause erupted throughout the meeting 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 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 aloud. "Golden Spear, Iron Horse."
Zhang Jun let out a breath. The three people seated around a table on the left exchanged a few words, then a middle-aged man in his fifties walked onto the stage. He reached into the draw box, felt around for a moment, and pulled out a small ball.
Mu Fei took the ball, opened it, and announced loudly, "Gate nine!"
Golden Spear, Iron Horse's owner let out a breath of relief. For Golden Spear, Iron Horse, who excelled at closing from behind, gate nine was neither good nor bad. It was average.
One by one, the names of the horses were called: Mindu Laser, Green Mountains, Clear Waters... Some beamed after drawing the gates they wanted, while others shook their heads and sighed after drawing poor positions.
"Cloudstream Flying Shadow!" Zhang Jun's heart tightened when he heard Mu Fei call the name. 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 participated in a draw. You should go up 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, stood up, walked onto the stage, reached into the box, felt around for a moment, and took out a small ball.
Mu Fei accepted the ball and opened it. "Cloudstream Flying Shadow, gate six!"
Zhang Jun finally relaxed. Only then did he feel as though his body belonged to him again. He staggered back to his seat, breathing heavily, then noticed a chill down his back. When he reached behind him, his hand came away covered 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 gate was announced that I felt like my body belonged to me again."
Luo Yong offered him a few comforting words, but then his own name was called. He went up and drew a small ball: gate fifteen, the outside 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 is a front-runner, and he drew the far outside gate..."
Zhang Jun sent Luo Yong a few words of comfort.
Afterward, all the gates for the Turf Championship were drawn and announced on Mindu Racecourse's official website:
Gate 1: Green Mountains, Clear Waters
Gate 2: Brilliant Starlight
Gate 3: Treading Snow in Search of Plum Blossoms
Gate 4: Song of the Min River
Gate 5: Song of the Cave Immortal
Gate 6: Cloudstream Flying Shadow
Gate 7: Pearl of the Eastern Sea
Gate 8: Rongcheng Flying General
Gate 9: Golden Spear, Iron Horse
Gate 10: Mindu Laser
Gate 11: Beyond the White Clouds
Gate 12: Bamboo Shadows of South Mountain
Gate 13: Misty Rain over the Lake
Gate 14: Scenery of the Northern Land
Gate 15: Jian'an Black Crane