It was already four in the afternoon when they left the racing association. Luo Yong suggested having dinner together, and Zhang Jun agreed.
The two found a local specialty restaurant in Mindu and ordered its signature dishes. While waiting for the food, Luo Yong gave Zhang Jun a detailed explanation of how the horse racing industry operated.
"As an owner, you mainly have three sources of income." Luo Yong gestured across the table with his chopsticks.
"First, race prizes. That's the most direct source. Second, stud fees. If your racehorse performs exceptionally well, it can retire as a stallion, and you can charge a fee for every breeding. Third, horse trading—selling the outstanding foals you breed to other owners."
"However," he suddenly changed the subject.
"While the income can be substantial, so can the expenses. A horse's daily upkeep costs at least five thousand yuan a month. There are also training fees during its racing career, which I told you about before, along with veterinary costs, transportation fees, and so on. The basic annual expense for one horse comes to around one hundred thousand yuan."
Zhang Jun calculated silently. Even without counting the annual dividends he would receive later, the funds his father had left behind were enough to cover the annual expenses of more than twenty horses. But that did not include the cost of buying horses or unexpected expenditures.
Besides, he planned to buy a ranch. Once he did, there would be maintenance costs and employee wages. It was better to be cautious and buy only outstanding horses.
"So you'd better manage your money properly and not buy too many horses," Luo Yong advised.
"I understand." Zhang Jun nodded.
After dinner, Luo Yong drove Zhang Jun back to the ranch. It was already dark, but the ranch remained brightly lit.
Luo Heng was waiting outside the main building. The moment he saw the headlights, he ran over.
"How did it go? Was the registration smooth?"
"Very smooth." Zhang Jun raised the document bag in his hand.
"I'm officially a horse owner now. Shadow Hunter—formerly Jianzhou Flying Shadow; I changed his name—is registered under my name too."
"That's great!" Luo Heng said excitedly.
"Come on, I'll take you to see your horse. He seemed to know he was getting a new owner this afternoon. He's been especially well-behaved."
The three of them went to the stables. Shadow Hunter had been placed alone in a spacious stall and was leisurely chewing hay.
When he saw Zhang Jun, he raised his head and pricked his ears forward.
Zhang Jun approached the stall and reached out to stroke his neck.
"Starting today, you're my first racehorse. Let's work hard together and win races, all right?" Zhang Jun said softly.
Shadow Hunter snorted and gently rubbed his head against Zhang Jun's hand.
Luo Yong and Luo Heng exchanged smiles.
According to Luo Yong, after registering as a horse owner, Zhang Jun needed to choose a trainer certified by the racing association for his racehorse. He would entrust the horse to the trainer, who would train it and enter it in races.
Zhang Jun was a new owner and did not know any trainers in the industry. Fortunately, the ranch offered a service that helped buyers contact trainers it knew well. Not to mention that Zhang Jun had a fairly good relationship with the Luo Family.
Therefore, after Zhang Jun registered as an owner, Luo Fei gave him the contact details of many trainers who had good relations with Jianzhou Ranch. The sheets were densely filled with names and phone numbers.
Luo Fei had originally wanted to make appointments for Zhang Jun, but Zhang Jun declined. After all, Luo Fei was the owner of Jianzhou Ranch and had many matters to attend to. Luo Fei and the Luo Family had already helped Zhang Jun greatly, especially after learning that he intended to establish his own ranch. Luo Fei had even given Zhang Jun his family's notebook recording their ranch management experience.
Zhang Jun chose to ask Luo Heng, who had just started summer break and had plenty of free time, about the nine local racetracks in Min Province.
Although Luo Heng had not personally been involved in the family business because of his studies, he had grown up on the ranch and knew the main racetracks in his family's home territory extremely well.
When Luo Heng heard that Zhang Jun wanted to learn about the racetracks in Min Province, he immediately patted his chest. "Brother Jun, you came to the right person."
Luo Heng opened his computer, brought up the official websites of Min Province's nine local racetracks one by one, found their lists of Graded Stakes races, and explained them to Zhang Jun individually.
Through Luo Heng's explanation, Zhang Jun came to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the nine local racetracks in Min Province.
Horse races all had their own entry requirements, whether Graded Stakes or ordinary races. Some were restricted to fillies, meaning female horses. Some allowed only two-year-olds, also known as maiden horses. Others were for horses aged three and above, while some were restricted to older horses aged four and above.
The race schedules at Min Province's local racetracks followed a three-by-three structure, with every three racetracks forming a group and each group having a different focus.
The Graded Stakes races at Longxi, Funing, and Sanyuan focused on two-year-old maiden seasons, with a few three-year-old classic-season Graded Stakes races included, but no Graded Stakes races for older horses.
The Graded Stakes races at Jian'an, Mindu, and Qingyuan focused on three-year-old classic-season events, with some races for two-year-old maiden horses and older horses aged four and above.
Finally, the Graded Stakes races at Xinghua, Jiahe, and Xinluo focused on older-horse events, with a few classic-season races included. As for maiden-season races, there were none at all.
Zhang Jun had previously studied horse racing through the internet and physical books. Combined with observing the horses at Jianzhou Ranch through the system's attribute panels, he knew horses differed in growth rate and decline rate. Growth rate corresponded to the growth type displayed by the system, so he had specifically asked the staff responsible for breeding at Jianzhou Ranch about Shadow Hunter's situation.
Shadow Hunter's sire, Jianzhou Swift Cavalier, and his dam were both the type to have average results as two-year-olds, only begin to show their strength in the latter half of their classic season, and decline from the end of their first older-horse season to the middle of their second.
Therefore, Shadow Hunter would most likely reach his peak in the latter half of his classic season, after turning three, then begin to decline around the end of his four-year-old season or the first half of his five-year-old season, when he could prepare for retirement.
Considering Shadow Hunter's development pattern, Zhang Jun immediately ruled out Longxi Racetrack, Funing Racetrack, and Sanyuan Racetrack, where competition during the maiden season was particularly fierce and races focused on that stage.
Then, based on the Graded Stakes schedules, he also eliminated Xinluo Racetrack and Jiahe Racecourse, which focused on older-horse events and scheduled all their classic-season Graded Stakes races during the first half of a horse's three-year-old season, precisely avoiding Shadow Hunter's peak.
Of the remaining four racetracks—Jian'an, Mindu, Xinghua, and Qingyuan—three focused on classic-season events. At Xinghua Racetrack, two of its three classic-season Graded Stakes races were scheduled for the latter half of the season. All of them were suitable places for Shadow Hunter to make his debut.
Zhang Jun looked at the sheet that still contained densely packed trainer information even after he had eliminated five racetracks, and thought for a moment.
"Seeing someone in person beats hearing about them. No matter how good their record looks, I still need to go see for myself."
Having made his decision, Zhang Jun spent the following days contacting the trainers on the list in the order of Mindu, Xinghua, Qingyuan, and Jian'an. Using the phrasing Luo Fei had taught him beforehand, he asked whether their stables still had vacant stalls capable of taking in Shadow Hunter, then arranged visits with those who did.