Volunteering Her Services

After spending the night at the ranch, Zhang Jun finished breakfast early the next morning and headed to the paddocks to visit the racehorses during their off-season.

Shadow Hunter was still turned out with Jianzhou Warrior. The two horses chased each other across the broadest paddock, leaping and bucking with boundless energy.

The moment Shadow Hunter spotted Zhang Jun, he trotted straight to the paddock gate and waited for him to come in. Jianzhou Warrior was still as proud as ever, but once Zhang Jun took out some treats, he would willingly come over and trade a head pat for a snack.

Shadow Hunter was currently undefeated in five starts. He had won one CN1 and one CN3 in the first half of the year. As long as nothing unexpected happened in the latter half, the Best Three-Year-Old Colt award was practically already in his pocket.

The three Flying Cloud Colts were still together as well. The difference was that several Graded Stakes horses from Jianzhou Ranch's local circuit had joined them this time. The young horses had divided into three groups, each claiming a corner of the paddock.

Cloudstream Flying Shadow, meanwhile, was turned out with four mares. She had already become Zhang Jun's leading horse; even Shadow Hunter could not match her ability.

After the Jiahe Stakes in March, she entered another G2 race in June—the Longxi Memorial, a 2,000-meter right-handed turf race. She dueled two colts in the final stretch and narrowly prevailed by a head.

As a local-circuit horse, she had won two Graded Stakes races on the central circuit, including a G2 Graded Stakes equivalent to a CN1. As long as her form did not collapse in the second half of the year and she could add another one or two Graded Stakes victories, Cloudstream