G1's First Victory, Part 1

[Thank you to Qingning for the 1,400 reward. Many thanks, arigato.]

[I have something to do on Saturday, so there'll only be one chapter. Sumimasen.]

The jockeys appeared. Shan Yao emerged from the jockeys' room, her face carrying a hint of nervousness but even more determination.

Lin Zhi helped Shan Yao mount up and murmured a few instructions. Shan Yao nodded repeatedly, took a deep breath, and accepted Cloudstream Flying Shadow's reins.

The racehorses began entering the track to warm up, then filed into the starting gates.

Zhang Jun felt his heart pounding as sweat of nerves streamed down his face.

When Huanxisha, horse number eighteen in the outermost gate, entered the stall, everyone held their breath and stared fixedly at the gates.

The commentator's voice rang out. "Eight Min Central Racecourse, ninth race, G1, the sixty-third Eight Min Grand Stakes! Two thousand meters on turf, right-handed, track condition good—off they go!"

The gates sprang open, and all eighteen racehorses shot out like arrows loosed from a bow. None missed the break!

The field quickly settled into formation according to each horse's running style. Cloudstream Flying Shadow was thirteenth in the pack, second in the stalkers' group, following outside the number eight horse at the head of that group.

The favorite, Hero Vajra, had been boxed in by Cloudstream Flying Shadow, number eight, number ten, number six, and number four due to his draw. He was completely trapped on the rail. His jockey, Wu Feng, remained calm. It was perfectly normal for a popular horse to be targeted like this; he was used to it. He only needed to find an opening and burst through at the crucial moment.

The second favorite, Capital Snowfall, ran with the forward group. Drawn in gate one, he was blocked along the rail by