The stable.
"Young Lady."
"Thank you both for all your hard work lately."
Ayano Aoe nodded as she returned to Hanshin Racecourse once again.
People online had been jinxing them with all their glowing predictions lately. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought Golden Masterpiece had already won the third crown.
She had always disliked that sort of jinxing praise.
Fortunately, although Sasaki liked playing with his phone, he wasn't particularly fond of browsing the internet.
"Young Lady, Golden Masterpiece has been getting into better and better form lately. This race definitely won't be a problem."
Hitachi Yosuke spoke from beside Koichi.
After several months of rest, Golden Masterpiece was clearly stronger than in the first half of the year.
Of course, he wasn't just saying that. The data backed him up.
"Yes, Golden Masterpiece's recent figures are certainly good, but we still can't let our guard down."
Ayano Aoe glanced at Koichi, who was admiring the scenery.
As the owner, she naturally didn't want anything unexpected to happen to Golden Masterpiece now.
"Understood."
Koichi nodded, still looking at the scenery.
He knew perfectly well who she was addressing.
Neigh, neigh-
Golden Masterpiece, who had been rolling around, poked his head out to look outside.
He seemed to have heard a familiar voice again.
"Good afternoon, Golden Masterpiece."
Ayano Aoe turned and greeted her racehorse.
Dream Journey was already living comfortably at Shadai, with plenty of good food and drink. Come winter, he would join Shadai's roster of stallions.
Golden Masterpiece, of course, still had a few more years of hard work ahead of him.
The better Golden Masterpiece's results were, the higher Dream Journey's stud fee would naturally rise.
Snort-
Golden Masterpiece looked at Ayano Aoe, then turned his gaze toward Koichi.
These two-legged creatures really loved disturbing