"How are the preparations going?"
On Day 2, Megumi Mitsumori took the train to Sapporo.
Gold Ship was now the main contender under her care. This graded stakes race was crucial to her and even to the entire Hokkai Ranch, so she naturally had to arrive early to check on Gold Ship.
"He's been in great form lately. We're planning a full physical examination today."
Having just finished training, Koichi took off his training weights.
As far as he could tell, there would definitely be no problems with Gold Ship's condition this time. Whether something unexpected would happen, though, he couldn't say.
After all, Gold Ship was a racehorse capable of doing things nobody could anticipate.
To put it kindly, he brought everyone plenty of joy. To put it less kindly, his performances were wildly inconsistent.
"That's good. I was worried a newcomer might not be able to train Gold Ship properly."
Megumi Mitsumori breathed a sigh of relief after hearing what Koichi said.
She had considerable faith in Koichi's judgment. They had been working together for so long, and nothing he had told her before had ever been wrong.
Her first attempt at a graded stakes race!
Actually, she was already very satisfied. Other trainers might go years after setting up their operations without winning a single graded stakes race, yet now she had one within reach.
"Gold Ship should be finished getting cleaned up by now. Want to go see him?"
Koichi rolled his eyes, then asked.
The two of them hadn't seen each other in quite some time.
Gold Ship had been staying at Sapporo Racecourse, while his trainer needed to train another racehorse back at the ranch.
"Let's do that when we get back. I'll be here for the next few days anyway."
Megumi Mitsumori set