"If you want the truth, I honestly don't think so. I don't know that young lady, but as a top student at Hokkaido University, she certainly wouldn't do something that foolish."
Megumi Mitsumori took out two sugar cubes, then picked up a small packet of milk.
There had to be an important reason the public didn't know about!
"Let's leave that matter there. I didn't ask you out today to talk about me anyway. I wanted to talk about you."
Koichi cleared his throat twice.
Before the race, he needed to pay particular attention to his weight.
So adding sugar to his coffee was definitely out of the question.
Any increase in a jockey's weight could affect the outcome of a race, and he was already on the heavier side compared with other jockeys.
"All right, now it's your turn to make fun of me."
Megumi acted as though she didn't care either.
Someone with nothing to lose had nothing to fear.
That was exactly her situation now. Compared with Koichi Sasaki, she was definitely worse off.
"This is a racehorse from my farm. A yearling. Want to take a look?"
Koichi had plenty of faith in Megumi.
After all, they were old friends.
"This youngster looks pretty good."
Megumi took an immediate liking to the racehorse the moment she saw the photo.
Gold Ship.
Judging by the pedigree, he seemed to be a cross between the Gold Ship Family and a descendant of McQueen.
Still...
That build really did take after McQueen's powerful physique.
Naturally, she knew quite a bit about the earlier crosses between the Gold Ship Family and the Mejiro bloodline.
Sasaki's Golden Masterpiece was a foal from the second round of those pairings.
His older brother, Dream Journey, might have had a bad temper, but he truly embodied the union of two powerful bloodlines.
"Have you really thought this through?"
"If I hadn't, I wouldn't have come straight to you. You don't have anywhere to go right now anyway, so why not head to Hokkaido and train this horse for me?"
Koichi took a sip of coffee.
Once Gold Ship started producing results, Megumi would certainly attract more attention from other owners.
Then they could make money together.
He certainly had confidence in Megumi's professional knowledge. After all, they had known each other since their student days.
"All right. I'll talk to my parents after the New Year."
Megumi pressed her lips together.
After a brief internal struggle, she finally made the choice she truly wanted.
She had genuinely been ready to give up lately. She hadn't expected Sasaki to become that ray of light again.
Since her future boss was someone she knew, she didn't need to worry.
"Then while you have time, hurry up and get the paperwork submitted here. I remember the application being pretty complicated?"
"Are you in that much of a hurry?"
"Of course. Look how big he is already. He'll be entering maiden races for two-year-olds in the second half of next year."
Koichi nodded.
For now, Gold Ship was naturally registered under their farm's name.
The owner was one of their own, the groom was one of their own, and the trainer was one of their own. As for the jockey, that would obviously be him.
Wouldn't that put a hundred percent of the prize money in our hands?
As long as Gold Ship performed well, their farm's debts would no longer be much of a problem.
"All right, then. Your race is on the ninth of next month?"
Megumi was already thinking through how to submit the application.
She really needed to get this done before the end of the year!
"Are you coming to watch?"
"Of course. How could I miss a good friend's debut race?"
Megumi spoke as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
She was quite curious about her future boss's abilities.
She could easily spare two hundred yen for a ticket.
"Koichi, didn't you have lunch with your friend?"
Hitachi Yosuke had just been heading to the cafeteria for lunch when he ran into Koichi Sasaki on his way back.
Could an outing really be over that quickly?
"Come on, let's go back to our room. I brought you something good."
With a secretive air, Koichi dragged Hitachi Yosuke back.
Their dorm room wasn't large, but it had all the furniture they needed.
"You bought burgers?!"
Once he saw what Koichi was carrying, Hitachi Yosuke exclaimed in shock.
His race was right around the corner!
"Keep your voice down. I'll work out properly over the next few days. I've lost quite a bit of weight lately, too."
Koichi patted his shoulder.
Naturally, something like this called for an accomplice.
He really had lost quite a bit of weight lately, though.
At first, he hadn't minded the specially tailored jockey meals at all. He had actually enjoyed them, but after eating them for so long, he felt he genuinely couldn't take it anymore.
I need a cheat meal!
"This probably isn't a good idea."
Hitachi Yosuke hesitated too.
As a young man, he was honestly craving a burger himself.
Besides, Koichi had clearly brought back more than one person could finish.
There were only the two of them in the room right now. They might as well eat them without anyone finding out.
"Relax. If we don't tell anyone, the calories don't count!"
After washing his hands, Koichi grabbed a burger, sat on his bed, and started eating.
"Mmm-"
The very first bite filled Koichi with satisfaction.
Burgers really are the best!
After winning this race, he absolutely had to draw that skill that would let him eat anything without gaining weight.
With that skill, he would never have to suffer like this again.
"All right, then. I'll join you just this once!"
Watching Koichi eat with such relish, Hitachi Yosuke couldn't resist either.
He grabbed a big burger, sat on a stool, and started eating.
This was one of the ways life was easier for grooms like them than it was for jockeys.
"Heh, Burger King's good, right?"
Seeing that he had successfully dragged Yosuke into it, Koichi grinned.
Of all the burger chains in Japan, Burger King was his favorite.
The burgers from the other places were all too small.
"Mmm-yeah. I didn't expect their burgers to taste this good."
Hitachi Yosuke nodded eagerly.
He hadn't expected Koichi to be thinking of him as a friend like this.
Still, their race was drawing closer and closer, and he had no idea how Koichi and Asho's preparations were going.
Asho's condition had been improving steadily lately, though.
A top-five finish would count as a success!
"Do you have time tomorrow afternoon?"
"You booked another slot?"
Hitachi Yosuke naturally knew that Koichi must want him to help out as a temporary staff member.
At this point, only Koichi himself knew how fast Asho could run.
"I suddenly had a new idea recently. Since we have some time coming up, I want to give it a little try."
Koichi nodded.
After their recent training, though, he felt his idea was already fairly well developed.
Of course, he would still need to adapt during the race. After all, he couldn't know what problems he might encounter on the track.
His lack of racing experience really was a major issue for him right now.
The race starts next chapter~
(End of chapter)
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