A few days later, Golden Masterpiece and the team flew straight back to Hokkaido.
Megumi Mitsumori, who had gone back to Kyoto, also took the Shinkansen to Tokyo.
After returning home, she felt she had done her family proud. They had always worked in the horse racing industry, and she had already secured a graded stakes victory in her very first year.
They really had barely seen one person off before another arrived.
After Megumi Mitsumori arrived, she quickly became good friends with Saki Ikegami.
Whenever they had nothing to do, the two liked going shopping together.
Koichi, meanwhile, exercised every day, then browsed his phone and played games.
On the twenty-eighth, the three of them went to Nakayama Racecourse once again.
Today was the final day of racing in the country. Once it was over, everything for the year would be wrapped up.
This time, they arrived around noon, mainly to watch this year's Hopeful Stakes.
It was the final Grade 1 race for two-year-olds, though its quality was not as high as one might imagine.
It fell well short of the Grade 2 Sports Cup in Tokyo.
Still, the quality of the race would be judged by how its top finishers performed in their three-year-old season.
"Did you get an invitation?"
"I did. I've even got my formalwear ready."
Sitting in the stands, Koichi nodded.
It was only natural that he would receive an invitation.
Earning nominations and awards in his first year was certainly a considerable success.
"I'm jealous. I had to pull some strings just to get a spot. Mainly, I want to meet some people."
Megumi Mitsumori had always wanted to get into major events like this.
Through her family's connections, she should be able to get another two racehorses next year.
With the stable