Compared with last time, Gentildonna was clearly much better behaved this time, without any particularly violent reactions.
She had been obedient during both the entrance and the warm-up beforehand.
Perhaps she had become much more docile after falling ill.
As Gentildonna had drawn stall one, she was the first to enter the starting stalls.
The other thirteen racehorses were also fairly cooperative, willing to walk slowly into their stalls under the staff's guidance.
This was also Koichi's first time competing in an all-mare race.
There really was not much difference, except that some of the mares were considerably smaller.
The weight allowance mares received in mixed races could be considered a concession to them.
But mares capable of competing in top-level mixed races were not much lighter than stallions.
"Checks complete!"
Once all the racehorses were inside, the staff quickly dispersed.
If a horse at the back refused to enter, those that had already gone in could only wait inside their stalls for that horse.
This made quite a few of the waiting horses uncomfortable, and some even began acting up inside their stalls.
Fortunately, nothing like that happened to Gentildonna.
Koichi took the opportunity to check his equipment.
The two things he feared most during a race were his whip getting caught and his horse losing a shoe.
Neither was particularly uncommon.
Unfortunately, no one would give you special treatment just because your shoe had fallen off.
During this time, Koichi also glanced at the horse next door.
Compared with Gentildonna, that horse really was tiny.
Judging by the racing silks, that's a Kaneko Family horse. Probably doesn't even weigh four hundred kilos, does it?
He instantly felt much less pressure.
Meanwhile, Yuichi Fukunaga and Ryuji Wada, in stalls five and six, exchanged smiles.
If Ryuji Wada wanted to