Osaka.
"Let's eat first. We can talk about the race afterward."
"Okay."
This time, Ayano Aoe had also booked a private room for her assistant and driver.
Meanwhile, Saki Ikegami, who sat beside Koichi, followed his lead and tried some herself.
She had eaten hot pot before, of course, but the kind she knew was completely different from what this Haidilao served.
Ayano Aoe was in no hurry now. Enjoying dinner came first.
As long as they could identify some problems this time and watch out for them in the future, that would be enough. Whatever the outcome, they had already done their best in this race.
And compared with the effortless wins before, this race had attracted far more attention than she had expected.
After resting for a while, Golden Masterpiece would return to the training grounds, then head over to Kyoto Racecourse.
Koichi naturally focused on his dinner as well.
He had already gone to see Golden Masterpiece earlier. Though the horse was exhausted, he was still in fairly good shape.
Golden Masterpiece had also successfully secured two carrots from him.
Saki Ikegami found it a little strange at first, but she soon grew to like the flavor of this hot pot too.
She was particularly fond of the sesame sauce.
"I heard you went straight to see Golden Masterpiece after the race?"
Once they finished dinner, Ayano Aoe was the first to bring it up.
She had also received a report confirming that Golden Masterpiece had no physical problems whatsoever, which meant the mishap during the race had not been caused by his condition.
In fact, she had already learned that the JRA was requiring Golden Masterpiece to retake his assessment.
A Triple Crown Winner being required to retake an assessment was probably unprecedented.
Golden Masterpiece truly