New Arrangements

Hokkai Ranch.

"Yosuke, how come you had time to visit today?"

After Koichi and the others finished training Gold Ship, they ran into a familiar face as soon as they stepped outside.

"I had the day off, so I came out for a walk. I didn't expect your place to be so close to where I work."

Hitachi Yosuke answered with a smile.

Of course, Miku Kuchiki had been the one to bring him over.

At first, he had wandered aimlessly around the ranch, completely unable to find his way.

"Looks like Asho's out on pasture now, too."

Koichi nodded.

It suddenly occurred to him that he had yet to introduce everyone.

"Oh, right, let me introduce you. This is our ranch's new trainer, Megumi Mitsumori. And the girl beside you is our stablehand."

"And this is Golden Masterpiece's stablehand. He's also a good friend of mine."

"I'm Hitachi Yosuke. Nice to meet you."

This was Hitachi Yosuke's first time meeting a female JRA trainer.

Koichi really never failed to surprise him.

"Hello."

Megumi Mitsumori gave him a polite smile.

The two of them seemed to be pretty close.

"So you're a stablehand too, mister? Could I learn a few things from you?"

Miku Kuchiki blinked her big eyes.

She had never expected the man she had brought in to have the same job as her.

Of course, compared with a novice like her, he was clearly much more capable. Otherwise, he would never have become Golden Masterpiece's stablehand.

She might as well take the opportunity to learn.

"Sure, no problem."

Hitachi Yosuke had no objections.

Who wouldn't like such an adorable little girl?

"So this is Gold Ship? This horse really is big."

Although Gold Ship and Asho weren't siblings, they were close enough.

After all, they shared the same sire and maternal grandsire. It was just that Gold Ship had directly inherited McQueen's powerful physique.

"We were just about to take Gold Ship for a wash. Want to come along?"

Koichi nodded.

Naturally, he had caught on to what their little girl wanted. Since she was interested, there was nothing wrong with giving her a little help.

Scrape, scrape, scrape-

Gold Ship, who had been standing there listening to them talk, was clearly getting impatient.

The horse's right forehoof pawed hard at the ground.

Being covered in sweat feels awful.

Neigh, neigh!

"All right, all right, we're going to wash you now."

Seeing Gold Ship suddenly act up, Koichi hurriedly soothed the horse.

"Then I'll head back and rest for a bit."

Megumi Mitsumori glanced at them before speaking.

The work that came next had nothing to do with her. After spending so long training the horse, she really was a little tired.

Handling a mischievous racehorse was quite a challenge.

Over the past few days, Gold Ship's stride issues had finally been corrected.

"Go ahead. Leave the rest to the three of us."

Koichi waved.

The three of them headed toward the wash area by the stables with the horse.

Neigh, neigh-

Seeing them finally move, Gold Ship quickly followed.

Finally, a wash.

"Koichi, are you planning to spend this break resting at home, or will you stop by the ranch and have a look around?"

Hitachi Yosuke asked.

A jockey certainly couldn't ride only one horse forever. Perhaps the ranch would have some new arrangements for him.

"During this break, I'll still be focusing most of my energy on Gold Ship. That two-year-old debut race is coming up soon, after all."

Koichi looked back at Gold Ship, who was fooling around.

He had a fairly clear plan for the year.

"I see..."

The office.

After they finished washing Gold Ship, Miku Kuchiki took the horse out to the paddock.

As for Hitachi Yosuke and Koichi, they naturally found somewhere to sit and chat.

"Koichi, let me tell you, Trainer Kudo hasn't even come by to ask about Asho these past few days."

Once no one else was around, Hitachi Yosuke held nothing back.

This time, Asho and Koichi had practically slapped Kudo in the face several times over. For the moment, he really couldn't swallow his pride.

But in the long run, this certainly wasn't good for them.

He was Asho's stablehand, while Koichi was the jockey personally chosen by the young lady.

"Then what are the higher-ups thinking? Surely they can't just let Golden Masterpiece's career stall when things are going so well."

Koichi asked.

After that race in Kyoto, more and more people were bound to have high hopes for Asho.

"So after Asho came back this time, the horse went straight into a short spell out on pasture. The higher-ups are probably trying to work something out, but I reckon they'll temporarily put Asho under another trainer."

Hitachi Yosuke spread his hands.

Racehorses changing trainers was perfectly normal.

Asho had already run so many races that everyone had a pretty good idea of how to continue developing the horse.

"Now that you mention it, I don't think I've ever met the ranch's other trainer."

Koichi thought back over his time working at Aoe Ranch.

"That trainer is quite a bit younger and less experienced, but has a few horses with pretty good records."

Having worked at Aoe Ranch for so long, Hitachi Yosuke knew quite a lot about these things.

"Oh, right, Asho moving over this time might be good news for you, too. One-Way Passage, the horse I told you about before, is under that trainer."

Hitachi Yosuke had high hopes for One-Way Passage.

As for the horse's owner, he had heard it was the chief editor of a manga publication.

"One-Way Passage? That's a pretty good name. I remember that horse is about the same age as Ship, right?"

Koichi was no stranger to One-Way Passage, either.

Although Ship had a bad temper, One-Way Passage was a good friend of the horse's, and was also quite fond of gray horses.

Back then, they had gone to the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe together.

Neither had ended up with a good result, though.

"Yeah, going by their birth years, they're about the same age."

Hitachi Yosuke nodded.

If there was a good horse, naturally he wanted to recommend it to his good friend. Thanks to Koichi's efforts this time, he had received a fair amount in bonuses, too.

"Let's talk about that later."

Koichi wasn't actually in a hurry to find a second horse capable of producing results.

Ship alone was enough for him.

The two-year-old debut race was especially important to both him and Ship.

As for One-Way Passage, the horse would still be there. It certainly wasn't going anywhere. Besides, its owner might not agree to let a newcomer like him take the ride.

After they chatted about a few more odds and ends, Hitachi Yosuke got ready to leave.

"If you have time soon, stop by the ranch to see Asho. You still need to keep that bond strong."

"No problem. Once things here are more or less sorted out, I'll come over."

Koichi waved.

"Then I'll be off."

"Bye!"

Not seeing Asho for a few days certainly wouldn't be a big problem. After all, the horse was on a break right now.

Every day was spent roaming freely around the pasture.

If he went over, he might end up spoiling the horse's good mood.

(End of chapter)