After the day's races were over, Koichi went to chat with Yuichi Fukunaga for a while.
"You did well today, Sasaki."
Yuichi Fukunaga wiped his face with a towel.
His work for the day was done. After a long day, he would rest that evening, then be back racing again the next day.
"I did all right. You were the really impressive one, Fukunaga. You were on fire today."
Koichi had already finished washing up.
As for his brain, it had already moved on to thinking about what to eat.
Fukunaga had taken quite a few wins that day.
Of all the jockeys at Tokyo Racecourse that day, Yuichi Fukunaga had the best rides available to him. Whether in terms of connections or ability, he was undoubtedly in the top tier now.
Koichi counted as one of his rivals, too.
"Yeah, I was feeling pretty sharp today. Here's to another good day tomorrow. I need to rack up more wins while I can, after all. Once we get to Kyoto, I might start losing pretty badly."
Yuichi Fukunaga spoke with a smile.
Their little group was still in Tokyo, while the others had already gone to Kyoto.
Once the jockeys split up, it naturally became easier for one of them to get better rides than the rest. Most of the newcomers, meanwhile, had gone to some of the smaller central racecourses.
They could hone their skills first, and it was easier to get some decent horses there, too.
"Kyoto isn't my home turf."
Koichi shook his head.
Things would get busy next week.
He would probably have to spend more time with Golden Masterpiece this time, trying to get the horse into better form.
"Right, I forgot you were the Tokyo War God."
Yuichi Fukunaga said it with a smile.