"Finished looking around?"
"Yeah. I spotted an all-you-can-eat barbecue place. Want to go together?"
Hitachi Yosuke came to find Koichi after finishing his work.
It had been a pretty rough day.
Golden Masterpiece would have to start getting used to the new track first thing tomorrow morning, too.
"Hanshin really does feel a little out of the way. There's nothing around here. Even finding somewhere to eat is a hassle."
Koichi felt rather helpless about that, too.
Naturally, they wanted something good to eat on their first day here. They would be stuck with staff meals for a long time afterward.
"How's Asho doing?"
"Pretty stable now. At least the mood swings have settled down. Asho was quietly eating mixed feed when I left."
Hitachi Yosuke thought back for a moment before answering.
All he could say was that Asho usually looked aggrieved around other horses.
Wherever they went, his own daily work never really changed.
"Good, then. We'll get used to the track tomorrow."
Koichi nodded.
As long as it didn't rain, the turf conditions were actually pretty similar.
If it did rain, that would give the two of them more of an advantage instead.
Quite a few of Golden Masterpiece's future offspring would turn out to be Dirt Track racehorses.
"Koichi, the competition won't be as easy to deal with this time."
Hitachi Yosuke said.
That went for both the Racehorse's abilities and the jockey lineup.
This Spring Championship really was a gathering of top contenders.
So the two of them still weren't among the favorites this time.
"Of course I know that. That's why I've already gathered information on them ahead of the race."
Koichi rolled his eyes at him. He wasn't the arrogant type.
He had already collected all the prerace information.
Hanshin Racecourse.
Although it was located in Hyogo, to be more precise, the area was a satellite city of Osaka.
As the second-largest city after Tokyo, Osaka certainly had plenty going for it.
In terms of size, though, Hanshin Racecourse was indeed a little smaller than Kyoto Racecourse.
But its Parade Ring was quite distinctive, too. He had never seen one this big before.
Every racecourse had its own distinctive features, and Hanshin's most notable one was naturally its opera-house-style paddock.
"It's Golden Masterpiece! Golden Masterpiece is here!"
"Where? Where?"
At that shout, the people who had been taking pictures of other Racehorses all came over.
Golden Masterpiece was so handsome. How could they not take a few pictures?
Yes.
The young jockey was handsome, too. They would take a few extra pictures of them together.
Before long, a crowd had gathered around the spot where Golden Masterpiece had stopped.
Although the horse wasn't the most popular contender, there were still plenty of supporters.
Click, click, click-
Flashes flickered in rapid succession. Some racing fans had even brought cameras this time.
Seeing the fans flock over, Koichi had no choice but to bring Golden Masterpiece to a stop.
He was already very familiar with these photo sessions.
There were noticeably more people this time than last time, though. That was probably because they had won their race.
Of course, that didn't mean everyone thought highly of Koichi and Golden Masterpiece's chances.
Their standing among the favorites was the truest measure of support.
Neigh, neigh-
After lingering a little longer, Golden Masterpiece headed off for morning training with the weight on board.
The horse was already used to these two-legged creatures who did nothing but shriek.
Better to finish running quickly, then clock out and have a bath. That would be much nicer.
Charge!
Compared with their previous visit at the beginning of the year, far more Racehorses were here for morning training at this time of year.
There were plenty of races in March, and everyone was preparing for the upcoming Grade 1 races.
But most of the people here were stable exercise riders.
Simply put, they were staff whose job was to ride the racehorses through morning exercise and afternoon training.
"Let's go. We'll just stick to the inside."
Neigh, neigh-
After a brief warm-up, Golden Masterpiece went straight into the morning workout.
The horse felt that asking Koichi for a carrot after this run would be perfectly reasonable.
That thought provided even more motivation.
Naturally, Koichi had no idea what Golden Masterpiece was thinking. He was still earnestly taking in the feeling of running on the Osaka track for the first time.
It felt a little better than it had in Kyoto.
Throughout this morning's workout, Koichi kept Golden Masterpiece at a steady pace.
Although some races covered three thousand meters, those races were still a long way off for them.
Even April's Satsuki Sho was only two thousand meters. Changing too much at once wasn't a good idea.
Snort-
Snort-
With some experience now, Golden Masterpiece couldn't be bothered with the Racehorses running alongside.
The horse only needed to focus on finishing the run.
It was always either getting passed or being overtaken.
After gaining experience in their last race, Koichi also intended to change his approach.
He would definitely use a different strategy in this race.
There was no way he could count on getting that favorable first stall again.
Clop, clop, clop-
Golden Masterpiece quickly entered the next turn, then began accelerating.
This time, however, the horse didn't use every ounce of strength.
It might be work, but I'm still the one who gets worn out.
"Good job. I'll give you a carrot when we get back."
After the run, Koichi patted Golden Masterpiece's neck.
Asho had adapted quite well after the coat trim and the new horseshoes.
If that form held, he would feel very confident about the race at the end of the month.
Neigh, neigh-
Golden Masterpiece neighed, then continued walking slowly.
This Carrot Dispenser is pretty sincere.
Time to head back~
The horse turned toward the exit. That little sidekick should already be waiting there.
"That's Golden Masterpiece and that rookie jockey, right?"
"Yeah, one lucky kid. I honestly don't know how he got to ride such a good Racehorse."
"Golden Masterpiece's form was already really inconsistent. Even making the top five might be tough this time~"
"True enough. This race might put them right back where they belong."
Some exercise riders were chatting as they rested.
Their morning workouts were over, too, so there was naturally nothing wrong with chatting now that they had some free time.
As far as they were concerned, their careers had little room left for advancement.
"That's true. Stay Gold's offspring have all had some results, but they're incredibly inconsistent. Golden Masterpiece had a serious slump last year, too."
Dream Journey and Nakayama Noriyoshi were both nearing retirement.
Finding suitable riders for the Gold family's Racehorses was difficult. After all, not every rider was good at handling bad tempers.
Looking at it that way, Golden Masterpiece was the only one left now.
These people would quite enjoy watching this much-hyped genius fall.
Several newspapers had been promoting the pair lately.
It was obvious someone was pushing things behind the scenes. Otherwise, a rookie could never have attracted so much attention.
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