February.
The races in January had gone smoothly, and Koichi had recovered his form quite well.
Of course.
What made him happiest was watching his win count keep climbing.
His prize money was piling up, too.
From February onward, Koichi's main racing venue shifted to Tokyo, where the biggest draw in the first half of the year was the Newcomer Races for three-year-olds.
On Tuesday, Koichi also came to the Training Center in Ritto.
Most of the racehorses that had rested last year had already begun returning to their regular training. Epiphaneia and Gold Ship were naturally no exceptions.
After a winter off, both had become rather chubby.
Fortunately, their condition was steadily improving.
Epiphaneia had already been confirmed for the Yayoi Sho at Nakayama, while Gold Ship would run in the Hanshin Daishoten.
This was mainly because Koichi could head abroad for the world races in Dubai after riding in the Hanshin Daishoten. Gentildonna had already resumed training and successfully entered.
Neigh, neigh-
Upon seeing Koichi, Epiphaneia immediately greeted him.
Then he walked over to him.
Koichi, who had been waiting, reached out to stroke him.
Naturally, he would be riding Epiphaneia in the Yayoi Sho in March.
"Come on. I'll be taking you through training again today."
After checking his equipment, Koichi mounted him.
Although he had trained with Epiphaneia plenty of times before, this would be their first race together.
He was also traveling back and forth between Tokyo and the Training Center.
It was a little tiring, but he was gaining plenty from it.
Once given the command, Epiphaneia began moving forward, bobbing his head.
Training with Koichi on his back put him in a good mood.
He would be the first of them to race, so the Stable had been focusing on him lately.
The