The Select Sale.
The annual auction extravaganza had begun once again.
The two notable horses born that year were Satono Diamond and Harvest Festival.
Both racehorses were offspring of Deep Impact. One fetched a high price at auction, while the other was kept by Deep Impact's owner.
Ultimately, Koichi wasn't particularly interested in either of them.
Although Harvest Festival won the Derby, he never won another race after competing in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
He could only be described as another living fossil of racing, having raced from 2015 to 2022.
After greeting Ayano Aoe and Megumi Mitsumori, Koichi settled into his seat and switched to idle mode.
There weren't any racehorses he wanted to buy that year, but the Select Sale's lunch bentos were still quite a draw for him. He had to admit that the Select Sale did an excellent job with its lunches.
"Are there any horses you have your eye on, Sasaki?"
This time, Ayano Aoe took the initiative to ask.
They had been watching for so long, yet Koichi Sasaki hadn't said much. Everyone was probably waiting for his opinion.
"A horse I have my eye on? Let me have a look."
Koichi took the brochure from Megumi Mitsumori.
If he remembered correctly, there were still some very worthwhile horses at this auction.
They were offspring of Deep Impact as well.
He had to admit that the quality of Deep Impact's offspring had been extremely high over the past few years. There were more famous ones than he could count, making him a worthy successor to his father as a stallion.
"Found it. This one."
Koichi went straight to the horse that would become Strong Strike.
A filly.
The 2016 Shuka Sho winner, who would also win a major 1,800-meter race in Dubai.