During the summer break, Koichi made some simple plans for Gold Ship and Epiphaneia's upcoming races.
Epiphaneia's schedule would definitely stay as planned.
He had considered sending Epiphaneia straight to the Japan Cup after the Kikuka Sho, but ultimately dropped the idea. Gold Ship was going to the Japan Cup too, and there was no need to have them face each other.
The rest of his time went quite well too. After his stint at Hakodate Racecourse, he headed to Sapporo Racecourse.
There were quite a few graded stakes at Sapporo Racecourse during this period, with the Sapporo Kinen naturally being the most famous.
Thanks to Saki Ikegami's arrangements, he rode in every graded stakes race.
The strongest racehorses were already resting during this period, so most of the runners were mid-tier. With Koichi Sasaki's ability, securing those rides was no great problem.
After the races, he hurried back to Hokkai Ranch to look after his three horses.
Epiphaneia was the happiest of all.
Gold Ship, meanwhile, felt something was off. After all, they used to go a long time between visits.
Man o' War continued grazing as usual.
The ranch had also arranged a period of nighttime turnout for him, which would help him build a stronger body.
He grazed at night and slept during the day.
Man o' War's days and nights were now reversed, but with his potions on hand, Koichi was not too worried.
Once he had wandered around his own ranch enough, Koichi would visit the neighboring Clear River Ranch, taking the chance to see Black North.
The past year or so had gone by quite quickly. After all, he had seen Black North when he was only a few months old, and now he had grown into a large Thoroughbred.
He gave his head