Koichi did Wednesday's workout gallop together with Yutaka Take.
Man o' War was the favorite, while Beautiful Voice, ridden by Yutaka Take, was third in the betting.
Although Beautiful Voice was a mare, her team had still chosen the Asahi Hai, passing up the earlier Hanshin race for fillies.
Their choice had clearly been intended to avoid Vega, but they had never expected Koichi Sasaki to take the title instead.
They had also come here for the slight advantage in weight carried.
"Ready?"
Yutaka Take had done a quick warm-up as well.
The final two weeks of racing for the year were almost upon them, after which they could take a short break.
"More or less. It's mainly the 1,600 meters at Nakayama-I haven't ridden that distance there much."
Koichi answered.
"This will probably be the last year here, too. Getting the timing right really is tricky."
Yutaka Take continued.
Changes to race venues would naturally be announced in advance, giving everyone time to prepare.
"I've been studying plenty of race footage lately. I feel like I've got a few ideas now."
Koichi smiled.
Watching footage was a pretty good method, too. Although he could not experience the races firsthand, he could still learn something from them.
And Nakayama Racecourse was a place he knew fairly well.
The Japan Cup and last week's two races had earned him twenty chances at the Lucky Draw.
So he planned to use them all after today's workout gallop.
The major races he had won lately had come one after another, giving him quite a lot of chances at the Lucky Draw.
This was his first time making so many draws in such a short period.
He had never had so much to work with before.
"Good. Let's go. The workout gallop is about