Neigh-!
The chestnut racehorse felt an extra weight on its back and immediately began to fight back.
"Easy, easy. Good boy."
After leaping onto the horse's back, Koichi held the reins in a death grip and cranked his skill up to maximum.
Most of the horses in this race were four or five years old.
That made them considerably steadier than two- or three-year-olds, and much easier to handle.
Huff, huff-
The chestnut horse panted heavily, then began pacing in place.
Neigh-!
Then it reared up high.
"Jockey Sasaki, look out-!"
The sudden movement gave all the staff nearby a fright.
A rear like that could easily throw a jockey off.
Luckily, that didn't happen. Koichi jumped down, going with the motion.
Then he threw his weight downward, hauling the horse back down.
The two injured staff members had already been taken away by ambulance.
Every racecourse had an ambulance stationed there, waiting for its next patient, because injuries were all too common.
People fell off horses, got knocked down by them...
"Easy, easy."
After another brief tug-of-war, the horse finally calmed down.
Koichi reached out and stroked its face.
Snort-
Snort-
The now-calm horse rubbed its face against Koichi's hand.
"Don't be scared. Everything's all right now."
Seeing that it had settled down, Koichi gave a faint smile.
Fortunately, the situation hadn't escalated any further.
If things had gotten serious, the horse's owner might have started considering other options...
Neigh-
"Sasaki, you nearly scared me to death..."
Kenichi Ikezoe hurried over and patted his chest.
Dealing with a horse suddenly going berserk was well outside their responsibilities. If they got hurt, they could end up spending months in the hospital.
"It's fine. I've got plenty of experience with this sort of thing."
"Know your limits next time..."
Kenichi Ikezoe