"Good morning, young master."
"Off to train again, young master?"
The next day, Koichi exchanged brief greetings with the staff at the ranch.
When he had first returned from Kyoto, the ranch workers had merely envied him.
Now, they looked up to him.
This morning, he would naturally be taking Gold Ship out for a training ride to see how effective his recent training had been.
"Stop rummaging through my pockets. There aren't any carrots in there."
Seeing Gold Ship try his old trick again, Koichi pushed his face away.
Neigh-?
Hearing the noise outside, One-Way Passage, who had been sleeping next door, poked his head out too.
"Good morning, One-Way Passage."
Koichi waved to greet him as well.
Although One-Way Passage's future results at home would not be particularly outstanding, he truly was Japan's champion horse of the twenty-first century.
This son of Heart's Cry had an incredibly high ceiling.
Of course.
His floor was also very low.
Simply put, One-Way Passage's performances were far too inconsistent.
Neigh-
One-Way Passage kept his head out, watching his good friend.
Why was he going out so early today?
"I'll groom you today. Behave yourself."
Koichi brought all the tools by the door inside.
First, he needed to get the equipment on.
Neigh-
Seeing him come in, Gold Ship took a step back.
He wanted to sleep a little longer.
"..."
Koichi felt a little helpless at his refusal to cooperate.
"Then I'll give you half a carrot first. Help me out here."
He felt that his thinking had already undergone a subtle change.
In the past, he had hoped not to get any more carrots from the lottery, but now, demand for carrots far outstripped supply.
One-Way Passage had also eaten quite a few of the carrots he had sent home.