Morning training

"You're entering the G2 race in Sapporo next January?"

"Yeah, I got lucky and finished third last time. That gave me just enough prize money to qualify."

"Congratulations, then."

"You're the one who deserves congratulations. I heard you're entering a G1 race in Tokyo next month."

Looking at the jockeys chatting among themselves, Koichi headed straight onto the circular track.

First came five laps around the circular track.

"Hey, you're here."

"You're the guy from yesterday..."

Sitting on horseback, Koichi took a moment to place him.

He did have some impression of this man.

"That's me. Thanks for yesterday. Go ahead and start your laps. There's room right now."

The staff member from yesterday nodded, then turned and led Golden Masterpiece onto the track.

Although nobody had much faith in this new jockey, he had quite a favorable impression of Mr. Sasaki.

"Thanks for the trouble."

Naturally, Koichi was polite to anyone who treated him well.

Neigh-

Golden Masterpiece looked around, then walked to the starting position.

The daily routine had already become a habit. Once training was over, it would be time to rest.

"Let's get started."

Koichi gave a light flick of his whip.

Closers were actually quite difficult to control. Their racing style required carefully managing their speed early on, then unleashing a burst at the end.

But...

Two months of getting acquainted would be enough for him.

Neigh-!

Golden Masterpiece gave a low whinny, then began to run.

Running at the home training grounds was much easier than racing. There were no other horses fighting for track position, after all, so Golden Masterpiece could run however Golden Masterpiece pleased.

Soon, however, Koichi reined that freedom in.

Golden Masterpiece understood Koichi's commands perfectly well, but in the past, most of the time, Golden Masterpiece simply hadn't wanted to obey.

"Once you finish your laps, I've got something tasty for you."

Koichi could clearly feel Golden Masterpiece growing restless beneath him.

It was perfectly normal for a racehorse to be unwilling to train sometimes. It was no different from people going to work every day; everyone had days when they were fed up or in a bad mood.

Snort-

Golden Masterpiece snorted, then ran at the pace Koichi set.

Another day of wanting to assassinate my rider.

Naturally, Koichi had no idea what Golden Masterpiece was thinking, but even before entering the profession, he had known how dangerous it could be.

Danger and opportunity went hand in hand.

Clop, clop-

The crisp sound echoed around the track.

Koichi had to maintain his posture, watch his course, and control Golden Masterpiece's speed.

He had complete faith in Golden Masterpiece's ability, but getting the horse to unleash that full potential was a major challenge.

After one lap, other racehorses began entering the track to train.

Snort-!

Golden Masterpiece instantly bristled at the sight of a bay horse overtaking.

Some little runt actually passed me, just like that!

"Asho, behave. That horse is a front-runner..."

Although the other rider's disdainful glance had annoyed him, Koichi still strictly adhered to his duties as a jockey.

Being a front-runner didn't mean running away. It meant opening up a gap over the others as quickly as possible.

There had been plenty of famous front-running performances around the world. Some winners had even finished more than a dozen lengths ahead of the runner-up.

Snort-!

It took a while for Golden Masterpiece to settle down and return to the morning workout.

If I get the chance, I'm definitely teaching that little punk a lesson!

Golden Masterpiece silently added that horse to a personal blacklist.

"Miss."

"Yes?"

Ayano Aoe was watching through binoculars to see how Golden Masterpiece and Koichi were getting along.

When a horse had flashed past Golden Masterpiece just now, she had genuinely worried for that horse's safety.

Even when Golden Masterpiece took an early lead, it was difficult to turn that into a winning advantage, partly because of that temper.

Golden Masterpiece's sire had even liked biting the rear ends of horses ahead of him during races...

The golden spirit ran in the family.

She lowered her binoculars and asked:

"That new horse just now belongs to Kudō Stable, doesn't it?"

Mr. Sasaki had arrived quite early today, and few other jockeys trained at this hour.

"Yes."

The staff member answered with his head lowered.

As the racehorse their farm was focusing on developing, Golden Masterpiece naturally enjoyed certain privileges.

Under normal circumstances, that horse shouldn't have been running alongside Golden Masterpiece.

Both of these people were important figures as far as he was concerned.

"Understood. Keep recording the data."

Ayano Aoe hesitated, then looked back toward the track.

This was clearly a bit of underhanded sabotage.

As a jockey she had high hopes for, he naturally needed to demonstrate his ability. If he couldn't achieve good results next year, he would certainly be replaced.

Lap after lap.

Then came repeated uphill runs at a fixed pace.

Generally speaking, running on dirt was harder than running on turf, and it required greater strength from the horse.

As for the rider who kept provoking him on the track, Koichi simply ignored him.

It was far too obvious.

As a newcomer, he certainly wasn't going to give the other man anything to use against him. Judging by the situation, however, Golden Masterpiece's trainer already held a grudge against him.

"You did well today. Here's a carrot."

While leading Golden Masterpiece through a walking exercise, Koichi conjured up a carrot.

The carrots he had drawn from the system had certainly earned plenty of praise from Gold Ship.

He would try one out first.

He hadn't drawn much else in the lottery, but he had certainly drawn a lot of carrots.

Neigh-!

Golden Masterpiece really was startled by that trick.

I almost jumped just now!

So two-legged creatures really are carrot-spawning machines?

"Don't worry. I'm certainly not going to hurt you."

Koichi smiled warmly.

Crunch, crunch, crunch-

Golden Masterpiece soon finished the carrot.

For horses, a single carrot was merely a little dessert.

Snort-!

Golden Masterpiece turned to look at Koichi.

Another one!

This carrot tasted much better than the ones I used to eat.

And...

After eating that carrot, Golden Masterpiece could clearly feel a considerable amount of stamina returning.

"You want more? All right, but this is the last one..."

Koichi knew that racehorses' diets needed to be controlled. Their weight affected their racing performance, after all.

Giving another couple of carrots certainly wouldn't be a problem, but he wouldn't offer any more than that.

Crunch, crunch, crunch-

"Come on. We still have a few more laps to walk."

Neigh-

Golden Masterpiece turned away and simply refused to move.

I haven't had enough yet.

As a racehorse who had been praised by everyone since birth, Golden Masterpiece naturally had a proud streak.

Whenever Golden Masterpiece had thrown a tantrum before, a groom would immediately come over to coax the horse.

"There really aren't any more. That was the last one. I'll bring you some more tomorrow."

Koichi tugged several times but couldn't budge Golden Masterpiece.

This really was a tantrum out of nowhere.

They had already finished the main part of today's training. Otherwise, this would have been a serious problem.

And so, man and horse began a tug-of-war outside.

"Now that's the Asho I know."

Ayano Aoe happened to catch this scene from a short distance away.

If she hadn't seen it, she really would have thought someone had replaced her racehorse.

(End of chapter)