Zhou Tai'an was no fool. Of course, he could tell that Tojo Hana's first impression of Oguri Cap was not very high.
But he wasn't angry. On one hand, his opinion of Central trainers wasn't very high either. On the other hand, if her opinion of Oguri Cap was average, she wouldn't have any intention of trying to poach her.
After dinner, Zhou Tai'an went for a walk, then returned to his room, preparing to take a shower and go to bed.
The Japanese-style room he had booked had two bedrooms, one large and one small. Zhou Tai'an chose the smaller one closer to the door, leaving the larger one, closer to the private hot spring, for the two Horse Girls.
After showering, he changed into his pajamas and filled the bathtub with hot water for Oguri Cap and Brand New Shine before leaving the bathroom.
At this time, the two Horse Girls had not yet returned to the room.
Zhou Tai'an didn't need to be shy and walked openly back to his own bedroom.
"If they had come back just now, that would have been pretty awkward," Zhou Tai'an thought, lying down on his bed. He realized that booking the room this way might lead to some awkward moments over the next two months.
But it was impossible to rebook now. He could only try his best to forget this "unease" and fall into a deep sleep.
…
Entering his dream, Zhou Tai'an had thought that today he would just continue to train horses at the Kasamatsu training center. But after he finished the daily training with Oguri Cap, Saginomi Masao called him over—
"Zhou-kun, you have to go to Kasamatsu Racecourse today."
"Why, Sensei?" Zhou Tai'an was surprised. "I don't think I have any riding assignments today."
"You didn't before, but last night, an unlucky jockey here got drunk, fell off his bike, and broke his leg. Most of his riding assignments were for horses from my stable..."
In other words, the horses that unlucky fellow was supposed to ride today were all from Saginomi Masao's stable. Otherwise, the rides would never have fallen to Zhou Tai'an.
"A lot of people think you only win because Oguri Cap is strong, but I don't think so," Saginomi Masao said, patting his foreign-born apprentice. "I think you'll definitely be able to go to Central and become a Central jockey in the future."
"Then today, I'll give those bastards who doubt me a slap in the face," Zhou Tai'an took over, a confident smile on his face. "I'll do my best."
Since he had made a promise to his teacher, Zhou Tai'an wasted no more time, immediately left the training center, and rushed to Kasamatsu Racecourse, a kilometer away.
When he arrived at the racecourse, he went through the internal passage to the registration office, checked in, had his physical condition checked to confirm he wasn't drunk, and then stepped into the jockeys' room.
Out of the 11 races held at Kasamatsu Racecourse today, Zhou Tai'an had taken over 7 of them.
Each horse was from Saginomi Masao's stable. Their abilities were varied, but generally, they were all about the same—the most favored among them was only ranked seventh favorite out of twelve, and two "hidden dragons" had earned the "distinction" of being the least favored.
Therefore, the jockeys in the room who noticed Zhou Tai'an's entry all smiled knowingly.
If they couldn't handle the rookie jockey when he was paired with a monster-class horse like Oguri Cap, could they handle him when he was riding inferior horses?
This group of old hands at Kasamatsu Racecourse didn't believe it for a second.
The result...
First race, C7 group, 1400 meters on dirt. Zhou Tai'an rode the ninth favorite, Kitano Blade. He chose a "Closer" strategy, completely different from when he rode Oguri Cap. On the final straight, his left hand furiously whipped the air, creating a whistling sound, while his right hand pushed his partner's neck in rhythm. He managed to snatch a victory on the finish line from the first favorite, Kurino Renaissance.
Second race, C1 group, still 1400 meters on dirt. This time, Zhou Tai'an didn't repeat his old trick. Right after the break, he gave a whip strong enough to break the wind, urging his partner for this race, the seventh favorite Bear's Letter, to accelerate right from the start. Before entering the final straight, he had opened up a ten-length lead on the second-place horse. Although Bear's Letter was clearly exhausted on the final turn, Zhou Tai'an, with his excellent push-riding technique, made the last few hundred meters very easy for him, stubbornly holding on to the lead and finally beating the second-place horse, the pre-race favorite, by a nose.
The third race Zhou Tai'an participated in was the seventh race of the day, B5 group, still 1400 meters on dirt. This time, his partner was the least favorite, Smile Akasaka. His opponents, expecting him to perform another great escape, all started whipping after the break. But Zhou Tai'an just calmly push-rode. When the other opponents' partners were exhausted on the final straight, he gave a light tap of the whip and led Smile Akasaka to victory.
By the eleventh race, the main event of the day and Zhou Tai'an's last race, the level was Kasamatsu's highest, A group, 1600 meters on dirt.
"It's unbelievable. Without his partner Oguri Cap, Zhou Tai'an has won all six of his races today. If he wins this next one, the Nakao Kogen Tokubetsu..." the on-site commentator trailed off, but everyone could finish the sentence.
It would mean becoming famous overnight.
Forget Kasamatsu; even at other racecourses, a jockey winning 7 races in one day was an unprecedented event.
But at this moment, Zhou Tai'an wasn't nervous—because before the race, he had met with Saginomi Masao, who had come upon hearing the news. His teacher told him that even if he lost this last race, 6 wins out of 7 in one day was still a Japanese jockey record.
"But if I can, I still want to win," Zhou Tai'an muttered to himself, mounting his last partner of the day, Bordeaux Prune.
Because his partner wasn't Oguri Cap, he couldn't use "Head-to-Head Showdown." He had already used various tactics at Kasamatsu Racecourse today, and his opponents had likely prepared countermeasures for each.
Zhou Tai'an knew that this last race would be the most difficult one of the day.
"Should I lead? Or stalk? Or chase from behind?" Zhou Tai'an racked his brain as he rode Bordeaux Prune in circles in the paddock.
-------
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