HLM -Chapter 1404 Choosing the Racehorses

After all of Wang Bo’s efforts, the Sunset Town arena now had over a hundred miniature horses—not counting the fifty Icelandic horses.

Although the Icelandic horses were small, they could actually grow to roughly the size of regular horses.

The horse race was scheduled for the first weekend of mid-June.

Bartier happily agreed to the collaboration and even arranged for his son, Little Bartier, to participate as a judge.

Children from noble or wealthy families were different from ordinary kids. Little Bartier had been exposed to upper-class sports from a young age, like golf and horse racing.

South Pacific Bank became the competition’s financial partner, providing monetary assurance. In reality, as Malone said, this was more of a psychological comfort for participants—Wang Bo had more than enough funds to support the event.

Promotions began immediately. First, within Sunset Town: all the big screens displayed continuous announcements about the race, and bulletin boards were cleared to post race posters.

Every effort aimed to make money, so costs were saved wherever possible. Wang Bo assigned the poster production to his people: Conley handled photography and digital design, while Elizabeth found someone to print the posters.

There would be five races in total: three horse races, one sheep race, and one donkey race. (Of course, the sheep were actually alpacas.) The main goal was to make money—regardless of the race outcome, the key was attracting bets.

Each race had ten competitors. Schools began holding tryouts, giving priority to children with prior riding experience.

For kids from other countries, horseback riding might be rare, but in New Zealand it was common—especially in Sunset Town, where horses were plentiful and many children had ridden before.

The three horse races were divided into children’s groups and youth groups: grades 1–3 in one group, grades 4–6 in another, and grades 7–9 in the last group.

The first two groups rode miniature horses, while the youth group rode Icelandic horses.

Malone selected thirty healthy, strong horses with good running ability for training. This wasn’t difficult—miniature horses were naturally docile, and under the guidance of Tuhao Jin and Black Horse King, they became even more obedient.

By the weekend, the kids began riding lessons.

Before training, photos were taken for poster production. Conley called in a professional photographer friend, set up a studio at the arena, and invited all the children over to change into proper outfits.

Wang Bo helped Dale adjust her clothes, while Eva tied her smooth hair into small braids, placed a helmet on her, strapped on arm and leg guards, and gave extra protection to her joints.

Additionally, Dale wore high-waisted boots. After Eva attached silver spurs, Dale stomped her foot and happily said, “Doesn’t this look impressive?”

Eva kissed her chubby cheek and smiled: “Yes, just like a champion.”

Dale shyly pushed her away: “I’m already a champion knight. You can’t keep kissing me—you have to respect me.”

Ron, Xiao Si, Liola, and Anliya ran over, all fully geared. Liola even wore a bowtie and drew a small mustache on his nose.

Wang Bo laughed: “Hey, knight, where are you from?”

Liola proudly removed his cowboy hat: “I am a ranger from the Pampas, an eagle of the South American grasslands. I’ve come to claim the championship.”

Ron sneered: “In front of me, a Texas cowboy, all your Pampas rangers need to step aside and watch.”

Bowen whistled: “Well said! Go Texas cowboy! Texas tough guy, unbeatable in the world!”

Conley called from the photo studio: “Boss, bring the kids over—time for photos.”

Wang Bo sent the children in, and after a few shots, they came out, ready for riding lessons.

Malone had already selected the miniature horses. All of them were fine; they had been carefully chosen from the same group.

Dale was the school’s top rider, so the other kids let her choose first. But at this moment, she displayed the grace of a true leader: “You all go first. I’ll take whichever is left.”

Wang Bo clapped and smiled: “Well done, Dale. A true knight has the manners of a gentleman—you did the right thing.”

Liola chose first. He picked a chestnut horse—the most majestic one, with a long, smooth mane that flowed like a flag when it ran.

“I choose this horse,” he said happily.

Dale hurried over to stop him: “No, this horse doesn’t suit you. See? When you get close, it steps back. We can’t force it.”

“What?!” Wang Bo’s eyes widened—what was going on here?

Liola shrugged: “Fine, then I’ll take this little black horse.”

The next child wanted the chestnut horse: “I want the chestnut horse.”

Dale again intervened: “No, Vincent. This horse doesn’t like people wearing the same color as it. Look, you’re wearing matching colors.”

Wang Bo rolled his eyes to the sky. Dale was truly something.

Every time someone tried to pick the chestnut horse, she blocked them, always finding a reason.

Wang Bo couldn’t stand it anymore: “OK, OK. Dale, you choose first.”

She shook her head firmly: “No, let others go first. I’ll take whichever is left at the end.”

“Are you hoping the chestnut horse will be left for you?” Wang Bo asked with a sly tone.

Dale widened her eyes innocently: “No, any horse left is fine. If it’s this little red horse, I wouldn’t mind either.”

Wang Bo: “……”

Naturally, the last horse left was the little red horse. Dale happily led it over, saying: “It’s destiny! Red Tiger isn’t very friendly with anyone, but when I get close, it’s happy.”

Wang Bo sighed, watching the chestnut horse struggle to step back but being firmly held by Dale.

Ron asked: “Dale, is your horse called Red Tiger? The name sounds powerful, but kind of tacky.”

Dale looked at him disdainfully: “Hmph, uncultured. You refuse to learn, so my horse has a Chinese name: Chitu. Translated into English, that’s Red Tiger!”

“Shouldn’t it be Red Rabbit?” Qingyang laughed.

Dale’s cheeks turned red: “Chitu is Red Tiger. The character ‘tu’ is a variant. In ancient China, the people of Chu called tigers ‘Yu Tu.’ Chitu means Red Tiger!”

Qingyang froze: “Really?”

Wang Bo looked at him with contempt: “Shameless. Your knowledge of Chinese classics can’t even match that of a foreign-raised little girl!”