Super Zoo-Chapter 751 - 733: Grand Dress Dance Steps

The Xiangjiang Longines Cup series is an international equestrian event sponsored by Longines Watch Industry, held once a year, consisting of four major competitions, each with a different name, all under the 'Longines' title.

The 'speed' race that Suming bet on was just one event among the three-day competition. However, because the speed race is the simplest to understand and the most likely to stir up the passions of the audience, it is actually the most popular.

In reality, whether a horse is good or not, and whether it can run, is merely a single indicator. More importantly, there are many other factors such as the compatibility between rider and horse, and the horse's physical coordination.

The Longines Cup is relatively comprehensive, consisting of dressage, endurance races, and showjumping, also known as the equestrian triathlon.

Of these, the most visually appealing is undoubtedly dressage; the most thrilling is the endurance race, with a distance close to ten kilometers divided into several stages—it's not just about running fast, including flatland pursuit, obstacle chasing, and cross-country; and the most interesting is the showjumping event.

Strictly speaking, both Hou Longtao and Suming are laymen. Laymen watch the excitement; insiders see the subtleties. In order to pretend to be insiders, these three competitions have very professional scoring and penalty rules. Except for the situation where the gap in the competitors' performances is too large, laymen simply cannot tell the winners from the losers.

Suming had even specifically cram-studied a lot of related knowledge, only to find out at the scene that the so-called 'Xiangjiang Longines Cup' consisted of four smaller speed events.

2200 meters, 1600 meters, 1000 meters, and the short-distance 800 meters.

It turned out that Suming had made a mistake, the Longines Cup Xiangjiang event and the Longines Cup were not the same thing. The Longines Cup equestrian championship is held in different cities each year and has also been held in Shanghai on the mainland, while the various Longines Cup events in Xiangjiang only take place in Xiangjiang.

With this, the supposed total prize money of one billion also became much less, with the highest prize for the champion being just over four million Hong Kong dollars.

Having the previous one billion as a base, Suming had not originally planned to make big money from the Longines Cup. No matter how strong his "spiritual power" was, he could not directly turn Happy-go-lucky and Lion Castle Dragon into super horses. These two horses' abilities indeed ranked at the bottom in such a high-level competition, but after Tony's half-year of specialized training and nourishment by spiritual power, it was already quite good for them to make it to the finals.

Suming's greatest hope had been placed on the dressage event.

Dressage mainly tests the obedience of the horse, and the level of cooperation between rider and horse. For Suming, who can communicate with "spiritual power", this was as easy as flipping his hand. He just had to choreograph a set of movements in advance, let the two horses memorize and practice them until perfect, and with Tony's slight coordination on horseback, there would be no mistakes.

Those who truly understand horses may not value the results of speed races. Just as in the Olympic equestrian competitions, speed racing is only one part of the endurance race, which itself is only a third of the whole.

Times have changed; in a technological society, there's no need to use horses for hauling cargo or long journeys. Therefore, for equestrian enthusiasts, obedience and cooperation are the most important indicators to measure the quality of a horse.

Suming's idea was to make a big impression in the dressage competition, to increase the value of the two horses, and if possible, to promote the zoo as well.

But even the gods don't let one person have all the luck; his perfect plans fell through completely.

"Of course," Long Wu, wearing big sunglasses, sat in the stands with his son, Xiang Zuo. "There are so many people in Xiangjiang who bet on horse races, but very few truly understand horse riding. If it's a competition meant to promote Longines watches, what's the point if everyone is clueless about it?"

Today marked the opening ceremony of the Longines Cup's four major events as well as the first 800-meter race. Long Wu and Xiang Zuo, both equestrian enthusiasts, with the former being a honorary member of the Horse Club, had invited Suming and Hou Longtao to the venue.

Although Hou Longtao knew that Long Wu's family had a good relationship with Suming, this was the first time he had seen 'the alive' Long Wu. Surprised and delighted, he took the opportunity to snap a bunch of photos with them.

"Bro Ten, do we need to book a private box?" Suming looked around as more and more spectators arrived and the seats were almost filled. He thought that as a celebrity, making a public appearance might lead to disturbance.

"Watching the horses, of course it's better to have a lively atmosphere. What's the fun of sitting in a private box?" Long Wu shrugged. "Moreover, Xiangjiang is full of celebrities; everyone is used to it. Who would care about an old guy like me? My son might even be more famous than I am."

Xiang Zuo came over holding two big bags filled with drinks from afar. On the way, he seemed to run into some acquaintances and chatted with them, all smiles. A man and a woman, not tall and slightly plump, both wearing big sunglasses and dressed very ordinarily.

"Dad, I just saw Tony and Carina too." Soon, Xiang Zuo came through the crowd, cheerfully distributing drinks to the three people, and said to Long Wu.

Suming felt that the two in sunglasses looked familiar but didn't recognize the English names until Hou Longtao unexpectedly whispered, "Tony Leung Chiu-Wai and Carina Lau?"

Long Wu shrugged, "Right, Carina loves betting on horses, but Wei doesn't, he prefers peace and quiet. He's just accompanying Carina each time."

Suming: "..."

Hou Longtao watched like he was watching a play, eyes wide with awe, alternating between looking at the two celebrities and then at Suming.

"I'll introduce you to them sometime in the future. Every time Wei comes to the racecourse, he wants to find a place to sleep. Now that you're a formal member of the Horse Club, you have the privilege to use a private box anytime," Long Wu said with a laugh.

...

After a series of routine opening remarks, the Longines Cup opening ceremony officially began.

Even without the races, the opening ceremony's dressage was a spectacle of splendid and elegant movements. Lacking the cutthroat competitiveness, it instead highlighted the grandeur of the event through its watchability.

A total of eight horses, led by a pure black stallion, lined up and slowly stepped onto the prepared field.

The eight horses were like eight precisely engineered yet vibrant mechanical beings; with each step, they lifted their hooves, paused momentarily, and then moved on to the next step rhythmically. Remarkably, the pacing of all eight horses was uniform, like an army being reviewed.

As soon as the lead horse entered, it won a round of enthusiastic applause. The energy surged in the stadium that seated tens of thousands, and the rider atop the black horse seemed to feel the audience's fervor, taking off their hat and waving to the crowd.

Equestrianism is the only sport in the world that doesn't differentiate between male and female competitors, and leading the pack was a blonde rider, unmistakably a Western woman.

"Princess Anne, the equestrian champion from England, one of the royal heirs," Long Wu introduced.

"Huh?" Suming was slightly stunned, that name sounded very familiar.

He immediately remembered, Cui Bijia had introduced this princess to him and was even a fan of hers.

Foreigners really responded to the slightest mention; speak of someone, and they would appear. freewёbnoνel.com

"The princess is here, doesn't the Chief Executive need to greet her or something?" Suming looked around.

"No need for that, this isn't a state visit," Long Wu said, pointing to a private box opposite them, "These foreign princesses with titles often come to Xiangjiang to participate in Horse Club events. See that box over there? It's said that several princesses from different countries came for this race."

In the box Long Wu pointed to, four women of various ages were either using binoculars or watching the events on the screens inside the box.

In addition to Eugene and Haya, there was another young girl-looking Eastern woman.

The last one, however, was dressed in a uniform of the Xiangjiang Police.