Wilson turned around and looked at William and Abigail as if they were gods, muttering under his breath, "This is an Akhal-Teke horse, a breed that has never broken a race record at this racetrack or in the St. Leger Stakes."
And judging by how effortlessly Chitu crossed the finish line, it wouldn't be surprising if it won the 2,000-meter Breeders' Cup. "God, I really should visit William's horse farm."
With that thought, Wilson approached William. "William, you're like a god. I have to go to your farm and pick a mare, and it has to be pregnant with Chitu's foal. If you don't agree, I'll stay in the castle and never leave."
A round of applause began to ripple through the private room.
"Congratulations, Mr. Devonshire. The Devonshire family is now part of England's champion horse breeding families. My God, today has been fantastic. It's truly a swift horse bringing success!"
"Exactly, old Li, you're absolutely right," some of the guests from China began to shower compliments as if they were free.
William, in great spirits, laughed, "Hahaha, thank you, thank you, everyone. It seems today is indeed a good day, right?"
The crowd, understanding his mood, responded, "Yes, today is certainly a good day."
Shortly after, William reached a verbal agreement with the Chinese guests. From now on, the new stadium and its supporting facilities would be contracted to a Chinese group registered in London for 300 million pounds. The specific details of the contract were left to the lawyers.
After discussing the deal, everyone was in high spirits. Wilson and one of the leading managers exchanged subtle glances, suggesting they had their own arrangements. However, William didn't care; during the construction period, there would be three quality supervision and assessment agencies overseeing the work to ensure no issues would arise.
Half an hour later, William, led by the private room manager, walked with Abigail, the curious Wilson, and the Chinese guests to the award stage.
As soon as Chitu saw William, it neighed and ran over to him, rubbing its head against him. "Good boy, good boy," William laughed heartily as he hugged Chitu's head.
After receiving the trophy and taking photos, William ignored the reporters' questions, leaving the spotlight to Wilson. Instead, he turned to the excited stable manager, Old Neil, and said, "Well done, Old Neil. It seems I made the right choice when I appointed you as the head trainer."
With that, he pulled out the £700,000 check he had just received as the prize money and handed it to Old Neil. "Your bonuses will be doubled, and the rest goes back to the farm."
"Thank you, thank you, boss," Old Neil accepted the check, beaming with excitement. "There are quite a few Grade 1 races in the next two months. Can Chitu compete?"
William thought for a moment and said, "You handle that. As long as it doesn't affect Chitu's participation in next year's American Triple Crown, it's fine. Skip anything too far away."
Once the race season started, participation was inevitable. On one hand, it built experience and rapport between the horse and rider. On the other hand, most of the income for jockeys and trainers came from prize money, so it would be impossible to retain good riders and trainers without competitions.
Besides, with Chitu already proving to be a Triple Crown-level champion, William had no intention of missing the opportunity to compete in next year's American Breeders' Cup. Both horse owners and horses could make history by winning the Triple Crown.
After the race, news quickly spread on TV and in the early editions of English newspapers the next day, all highlighting Chitu's record-breaking victory, winning by 18 lengths with a time of 2 minutes, 59.43 seconds.
As the horse's owner, William once again made headlines, with all of England buzzing about how everything seemed to fall in his favor, as if he were God's illegitimate son.
Moreover, when news broke that William had built a private horse farm at the Devonshire Castle in Oxford and that, aside from one Arabian mare belonging to Lina, all 200 horses at the farm were top-quality Akhal-Teke horses, the market value of Akhal-Tekes skyrocketed by more than 40%. It was truly a case of fame and fortune going hand in hand.
After sending off the Chinese guests and saying goodbye to Wilson, William and Abigail drove to Kensington Garden Street.
"BOSS, this estate covers 19 acres, roughly the size of one and a half football fields. It's the largest estate on Garden Street, apart from Kensington Palace itself.
The main building has 27 rooms, 6 reception rooms, 2 studies, a large kitchen, 4 smaller kitchens, 31 bathrooms, two underground levels, 16 outdoor parking spaces, and 8 indoor parking spaces. There's also a grass tennis court and an indoor-outdoor swimming pool. However, I recommend either major renovations or rebuilding the pool."
William nodded, "Hmm, get a designer to take a look. If it can be renovated, do that. Rebuilding would take too long and be more troublesome."
"Um," Abigail hesitated, "BOSS, are you really leaving this to me? Shouldn't you report this to Mrs. Lina?"
"Haha," William pinched Abigail's nose. "You take care of it."
"You jerk," Abigail playfully slapped William's arm. "You know Mrs. Lina doesn't treat me well. You're just setting me up for trouble."
"This is your chance to win over my mother," William said with a smile.
"I don't want to do that. Besides, I never planned on getting married, so I don't need to spend my days trying to win her favor," Abigail rolled her eyes at William.
"Alright, enough about that. What does my mother think of the estate?" William changed the subject.
"She seems to like it well enough."
"Then let's buy it. Even if we don't live here, it'll be a good investment."
When William and Abigail arrived at the estate, they met the owner and the arriving agent, Anthony. After shaking hands, William immediately asked, "Cash—how much of a discount for a full upfront payment?"
"Mr. Devonshire, 160 million dollars is already the lowest price. You might not know—"
"Stop," William interrupted the estate manager, pointing to a bench in the garden. "You can go take a seat now, or ask your company to send someone else."
"Understood, sir," the estate manager immediately shut up. He knew that once the deal went through, his commission would be enough to buy a house of over 100 square meters in London. "Call me if you need anything."
William smiled and turned to the estate owner, Peter. "Peter, there aren't many people who can pay over 100 million in cash right now. Am I right?"
Peter thought for a moment before reluctantly nodding, "Alright, you're right. 150 million, paid upfront, and the estate is yours today."
"OK, deal. Bank of England or Swiss National Bank?" William extended his hand for a handshake.
In a joking mood, Peter responded, "If I had a choice, I'd definitely pick the Swiss National Bank. In times like these, paying less tax is always better."
"OK." After a few minutes, William called Felix, his private client manager at the Swiss National Bank, and transferred 150 million dollars to the designated account. Once the estate owner's name was changed, the money would be transferred to Peter's account.
After receiving confirmation from the bank, Peter happily extended his hand. "Pleasure doing business, Mr. Devonshire."
"Pleasure doing business, Peter."
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