Chapter 5

is the fifth chapter of the Silver Spoon manga.

After cleaning up the horse stalls, Hachiken and Aki go to the racing tracks for their "first date", only to be accompanied by Komaba. The three sit together to watch the Ban'ei races and observe as Mikage Homare, one of Aki's own horses, competes throughout the race. At the end of the race, Hachiken becomes disappointed with Mikage Homare's placement. Later, he also learns of the consequences for the other horses who place badly in such competitions.

Summary
Hachiken spends most of the morning cleaning all of the horse stalls by himself for the Equestrian Club, unfortunately, he overexerts himself and ends up receiving severe body aching as well as popped blisters. However, Aki is happy about his hard work and suggests that they head out together as they had planned.

When Hachiken asks Aki about where they will be going, he assumes from her description that they will be heading to a place like Disneyland, though, he unfortunately discovers that they are instead going to the racing tracks, due to the fact that one of her horses is competing this time; despite his annoyance, he continues to go along with her. As they walk around, the two see the names of several horses that have been sponsored, though Hachiken is puzzled as to why they are named as such. He later learns from Aki that the sponsors are able to name horses to their liking so long as they have enough money for it, which include slogans and other special anniversaries; suddenly, Hachiken begins fantasizing about having a horse named after their "first date" together.

However, Komaba ends up joining the two due to his free time from the Baseball Club, much to Hachiken's dismay. He explains about a game for the older students in the Baseball Ball while the first-years are supposed to continue practicing, which he just finished not long ago.

The three eventually enter the arena with the racing tracks where they initially meet with Nakajima who is apparently betting on one of the Ban'ei racing horses. Aki inquires whether he could tell them more about horses but the man ends up rambling about the racing horses up for bet, forcing the three teenagers to walk inside to start watching; there, as they wait for the races to start, Hachiken learns more about Ban'ei racing overall from Aki.

The race eventually starts, despite the quiet beginning. Hachiken eventually starts wondering about whether Ban'ei races are truly entertaining, let alone interesting, until he sees the competing horses pull heavy sleds across the dirt. Hachiken is shocked to see the sleds and becomes even more surprised when he learns about the weight of them, as well as the general weight of horses, which he discovers can pile up to a single ton. He then sees Aki's horse leading in the front which quickly sparks Hachiken's interest, until he sees it slow down with all the rest; he is subsequently told the reason behind such a strategy. Aki's horse, Mikage Homare, eventually crosses the final mound in the race before all the others, but ends up being unable to pull its sled across before two others, unfortunately resulting in it finishing with third place instead.

Later, Hachiken goes out to have ramen with Aki and Komaba.

The three discuss the race that they saw earlier. Hachiken focuses more on the fact that Mikage Homare failed to finish in first place, which annoys Komaba, who even tells him to stop obsessing over the matter. As they continue to talk, Aki and Komaba explain that a Ban'ei horse that does not do well will either retire to perform other events or be slaughtered entirely for its meat. Komaba even compares to situation to the chickens at their high school's chicken coop, referencing the night where Hachiken and Aikawa both received pieces of smoked chicken for assisting in capturing some, something he states would occur to several others due to an inability to lay sufficient eggs.

Then, after a sudden silence, Komaba asks about the reason why Hachiken chose to attend Yezo Agricultural High School, knowing entirely that he is a normal city boy unlike several other students in the high school. Hachiken does not reply and instead looks down at his feet with anxiety.