Nippon-Ham infielder Kotaro Kiyomiya (26) held an open practice session in Saiki City, Oita Prefecture on the 19th, where he received an unusual instruction from Softbank Hawks' Yanagita, who practices with him: "Become a horse owner." Yanagita is one of the top horse owners in the baseball world, owning horses such as "God Valley," which has one win in the Japan Racing Association. "Gita-san is urging me on. He's telling me to become a horse owner, so I guess he means I need to hit more and earn more," Kiyomiya said, following in the footsteps of his mentor, whose estimated annual salary this season is 370 million yen.

◇Major horse owners in baseball world

▽ Yuki Yanagita (Softbank Hawks)

He became a horse owner in 2011, and won three horses for a total of 109 million yen at the Select Sale in 2013. His main horses are "God Valley" and "Seifusatsuki."

▽ Kazuhiro Sasaki (former pitcher Yokohama F.

He made his debut as a horse owner in 2006. He won his first G1 race with Vershina in the Victoria Mile in 2013. He has owned many G1 horses, including Schwarz Gran and Viblos.

Daisuke Miura (former manager of DeNA)

He uses his own name, "Lisento," as his title, and his main horses are "Lisento Blues" and "Lisento Rock."

▽Toshi Shinjo (Manager of Nippon-Ham)

Tanoshin Joy, which was purchased at auction in 2008, win its debut race in 2009 (Funabashi).