Chapter 59: Pre-Race Adaptation
To be honest, Makoto normally wouldn't use the phrase "has issues" to describe a Umamusume.
But when it came to the Golden Family… he had no choice.
It wasn't that they "had issues"—it was that each one of them was more of a handful than the last.
Take, for example, those who tried to bite their opponent's tail during a race, threw tantrums and refused to enter the gate, picked fights during the parade lap, or even attempted to chase down their trainer after the race…
And somehow, despite all of this—or maybe because of it—these girls were ridiculously strong.
For instance, two who had retired in recent years: one had won the Classic Triple Crown and was now one of the only seven Triple Crown winners in history. The other didn't shine much in the Classic series but still claimed a G1 victory at the Takarazuka Kinen and even secured second place at the Arc de Triomphe in Europe.
And for a Japanese Umamusume, placing second at the Arc was already considered a top-tier, near-unattainable feat.
Gold Ship had inherited the family's signature eccentric brilliance to perfection.
According to rumors, she never participated in regular training. While other Umamusume were busy running laps, she'd be playing chess, cards, solving Rubik's cubes, or doing "one-finger watermelon-smashing" drills.
And yet, as of now, she had not only taken home victories in the Satsuki Sho and Kikuka Sho—two of the Classic G1 races—but also won major G1 events like the Takarazuka Kinen and Arima Kinen. In fact, she was a two-time consecutive winner of the Takarazuka Kinen.
With that kind of record, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call her one of the strongest active Umamusumes.
Naturally, Makoto had carefully analyzed her races and training before.
His conclusion?
Couldn't understand it. Impossible to replicate. Best to give up. Whoever tries to imitate her is doomed.
Now, realizing that one of his girls knew Gold Ship, only one thought crossed Makoto's mind:
I absolutely cannot let Kitasan Black get infected by that bizarre behavior.
Massaging his temple for a moment, Makoto noticed the three Umamusume beside him still staring at him with puzzled expressions. He gave a light cough.
"The reason I guessed it…" he began, "was actually pretty simple."
He flipped his phone around and explained:
"Just from the feel of it, Scarlet and Vodka seem like the kind of girls who would know someone not ordinary."
"Of course, that might just be my bias, but the moment Vodka mentioned someone very famous, it all clicked."
"There are twelve races scheduled for the 22nd at Hanshin Racecourse. The main event is obviously the second-to-last: the G2 Hanshin Daishoten."
"Looking at that race alone, the most famous entry has to be Gold Ship—she's a five-time G1 winner and two-time Takarazuka champion."
"The event's entire promotional campaign is centered around her. Open the homepage and her picture is right there."
"So of course she was my first guess."
"Didn't expect to get it right on the first try though."
After finishing his explanation, Makoto saw the three Umamusume nodding in understanding. He paused, then asked:
"You girls knew her from before?"
"Yeah, Goldshi's kind of… how do I put this… very special," Scarlet Akagi said with a chuckle.
"She's super talented, and academically she's… weirdly good, so she enrolled really early."
"But she's never liked school or the structured training schedules set by trainers, and she didn't specialize until pretty late, so even though she's technically our senior, she might end up racing with Kita-chan anyway."
Makoto nodded thoughtfully.
He still couldn't understand Gold Ship's approach to training or racing, but when it came to physical ability and performance stats, her data was solid.
This year was her third season as an older horse—usually by now, most Umamusumes would be in decline. Yet Gold Ship's stats were surprisingly stable.
Her performance had dipped noticeably around the time of last year's Arc, but only in competition. Her training metrics remained strong.
From the public information available, her next race after the Hanshin Daishoten was the Spring Tenno Sho, followed by the Takarazuka Kinen.
Compared to her previous results, the Spring Tenno Sho might put a bit of pressure on her.
But if she manages to win the Takarazuka Kinen again this year, she might just pull off a three-peat at that venue.
If she performs well in both of those G1 races, then her schedule for the second half of the year becomes easier to predict.
She might follow last year's path again and head overseas for the Arc de Triomphe.
Or she might aim for the domestic "Autumn Triple Crown" of the Autumn Tenno Sho, Japan Cup, and Arima Kinen. Of course, competing in three G1s back-to-back is no small feat—picking two out of three would be a reasonable choice too.
Either way, if Kitasan Black manages to perform well in the Classic Triple Crown, she might actually end up racing against Gold Ship at the year-end Arima Kinen.
Speaking of the Arima and Takarazuka… wasn't this year's Takarazuka particularly famous in his previous life?
Just as that thought began to form and he was about to delve into it more, Makoto suddenly heard a voice from Kitasan Black, tinged with surprise.
"Eh? There are other senpai I know coming to the race to cheer me on?"
She sounded both puzzled and excited, her small fists clenched in anticipation, long ears twitching, and her tail swishing back and forth energetically.
"Who is it? Scarlet-senpai? Vodka-senpai?"
"Hehehe, that's a secret~"
Scarlet chuckled and shook her head. She and Vodka exchanged a knowing glance, then continued with the same mysterious tone as before:
"We already talked to her—we want to give you a little surprise, so of course we can't tell you in advance!"
"You see, it's been so many years. Everyone's graduated, some went abroad, others started working... We haven't had a proper get-together in ages."
"But this weekend, both you and Goldshi have a race. So Vodka and I thought… this might be the perfect opportunity to bring everyone together again."
"So just sit tight and look forward to it, Kita-chan!"
"I see…"
Her ears drooped slightly in disappointment, but she quickly perked back up with renewed determination.
"Okay! I'll look forward to it! I won't let any of the senpai down in this race!"
…
March 21st, afternoon — Central Academy Branch near Nakayama Racecourse
Unlike the Tokyo Racecourse where the last two races were held, Nakayama is located in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, to the east of Tokyo's 23 wards—about 40 to 50 kilometers from the main Tracen Academy.
That distance wasn't much thanks to the Shinkansen and subways. Including time to get to the station, a round trip could easily be done within an hour.
However, for Umamusume with races scheduled, it was common for them to move in a day early under academy coordination and temporarily stay at the branch campus nearby.
Of course, booking their own hotel or traveling directly to the racecourse on the day was also allowed—but only if both the Umamusume's guardian and trainer submitted an approved request.
The reason for this system was adaptation.
Many Umamusume, upon arriving at a new track for the first time, wouldn't be fully used to the environment and thus might not perform to the level they showed in training.
The degree of adaptability depended on the individual's physical constitution. The healthier the body, the easier it was—generally speaking—for the girl to adjust to a new setting. In that sense, it was also an invisible form of assessment.
Tokyo, Kyoto, Hanshin, Nakayama, Chukyo, Oi, Sapporo, Hakodate, Niigata, Kokura, and Matsunami—these 11 central racecourses were spread all across Japan, each differing in soil, turf, slope, and climate.
Kitasan Black might not race at all of them in the future, but she certainly wouldn't be limited to just one venue.
So even though she had great physical attributes and had traveled a lot during her childhood, Makoto—careful and forward-thinking as ever—still opted to apply for a temporary dorm stay with the academy.
Like Sunday, today was also a race day. The branch campus was noticeably quiet, and many rooms were unoccupied.
Aside from the dorm arranged for Kitasan Black, Makoto also got accommodations and a temporary office space.
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