Little Chestnut?
Kitahara paused for a moment, then quickly caught on that Shirayuki was probably referring to Oguri Cap's nickname.
This rather cute pet name did exist in the game, and Kitahara couldn't help but smile.
"Trouble... not really."
Denying Shirayuki's assumption, Kitahara smiled, "Don't forget, school hasn't even started yet. How could your daughter possibly be causing any trouble?"
Shirayuki's expression relaxed considerably as she continued leading Kitahara into the house, though she seemed somewhat puzzled.
"If it's not about little Chestnut, then may I ask what important matter brings you here today, Mr. Kitahara?"
"Actually, it is still about Oguri Cap."
Seeing signs that this mother was about to look worried again, Kitahara quickly explained, "But please don't worry just yet - it's nothing bad."
"The thing is, as a trainer, I really believe in Oguri Cap's talent. I'd like her to join my team so she can fully showcase her abilities on the racetrack."
For horse girls, running seemed to be as natural as breathing. Regardless of their talent level, very few horse girls would reject the racetrack.
Win or lose, when they stood on those green tracks, they all radiated an effortless grace that made you feel they were born to run.
Given this background, being valued by various Tracen Academies and trainers was generally something that made horse girls happy.
However, upon hearing Kitahara's words, Shirayuki didn't look pleased at all. Instead, her expression became melancholy and troubled.
Seeing this, Kitahara was somewhat confused.
With the original owner's memories, plus having interacted with horse girls for over a month now, he could clearly sense that those who had already joined trainer teams took great pride in having the qualification to compete. Meanwhile, those who hadn't yet had the chance were obviously filled with longing for the racetrack.
What's more, Shirayuki had been an active horse girl herself, so she should understand a horse girl's yearning for the track better than anyone.
So he couldn't quite understand why Shirayuki would show such an expression after hearing that her daughter was valued by a trainer.
Could it be that this body's previous reputation has spread here too?
With this thought, Kitahara felt both embarrassed and helpless.
This body wasn't even 30 yet, but when he was just a teenager, he'd been admitted to Kasamatsu Tracen Academy through an elder's introduction. In other words, he was already a "veteran" with about ten years of training experience.
But throughout this long training career, the original owner had rarely achieved outstanding results with the horse girls he coached.
Forget about the top-tier central races - he hadn't produced anything noteworthy even in local major competitions or entertainment races.
Over time, the original owner had become complacent, barely bothering to go to the academy. He'd just show up for attendance, pop his head into mandatory meetings, then spend his days wandering around and occasionally watching horse girl competitions.
Because of this, he was notorious at Kasamatsu Tracen for being idle and slovenly.
After transmigrating, Kitahara really wanted to change the impression the original owner had left on others, but this wasn't something that could be accomplished overnight.
And recruiting Oguri Cap to join his team was exactly what he saw as an opportunity to change his image and become an excellent trainer.
If Shirayuki really knew about those terrible behaviors, then convincing her and Oguri Cap to let me do the training would probably be much more difficult.
But I have to try.
After sighing inwardly, Kitahara quickly encouraged himself and pulled himself together.
Right now he was just a local trainer, and not a famous one at that. Even if he got into Central Tracen now, no outstanding horse girls would value him. So when it came to Oguri Cap, he absolutely couldn't give up until the very last moment.
Recruiting Oguri Cap was very important to Kitahara - not just for his own development, but more importantly, he'd loved Oguri Cap even before transmigrating, both the original racehorse and the horse girl version.
Oguri Cap's career was almost legendary.
Second-rate bloodline, humble origins, congenital disability - she was even once considered by horse evaluators to be impossible material for racing.
However, just a few years later, Oguri Cap had run her way from local tracks all the way to the central stage, becoming a world-renowned champion.
After her debut, she went 12 races with 10 wins and 2 second places in local events, then 22 races with 12 wins, 4 seconds and 1 third in central competitions, breaking world records three times during races.
Not only that, she was also the outstanding 4-year-old horse of 1988, the Horse of the Year in 1990, a Hall of Fame racehorse in Japan, and in 1990 she set a new record for the highest prize money in Japanese racing history.
The Japan Racing Association (JRA) even changed rules that had been in place for decades because of her. The public even called her a "god," and some believe that Japanese racing history can be completely divided into the "pre-Oguri Cap era" and "post-Oguri Cap era."
Even in an official JRA commercial released in 2011 featuring Oguri Cap, they gave her the highest possible praise:
"I believe that God exists."
Kitahara found great inspiration and connection in such a legend, because he himself came from a very ordinary family background. Despite experiencing some hardships growing up, he'd still achieved decent academic and career success.
When communicating with friends who ran racetracks and clubs together, as well as many people in the racing industry, he discovered that no matter how these people evaluated Oguri Cap, they all agreed that she was a famous horse who represented inspiration and changed the entire racing world.
So he definitely had to try communicating with Oguri Cap's mother first, then seriously express his intentions to Oguri Cap herself.
Having decided this, Kitahara didn't immediately speak up.
Because while they'd been talking, he'd already followed Shiraseki to the living room. After Shiraseki had him sit at the table in the center of the room, she was now pouring tea for him.
So Kitahara planned to wait until after drinking a few sips of tea before carefully explaining his purpose.
However, after handing him the freshly poured tea, Shirayuki looked toward a certain direction in the house with a worried expression and spoke rather hesitantly.
"Perhaps it's a bit harsh to say this about my own daughter, but Mr. Kitahara, maybe... maybe Oguri Cap isn't... perhaps she's not a very outstanding horse girl, and might not necessarily bring you any honor."
Kitahara was in the middle of drinking his tea when he heard Shirayuki say this, and nearly spit out his mouthful.
Wait... what did you just say? Oguri Cap isn't a very outstanding horse girl?!
For a moment, Kitahara felt both amused and exasperated, but just as he was about to "correct" Shirayuki's words, he suddenly noticed where her gaze was directed.
There was an old-fashioned cabinet in the living room, with a somewhat yellowed photograph placed on top.
In the photo, near the edge was clearly a young Shirayuki, positioned sideways to the camera. In the center of the frame was a very young horse girl.
The little horse girl appeared to be sitting cross-legged on the ground, but her right leg seemed to bend outward awkwardly as if it wasn't quite right. Her whole body was obviously thin and weak, with a pink knit sweater hanging loosely on her frame.
She also looked somewhat vacant, staring at the camera with a confused and helpless expression, her two little hands each holding a carrot that she was foolishly stuffing into her mouth.
Though he'd never seen this photograph before, almost instinctively, Kitahara immediately realized that the one in the photo must be Oguri Cap as a child.
Right, how could I have overlooked this - the people in this world don't know Oguri Cap's future.
Kitahara suddenly came to his senses.
Without knowing what the future held, how could the people here possibly believe that such a thin, simple-looking little horse girl in the photograph would become a world-renowned genius...