After hearing Oguri Cap's inner thoughts in the cafeteria, Kitahara took quite a while to calm down.
He knew about Oguri Cap's past.
The original racehorse didn't have outstanding bloodlines and was famously known as a slow gray horse at the time. With a congenitally splayed right leg that made even standing difficult, and coming from a poor stable that couldn't provide adequate nutrition, she only grew to normal horse size by age two.
Some people believed that Oguri Cap's bloodlines weren't actually that bad. While her sire's performance was lackluster, her grandsire was the American champion racehorse "Dancin Brave," who won numerous top-tier races and was the first gray horse to reach the pinnacle of racing, even gracing the cover of Time magazine.
However, Oguri Cap's father had very mediocre race results, and her offspring were equally unremarkable, so it's safe to say her bloodlines really weren't exceptional.
When it came to the horse girl Oguri Cap, the bloodline discrimination still existed, and her legs had the same problems. Kitahara had only thought about her future achievements before, never putting himself in her shoes to imagine what kind of psychological impact such a childhood would have on her.
For most people, things they take for granted are never worth treasuring.
But just like how the blind yearn for light and the deaf long for sound, Oguri Cap, who couldn't even stand properly due to her leg condition, simply yearned to be able to run.
Maybe his previous approach of only thinking about recruitment, relying on others' future performances to achieve his own success, was too narrow-minded. That wasn't much different from just coasting along.
To truly become an outstanding trainer, he should be like other trainers: master professional skills while genuinely communicating with the horse girls. That's how mutual success happens.
Especially as someone who had crossed over to this world, even without a system or other cheat abilities, what he could do shouldn't be limited to just winning races with outstanding horse girls. Perhaps he could do so much more for them...
Lost in contemplative thought for a long time, after breakfast, he left the cafeteria with Oguri Cap under the shocked gazes of the kitchen staff and began questioning her.
"Speaking of which, what does Oguri Cap usually do with her time?"
"You'll be joining Kasamatsu Tracen Academy soon, and most of your time will be spent on training and racing. So before then, how do you typically spend your days?"
Walking beside Kitahara, Oguri Cap was looking around curiously at everything in Kasamatsu Tracen Academy.
Hearing Kitahara's words, she tilted her head slightly, pressed a finger to her chin, rolled her eyes upward a bit, blinked, and showed a thoughtful expression.
"...Running, relaxing, then running some more."
After thinking for a moment, she gave a perfectly ordinary and completely reasonable answer. "That's pretty much it."
So she runs every day. What a simple life... though that's not surprising. No matter what version you look at, Oguri Cap always has this kind of straightforward personality.
Nodding to himself, Kitahara said, "In that case, aside from running, you shouldn't have anything else going on today, right?"
Oguri Cap again pressed her finger to her chin, looked up thoughtfully for a moment, then shook her head. "That's right, nothing else... oh, does eating count as something to do?"
"So there's nothing else then."
Ignoring the "eating champion's" obsession with food, Kitahara mused:
"Since your mom entrusted you to me, and you really love running, I think we should get a head start on understanding what you'll be dealing with after enrollment."
"What I'll be dealing with after enrollment?" Oguri Cap repeated blankly.
"Various types of training and racing," Kitahara nodded. "Race scheduling is usually analyzed by trainers like me, but as the horse girl participating in the races, your thoughts are very important too."
"So you need to understand some basic things. That way, communication between us will be much easier going forward."
Kitahara clearly noticed that Oguri Cap didn't really understand what he was saying. She even seemed to be struggling to follow along, her eyes showing signs of spinning into dizzy spirals like those mosquito coil patterns. But in the end, she still nodded.
"Mm, okay. Mom said that when there's something I don't understand, I should just listen to my trainer. So I'll listen to you."
Kitahara perked up. "Great, then let's head to my office first. I have some teaching materials there that'll make explaining things easier."
Unlike his previous visits to the office over the past few days, today there was no one else around. After Kitahara brought Oguri Cap over, it was just the two of them in the room.
To help with training preparation, the trainer's office was equipped with plenty of teaching tools and equipment. Kitahara planned to start by explaining horse girl racing events to Oguri Cap.
The office happened to have several portable blackboards that could assist with his explanation.
"Alright, first take a look at this map." Pulling a portable blackboard over to his desk, Kitahara had Oguri Cap sit in his office chair. He roughly sketched the outline of Japan's four main islands on the blackboard, marked about a dozen points, and began his explanation.
"You should know that Tracen Academy specializes in training horse girls like you, and the stage where horse girls shine is the 'Twinkle Series' races, which Tracen Academy co-hosts."
"Central has its central series races, handled by Central Tracen Academy for training. Local areas have their local series races, managed by their respective regional Tracen Academies."
"There are 15 local racecourses total. Horse girls like you will have their debut races at these tracks. For example, you'll have your debut race at Kasamatsu Racecourse, and if you do well, you'll move on to Nagoya Racecourse."
"I think if it's you, Oguri Cap, then going to Nagoya..."
Kitahara's explanation suddenly stopped.
"Snore... snore..."
Oguri Cap, sitting in the office chair, had somehow fallen asleep and was snoring. A snot bubble had even formed, and she looked like she was sleeping soundly.
Seeing this, Kitahara felt both annoyed and amused. He was also surprised to discover that horse girls seemed to be able to sleep while keeping their upper bodies upright, just like horses.
"Hey, hey, Oguri Cap, is my explanation that boring?"
After calling out to her several times, Oguri Cap groggily woke up.
"...Huh? What's wrong? Is it time to eat?" She looked like she hadn't fully woken up yet.
Kitahara immediately put his hand to his forehead, feeling defeated.
"...Seriously, don't you want to become an amazing horse girl? Then you should at least listen carefully to basic knowledge like the Twinkle Series races."
"And it's not just preparation for racing. Once you start school, you'll be tested on this stuff."
Kitahara looked like he was trying his best to be patient and persuasive, but Oguri Cap still had that somewhat dopey expression. Besides looking dopey, her face also showed some apologetic embarrassment.
"Twinkle Series... tests... sorry, Trainer, I... I guess I really do have trouble understanding the things you're saying..."
Kitahara felt even more helpless, but knowing Oguri Cap's talent, he didn't think she was some poor student who couldn't learn.
"Maybe for a special genius like Oguri Cap, textbook-style teaching isn't quite right?"
Kitahara started looking for problems with his own approach. "Hmm... it seems like in the games and anime, Oguri Cap really isn't the type of student suited for by-the-book education."
"So perhaps, letting her actually run on the racetrack to awaken that deep obsession with racing in her heart, then giving her some simple explanations about the rules and regulations afterwards, would be more appropriate."