Confirming that they could no longer recruit Oguri Cap, the trainers of Kasamatsu Tracen Academy left the scene and returned to the sidelines to wait for the next mock race.
"Trainer..." Brand New Shine asked Zhou Tai'an weakly, "If you and Oguri are going to challenge Central, what about me?"
"That will depend on your performance in the next mock race, Brand New Shine," Zhou Tai'an shrugged. "No matter the result, you're still my Horse Girl. I'll find a path for you."
"Trainer, that sounds more and more like you don't have much faith in me..." Brand New Shine pouted. "In that case, I'll have to give it my all and really surprise you."
"Good luck."
Zhou Tai'an patted Brand New Shine's shoulder, thinking to himself, "I hope it's a pleasant surprise, and not a 'surprise' that gives me a heart attack."
…
After all of this morning's mock races had concluded, Zhou Tai'an led Oguri Cap and Brand New Shine to the side of the training track.
"Ahhhhhh!!!!" Brand New Shine let out a wail. Clearly, her mock race results were not ideal.
"Looking at the ranking, it's not bad. You placed fifth out of ten Horse Girls, Brand New Shine. That's pretty good," Zhou Tai'an said, encouraging her from a certain perspective.
"But I lost to the winner by 19 lengths!" Brand New Shine knew that with the talent she had just displayed, no trainer would normally recruit her.
She looked up, her tone filled with a hidden hope and plea. "Trainer, can I still become a proper Horse Girl?"
Zhou Tai'an had wanted to continue comforting Brand New Shine, but looking at the teary-eyed, chestnut-haired Horse Girl crouching in front of him, he couldn't bring himself to say words he didn't mean. "I think... it will be difficult. I can only do my best to ensure you win a few local races. But beyond that, whether your talent can reach any further isn't something I can say for sure at this point."
"I knew it..." Brand New Shine rubbed her eyes. "I still want to try. Since I came to Kasamatsu Tracen Academy, I still want to stand on the stage of the local series—even if it's just once."
"Then let's set our goal as winning one race in the local series," Zhou Tai'an said, following her vow.
"I'll be in your care, then, Trainer," Brand New Shine said in a low voice.
"So, Trainer, is there more training I need to do after the mock race?" Oguri Cap asked, waiting until Zhou Tai'an and Brand New Shine's conversation had paused.
Zhou Tai'an turned to the gray-coated Horse Girl he had actively recruited. "Oguri Cap, do you feel any difference in me today compared to yesterday?"
"I feel like... Trainer is a bit more approachable than yesterday?" Oguri Cap voiced her true thoughts. "I don't know why I feel this way."
The young man's heart leaped with joy. "The Oguri Cap-exclusive Affinity I gained from the training in my dream is real!"
Zhou Tai'an didn't know if he could get other rewards from his lucid dreams.
"If only I could get something that permanently boosts a Horse Girl's abilities!" He was already fantasizing.
"Trainer's expression is weird... it's like he's daydreaming about something," Brand New Shine pointed out.
This sentence brought Zhou Tai'an back to reality.
"Let's get back on topic," he said, scratching his head. "Although today was a 'mock race,' it was still a 'race.' Your stamina consumption, Oguri Cap, was higher than usual—"
"It's okay. I'll just eat more at lunch to recover," Oguri Cap said, waving her hands, afraid Zhou Tai'an would use this as an excuse to make her rest.
"No. No matter what, you cannot train anymore today." Zhou Tai'an saw through Oguri Cap's little ploy and flatly refused. "Health is the number one priority. A Horse Girl's racing career only happens once. If an injury prevents you from displaying your talent, I can always wait for the next Horse Girl. But what would you do, Oguri Cap?"
Before Oguri Cap could say anything, he continued, "So, you must rest today."
Zhou Tai'an turned to Brand New Shine. "You too. Both of you will rest today. I'll give you your specific training plans tomorrow. If you want to do your own morning practice tomorrow, just jog slowly around the track. Think of it as a warm-up before the morning training session."
"Okay," the two Horse Girls replied in unison.
After watching Oguri Cap and Brand New Shine leave, Zhou Tai'an regrouped with Kitahara.
"You've really got something, Tai'an-san!" Kitahara clapped his friend on the shoulder. "Oguri Cap ran the 800-meter mock race in 51.4 seconds! That's a time that would guarantee a win in a local series debut race!"
"That's why I didn't let her continue training today and sent her back to rest." Zhou Tai'an shrugged. "Letting her run freely according to her mood... it's still too early for that."
"It sounds like you're not very satisfied with Oguri Cap's performance?" Kitahara clicked his tongue, sensing Zhou Tai'an's "dissatisfaction."
"It's not that I'm dissatisfied..." Zhou Tai'an wouldn't admit it. "After all, if Oguri Cap's performance today was flawless, then it wouldn't matter who her trainer was."
"That's true. If you're in charge of a flawless Horse Girl, you really don't know where to start. You'd just be a decoration." Kitahara agreed with Zhou Tai'an's view. "So, I've also figured out how to recruit Fujimasa March."
"Then I wish you success, Kitahara-san." The young man grinned. "Once you recruit Fujimasa March to your team, we can schedule practice races often."
"Haha! Well, to make sure you have a regular practice partner, Tai'an-san, I have no reason to fail, do I?" Kitahara laughed along.
…
When quitting time arrived, Zhou Tai'an promptly packed up his work materials, ready to leave the academy.
Just as he stepped out of the office, he found Kitahara walking towards him with a cheerful expression.
"Looks like you succeeded?" Zhou Tai'an raised an eyebrow, asking first.
"Of course! Your idea was a great, Tai'an-san. I specifically described to Fujimasa March the areas I felt she needed to strengthen and showed her the plan I had for her. She quickly agreed to join my team." Kitahara beamed at the end. "That guy Shibasaki also prepared a future plan for her, but it wasn't as comprehensive as mine."
"Don't get too carried away, Kitahara-san," Zhou Tai'an kindly reminded him. "Since we made a promise to her, we as trainers must deliver."
Hearing his friend's reminder, Kitahara's smile faded, and he replied seriously, "I would never let a promising seedling like Fujimasa March, who the whole academy is watching, be ruined in my hands. I will definitely do everything in my power to train her."
Zhou Tai'an nodded silently. In his six months of knowing Kitahara, he could tell that his friend was definitely not the type to go back on his word.
"I should worry about my own side first," he muttered to himself.
Returning to his apartment, Zhou Tai'an fixed a simple meal of milk, bread, and a fried egg, then sat down at his desk, ready to continue the work he hadn't finished at the academy.
"I already finished Oguri Cap's training plan yesterday. Next is Brand New Shine's training plan, and their race schedules for their debut year."
Although Brand New Shine had failed miserably in the mock race today, Zhou Tai'an could see she wasn't completely without ability. A Horse Girl with no racing ability at all wouldn't have been admitted to any Tracen Academy.
In the debut year, the vast majority of races Kasamatsu prepared for debuting and non-winning Horse Girls were 800 meters. In Zhou Tai'an's opinion, this kind of super-sprint race didn't require any tactics. Just break well from the gate, grab the lead, and hold it to the finish.
"So, the priority is to train Brand New Shine's gate starts and explosive power," he wrote in his notebook.
As for stamina training, Zhou Tai'an didn't even consider it. After all, if a Horse Girl couldn't even last 800 meters, it was better for her to retire early and find something else to do.
For gate starts, Kasamatsu Tracen Academy had starting gates he could borrow to train both Brand New Shine and Oguri Cap. For explosive power, Zhou Tai'an planned to have Brand New Shine use barbells.
"If I were still on the West Coast, those guys would definitely suggest I put the Horse Girls on drugs," he sighed inwardly after writing down the short-term training plan.
Zhou Tai'an admitted that using certain drugs on Brand New Shine would indeed show significant short-term results, improving her abilities. But the long-term consequences were endless—the drugs would disrupt hormone secretion, easily lead to heart failure, induce poisoning, and so on...
"As a trainer, I am just a companion on a part of their life's journey. How can I ruin their future just to boost my own performance?" He shook his head, driving the methods of his old West Coast colleagues from his memory, and refocused on his work.
"In any case, let's stick to proper training methods."
After finalizing Brand New Shine's training plan and (temporary) race schedule, Zhou Tai'an glanced at the clock.
"It's only eight o'clock. Enough time to keep going," he muttered, pulling the schedule for this year's Japan Twinkle Series and various regional series from the bookshelf, ready to plan Oguri Cap's races.
Central's Horse Girls had to wait until after the Japan Derby each year to debut, because that's when the Twinkle Series would open up new "Maiden" races for debut-year Horse Girls.
But local Horse Girls could debut much earlier—from the beginning of May, there were debut races available for them.
"If possible, I want to acquire the 'capital' to challenge Central as quickly as possible, while ensuring Oguri Cap's health." With this premise, Zhou Tai'an first confirmed Oguri Cap's debut race.
"I'll trust in Oguri Cap's ability and schedule her for a debut race in the first week of May."
If she won smoothly, rather than continuing to train at the academy or "training through racing" at Kasamatsu with a one-week break, Zhou Tai'an was more inclined to arrange for Oguri Cap to go to Hokkaido. She could acclimate to the local track there and prepare for the G3 Graded Race in August, the Hokkaido Yushun Championship.
As the first G3 Graded Race that local Horse Girls could challenge in their debut year, the entry threshold for the Hokkaido Yushun Championship would absolutely be driven up by trainers from all over. The young trainer knew this well.
"So, I need to have Oguri Cap accumulate the necessary 'capital' at Kasamatsu first... Maybe I can consider having her challenge the Horse Girls at Nagoya after winning her debut." Zhou Tai'an frowned, adding another local race between the "Debut Race" and the "Hokkaido Yushun Championship."
"In short, if everything goes smoothly, I hope Oguri Cap maintains an average of one race every two months," he wrote, putting down his pen. "I'll just schedule these three for now... Her future race planning will depend on her results."
After going to bed that night, Zhou Tai'an unsurprisingly arrived in his dream world again.
"Aren't we continuing to ride Oguri Cap for training today?" Zhou Tai'an quickly asked after seeing the horses Saginomi Masao presented for him to train.
"It seems you really like that one, Zhou-kun?" Saginomi Masao raised an eyebrow. "But yesterday I told you to be serious during her riding practice, so today she just needs to jog a few laps to relax. We don't need you for that."
"I just feel that kid and I... click," Zhou Tai'an said, rubbing his nose, pretending to be indifferent. "Saginomi-sensei, if it's possible, I hope to handle this horse's training and races from now on."
Saginomi Masao could see Zhou Tai'an's interest in Oguri Cap and was happy to let his stable's new apprentice jockey get good resources. He offered a partial promise: "Training rides are no problem. But the jockey for the race has to be decided by the owner. I can only put in a good word for you."
"That's more than enough!" Zhou Tai'an quickly bowed deeply. "Just give me one chance, and I will definitely let Oguri Cap show her talent!"
"Since you've said that," Saginomi Masao grinned, "I'll let Oguri Cap sleep a little longer. Zhou-kun, first go ride all the horses for today's training. Then come back and take Oguri Cap for a few laps around the track to warm up and build some rapport."
"I'll do my best!" Zhou Tai'an bowed again, reaffirming his attitude.
He thought to himself, "I wonder what kind of reward I'll get when I wake up this time?"