From the end of April to the beginning of May, the Japanese often have a "Golden Week" holiday, as several public holidays fall in a row.
But for the trainers of debuting Horse Girls, there are no holidays. The Horse Girls themselves did, as continuing daily training right before a debut could significantly impact their stamina.
So on May 1st, Labor Day, after taking Oguri Cap and Brand New Shine to the shrine for a morning of slope running, Zhou Tai'an announced that they had a holiday.
But he still had to work—gathering information on opponents and thinking about Brand New Shine's race tactics all took time.
May 4th. This was also a public holiday in Japan, but for Zhou Tai'an, what he was most looking forward to was the night.
"If nothing unexpected happens, I'll be in my first race with Oguri Cap in the dream world tonight," Zhou Tai'an muttered, rubbing his shoulders as he sat at his desk. "An 800-meter dirt race... Although it seems easy to plan—just burst out and run—I can't just focus on this one race. I have to use this race to teach Oguri Cap patience."
"An 800-meter dirt race only exists at a few low-level racecourses like Kasamatsu. Oguri Cap's future is definitely in mile and medium-distance races. For that reason, I absolutely cannot let her develop the habit of just blindly rushing forward after breaking from the gate—she can't even have the experience of doing it."
With this in mind, Zhou Tai'an designated "Forward" (stalking) as the race strategy.
For Brand New Shine, however, it was a different story. Since this was just for the experience, Zhou Tai'an simply asked her to get a clean break, grab the lead if possible, and then run her heart out.
"No matter the outcome, just experiencing the atmosphere of a race will be a net positive for you, Brand New Shine," he wrote as the last line in his notebook.
After finishing the race strategy, he handed the packet, along with the opponent analysis he had written yesterday, to Oguri Cap and Brand New Shine.
"If there's anything you don't understand, you can come to the office and ask me anytime before school ends today," he instructed.
Oguri Cap immediately voiced her confusion. "Trainer, you've specifically told me to watch out for Fujimasa March, who will use a 'Lead' strategy, but you're instructing me to use a 'Forward' strategy. The debut race is only 800 meters. Is that really okay?"
"The 800-meter course at Kasamatsu Racecourse is a long straight, then a turn, and finally a 238-meter home straight." Zhou Tai'an first described the track layout, then continued his explanation. "This isn't a pure straight-line race. To run away with it from start to finish, you must be overwhelmingly superior to all your opponents in terms of raw ability."
"Although everyone at the academy thinks Fujimasa March is very strong, I believe that you are the strongest, Oguri Cap." His tone was full of confidence. "After the break, stick close to Fujimasa March on the straight. When you enter the turn, move out just a little to create space for acceleration. In the last 200 meters, use the explosive power we've built on the shrine slope as your decisive weapon to overtake her!"
Finally, Zhou Tai'an pumped his fist in excitement. "I made a bet with Kitahara-san. As long as you can win, Oguri Cap, Kitahara-san has to treat the three of us to dinner at that famous Chinese restaurant in Nagoya!"
"Go, Oguri!" Brand New Shine's eyes lit up when she heard this.
"Endure until the final straight, and win with a burst of speed?" Oguri Cap clutched the paper filled with Zhou Tai'an's handwriting, her fingers tightening.
She looked up and made a solemn promise: "I will follow your instructions, Trainer, and I will win."
That night, Zhou Tai'an smoothly entered the dream world. He found he was already wearing his own racing silks. According to his new memories, local jockeys wore their own silks when riding local horses.
The base color of Zhou Tai'an's silks was a bright red, with five yellow stars on the front and back, and star patterns on the sleeves.
"The reason for this design is because this body's homeland is the same as my father's..." He closed his eyes and immediately dug the reason out of his memory.
Zhou Tai'an shook his head. "Forget it. The priority right now is to win this debut race with Oguri Cap!"
Kasamatsu Racecourse held 12 races on a race day. But as an apprentice jockey, the stable he belonged to was not top-tier in Kasamatsu. Therefore, the only horse Trainer Saginomi could provide for him to ride was Oguri Cap. This meant that out of the 12 races today, Zhou Tai'an was only participating in the first one.
"Doesn't matter." He bounced on his feet outside the jockeys' room, warming up. "As long as I can win today's debut race with Oguri Cap."
Inside the jockeys' room, many of the Kasamatsu jockeys cast their eyes towards Zhou Tai'an.
"Heh, a jockey from Huaguo (China)... Do people from over there even know how to ride in a speed race?"
"Looks like the kid's only riding in the first race. Let's teach him a lesson, show him this business isn't as easy as he thinks."
"It's a shame the debut race is only 800 meters. If it were longer, it'd be more fun."
"I bet he fails miserably in his debut."
"Kasamatsu isn't a place you can just waltz into!"
Ando, the jockey who had encouraged Zhou Tai'an on his first day at the Kasamatsu training center, was also sitting there. Hearing his colleagues' discussion, he felt a knot of worry for Zhou Tai'an.
But he didn't have a ride in the first race. And even if he did, Ando couldn't sacrifice his own chance of winning to help Zhou Tai'an. That would violate his professional ethics as a jockey.
However, he still quietly got up when no one was looking and slipped outside.
"Zhou-kun, when you're in the race, don't just focus on the horse," Ando-senpai said, coming up beside Zhou Tai'an and whispering a warning. "Your background is... special around here. Be on your guard."
Zhou Tai'an was stunned, then nodded repeatedly, thanking the senior jockey for his kind reminder. "Thank you, Ando-senpai. I understand."
For him, this experience was quite new.
In the real world, just showing his passport was enough to make the Japanese treat him with basic respect. But in the dream world, just being slightly different was enough to cause trouble.
"Well then, let's see what these back-stabbing hypocrites can pull on the racetrack." He flexed his wrists, his gaze deepening.