Chapter 36. G1 Prix Ganay Part 1
The Prix Ganay race distance is approximately 2100m, nearly 300m shorter than the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe held on the same course. Consequently, the opening straight is shorter than that of the Arc, a detail Shuta Ann understood perfectly.
"Clang!"
The sound of the gates opening echoed across Longchamp, and Shuta's hands immediately began to push.
Tokai Teio's reaction was flawless; he accelerated instantly, fiercely overtaking Glity on his right. Before Glity's jockey, Thierry Legrix, could even react, Shuta had already maneuvered Tokai Teio into the space in front of him. Among the international competitors, Glity was known for having the slowest start, making it the perfect target for Shuta to exploit while securing his position.
While Shuta was "bullying" Legrix for space, the other inner-lane opponents settled into their respective spots. Shuta stopped adding unnecessary maneuvers and allowed Tokai Teio to hold a mid-pack position on the outside of the group.
"Although this wastes some ground by being on the outside, it avoids physical confrontation with the horses inside. In the long run, it saves more stamina," Shuta calculated.
—
In the stands, Tokai Teio's owner, Masanori Uchimura, had traveled to Paris specifically to cheer for his beloved horse. Since Higanmoto Shoichi was unable to attend, Uchimura was accompanied by Hidekatsu Shimizu, a trainer who operated a stable in France.
"Our French colleagues enthusiastically invited Shuta-kun to ride their racehorses, but he refused them all," Trainer Shimizu explained truthfully.
"Doesn't that mean Shuta-kun is completely unfamiliar with Longchamp Racecourse?" Uchimura asked, surprised.
"Will he be alright?"
"To be honest, I had the same concern earlier. But looking at it now, Shuta seems to have a well-thought-out plan. Not having raced in France previously doesn't seem to matter," Shimizu replied.
"There's no need to worry. Just looking at Tokai Teio's current positioning, you can see Shuta is extremely clear-headed."
"Oh?" Uchimura didn't quite grasp the technicality. "Please explain it to me, Trainer Shimizu."
Shimizu was happy to oblige. As a trainer based in France, he wanted to foster good relationships with Japanese owners, hoping they might eventually place high-quality horses in his stable.
—
As the explanation began, Shuta Ann and Tokai Teio reached the 400m mark, and the long opening straight was half over. The field had settled into a distinct order:
Art Bleu I held the lead.
Fortune's Wheel followed one horse length behind.
Pistol et Bleu and Passing Sale trailed closely.
Subotica and Tokai Teio ran side-by-side. Subotica, biding its time, waited to the right rear of Tokai Teio.
Glity trailed at the very back, having lost its position to Shuta at the start.
Still on the straight, Shuta pushed lightly, helping Tokai Teio save his energy while keeping a watchful eye on the rivals behind him.
Subotica's rhythm was excellent, and its posture looked incredibly stretched. In Shuta's estimation, last year's French champion jockey, Thierry Jarnet, was proving exactly why he held that title. Cash Asmussen on Suave Dancer looked equally formidable.
"Their pushing rhythm is different from mine, and the strength doesn't look as higher than mine—but there is a certain beauty to it. Is it because the riding skills I've acquired truly transcend this era?"
Shuta refused to underestimate them. He turned his focus back forward, concentrating on Tokai Teio's stride.
"This is just the beginning. Suave Dancer looks average now, but Asmussen might force a better state out of him later. Subotica is the one I must prioritize, just as I thought. The pre-race prep wasn't in vain."
—
Back in Japan, the racing community was glued to the broadcast.
"Tokai Teio is in seventh—a relatively late position—but looking at the field, calling it mid-pack is perfectly accurate," noted the commentator.
"It's definitely mid-pack," Take Yutaka agreed. "The pace doesn't look too fast, so even if they are further back in the rankings, they are still within the mid-pack zone."
"This should be Shuta-kun's ideal position," added Oka Junichiro. "I just wonder if Tokai Teio can show off his closing speed on that specific Longchamp turf."
"I think there's no problem," Take Yutaka said decisively. "Shuta-san told me that Teio's physical flexibility and power are extraordinary. When he rides him, he actually has to be careful not to let him exert too much force to avoid injury."
"That sounds a bit exaggerated—" Tahara Seiki muttered, yawning from the corner. "Worrying about injury from overexertion? He's already four years old."
While most consider four to be a horse's peak, Shuta clearly felt that in this four-year-old spring, Tokai Teio was still maturing.
—
On the track, Shuta gripped the horse's belly tightly, his body rising and falling in perfect sync with Teio's gallop. The gentle May breeze of France had transformed into a sharp, cutting wind against his cheeks as they gathered speed. He squinted against the stinging sensation, maintaining his posture.
"As expected of Longchamp," he thought. "Starting with such a long straight—honestly, it's almost boring."
In the trainers' stands, the European and American professionals—who had previously ignored the "Japanese" horse—began to shift their attention. They had watched the tapes, but they hadn't truly respected the Japanese level of racing. Now, one-third into the race, the reality was setting in.
André Fabre, the trainer of Subotica, turned to his assistants with a grim expression. "If that horse can produce a burst of speed on the final straight, he will be a massive threat. Our pre-race assessments underestimated him."
The outer curve of the Longchamp Racecourse passes through a stretch of woods. As Shuta Ann and Tokai Teio rode through it, the young man inexplicably recalled how he felt before his riding training in France this week—heading from the stables to the training grounds at Longchamp Racecourse meant traversing a forest. Every time he passed through there, Shuta Ann would feel refreshed and invigorated.
Of course, there was no time for Shuta Ann to reminisce right now. The young man maintained his standard posture, his hands continuing to drive him forward, helping Tokai Teio conserve his energy. Longchamp Racecourse was, after all, a track that demanded a lot of strength from a racing horse, and Shuta Ann was doing everything in his power to ensure Tokai Teio didn't waste too much stamina.
The choices made by the other European jockeys were much the same. Everyone's understanding of Longchamp Racecourse was largely identical. However, when this scene fell upon the eyes of the connections watching the race, it seemed incredibly bizarre.
—
Andre Fabre furrowed his brows and muttered to himself,
"This Shuta Ann has absolutely no record of riding at Longchamp Racecourse, so why is he displaying such an incredible familiarity with it? Is he really a jockey who has never ridden at Longchamp before?"
Fortune's Wheel's trainer, Collet, was pondering the same question. He even thought of a certain possibility,
"Could it be that Shuta Ann has grasped the key points of racing on this track just by riding Tokai Teio for a few training runs at Longchamp Racecourse this week?"
Collet shook his head, rejecting his own imagination,
"How could that be possible?! If he really figured out the key points of the Longchamp track with just a few training sessions, what kind of freakish genius is he?!"
—
Uchimura Masanori looked at the large screen,
"Shuta-kun's riding posture looked very bizarre when he was in Japan, but that sense of strangeness has disappeared a lot since he came to France."
"It's strange to say, Shuta-kun has never come to Europe to study, but his riding posture is very Europeanized." Shimizu Hidekatsu picked up the conversation.
"It's truly fascinating. I remember Shuta-kun came from a regional jockey school. Can a place like that actually produce a genius like this?"
Far away in Kasamatsu, Shuta's teacher was watching the Prix Ganay together with the stable staff.
"I used to think Shuta-kun's riding posture was weird, but now looking at overseas races, it turns out that's how everyone rides over there in Europe," a staff member sighed with emotion.
"At that time, he absolutely didn't have the means to watch European races, yet he was able to figure out advanced riding techniques all on his own. He really is a genius." Sagami Masayuki turned his head and looked out at the night sky through the window.
"I am truly lucky, to be able to meet a horse as incredible as Oguri Cap, and also a 'disciple' as incredible as Shuta."
He knew that for an ordinary regional trainer, meeting even one of them would be considered the luck of three lifetimes. To be as fortunate as he was, he didn't know how many lifetimes' worth of luck he must have overdrawn.
"Do your best..." Sagami Masayuki cheered in his heart for the student he had actually never taught much.
—
Coming to the second half of the curve, Shuta Ann noticed Pistolet Bleu beginning to accelerate forward.
"Accelerating in the middle of the track, trying to disrupt the opponents' rhythm?"
The young man withdrew his gaze and muttered to himself, "In this case, the first to be affected will definitely be Tokai Teio. Because we are blocking them, Subotica won't be too affected."
If that happened, Subotica would benefit while Tokai Teio suffered—Shuta Ann was naturally unwilling to see such a thing occur. Therefore, he simply steered inward, proactively seeking to put mental pressure on Subotica—not through physical contact, but merely by closing the distance to ignite Subotica's competitive spirit prematurely.
Shuta Ann had great confidence in Tokai Teio's intelligence; even if they moved close to their opponent here, he was certain Tokai Teio wouldn't think it was time to start the final sprint and enter a state of competitive fervor along with Subotica.
Thierry Jarnet, atop Subotica, was unclear what Shuta Ann was doing.
"Making me and Subotica accelerate early? Then Tokai Teio will definitely be affected and accelerate along with us. Is he trying to drag me down to lose the race together?" Jarnet's mind raced,
"I won't let your idea succeed. Subotica and I came to participate in this Prix Ganay, naturally, for the sake of winning."
Therefore, Jarnet firmly held back Subotica, preventing him from becoming agitated and accelerating due to Tokai Teio's provocative approach. Subotica struggled for a moment, then simply surrendered to the instructions from the saddle—mainly because he couldn't win the tug-of-war against his rider.
Upon noticing Jarnet's maneuver, Shuta Ann felt only a brief flicker of disappointment that his plan hadn't come to fruition. He quickly cast a glance toward the outside at Pistolet Bleu, who was already catching up.
"Accelerating this early? Aren't you afraid of losing all your momentum once we hit the final straight?" the young man grumbled to himself. "Boeuf, isn't it? Today, I'm going to have to teach you a lesson."
Shuta Ann ignored the moves made by Boeuf and Pistolet Bleu. However, he steered Tokai Teio slightly away from Subotica; because of these two position adjustments, Tokai Teio had to drop half a horse-length behind Subotica.
"I don't understand him..." Jarnet muttered under his breath, turning his gaze forward again.
—
As they exited the curve, Art Bleu was still holding the lead. However, the horse originally in second, Fortune's Wheel, had been overtaken by Pistolet Bleu and dropped to third. Passing Sale, who had been running neck-and-neck with Pistolet Bleu, seemed unable to pick up the pace.
Behind them, Subotica hadn't accelerated yet, but by relying on his lead of half a horse-length over Tokai Teio, Jarnet chose to let Subotica drift outward a few steps to pull out ahead of Tokai Teio—this was the instruction given by Subotica's trainer, Fabre, before the race.
Pistolet Bleu's stamina hit rock bottom after that recent acceleration, making his previous effort look ridiculous. Meanwhile, over with Suave Dancer, Cash Asmussen in the saddle had already begun to use the whip. But even with Asmussen's hard whipping, Suave Dancer's acceleration looked very average.
"The curve exit at Longchamp actually leads into a 'false straight' made of two straights forming an obtuse angle, so accelerating immediately after coming out is the wrong choice,"
Shuta Ann recalled his experience challenging Urban Sea in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in a dream. "However, it really is time to make a move here."
Jarnet had pulled Subotica in front of Tokai Teio, preparing to accelerate. Shuta Ann, however, did the opposite; holding the whip, he waved it by Tokai Teio's left cheek, letting him drift several steps toward the inner rail until he was right up against it.
Subotica and Tokai Teio had swapped relative positions, and the space that opened up between them caught Cash Asmussen's eye. Overjoyed, he quickly applied the whip several times to drive Suave Dancer into the gap.
"In this position, I can see daylight! It's enough for Suave Dancer to reach maximum speed!" At this moment, he was so incredibly excited that he didn't notice the corner of Shuta Ann's mouth curling upward at all.
"You're the one I've been waiting for!" Shuta Ann leaned his body even lower, while simultaneously switching the whip to his right hand, holding it with a reverse grip.
"We're about to enter the final straight. Right here, I'm going to finish all of you off!"
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