Chapter 105. Asahi Futurity Stakes Across the Ocean Part 1
Shuta An quickly recovered. He waved his hand,
"I admit that such an organization has value—not just for scoring, but also for promoting cooperation among URA Associations in various countries and regions. However, this is not something I can get involved in."
"After all, I am just a Trainer and do not hold any position in any country or region's URA Association. I can't help with something like this."
"No, Mr. Shuta can help," Huang Zhigang said firmly.
"Mr. Shuta has a good relationship with Miss Secretariat, the Student Council President of West Coast Tracen Academy, doesn't he? If we want to surpass the Timeform system, we must do well where they haven't, for example, by bringing in the Americas. So I would like to ask Mr. Shuta to contact Miss Secretariat. If she agrees, half of the United States will have joined."
"Since Mr. Huang has said so, I will try to contact her, but I cannot guarantee that she will agree, as this kind of attempt to unite URA Associations worldwide is unprecedented,"
Shuta An was very cautious not to make any guarantees.
"It doesn't matter, as long as Mr. Shuta contacts Miss Secretariat, I am confident that I can accomplish this," Huang Zhigang's smile was full of confidence.
Although Shuta An was not sure where his confidence came from, the young man did not inquire further. Calculating the time difference, Secretariat should be awake at this point, so Shuta An called her in front of Huang Zhigang.
"Is it about the IFUA?" Secretariat answered the phone directly. "Ann, what do you think?"
"I think it's a good idea, provided that this organization doesn't acquire too much real power," Shuta An didn't care about Huang Zhigang's feelings, giving his opinion bluntly.
"Then, please hand the phone to Mr. Huang for a moment," Secretariat instructed.
Shuta An did as she said.
Huang Zhigang's face flashed with a moment of surprise at whatever Secretariat said, then returned to calm.
After returning the phone to Shuta An, Huang Zhigang bowed slightly: "Thank you for your help, Mr. Shuta, and I wish Miss Silence Suzuka good results in the Hong Kong Cup."
"It was just a small favor," the young man shook his head, avoiding the bow.
"Then please, Mr. Shuta, continue to enjoy today's cold buffet," Huang Zhigang smiled and turned to leave.
"I wonder what Miss Secretariat said that made his smile vanish for a moment."
"It was the right choice to find that Trainer from the West Coast to relay the message," Huang Zhigang secretly rejoiced.
"Previously, my subordinates couldn't get in touch with Secretariat at all, but this time, one phone call could directly reach her. I didn't expect to have to pay anything, and only needed to persuade Japan to get her approval. I must get this done quickly to avoid any complications."
On the other side, after seeing Huang Zhigang off, Shuta An had no desire to continue casually wandering around the venue, so he simply met up with Silence Suzuka. After confirming that the Uma Musume had also eaten her fill, he took her back to the hotel.
—
Back at the hotel, Shuta An did not enjoy a tender moment with Silence Suzuka. Instead, he sat alone at his desk in the study, preparing to look at the entries for the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes. Today, the Japan URA Association also publicly released the final entry list for this highly anticipated G1 major race for debutante Uma Musume, and tomorrow afternoon, the starting gates would be announced.
Shuta An clicked into the umakeiba page, skillfully found the special interface for the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes, and clicked in to see this year's final entry list for the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes—
LindoShaver, second place in the previous Hakodate Nisai Stakes.
Big Fight, currently two major race wins, undefeated in three starts since debut.
Dynamite Daddy, two consecutive wins since debut, won a one-win class in the previous race.
Blizzard, currently four starts, two first places and two third places, considerable strength.
Legacy of Zelda, lost to Big Fight in the previous race.
Sakura High Speed, currently on a two-race winning streak, but has not yet run a 1600-meter race.
The above six, plus Tokai Teio, are the top seven favorites for the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes. However, according to Shuta An's memories from the Dream World, none of these would be a match for Tokai Teio next year.
"That being said, I can't be careless. Teio's margin for error before winning the Undefeated Triple Crown was zero," he thought to himself.
The next day, in the afternoon, the URA Association released the starting gates for the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes on time. Shuta An, who had just finished discussing the Hong Kong Cup race plan with Silence Suzuka, opened the webpage.
Tokai Teio was assigned to the outermost gate, number 14.
"Damn it!" Shuta An mumbled. "Another far outside gate."
"For Teio, a far outside gate in this kind of race is even more challenging than usual."
Silence Suzuka came up behind her lover, resting her head on his shoulder, her breath caressing his cheek as she spoke.
"It's certainly challenging. For this race, Teio will definitely have to start a bit further back," Shuta An frowned. "I believe Teio's late burst can solve the problem."
"I think we could consider letting Teio work a bit harder upfront to see if there's an opportunity to take the lead."
"Leading the race? And then controlling the pace?" Shuta An understood Silence Suzuka's idea, but he immediately rejected it.
"If Teio can't control the pace, the extra stamina consumed by fighting for position upfront will be completely wasted."
"I'll think about the specific race tactics more carefully and discuss them with Teio via video call tonight."
The young man stood up. "Suzuka, you also need to ensure you're in good physical condition; the race is the day after tomorrow."
"Okay~" The Uma Musume pouted. Having failed to persuade him, she turned and left.
Shuta An set his computer to run a race simulation model, then returned to his room to rest for a while. After helping Silence Suzuka plan her pace at Sha Tin Racecourse, the young man's head hurt a little.
Just as Shuta An closed his eyes, his phone chimed—someone had sent him a Line message.
The young man pouted, picked up his phone: "It's Miss Rudolph."
Symboli Rudolf's Line message contained only one sentence—
"Shuta-kun, what have you been doing in Hong Kong?"
"What do you mean, 'what have I been doing'?" Shuta An was speechless, typing back,
"I've just been doing what I should for Suzuka. I don't need to report this to Miss Rudolph, do I?"
"No, that's not it." Symboli Rudolf quickly clarified. "The URA Association sent a message asking if I could offer Shuta-kun an open position. Generally, Trainers employed by Tracen Academy don't also work for the URA Association, so I wanted to know what happened to make them make an exception."
Shuta An thought carefully, came up with a possibility, and sent a voice message: "Oh—it might be because of Miss Secretariat."
"Secretariat..." Symboli Rudolf didn't know how to respond. She simply called him.
"Anyway, taking on a nominal position is fine, but I don't plan to increase my workload, and naturally, I won't take any extra salary."
After answering the call readily, Shuta An offered his opinion. "I'll just talk to the URA Association when I return to Japan."
"Then I'll leave it to you, Shuta-kun." Symboli Rudolf felt like she had been excluded from something and simply gave up.
"This matter probably won't require Miss Rudolph's involvement later either." Shuta An responded. "After all, Miss Rudolph doesn't yet have the ability to control the URA Association, does she?"
"Although I can't deny that statement, I'm quite displeased." Symboli Rudolf was silent for a moment before replying in a low voice.
"Well, good luck then?" Shuta An deliberately raised his tone at the end.
"Ha~" Symboli Rudolf remembered her past confident promise that she would quickly take control of the URA Association, and her cheeks flushed.
After finalizing the tactics for Tokai Teio, evening arrived.
Silence Suzuka chose to stay in the hotel coffee shop so as not to disturb her lover's work, so only Shuta An was in the room.
"The main race is the day after tomorrow—The Hong Kong Cup starts at 4:40 PM local time, and the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes at 2:40 PM. There are two hours in between, so I'll watch Teio's race from the Box at Sha Tin Racecourse first."
Shuta An planned his schedule for the day after tomorrow.
"By then, overseas media will likely inquire about Teio, so I need to prepare in advance. I hope they don't ask why I came to Hong Kong instead of staying in Japan to watch Tokai Teio's race."
If a reporter really asked such a question, the young man guaranteed it would be the last time that media outlet interviewed him!
When Silence Suzuka estimated the time was right and returned to the room, she saw her lover leaning against the sofa, eyes closed in rest. She quietly sat beside him and silently took his hand.
"Suzuka, you're back."
Shuta An opened his eyes, looking at the Uma Musume next to him, his voice a little tired.
"Teio has the same idea as Suzuka; she wants to try to secure the leading position and control the race pace herself."
"Did Ann agree?" Silence Suzuka asked curiously.
"I rejected Suzuka's suggestion, and Teio's is naturally the same." Shuta An pouted.
"She's never practiced leading tactics before, so how could I let her use them here? If Teio wants to lead, I'll sign her up for the Cox Plate the year after next."
"That would be really nice." Silence Suzuka stuck out her tongue. "Then Ann will have two Cox Plate wins."
"Among the races I've won, only a few with special significance are worth challenging again for me." Shuta An shook his head. "The Cox Plate, let's forget it. It's not special enough for me to send another Uma Musume from my team to win it again."
At this point, he whispered to the Uma Musume leaning beside him: "Suzuka won the Cox Plate for me. For me, that one time is enough."
Hearing this, Silence Suzuka narrowed her eyes. Her idle hand also became restless.
On Sunday, after escorting Silence Suzuka into Sha Tin Racecourse the previous night, Shuta An had a rare early night's sleep this week.
"Before leaving, she was clinging to me for 'one more time.' I hope Suzuka is invigorated today." The young man stood in front of the entrance to Sha Tin Racecourse, muttering to himself.
This time, Shuta An didn't go directly to his assigned private Box, but instead went to the venue first to greet the other Trainers.
"Good morning, Mr. Shuta~" Mitsuaki proactively greeted the young man.
"Good morning, Mr. Mitsuaki." Shuta An bowed slightly, then smiled and said, "I thought I was quite early, but I didn't expect Mr. Mitsuaki to be even earlier."
"I just couldn't sleep." Mitsuaki shrugged. "When I think that it was Bounding Ambitious who voluntarily proposed running this Hong Kong Cup, and if she performs poorly, I'll be the one getting scolded, it's hard to sleep."
"Ah haha..." Shuta An laughed awkwardly. "Miss Bounding Ambitious wouldn't do that, would she?"
"It used to be like that." Mitsuaki shrugged. "I'm not a very skilled Trainer, so all I can do is take responsibility for the Uma Musumes' wrong decisions publicly."
Shuta An could also do this, but his reasons were different. He didn't choose to share the pressure with the Uma Musumes because he couldn't do anything else—he simply saw it as part of a Trainer's job.
"I didn't expect that even Trainers capable of overseas G1 expeditions would have such a mindset." The young man secretly murmured. It wasn't that he looked down on Mitsuaki, but that Mitsuaki looked down on himself.
After greeting all the Trainers of the Uma Musumes participating in today's Hong Kong Cup, Shuta An left the venue.
Upon arriving at his Box, Shuta An glanced around, a little surprised: "I thought the renovations here would be more subdued after the return, but it's even more luxurious than before."
Compared to when he came to Hong Kong in the first half of the year, the Box even had a dedicated small grandstand built outside, allowing users to watch the race from there.
"The weather is nice today. Although it's winter, it's not too cold. We can definitely sit on the small grandstand outside to watch the race when it starts."
Shuta An thought as he turned on the TV in the Box.
"Today's first race at Kyoto Racecourse is an Unraced Maiden." The Japanese commentator's voice sounded.
"Eh? The Hong Kong URA Association has prepared a broadcast of Japan's Twinkle Series?!" Shuta An widened his eyes.
"This means I don't have to watch on my phone. The hosts here are really thoughtful."
In the afternoon, after the Hong Kong Vase concluded with Borgia, who had suffered a crushing defeat in the Japan Cup, successfully "reviving," Shuta An waited another half an hour.
Finally, the television in the Box began preparing to broadcast today's Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes.
Today's commentator was still the same as before, though Trainer Nishizaki Ryu had been invited as a guest commentator. Recently, Nishizaki Ryu had been in quite a good mood.
After consecutive victories in the Tenno Sho (Autumn) and the Japan Cup, if he could also capture the Arima Kinen, then he would achieve something only Shuta An had accomplished before. Of course, if the condition of "exclusive victory" were added, then that honor would still belong solely to Nishizaki Ryu.
"Trainer Nishizaki, what are your thoughts on today's Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes? Which Uma Musume do you think has the best chance?"
As Shuta An focused on the television screen, the live commentator happened to ask Nishizaki Ryu this question.
Without hesitation, Nishizaki Ryu answered, "Without a doubt, it's Tokai Teio. I believe she has the greatest chance of winning this race."
"In fact," he turned toward the commentator, "we all know that mile races are not Tokai Teio's strongest category, yet Ann-san, who is famous for arranging races rationally, still chose to let her participate in this race—"
The live commentator immediately interjected, "Recently, there was also the rather unreasonable decision to suddenly let Miss Mejiro Dober participate in the Arima Kinen."
"Although that matter was indeed unreasonable, it cannot be blamed on Ann-san."
Nishizaki Ryu instantly defended his friend.
"In short, he still hasn't publicly spoken about it, and neither can I. However, there are indeed certain hidden circumstances behind this matter, and whether those become public or not will depend entirely on Ann-san himself."
"When I get back to Japan, I really should buy Nishizaki-san a proper drink." Although Shuta An himself could not drink alcohol, his gratitude at this moment was entirely genuine.
Tokai Teio started from the far outside gate and was the final Uma Musume to enter the starting gate.
Standing in front of the gate at Nakayama Racecourse, she turned her head toward the cameraman beside the track. As the overwhelming favorite, she naturally understood that she was currently appearing on the live broadcast screen.
Tokai Teio raised her hand, waved toward the camera, and revealed a radiant smile.
"Trainer! Even if you're in Hong Kong, keep your eyes on me right now!"
Although her voice was not captured by the broadcast, merely by watching the movement of her lips, Shuta An could roughly guess what Tokai Teio wanted to say.
He immediately took out his phone and sent a message of encouragement to Tokai Teio through Line.
"Although Teio can't see it right now, once she does, she'll know I received her message immediately just by looking at the timestamp."
After putting away his phone, Shuta An quietly muttered to himself,
"But the most important thing is still victory, Teio. At this stage, we have absolutely zero room for error."
—
Tokai Teio turned around. Without needing assistance from the staff, she gracefully stepped into the starting gate with her distinctive gait.
"Teio Step…this is Tokai Teio's trademark characteristic. This gait only appears unconsciously whenever Tokai Teio is in an exceptionally good mood." Trainer Nishizaki commented.
"Speaking of which, Trainer Nishizaki isn't responsible for Tokai Teio's training, yet you seem to understand her quite well," the live commentator remarked teasingly.
"It's not really a matter of understanding," Trainer Nishizaki denied immediately.
"Or rather, it's not only me. In fact, Tokai Teio often trains together with the Uma Musume under Trainer Tojo and myself at Central Tracen Academy. These kinds of things were mentioned either by Ann-san himself or by Tokai Teio's juniors."
"Are you observing her closely now in order to specifically target Tokai Teio in the future?" The commentator's questioning became increasingly sharp.
"It would absolutely be a lie to say I've never thought that way." Trainer Nishizaki shrugged.
"But honestly speaking, if someone wants to defeat Tokai Teio, then the opponent herself must first reach the absolute peak of her generation. If such an Uma Musume truly exists, then I think she would definitely be another genius with Triple Crown-level potential, just like Tokai Teio herself."
Listening to Nishizaki Ryu's evaluation, Shuta An shook his head slightly.
"Although Nishizaki-san's words aren't wrong, in this generation, the only one capable of stopping Tokai Teio is Tokai Teio herself."
After all, in the Dream World, Shuta An had already personally experienced Tokai Teio's journey toward the Undefeated Triple Crown once before.
In his opinion, with Tokai Teio's talent, so long as there was no accident like failing to catch up on the final straight today, then next year's Classic Triple Crown would practically be as easy as taking candy from a child.
After the fanfare concluded, Tokai Teio lowered herself into her starting stance. The starter's flag dropped, and in the next instant, the gates burst open simultaneously.
Even though a late-closing strategy had already been confirmed for this race, Tokai Teio did not relax her start in the slightest. The instant the gates fully opened, she pushed explosively off with her left leg, swung her right leg forward, and shot out from the gate immediately.
Leaning her body slightly forward, Tokai Teio carefully controlled her speed. Right after breaking from the gate, she immediately angled inward toward the rail, completely abandoning the front-running tactic that the experts, commentators, and Trainer Nishizaki had predicted before the race.
"Tokai Teio is choosing a late-closing strategy,"
Trainer Nishizaki instantly recognized her tactical intention.
"It seems even Ann-san doesn't want to attempt anything risky from the far outside gate at Nakayama Racecourse."
"Oh? Then Trainer Nishizaki, what sort of 'risky' strategy did you originally expect?"
After narrating the race situation, the live commentator curiously followed up.
"I thought he would let Tokai Teio take the lead,"
Trainer Nishizaki admitted frankly.
"At the Central Tracen Academy training grounds, Tokai Teio has already displayed the ability to control pace while leading. Even Seiun Sky and Silence Suzuka, two runaway specialists, were surprised by the pace-control ability she demonstrated there. So I originally believed Ann-san intended to let Tokai Teio develop this weapon further."
"But this outcome isn't completely unexpected either." Trainer Nishizaki grinned.
"Tokai Teio's goal is the Undefeated Triple Crown. Before achieving that goal, Ann-san naturally has no reason to let her take unnecessary risks."
As his words fell, Tokai Teio had already entered the first corner.
Currently leading the field was Editor, with Hokkai Fire tightly following behind. However, Editor clearly had no intention of setting a slow pace in this race. After seizing the lead, she showed absolutely no signs of decelerating. Instead, she continued accelerating, attempting to widen the distance between herself and Hokkai Fire.
"Good thing we didn't let Tokai Teio run a front-running strategy."
After noticing Editor's performance, Shuta An quietly let out a breath of relief.
"If Teio had tried to run from the front today, she definitely would've been forced into a pace battle. In that case, she might not have retained enough explosive power for the final straight."