Chapter 108. IFUA
When the young man arrived beside the Sha Tin Racecourse track, Silence Suzuka had just finished interacting with the audience and was preparing to head back through the underground passage toward the lounge in order to participate in the Winning Live afterward.
Shuta An stood quietly at the entrance of the underground passage.
The moment Silence Suzuka approached him, he stepped forward and directly pulled the Uma Musume into his arms just before she entered the passageway.
"A lot of people are watching," Silence Suzuka softly reminded him in a low voice.
However, she made no attempt whatsoever to struggle free.
"It's fine. Just this once." The young man did not care in the slightest. "I'll think of a way to deal with everything afterward."
After a brief pause, Shuta An lowered his voice again.
"You worked hard, Suzuka. Now you can finally rest properly for a while. As for the Dream Trophy Series—we'll talk about it next year."
"Mm~ I was thinking the same thing too."
Silence Suzuka quietly responded.
Because she could clearly sense the nearby reporters frantically taking photographs, the Uma Musume forcefully suppressed the urge to continue acting spoiled in her lover's embrace.
She simply remained stiffly nestled in his arms without moving.
—
After reluctantly releasing Silence Suzuka, Shuta An stood in place and silently watched the Uma Musume's figure gradually disappear from view within the underground passage.
Only after she had completely vanished from sight did the young man finally turn around and walk toward the interview area, where numerous reporters were already waiting eagerly.
Sweeping his gaze across the impatient crowd, Shuta An noticed many familiar faces among them and casually spoke first.
"It looks like we all know each other pretty well by now. So let's stick to the old rules."
"One question per person."
"No problem!"
The reporters who had already interacted with Shuta An countless times immediately agreed without hesitation.
The first person selected was naturally a local Hong Kong reporter.
"May I ask what Mr. Shuta was discussing with Ms. Silence Suzuka just now?"
Shuta An blinked lightly.
"Nothing particularly secretive. I simply congratulated her on achieving a beautiful ending to her career. And I told her she can finally rest properly until preparations begin for next year's Dream Trophy Series."
"We want to know about your relationship!"
The next reporter was considerably more direct.
"The relationship between a Trainer and an Uma Musume."
Shuta An answered without changing expression.
"Today was Suzuka's retirement race. And after winning by such an overwhelming margin—" The young man paused slightly before lightly thumping his own chest. "To be honest, I'm still extremely excited right now."
"Although Team Sadalsuud Uma Musume have already won many G1 races, victories by such a massive margin are still rather rare."
"Mr. Shuta, what expectations do you have for Tokai Teio, who also won a G1 race in Japan today?"
This time, the question came from a Japanese reporter.
"I stated my goal a long time ago already."
Shuta An answered calmly.
"Next year's Classic Triple Crown as undefeated champion. In the future, I will also consider allowing Tokai Teio to race overseas, but that will most likely happen after she enters her senior year."
—
After finally dealing with the reporters, Shuta An directly went to the front-row audience seating beneath the Winning Live stage and quietly waited for the beginning of today's Hong Kong International Races Winning Live performance.
Neither the Trainers whose Uma Musume participated in the Hong Kong Cup approached him rashly.
Almost all of them shared the exact same thought.
"He's savoring the afterglow of victory right now. It's better not to disturb him."
However, Huang Zhigang clearly did not care about such things. He directly walked over toward Shuta An and initiated the conversation himself.
"Congratulations, Mr. Shuta."
"It's only a G1 victory. I'm already used to it."
Shuta An casually shrugged.
"Although Suzuka's performance today truly exceeded even my expectations. The level she displayed was honestly terrifying."
"Isn't that a good thing?"
Huang Zhigang's smile became even brighter.
"If she enters the Dream Trophy Series in the future, then based on this Hong Kong Cup performance alone, her popularity should remain extremely high for a very long time, correct?"
"I don't know. I've never really considered that kind of issue."
The young man directly avoided the topic.
"Mr. Huang, did you come looking for me because there's something you need?"
"It's related to the matter we discussed two days ago."
Huang Zhigang did not waste words.
"A new organization has already been established, so naturally it now requires a formal name."
"Do you have any suggestions, Mr. Shuta?"
"International Federation Umamusume Authorities."
Shuta An answered almost immediately.
"Oh~ quite a stable and practical name." Huang Zhigang smiled faintly. "I originally thought it might be something more…unique."
Although he did not finish the sentence, Shuta An could already guess what he meant.
"I'm long past my chuunibyou phase."
The young man waved his hand dismissively.
"Besides, the responsibilities of this kind of federation aren't limited to rating Uma Musume. It also exists to strengthen the connections between URA Associations across different countries and regions while promoting future cooperation."
"In that case, giving it some strange or flashy name would just be unnecessary."
"Then the abbreviation for this organization will be IFUA."
Huang Zhigang carefully recorded the name.
"Barring any unexpected circumstances, the first annual meeting next year should be held here at Sha Tin in mid-January. At that time, I'll definitely make sure to properly host Mr. Shuta."
"What does that have to do with me?"
Shuta An instinctively grumbled inwardly. Yet only moments later, he suddenly understood.
"That nominal position within the Central URA Association—It can't possibly just be for the purpose of attaching me as a symbolic IFUA member, can it? And was that also one of Secretariat's conditions back then?"
Otherwise, there was absolutely no reason for the URA Association to hand over such a comfortable position—a symbolic international organization role—to someone like Shuta An, who did not even officially work under the URA Association.
From a normal perspective, distributing the position internally would have made far more sense.
—
Because today also marked Silence Suzuka's retirement race, the Winning Live afterward consisted almost entirely of songs that belonged to Silence Suzuka herself.
Then, at the enthusiastic request of the audience, she additionally performed an encore rendition of "The Ageless Legend," a Cantonese song that had become extremely popular in Hong Kong that year.
Of course, her pronunciation was undeniably problematic.
However, for the audience present, hearing an overseas Uma Musume sing a local Hong Kong song was already an extremely novel experience.
Very few people truly cared enough to nitpick such details.
—
As night gradually descended, Silence Suzuka—still dressed in her swimsuit-style victory outfit—quietly sat within her lover's embrace.
"After we return to the Academy, Ann, you'll have to begin preparing Dober-chan for the Arima Kinen soon, right?"
"That's right."
Shuta An answered while continuing to help Silence Suzuka with her additional post-race recovery work.
"Although her chances of defeating Special Week and Grass Wonder are honestly very low, we still need to use this race to make the Mejiro Family restrain themselves a little."
"And more importantly, it's necessary if Dober wants the freedom to choose her own race schedule next year. So regardless of the outcome, this race is unavoidable."
"Do you need my help?"
Silence Suzuka leaned gently backward against him.
"By now, I should have enough influence and popularity to help speak on your behalf a little, shouldn't I?"
"Suzuka, just focus on resting properly." The young man softly interrupted her. "Leave everything else to me."
—
At two in the morning, Silence Suzuka slept soundly in Shuta An's arms. Only then did the young man finally allow himself to relax and drift into peaceful sleep as well.
"Today in the Dream World is also the day of the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes," Shuta An thought silently.
Last year's Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes in the Dream World had been won by Mihono Bourbon. Because of that, this year's edition was also receiving tremendous attention. Everyone wanted to know who would become this year's winner, and whether she could replicate Mihono Bourbon's feat by almost sweeping her Classic Race year.
As for Shuta An, his primary goal for today's race was victory.
His second goal was defeating Biwa Hayahide.
In fact, just last week, Biwa Hayahide's Trainer, Hamada Mitsumasa, had personally sent Shuta An a riding request, hoping he would ride Biwa Hayahide in the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes. After reviewing Biwa Hayahide's previous race records, Shuta An had immediately understood why.
Since debuting in September, he had already achieved three consecutive victories. In her previous race, the Daily Hai Nisai Stakes, she defeated the second-place finisher by 0.3 seconds. For this Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes, she was widely expected to become the overwhelming first favorite.
Naturally, Shuta An had been more than willing to accept the request.
However, on Monday afternoon, Hamada Mitsumasa personally came to find him again and apologetically withdrew the invitation.
The reason was simple.
Biwa Hayahide's Horse Owner, Mr. Nakajima Isamu, the representative of Biwa Company, believed that although Shuta An was undoubtedly an excellent rider, he was still a foreigner, and his professional career was far too short.
In Nakajima Isamu's eyes, the young man simply lacked sufficient maturity and experience. Compared to Shuta An, he preferred entrusting Biwa Hayahide to a more seasoned jockey.
As the Trainer, Hamada Mitsumasa naturally had far less authority than Nakajima Isamu regarding Biwa Hayahide's arrangements. In the end, he could only retract the previous riding request.
Although Shuta An verbally reassured Trainer Hamada Mitsumasa that he did not mind, Yutaka Take, who had witnessed the entire exchange, immediately began instigating him during dinner that evening.
"Ann-san, shouldn't you make Mr. Nakajima experience a painful lesson on the stage of the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes this time?"
Yutaka Take said while grinning at him from across the table. "Teach him not to underestimate young jockeys so casually in the future."
"I do have that intention," Shuta An replied after swallowing a piece of char siu. "But that also depends on what horse I can get. Shadai doesn't have any entries for this race this year, so I'll probably have to trouble Manager Kohara to help me find a request."
Manager Kohara ultimately did not disappoint him.
The very next day, he successfully secured Shuta An a riding request for the same race—Hokuto Fill.
This horse had won his debut race, but afterward only managed an eighth-place finish in the Keisei Hai Nisai Stakes. Because of that performance, his popularity entering this race was extremely low.
After learning that Shuta An's previous riding request had been canceled, Hokuto Fill's Trainer, Nakano Takayoshi, immediately contacted Manager Kohara and recommended his horse. With only four days remaining before the race, Manager Kohara ultimately chose between "having no request at all" and "accepting a low-popularity request," decisively selecting the latter.
"Even with a low-popularity horse, I believe Shuta-kun can still create a miracle on the Racecourse," Manager Kohara had said confidently over the phone.
"Since Manager Kohara already said that much, then I definitely have to win," Shuta An replied with a helpless shrug.
—
On race day, Hokuto Fill became only the eighth favorite, carrying odds of 32.8.
Meanwhile, Biwa Hayahide stood firmly as the overwhelming first favorite with terrifying odds of 1.3. His saddle this time belonged to Kishi Shigehiko, who had been temporarily retained after Yukio Okabe could not be secured.
However, Shuta An quickly noticed something.
Kishi Shigehiko seemed distracted.
After thinking about it carefully, though, the young man found the situation understandable. Regardless of this race's outcome, Kishi Shigehiko would inevitably be replaced by Yukio Okabe afterward. Under circumstances like these, expecting him to maintain absolute focus throughout the race was honestly unrealistic.
But for Shuta An, this weakness was precisely something he could exploit.
"Kishi Shigehiko is distracted. He'll definitely pay the price during the final sprint," the young man analyzed calmly.
"And with Surely Win and Red Sun Green both present, the pace of this race should become extremely fast. In that case, Hokuto Fill needs to run from behind."
Before the race began, Shuta An had already discussed tactics with Trainer Nakano Takayoshi. The Trainer had directly told him to adapt according to the situation on the track.
Because of that, Shuta An carried no hesitation whatsoever regarding the strategy he intended to use.
Everything unfolded exactly as he expected.
Red Sun Green and Surely Win immediately established a blisteringly fast pace at the front. Meanwhile, Shuta An calmly guided Hokuto Fill behind Biwa Hayahide the entire way, deliberately marking his movements.
If Kishi Shigehiko had been more focused at this moment, he likely would have realized what Shuta An was doing. Unfortunately, his distracted state caused him to rely entirely on formulaic riding, showing absolutely no intention of responding to the marking tactic.
"He's even less serious than I thought," Shuta An muttered inwardly. "If this continues, he may even misjudge the timing for acceleration later. In that case, I'll just prepare the acceleration space myself in advance."
By this point, the two leading horses had already entered the final straight.
Without hesitation, Shuta An immediately guided Hokuto Fill outward.
Fortunately, there were no horses occupying the outside lane, allowing the young man's plan to proceed smoothly.
"He's planning an outside burst," Nakano Takayoshi instantly saw through Shuta An's intentions.
"Will that really work?" Mori Shigeru, Hokuto Fill's Horse Owner, asked nervously. "Biwa Hayahide is still right in front."
"It's fine," Nakano Takayoshi answered while clenching his fist tightly. "He's been marking him the entire race."
The moment those words fell, Shuta An decisively drew his whip and struck Hokuto Fill twice in rapid succession, urging him into acceleration as he launched forward toward Biwa Hayahide.
Although Kishi Shigehiko had indeed been distracted, the instant Shuta An surged up beside him, his instincts as a jockey still reacted immediately. He hurriedly urged Biwa Hayahide to accelerate as well.
At the same time, L-WayWin, ridden by Minami Katsumi, also charged up rapidly from behind.
However, despite Kishi Shigehiko's reaction, the already-surging Hokuto Fill and the fast-closing L-WayWin no longer gave Biwa Hayahide any opportunity to reclaim the lead.
"Biwa Hayahide has lost! Biwa Hayahide has lost! Is the winner L-WayWin or Hokuto Fill?! Is it Ireland or Japan?! Is it Minami Katsumi or Shuta An?!"
"It's Shuta An! It's Hokuto Fill! A massive upset at 32.8 odds! Shuta An has proven his ability!"
As they watched the young man raise a triumphant victory pose after crossing the finish line, Nakano Takayoshi quietly muttered:
"I wonder whether Nakajima-san feels even the slightest regret right now."
Beside him, Mori Shigeru suddenly made up his mind. He immediately turned toward Nakano Takayoshi and spoke in a solemn voice.
"Trainer Nakano, regarding Hokuto Vega, who will debut next month—I hope to entrust her to Shuta-kun as well. Could I trouble you to invite him again?"