Chapter 13. Vega and Hokuto Vega
Upon returning to the hotel, dinner had already been prepared.
Shuta An and Mejiro Dober each returned to their rooms for a bath before heading down to the restaurant together.
Rather than making it a private celebration, Shuta An even personally distributed sweets to the other hotel guests dining in the restaurant after the banquet officially began.
The NHK documentary crew also thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
The atmosphere of the entire celebration was exceptionally lively.
Although the Ranvet Stakes was merely a preliminary Race within Mejiro Dober's Australian expedition plan, it was still a G1 Race—and moreover, a G1 that no Japanese Uma Musume had ever won before. Naturally, the Mejiro Dober supporters among the film crew were overjoyed.
"With Special Week retired and Grass Wonder injured, Miss Mejiro Dober is truly the leading figure of this generation now!"
At the height of the celebration, one of the staff members even shouted this loudly.
Shuta An merely smiled faintly upon hearing it, while Mejiro Dober hurriedly shook her head.
"I still haven't defeated Grass Wonder-senpai yet," she replied seriously. "I'm not qualified to call myself the top Uma Musume of the generation."
—
Yet even after the banquet ended, Mejiro Dober's mood remained unusually high.
After returning briefly to their respective rooms to change into casual clothes, the two once again left the hotel together for their habitual evening walk.
The Rosehill Racecourse area, which had been overflowing with people throughout the day, was now completely quiet.
The contrast between the bustling cheers from before and the current silence was so extreme that Shuta An almost felt as though the daytime Race had merely been a dream.
"According to Trainer's plan, we successfully won this Race," Mejiro Dober spoke first while walking slightly ahead of him.
"Next, Trainer's attention will temporarily return to Teio-chan, right?"
"Yes."
Shuta An paused briefly before nodding.
"Tomorrow, I'll first accompany Dober to move into the hotel near Randwick Racecourse. After that, I'll return to Japan."
"Teio's Satsuki Sho is only a month away now. I need to supervise her training at the Academy for half a month, help prepare her race planning, analyze opponents, and then return to Australia one week before the Queen Elizabeth Stakes."
"I'm actually fine here alone," Mejiro Dober pursed her lips slightly before speaking in a softer voice.
"Trainer could even come back a little later. I feel the pressure from Australian middle-distance Uma Musume isn't nearly as high as what I faced during the Yorkshire Oaks."
"My schedule has already been arranged, and the tickets are already booked."
Shuta An extended a finger and lightly touched Mejiro Dober's forehed, stopping her from continuing.
"Don't make suggestions while thinking about sacrificing yourself. Whether it's Dober or Teio, your importance to me is exactly the same. That won't change just because you're running different Races."
"I understand…"
Mejiro Dober quietly stepped back before lowering her head slightly.
"Dober's performance this time was truly excellent," Shuta An continued with a smile. "If you maintain this level of form, the Queen Elizabeth Stakes shouldn't be a problem either."
"I'm quite confident too."
Mejiro Dober nodded lightly.
"Even if I face Horizon, I'm not afraid."
Then, after a brief pause, she suddenly changed the topic and said something that sounded strangely familiar to the young man.
"When Trainer returns from Japan… there's something I want to tell you."
"Alright." Shuta An gently held her hand and nodded. "Then I'll quietly listen to Dober."
In truth, Shuta An already had a rough idea of what Mejiro Dober wanted to say. The behavior of the Mejiro Family's young lady during this period had simply been far too familiar to him.
His gaze unconsciously lowered toward Mejiro Dober's feet.
Although the sandals prevented him from clearly seeing her toes, based on his experience during physical palpation sessions, Shuta An could still tell that Mejiro Dober had been unconsciously curling her toes tightly for quite some time already.
"Perhaps…" the young man murmured inwardly.
—
The distance between Randwick Racecourse and Rosehill Racecourse was approximately twenty-six kilometers.
This time, after moving out from their previous hotel, Shuta An and Mejiro Dober relocated together to the Meriton Suites Zetland Sydney, located around forty minutes on foot from Randwick Racecourse.
Unlike before, Shuta An only booked a single suite this time.
However, the suite itself contained two separate bedrooms along with a private terrace, more than enough space for Mejiro Dober to comfortably sketch outdoors.
After organizing the luggage and tidying the room, Shuta An left Mejiro Dober alone at the hotel and hurried back to the previous hotel to meet the NHK documentary crew.
Because this time, they would all be returning to Japan together.
Even the journey itself still needed to be filmed.
"I've really sacrificed too much for the publicity…" Shuta An grumbled inwardly.
—
The direct All Nippon Airways flight from Sydney departed at eleven in the morning and arrived at Tokyo International Airport at eight in the evening.
"Everyone, I'll be leaving first. I'm heading directly home."
Shuta An clasped his hands together in farewell before departing ahead of the others.
As for the NHK film crew, the television station naturally had dedicated transportation arranged for them already.
After taking a taxi home, Shuta An unsurprisingly discovered the house completely empty.
"Dream Trophy Series, huh~"
The young man swept his gaze across the interior, then nodded in satisfaction after confirming there was no need for additional cleaning.
"Looks like they arranged for professional cleaning staff to come regularly."
As for the somewhat cold atmosphere inside the house, Shuta An had long since become accustomed to it.
After all, he had already spent most of his recent time living alone in Australia. Mejiro Dober hadn't constantly stayed beside him there either.
"Next month, when I return to Australia…it'll practically feel like living together with Dober for a week."
The young man headed upstairs toward his room, preparing to wash away the exhaustion of the journey with a quick bath.
After bathing, Shuta An didn't even bother eating anything.
Instead, he directly went to bed early.
He didn't have the luxury of time to leisurely adjust to the time difference, because tomorrow morning he still needed to return to work at Central Tracen Academy.
"Tomorrow I can temporarily push most of the work to Tuesday," he thought silently.
"My main priority is checking Teio's current condition and then adjusting her training plan."
With that thought in mind, the young man slowly closed his eyes and prepared to enter the Dream World.
Tonight's major Races within the Dream World were the Nakayama Kinen and the Hanshin Daishoten.
Although Shuta An didn't have any key mounts participating in either Race, he still ultimately chose to remain at Hanshin Racecourse.
Because tonight, Vega would be running in her second career Race—the Tulip Sho.
At this point in time within the Dream World timeline, the Tulip Sho was still merely an open-class Race rather than a graded Race.
However, victory here would still secure qualification for the Oka Sho.
That alone was enough to make Shuta An pay serious attention.
"Next week, Hokuto Vega will also run in an Oka Sho prep Race—"
Thinking of that, the young man felt slightly helpless.
"They're going to clash again."
In today's Dream World, Shuta An had accepted five riding commissions at Hanshin Racecourse.
He had no mount in the Hanshin Daishoten, so the true focus of the day rested solely on Vega's Tulip Sho.
The first four races passed smoothly. Shuta An effortlessly secured four consecutive victories, casually earning enough "daily expenses" to support his Australian expedition.
By the time the Tulip Sho entrants began entering the parade ring, Shuta An should have been the first to leave the jockey waiting room. However, just as he reached the doorway, Yutaka Take suddenly called out to him.
"Ann-san, can we discuss something?" Yutaka Take rubbed his hands together with a broad grin. "I promise it won't be anything troublesome for you."
"What is it?" Shuta An tilted his head slightly, somewhat surprised. "With our relationship, if it's really not troublesome, I definitely won't refuse."
"Well…" Yutaka Take rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Which horse do you think is the strongest in this year's Satsuki Sho? Personally, I'm leaning toward riding Narita Taishin. Which horse are you planning to ride, Ann-san?"
"This year's Satsuki Sho has nothing to do with me." Shuta An shrugged lightly. "The day before the Satsuki Sho, I'll still be in Australia riding Tokai Teio in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes. There's no way I can return in time to ride on Sunday."
"Phew—"
Yutaka Take immediately let out a long sigh of relief in front of his friend.
"That's definitely good news for me."
"Don't show that kind of expression in front of me." Shuta An glared at him before flicking his forehead. "I'm going to prepare for the Tulip Sho."
"Good luck! I believe Vega can win!" Yutaka Take laughed cheerfully. "If Hokuto Vega also loses to Ann-san, then please let me ride whichever horse you don't choose in the Oka Sho."
"That's enough." Shuta An clicked his tongue in annoyance.
With the assistance of Vega's groom, Keiji Yamaguchi, Shuta An smoothly mounted the saddle.
From this angle, Vega's least appealing feature conveniently remained outside his field of vision, putting the young man in an exceptionally pleasant mood.
"Vega's condition is excellent." Shuta An habitually rubbed the back of her neck. "If we win this race, we can begin preparations for the Oka Sho."
"Shuta-kun will still ride Vega then, right?" Keiji Yamaguchi immediately asked.
"We'll decide after seeing Vega's performance in this race." Shuta An remained relatively cautious. "If her showing is similar to Hokuto Vega's, I'll probably still choose Vega."
The reason he leaned slightly toward Vega under equal conditions was simple — she belonged to the Yoshida Family, whose relationship with him was considerably closer.
In this Tulip Sho, Vega had drawn gate four.
With sixteen racehorses participating, Shuta An decided to let Vega attempt a front-running strategy for once.
Thus, just before the gates opened, he once again employed his old trick.
Even though everyone had already witnessed it multiple times, it remained absurdly effective.
Relying on his uniquely explosive gate-breaking technique, Shuta An immediately allowed Vega to gain nearly a full horse-length advantage over ElCasaCosmo, who also intended to seize the lead from gate one.
With that single horse-length margin secured, Shuta An immediately guided Vega diagonally toward the rail, firmly locking down the leading position.
Hanshin Racecourse was bathed in bright sunlight today, and the turf condition was officially listed as "Good."
However, from the very first race of the day, Shuta An had already noticed that while the track was technically "Good," it realistically leaned much closer toward "Slightly Heavy."
"That means the advantage for front-runners is stronger than usual."
A faint smile curved across his lips.
"Let's maintain a standard pace. Vega can't be treated like Silence Suzuka."
In Shuta An's mind, Silence Suzuka's running style was fundamentally unique.
As they entered the bend, the large screen displayed the first 600-meter split for Vega and Shuta An:
35.6 seconds.
"Very standard pacing." Trainer Matsuda Hiroshi nodded with satisfaction. "The leading performance is excellent as well. It looks like Vega has gained another tactical option."
"It's indeed a textbook pace." Yoshida Katsumi narrowed his eyes. "Now it depends on whether Shuta-kun and Vega can sustain it until the finish."
With his veteran instincts, Yoshida Katsumi increasingly felt that Vega would become an extraordinarily important mare for both himself and the Shadai Group.
"And Hokuto Vega as well… those names are simply too coincidental."
Yoshida Katsumi was not a particularly superstitious man, but he trusted his intuition deeply.
"That same intuition once made me determined to build a relationship with Shuta-kun. And now…"
He slowly closed his eyes.
"What exactly is it trying to tell me?"
—
As Shuta An and Vega entered the final straight, the gap behind them had already widened to nearly four horse lengths over ElCasaCosmo.
At that moment, BelleCharmante, ridden by Minai Katsumi, began accelerating aggressively from behind.
Shuta An immediately noticed.
And then, he made his decision.
The inside lane final straight at Hanshin's turf mile course was not particularly long. Therefore, after entering the straight, Shuta An deliberately waited.
Only after confirming that every opponent behind had fully committed to their finishing sprint did he finally allow Vega to unleash her second acceleration.
The moment she exploded forward, despair instantly swallowed the entire field behind her.
Kawachi Hiroshi cursed inwardly.
"This bastard is unbelievable!"
"If Vega, as the overwhelming favorite, possessed a second acceleration burst, he should've shown it earlier so everyone could surrender immediately!"
"Instead, he deliberately waited until everyone exhausted themselves in a full sprint before revealing it, forcing all of us to burn unnecessary stamina reserves!"
Minai Katsumi shared exactly the same thought.
Meanwhile, back in the jockey waiting room, Yutaka Take's eyes were practically closed from laughing.
"Ann-san is way too cunning. If he'd shown Vega's second acceleration immediately, the horses behind could've conserved energy and targeted another Oka Sho prep race instead."
"But by doing this—"
Yutaka Take suddenly froze.
"Wait. Is he laying groundwork for Hokuto Vega's graded race challenge in next week's Flower Cup?"
His eyes widened in disbelief.
"This guy is thinking three moves ahead, isn't he? He's already paving the road for Hokuto Vega before her graded debut even begins."
Shuta An, of course, had no idea how Yutaka Take was interpreting his tactics.
He merely gave Vega two firm whip strikes before driving her forward with everything he had.
When only 100 meters remained before the finish line, Shuta An realized he could no longer hear any hoofbeats nearby.
He glanced backward.
The closest horse, BelleCharmante, was still nearly five horse lengths behind.
"We've got this."
At the 50-meter mark, Shuta An directly eased Vega down, allowing her to transition into a relaxed training canter as they gracefully crossed the finish line.
"Four lengths! Vega completely dominates the Tulip Sho, securing her second consecutive victory since debut!"
"One of the favorite for this year's Oka Sho is born here!!"
"1:36.5!"
"Another graded victory for Shuta An this year!"
"Will he and Vega also conquer the first G1 of the season — the Oka Sho?!"
Hearing the commentator's excited declaration, Trainer Nakano and Hokuto Vega's owner immediately became tense.
"We need to prepare another plan," owner Mori Shigeru said first, turning toward Trainer Nakano. "What if we fail to secure Shuta-kun for the Oka Sho?"
"If we prepare alternatives in advance, Shuta-kun probably won't object."
"I think he'll understand us." Trainer Nakano quietly nodded in agreement.