Chapter 104. Necha's Renewed Spirit and Post-Race Interview
When Tokai Teio crossed the finish line, the timer beside the big screen froze on 3:09.1.
Not an outstanding time by any measure. She'd pulled two and half lengths clear of second-place Leo Durban, sure — but watching that number settle on the board, Shuta felt the same old truth reassert itself: long distance still wasn't Teio's strength, and it likely never would be.
McQueen's Spring Tenno Sho finish this year clocked in at 3:18.8 — and that's a 3200-meter race. Two hundred extra meters, and the time only grew by 9.7 seconds.
He ran the math without needing to think hard about it.
Which means, put plainly, Teio's aptitude for genuine long-distance racing takes a real hit the further you push her.
Figures. I still can't send her chasing distance races on a whim.
Shuta reluctantly pulled his gaze away from the glowing skill bar on Tokai Teio's attribute viewer.
Ever since he'd guided Rice Shower to victory over Mihono Bourbon in the Dream World, the skill he'd unlocked there — Hero's Resolve— had quietly done its work today, cutting deep into Teio's stamina drain through the back half of the Kikuka Sho, and helping her finally reach the goal she'd been chasing since childhood.
He turned to find Rice Shower and Kurofune still wrapped around each other, celebrating for Teio with everything they had.
"Come on, I'm heading to interviews. You two go with Teio — she's got two Winning Live performances waiting for her."
"Two?" Kurofune blinked, confused. "There's only one race today, isn't there?"
"Winners of the classic Triple Crown perform an encore once the season wraps. And this year, Teio's the only one who claimed it — so that final encore stage belongs entirely to her."
Shuta laid it out simply.
"That's amazing~"
Rice Shower and Kurofune both understood their own strength and talent well enough by now, but watching the full weight of everything Teio was receiving today, a flicker of envy was impossible to fully suppress.
Once he'd sent Kurofune and Rice Shower ahead, Shuta didn't head straight for the media area. Instead, he lingered in the VIP stands, trading brief pleasantries with the Trainers of the other Kikuka Sho entrants.
Meanwhile, after a short moment with the crowd, Teio herself was doing much the same — exchanging a few words with the other Uma Musume who'd run the race alongside her.
"Outermost lane in all three legs, and tactics that left nothing to argue with. No luck in any of those wins — this year's Undefeated Triple Crown winner earned every bit of it."
Nice Nature murmured, watching Teio's retreating figure.
"I'm well and truly convinced." Leo Durban let out a long sigh beside her. "Second in the Japanese Derby, second again here in the Kikuka Sho. I lost fair and square, no arguments."
"So what now?" Nice Nature turned toward her. "Are you just going to start avoiding every race Teio enters?"
"How could I possibly do that?!" Leo Durban's voice shot up. "I only respect the Tokai Teio standing in front of me today enough to admit defeat this once — but if we cross paths again in the Twinkle Series, I'm entering. Every time. I won't back down."
"Right." Nice Nature's gaze dropped to the ground for a beat. "Neither will I. How could I?"
She lifted her head, turning toward the stands.
"Turbo-chan... Dictus... Tannhauser... Trainer..." She spotted her teammates instantly, and her whole face brightened. She smiled and waved.
"Looks like Necha's bounced back." Twin Turbo said, satisfied. "That's how it should be! It's one race! We'll take it next time!"
I wonder what Leo Durban said to her — whatever it was, it clearly turned things around.
I think I owe her a thank-you, Minamisaka thought privately, keeping the sentiment to himself.
—
Shuta made his way alone to the media area, a place familiar enough to feel routine by now — he came here often enough after Sadalsuud's Uma Musume finished their races.
The questions rarely strayed far from a predictable script, and he'd already worked through his answers in his head before he'd even arrived.
Standing in front of the wall of cameras and microphones, he let a small smile settle onto his face. "Good to see you all again. One question each, as usual."
The first question, from a reporter with Twinkle magazine, was as simple as expected: "Trainer Shuta, how are you feeling after Tokai Teio's Kikuka Sho win?"
"Great, obviously." He shrugged easily. "Honestly, this was the race I was most nervous about heading into the back half of the year. Winning by two lengths — that's more than enough to satisfy me."
The next question followed the usual pattern too: "Has Tokai Teio's next race been decided?"
"It has. She's only running once more this year — the Arima Kinen." He spread his hands. "The race Mejiro Dober couldn't claim last year. I'd naturally love to see Teio take it."
The third reporter's question reached further ahead: "Mejiro Dober's spent this year on something close to a world tour. Will Miss Tokai Teio be following a similar schedule next year?"
"Before autumn, probably, yes." He paused to consider it properly before answering. "Come autumn, Teio's staying put in Japan — the Tenno Sho Autumn, the Japan Cup, the Arima Kinen, all on the table. But in the eight or nine months leading up to that, the Takarazuka Kinen is really the only G1 open to her domestically. So an overseas stretch just makes more sense in that window."
He let the pause sit for a beat, then added with a bright grin: "Though it'll look different from Dober's own schedule. Teio's not likely to have much interest in races she's already conquered."
The reporters exchanged glances, each of them already sketching out guesses for what her first-half schedule might look like.
Privately, Trainer Shuta already had it mapped out. Her calendar next year would largely mirror what he'd already run in the Dream World. The Queen Elizabeth Stakes in Australia probably wasn't in the cards — instead, he leaned toward entering her in the Dubai Sheema Classic.
Been a few years since I raked in real money out in Dubai. They're probably wondering where I've been.
He worked through the logistics in his head.
Dubai back to Japan, then onward to Europe — the time difference is a rougher adjustment than what Australia would demand, but the travel costs drop significantly. The Dubai Racing Club foots the bill for a private charter, covering the Uma Musume and the full support staff.
Of course, none of it was locked in until he'd actually sat down and talked it through with Teio herself.
Shuta An hurried toward the exit of the underground passage, and there she was—just as expected—Tokai Teio, waiting with her two juniors flanking her, eyes fixed on her Trainer.
"Your performance today was truly excellent, Teio." Shuta was the first to speak. "Even better than I'd imagined."
"Because I gave it everything I had."
Tokai Teio lifted her chin, though with her juniors standing right there, she held back from bringing up the promise Trainer Shuta had made her earlier.
"I'll remember. All of it."
He hadn't spelled it out, but Tokai Teio didn't need him to—she understood exactly what he meant, and her smile only grew brighter for it.
"Go on, get ready for the Winning Live. Everyone's waiting to see you shine." Shuta gave her a gentle push toward the exit.
"Trainer, you too! Watch me closely from the stands!"
Tokai Teio took a step forward, then spun back around and shot a heart gesture at the young man before turning to go.
"Honestly~" Shuta An shook his head. "Where did she even learn that?"
"Curren-chan probably taught her," Kurofune murmured. "Teio-senpai went to see her a few times before—that was probably why."
Shuta An let out a sigh. "If she has time for that, I'd rather she spend it training a little harder instead."
"But Teio-senpai's already an Undefeated Triple Crown champion!" Rice Shower looked genuinely puzzled.
"An Undefeated Triple Crown shouldn't be the end of the road for her. There are higher mountains left to climb, longer rivers left to cross."
The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. The Epsom Derby. The Irish Champion Stakes.
None of them were races Tokai Teio could win easily as things stood now—not yet. There was still more work ahead of her.
At the very least, surpass the you from the Dream World, Shuta An thought privately. Otherwise, wouldn't that mean I'm falling short of Trainer Matsumoto?
That was a thought the young man refused to entertain.
As it happened, tonight's Dream World also featured Kikuka Sho day—but he had no intention of taking on that race himself. Instead, he'd head to Tokyo and spend the evening quietly running circles around rookie jockeys in the flat races.
In the Dream World's Kikuka Sho, it should be Biwa Hayahide who takes it, right? The Satsuki Sho had gone to Narita Taishin, the Japanese Derby to Winning Ticket—
Shuta An figured even the unluckiest horse in the bunch deserved a turn of fortune by the time the Kikuka Sho rolled around.
"Though it's none of my business either way." That much, at least, was true—he wasn't the main jockey for any of the three. "None of those three camps would ever swap out their current riders just to bring me in."
Yutaka Take. Yukio Okabe. Shibata Masato.
Every one of them a top-tier local jockey in their own right. Shuta An's skill might be recognized even in Europe, but in a world that ran on connections as much as talent, neither Trainers nor Horse Owners judged on ability alone.
Come to think of it, Shuta An mused quietly as he walked with Rice Shower and Kurofune toward the VIP area below the Winning Live stage, maybe that's part of why local jockeys keep losing ground, too—an atmosphere like that.