Chapter 35. Promise and Admonition
This year's Japanese Oaks was exactly the same as the Japanese Oaks in the Dream World.
Sanei Thank You finished second, Nishino Flower finished seventh, and victory belonged to Adorable.
"It's truly incredible, Shuta accurately predicted the top two."
Commentator Sugimoto Kiyoshi exclaimed.
"It's just a Trainer's insight, I suppose."
Shuta An smiled, unconcerned. He knew his own situation; this was nothing to brag about.
Of course, Shuta An had made one wrong prediction: Nishino Flower didn't finish in the top five.
"But this way, if her Trainer has any sense, he won't let Nishino Flower try middle-distance races anymore, right?" the young man thought.
"Perhaps this is a good thing for Nishino Flower."
But the one who Shuta An was most concerned about in the entire venue was Sanei Thank You. If the real world developed like the Dream World, she would pass away at this year's Arima Kinen.
In the Dream World, Shuta An, for her, for Tahara Seiki who cried and begged the Horse Owner not to race, and to retaliate against the unscrupulous reporters, publicly attacked Sanei Thank You' Horse Owner during the post-Arima Kinen interview segment, on television.
The result was, of course, good. Both the JRA Association and the Shadai Group intervened to sanction Sanei Thank You's unscrupulous Horse Owner.
But Sanei Thank You ultimately died.
Tahara Seiki also became disoriented, his reputation trampled into the mud by unscrupulous reporters.
Only Shuta An gained sufficient prestige.
"The tragedy that I could only remedy after the fact in the Dream World, now that I'm in the real world where I can play a greater role, how can I let it happen again!"
Shuta An made up his mind.
After leaving the commentary booth, Shuta An did not return directly to the Box for stakeholders, but instead went to the media area and found Sanei Thank You, who was currently being interviewed.
Shuta An did not speak; he simply gazed at the Uma Musume, who was smiling and clearly pleased with her performance.
"Although she lost the race, she can still smile. Her desire to win isn't that strong; she's just enjoying the feeling of running and competing." the young man mused. "Would such a Uma Musume truly be willing to participate in such a hellish schedule?"
Although Shuta An hadn't asked yet, he knew the answer would definitely be no.
What Uma Musume would like a full pressure schedule like "Sapporo Kinen—Hakodate Kinen—Sapphire Stakes—Rose Stakes—Queen Elizabeth Cup—Arima Kinen"?
"If you lack the courage to resist, then I will give you that courage."
Shuta An watched Sanei Thank You, who was still being interviewed, and muttered to himself.
In fact, the reporters had all noticed Shuta An's appearance, but what surprised them was that Shuta An did not go to see Adorable, who had won the Japanese Oaks, but instead kept looking at Sanei Thank You.
"What's going on?"
The reporters felt puzzled; no one knew why Shuta An seemed more interested in Sanei Thank You. Clearly, from the race's unfolding and performance, Sanei Thank You was not the most noteworthy one.
Sanei Thank You' Trainer looked older than Shuta An and Kuronuma combined. The old man was quite spirited, but Shuta An had nothing good to say about him in his heart.
"Sato Katsumi—"
What a coincidence, the old man shared the exact same name as Sanei Thank You's Trainer in the Dream World. How could Shuta An have a good impression of him?
After the reporter interview session ended, Sanei Thank You turned around and was surprised to see Shuta An standing still.
"She looks a bit similar."
The young man frowned, muttering to himself—Sanei Thank You somewhat resembled Oguri Cap with darker hair, though she was a bit shorter.
"Shuta Trainer, is there something you need?"
Sanei Thank You noticed Shuta An staring at her and, mustering her courage, asked.
"Nothing." Shuta An glanced at Trainer Sato standing nearby. "Just, if your body ever feels like it can't go on, don't force it. Go find Tokai Teio."
"What do you mean?" Sato Katsumi's expression turned ugly. "I don't understand what you mean. What do you mean Sanei Thank You's body feels like it can't go on? Are you cursing her?"
"Cursing her?" Shuta An snorted. "I'm not cursing her; you will be the one cursing her."
With that, the young man, having thrown out those words, turned and left.
"Don't execute a race plan you can't endure. Life is only once; cherish it."
"…"
Sanei Thank You was utterly confused.
"Nonsense!"
Sato Katsumi glared at Shuta An's retreating back and bitterly retorted.
But Sanei Thank You felt the young man was right; life was certainly worth cherishing.
"But what does that have to do with me?"
Sanei Thank You still didn't understand.
—
After leaving the media area, Shuta An declined the reporters who approached him and returned alone to the Box for stakeholders.
"Let's go."
He said.
"Did Trainer get into an argument with another Trainer in the media area?"
Tokai Teio asked, then, without waiting for Shuta An's answer, complained to herself.
"He said he was afraid I'd cause trouble, but then Trainer went out and caused trouble himself."
"I was just being proactive." Shuta An wagged his finger. "If that Uma Musume named Sanei Thank You ever finds you, Teio, remember to tell me."
"What, will she run into some trouble?" Tokai Teio raised an eyebrow. "Do I need to ask Kaichou to pay more attention?"
"It's fine to have Symboli Rudolf President pay attention, but her Trainer—"
Shuta An shook his head. "I just feel like there might be some trouble."
"Trainer is getting more and more mysterious." Tokai Teio grumbled. "I think Sanei Thank You's Trainer looks quite normal, apart from being too old."
"If everything was normal just by looking normal, this world would be too simple."
Shuta An had a very low opinion of Tokai Teio's observation.
"Hmph—"
Although she didn't take Trainer's premonition very seriously, Tokai Teio still dutifully kept Trainer's Instructions in her heart.
Admire Vega, who had no idea what her senior was thinking, only noticed the aura that Tokai Teio exuded for a moment, an aura that should have been displayed on the Racecourse.
"How strange."
Ayabe commented.
—
The Japanese Oaks race week ended, and Shuta An was about to usher in the Japanese Derby race week. Without a doubt, this was the most difficult race that the Uma Musume of Team Sadalsuud would participate in during the first half of the year, or rather, the race with the lowest chance of winning.
Although Shuta An believed Rice Shower had a win rate of over fifty percent, a fifty percent win rate was still a bit low compared to Mejiro Dober's Yasuda Kinen and Tokai Teio's Takarazuka Kinen.
"It all depends on Rice Shower's performance."
Shuta An felt that if he did everything perfectly on his end, but Rice Shower couldn't perform perfectly, it would still be difficult to defeat the current Mihono Bourbon.
"But this way, it has some difficulty. I didn't feel this kind of pressure at all when Teio ran the Japanese Derby back then."
The young man, lying in bed ready to sleep, murmured to himself.
He was alone at home, so he didn't need to worry about anyone disturbing him at night, and thus the young man fell asleep peacefully.
No kidding, Shuta An had been woken up by Silence Suzuka a while ago, which really gave him a fright—
—
After entering the Dream World, Shuta An was going to challenge the Japanese Oaks here tonight. This time, he was partnering with Agnes Parade to challenge the Japanese Oaks.
This horse was the winner of this year's Oka Sho prep race, the Tulip Sho, but only managed a poor eighth place in the Oka Sho.
Originally, the Trainer hadn't planned to change jockeys, but Shuta An's agent helped out, so Shuta An, who was originally planning to go to Hanshin to 'fish' this week, came to Fuchu today, ready to ride her in the race.
"I feel this horse's bloodline also has a connection with me."
Shuta An chatted with Agnes Parade's Groom after mounting her.
"Agnes Lady in the pedigree is her mother's half-sister. The Horse Owner also mentioned to Mr. Yoshida before that he hoped I would ride her offspring. It's a pity that the previous few foals didn't grow up successfully. The bay colt born last year looks like it should be the first foal that can race."
"You've worked hard, Shuta-kun." Agnes Parade's Groom politely replied. "This time we are the fourth favorite, and our goal is to finish no lower than our popularity ranking."
"I'm different." Shuta An gripped the whip, turned to look at the Groom. "My goal on the track is only one: to win."
In this Oaks, Agnes Parade drew starting gate 11.
Considering the starting gate and the good track condition, Shuta An really wanted to take an early position, but considering that other competitors would most likely be concerned about their horses' adaptability to 2400 meters, Shuta An abandoned that idea.
"If I squat back and then wait for everyone to rush chaotically, I might get blocked by someone. If the leading pace in this race is around 60 seconds for the first 1000 meters, then I'll let Agnes Parade push forward a bit and run a standard Senko tactics."
Shuta An hadn't ridden Agnes Parade in training, so he wasn't very familiar with her, but just by circling the parade ring twice, he believed he had a grasp of Agnes Parade
"She's very easy to ride!"
The young man was full of confidence, ready to win this Japanese Oaks.
—
After entering the starting gate, Shuta An surveyed his opponents on both sides—starting gate 10 was Pulsate, belonging to the Shadai Race Horse Club, but Shuta An didn't want to ride her in the Oaks because she was too weak; starting gate 12 was Tokai Vista, whose Horse Owner was Uchimura Masanori, but the Horse Owner hadn't dared to ask Shuta An to ride her due to her insufficient ability.
"Both sides are Racehorses that lack speed. This means I need to let Agnes Parade take the lead even more, otherwise, it'll be easy to get blocked by the two opponents."
Shuta An realized this problem.
So how should this problem be solved!?
For the current Shuta An, in just a brief moment, he could think of several methods, but many of them required Agnes Parade to cooperate well with him.
If Shuta An was currently riding Tokai Teio, Rice Shower, or Oguri Cap—
The young man would have several suitable methods to solve this problem.
But unfortunately, this was the first time Agnes Parade was ridden by Shuta An, so the young man only intended to use the simplest and most direct method.
So, after the starting gate opened, Shuta An immediately gave Agnes Parade a whip.
In pain, Agnes Parade swiftly burst out of the starting gate, then immediately shook off Pulsate and Tokai Vista.
"AGNES PARADE'S STARTING SPEED IS SO FAST! IT TURNS OUT SHUTA AN GAVE HER A LEFT-HANDED WHIP! WHY WOULD HE DO THAT?! THIS MOVE BY SHUTA AN IS VERY UNUSUAL!"
The commentator didn't quite understand the reason for doing so.
The Trainers and fellow jockeys on the sidelines also didn't quite understand. Many jockeys do this, but their skill level is generally very ordinary, and they couldn't possibly compare to Shuta An.
"It's hard to understand why he's doing this."
Many thought.
Soon, after entering the first bend, Shuta An and Agnes Parade reached the fifth position.
"Senko strategy a great success!"
The young man was very satisfied with the position Agnes Parade had taken, then he gripped the whip in reverse and began to push ride hard.
After turning into the straight opposite the grandstand, Agnes Parade continued to maintain her cruising position, and Shuta An didn't make any superfluous moves, allowing Agnes Parade to maintain her cruising state.
"It looks like that whip at the start was meant to stimulate Agnes parade, making her actively take a position."
Agnes Parade's Trainer, Nagahama Hiroshi, made his judgment.
"That's quite interesting. Shuta perfectly executed his idea with a move that doesn't seem like something he would typically do."
Nagahama Hiroshi's training assistant remarked.
"Such a move is generally not used by a master like him."
"As long as it works. Shuta-kun is indeed a pragmatist." Nagahama Hiroshi murmured. "He said his goal on the track was to win, and I think he really wasn't lying; it's true."
"Then can Agnes Parade win?"
The training assistant asked.
"I don't know, I can only leave the question to time."
Nagahama Hiroshi bluntly brushed off his assistant's question.
Meanwhile, on the turf of Tokyo Racecourse, Shuta An was fully focused on pushing his mount.
"I feel it!"
Somehow, the young man had the illusion that someone was pushing Agnes Parade from behind.
"If that's the case, now we can consider slowly moving forward."
The young man had a premonition that as long as he pushed Agnes Parade forward and pulled ahead now, victory would surely belong to him.