Chapter 43. Yasuda Kinen's Plan
The post-race public opinion of the Japanese Derby gradually subsided, and now the Yasuda Kinen race week was approaching.
On Monday, Yamanin Zephyr announced her withdrawal and temporarily entered a long rest period.
"She said her recovery training progress wasn't satisfactory, so she chose to rest until autumn to aim for the Mile Championship."
Shuta An heard Kitahara say.
"However, even excluding Yamanin Zephyr's withdrawal, the entry list has changed significantly."
Shuta An looked at the news projected on the office wall and murmured.
"That's right. I didn't expect there to be overseas Uma Musumes choosing to venture to the Yasuda Kinen."
Kitahara echoed.
"Heart Lake, an Irish G3 winner; Emperor Jones, a winner of the Keio Hai Spring Cup; Erin Bird, an Italian 1000 Guineas winner; Dumaani, who caused a huge upset in the Keio Hai Spring Cup last month—A total of four overseas Uma Musumes simultaneously announced their participation in the Yasuda Kinen, directly pushing four local Uma Musumes out of the list."
"Except for Dumaani, who caused an upset in the Keio Hai Spring Cup, it's still uncertain whether the other three can adapt to the Tokyo Racecourse."
Shuta An waved his finger.
"But since it's an international event, it's only right for overseas Uma Musumes to have priority. Otherwise, when we venture abroad, we could easily be squeezed out of the list too."
"That's right."
Kitahara nodded. His last remark wasn't a complaint, but simply an expression of emotion that four unlucky Uma Musumes were pushed out of the entry list by overseas Uma Musumes and could only run in alternative races.
"If you don't want to be squeezed out of the entry list, then accumulate your prize money. If it wasn't among the bottom four this time, you wouldn't have been squeezed out. The URA Association also stipulates that there are only five priority slots for overseas Uma Musumes. As long as your prize money doesn't fall into the bottom five, you don't have to worry about such things."
Shuta An proposed an effective solution.
"This kind of worry is still too early for the Uma Musumes in our team." Kitahara said with a wry smile. "And Ann-san's team doesn't need to worry about such problems."
"Among us, I'm the only one whose team has a participant in the Yasuda Kinen anyway."
Shuta An shrugged, preparing to leave the office.
"Dober and I will defend the Yasuda Kinen."
"Go for it!"
Kitahara watched his friend's back and clenched his fist.
—
The Yasuda Kinen and the Victoria Mile share the same venue and race distance. After Shuta An studied the past race videos of the overseas Uma Musumes, he came to a conclusion—
"Mejiro Dober only needs to replicate her Victoria Mile race."
The young man couldn't help but complain after watching Heart Lake's previous race video.
"What was I worried about at first? Dober won G1 races even when competing as an away team in Europe. This time, competing at home against a group of overseas G2 and G3 winners, wouldn't she defeat them all with normal performance?"
"Thinking about it this way, the Yasuda Kinen shouldn't be too difficult."
Shuta An squinted.
"The only thing to pay attention to is the weather on Sunday and the days leading up to it. I hope it doesn't rain heavily then—"
It's not that Mejiro Dober can't handle changing track conditions, but slightly heavy and heavy tracks would increase stamina consumption, which would be relatively disadvantageous for Mejiro Dober, who had just run the Victoria Mile.
"It's definitely better to win easily if possible." the young man thought. "Dober still has one more race in the summer, and then I might consider adding one before the Queen Elizabeth Cup."
This latter point was Shuta An's impromptu plan. There was a four-month gap between the summer race and the Queen Elizabeth Cup, and not running a single race would be a bit excessive.
"Fans would complain if they saw this race schedule."
Shuta An thought this, but ultimately, how to arrange Mejiro Dober's second half of the year would have to be decided after the Yasuda Kinen, based on Mejiro Dober's own wishes.
"However, if I discuss it with Dober, she probably wouldn't object."
The young man was quite aware of Dober's favoritism towards him.
—
By Wednesday, Shuta An arranged a very low-intensity chase for Mejiro Dober. Compared to the data of 37 seconds to 11 seconds for the last 3F that other Yasuda Kinen participants often ran, Mejiro Dober turned in a terrible data of late 38 seconds to 12 seconds for the last 3F.
Originally, reporters were going to write.
"Mejiro Dober is in terrible condition."
But when the reporters noticed the bright smile on Shuta An's face, they wisely deleted their personal opinions, honestly sent the data back to the editorial department, and noted that Shuta An did not appear angry or anxious about the matter.
"This data is so bad."
Mejiro Dober pouted.
"It's all because Ann gave me such instructions, telling me to deliberately run slower or something. How can that achieve training effects?"
"High-intensity training isn't needed anymore anyway."
Shuta An, with his back to the reporters, grinned.
"If Dober absolutely needs training time, then consider the previous Victoria Mile as training."
"If that were said aloud, Air Groove-san would probably be heartbroken."
Mejiro Dober would not relay the young man's words.
"A newly established G1 as training for another G1, it sounds very arrogant."
"True, It is a bit arrogant."
Shuta An agreed.
Mejiro Dober poked her lover.
"If Ann knows, then don't coax me into saying it out loud!"
"Dober is already a Undefeated Triple Tiara, so being a bit arrogant is fine." Shuta An retorted. "Being like Symboli Rudolf and others would be more in line with everyone's impression of Triple Crown/Tiara Uma Musumes."
"I'm not their type of personality; I can't just force it."
Mejiro Dober waved her hands repeatedly.
"Moreover, that kind of sharp, aggressive demeanor doesn't suit the preferences of Triple Tiara Route audiences. Everyone still prefers a traditional lady."
"I like that too."
Shuta An took over the sentence, nodding matter-of-factly.
Mejiro Dober rolled her eyes helplessly. Saying such things in public, her Trainer really wasn't afraid of others hearing it.
However, Shuta An's reputation was well-established, and reporters still didn't dare to approach and inquire about what Mejiro Dober and her Trainer were discussing.