Chapter 44. Teio's Path
On Thursday, the gate positions for the Yasuda Kinen were officially announced. Mejiro Dober was assigned gate 10 this time, which was a middle-to-outside position.
"She didn't even get the outermost gate 18. Should I say the URA Association has finally learned to restrain itself this time?"
Shuta An complained after seeing the gate draw results.
Mejiro Dober, sitting in her lover's lap, turned and pecked him on the cheek.
"Maybe it's just my good luck this time?"
"If you admit it's good luck this time, then before it was our bad luck." the young man retorted, then continued.
"But no matter what, gate 10 is a very good position. This time, Dober can choose a position in the front-middle group."
"No need to push aggressively forward?" Mejiro Dober was a little puzzled. "Are you worried that if we use the same trick again, it will be turned against us?"
"Exactly, it's good that Dober can think of that."
Shuta An explained, sniffing the scent of the undefeated Triple Tiara Uma Musume.
"The camps of the other 17 Uma Musumes participating in this Yasuda Kinen will definitely be paying attention to Dober's performance in the Victoria Mile, where she ran from the front. That tactic can't be used consecutively. If everyone collectively increases the pace, Dober pushing forward would only hurt herself."
"In that case, wouldn't the Uma Musumes who set the pace all be as unlucky as me?"
Mejiro Dober frowned, a little confused as to why her lover would worry about such a thing.
"Among the four overseas Uma Musumes participating this time, two are from the same team. Do you think they will implement a team strategy? One to neutralize you, Dober, and the other to reap the benefits."
Shuta An raised an eyebrow and held Mejiro Dober's wrists.
"Such things are not uncommon in the Twinkle Series in Europe."
"I overlooked that point."
Mejiro Dober sighed, saying no more.
She knew her lover was right. For overseas Uma Musumes to increase their chances of winning an expedition, teamwork is bound to happen.
So, to cope with this situation, Mejiro Dober could not adopt a tactic that could be easily countered; she still had to run with a tactic that was difficult for others to target.
—
As the Yasuda Kinen race day gradually approached, the atmosphere within the academy became tense again.
As the undefeated Triple Tiara Uma Musume who had just delivered a dazzling performance on the Tokyo 1600-meter turf course, Mejiro Dober was naturally the most favored, but other Uma Musumes also had their respective supporters.
However, Shuta An felt nothing about the atmosphere in the academy. There were only a few days left until the race. The young man basically only moved between the Sadalsuud team's activity room, cafeteria, and office every day.
Most of the time he stayed mainly in the Sadalsuud team's activity room, and he didn't go to other places much.
"Once Teio's Takarazuka Kinen is over, we can enjoy the holidays."
Although there was still more than half a month until the Takarazuka Kinen, the young man was already imagining how he would spend his summer.
Whether it was Rice Shower, Kurofune, or Admire Vega, Shuta An would not take any of them on overseas expeditions this summer, allowing them to choose to go home or stay at the academy for low-intensity training.
"I'll just take Dober and Teio abroad."
Shuta An estimated that Tokai Teio would definitely make a leap in progress this summer—this was referenced from the Dream World.
The main reason for not bringing other Uma Musume from the Sadalsuud team was that Tokai Teio was challenging a classic G1 race like the Epsom Derby, which has both status and difficulty.
The young man did not want to divide a lot of his attention among other Uma Musumes while training her.
Mejiro Dober was different; as she was already nearing complete Maturation, challenging the Nassau Stakes would not require too much effort from Shuta An. He just needed to study her opponents and formulate a strategy, and it would be fine.
But for Tokai Teio, the Epsom Derby, as a historic and prestigious race in the UK, was destined to pit her against the strongest group of middle-to-long-distance turf Uma Musumes of the current European generation.
Barring any surprises, the cream of the crop among them would become Tokai Teio's opponents when she challenges the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in the future, so Shuta expected to devote a lot of effort there.
"If Teio wants to surpass Symboli Rudolf and Oguri, then she must choose this most difficult path."
Tokai Teio herself was well aware of this—races of high standing such as the Epsom Derby, British Champion Stakes, and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
If she won just one of them, she could surpass her admired Kaichou, Symboli Rudolf. If she won multiple, she would have the qualification to challenge or even surpass Oguri Cap.
Of course, it was still at the 0/? stage, and even Shuta An himself didn't know how far Tokai Teio could go.
"But in my Dream World, I won the Epsom Derby and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe with Tokai Teio. I can't get a worse result in the real world, can I?"
The young man was quite optimistic.
—
On Sunday, Shuta An took the Uma Musume of the Sadalsuud team to Tokyo Racecourse again to cheer for Mejiro Dober.
"We come every week."
Kurofune grumbled as soon as she got out of the car.
Shuta An glanced at her,
"If Kurofune thinks it's boring, you can ask Curren-chan out to wander around now."
"No, no, no." Kurofune waved her hands repeatedly, refusing. "Curren-chan has an advertisement shoot today. If I go, I'll definitely be roped into helping with odd jobs, and I might even have to sit in the dressing room for a long time and then be dragged by Curren-chan to shoot something together."
"Isn't it good if you get paid?"
Tokai Teio interjected.
"But you have to keep smiling, whether to the staff or the camera, and for me, that's harder than running 100 laps at the training ground. I don't know how Curren-chan does it, doesn't her apple-cheek hurt?"
Kurofune sighed.
"Because of professional ethics, I suppose."
Admire Vega rarely chimed in.
"Just like us as Uma Musume, once we're on the track, we strive for victory."
Teio nodded in agreement, looking quite serious.
"From that perspective, Curren-chan definitely has the potential to become an excellent Uma Musume."
"She's a long way from Maturation. Kurofune will probably have completed Maturation before Curren-chan even shows any signs."
Shuta An, walking ahead, offered his prediction.
The young man had made many similar predictions in the past, and most of the time they had been accurate.
So Kurofune said, convinced.
"If Curren-chan knew Trainer predicted that, she'd surely be in tears."