Obey Your Master was filled with shock upon hearing Golden Crown Eagle's answer.
She had absolutely no recollection of Sakura Baimu, only knowing that she was Tokai Teio and Mejiro McQueen's trainer.
Obey Your Master only cared about Umamusume, never about humans.
"No wonder, I never noticed her..." Obey Your Master nodded as she spoke.
"But I looked closely; she doesn't have ears on her head, and I can't see her tail..."
"Ears and tails are very easy to hide," Obey Your Master said.
When she came to Japan for the Japan Cup before, the logistics staff Umamusume Berno Light had disguised herself as a human to investigate her, but she saw through her on the spot.
"Just wear a hat to hide your ears. Then, wear a shoulder bag with a hole in it, hide your tail inside, and you can look human."
"But Sakura Baimu isn't wearing a hat or carrying a shoulder bag..."
"That means her concealment skills are better than Berno Light's, since I haven't even noticed she's an Umamusume."
Obey Your Master didn't dwell on this question, but instead pulled out her phone and started searching for "Sakura Baimu" online.
Soon, many photos of Sakura Baimu appeared on the phone screen.
Obey Your Master clicked on a photo with a relatively clear frontal view and held it up to Golden Crown Eagle.
"That's her, right?"
Golden Crown Eagle looked at Sakura Baimu's photo, and her heart skipped a beat again.
She nodded. "Change the hair to blue, and with the ears, it'll be exactly the same."
"Okay."
Obey Your Master nodded; knowing the appearance made things easier.
After returning, she directly photoshopped Sakura Baimu's hair to blue and then searched for images online.
After a long time, Obey Your Master looked at the photo of an Umamusume with shoulder-length blue hair displayed on the screen, and a smile played on her lips.
Found it.
"Let me see, the name is Mejiro Sakura... surname Mejiro? Is she from the Mejiro family? Or just a coincidence?"
Obey Your Master's eyes widened suddenly, and for a moment she even doubted her own eyes.
"How could a Mejiro Umamusume be unknown? Every Mejiro Umamusume debuts with tens of thousands of fans... I just don't recognize her at all!"
Obey Your Master muttered to herself, continuing to browse Sakura Baimu's record.
"Hmm? Debut race in Kasamatsu? She debuted in a regional race? Not in central Japan?!"
"What's with this Mejiro Sakura? Is she from a branch family? Or is it just a coincidence that she shares the same surname as the prestigious Mejiro racing family?"
A Mejiro Umamusume would never debut in a regional race. Even if not in Tokyo, it would have to be at one of the four major horse racing circuits to match the status of a Mejiro Umamusume.
This Mejiro Sakura clearly lacks popularity, and the fact that her debut match was held in a small place like Kasamatsu suggests she's from Kasamatsu, not Tokyo.
"Wow, I've discovered something incredible..."
Obey Your Master's smile widened as she read on.
"16 wins in 17 career matches, 9 by a large margin, 7 record breaks... From her debut until her defeat at the Spring Tenno Sho in April of the following year, she maintained an incredibly terrifying 16-match winning streak."
"Her last match was at the Spring Tenno Sho. Challenging the Spring Tenno Sho in her second year after debut, haha, definitely an Umamusume from the Mejiro family."
Upon seeing this, Obey Your Master was certain that Mejiro Sakura was indeed an Umamusume from the Mejiro family.
Because, looking at Mejiro Sakura's terrifying undefeated record since her debut, she was undoubtedly another Emperor.
With such a record, she didn't take advantage of her "classic" age to challenge the Classic Triple Crown tournament, a tournament an Umamusume can only attempt once in her lifetime.
Instead, she chose the Spring Tenno Sho, which is open to participants every year.
And she lost.
Only an Umamusume of the Mejiro family with their mysterious obsession with the Spring Tenno Sho could do something like this.
"Spring Tenno Sho, your ranking is... huh? Disqualified?" Obey Your Master exclaimed in surprise.
She clicked on Mejiro Sakura's last race, which showed that Sakura Baimu had been disqualified for a diagonal maneuver on the final straight and was banned for six years.
"WTF?! Disqualified? Six-year ban? Has URA gone mad? A six-year ban for a diagonal maneuver? An Umamusume's racing career is only a few years long!!"
Obey Your Master was shocked again.
When she came to Japan for the Japan Cup, she also used a diagonal maneuver, defeating Tamamo Cross and Oguri Cap to win the championship.
Not only did she get away with it, but her name was permanently etched in the history of Umamusume racing.
She and Mejiro Sakura had the same experience, but the results were completely different.
Obey Your Master glanced at the dates Sakura Baimu participated in the Spring Tenno Sho, which was the same year she came to Japan for the Japan Cup.
Then her anger flared up instantly.
"This is outrageous! Is this how they treat their own country's Umamusume?"
Immediately afterward, Obey Your Master angrily searched for information about the diagonal violation, carefully reviewing the results.
"The demotion rule was only introduced in July of the same year? She was suspended in April, and the demotion rule was introduced in July, and then I came to Japan in November to participate in the Japan Cup?!"
Obey Your Master felt there was something fishy about the timing of the demotion rule's introduction, so she searched for news from that year.
The incident of Mejiro Sakura's diagonal violation seemed to have caused quite a stir in the horse racing world.
Many people believed that Mejiro Sakura's diagonal maneuver on the final straight in the Spring Tenno Sho race did not interfere with any Umamusume and should not have been punished so severely, and they hoped for more comprehensive rules.
Three months later, the demotion rule was introduced.
URA didn't admit any mistake in their punishment of Mejiro Sakura, instead proposing the new demotion rule solely as a way to improve the existing rules.
But the public wasn't stupid. Although URA didn't say it explicitly, they all knew that it was Mejiro Sakura's race that brought attention to the shortcomings in the racing rules.
Therefore, most people believed that the demotion rule was created because of Mejiro Sakura.
Obey Your Master suddenly widened her eyes.
"Did I win the Japan Cup because of her?"
--
If converted to real time, Mejiro Sakura debuted in 1987 and was banned in 1988.
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