T/N: Heya~ Just want to say a Huge shoutout to Starhero619 for supporting me, really appreciate it!
Chapter 43
Just like before, paired training was scheduled once in the early morning and once in the evening.
It was a shame that Daiwa Scarlet had officially taken on an administrator role and could no longer join every training session the way she used to. Only Vodka helped out with the evening sessions now.
Fortunately, her assistance before the Conditions Race had already met their initial expectations. There was still room to improve the results further, but those matters were not urgent.
Besides, training against opponents with different running styles was the best way to build adaptability and race sense. Vodka happened to be one of the ideal partners for that. In a sense, her help had solved an immediate problem for them.
Yasui Makoto was not about to waste this valuable opportunity. After the evening special training ended, he took the chance to go over training explanations and race reviews with Kitasan Black in the dance hall.
"I mentioned this to you before, but in the Conditions Race that just ended, you were the only Uma Musume making her debut this year. You were also one of only two first-year Uma Musume with just a single debut race under their belts."
"Previously, you might not have felt it so clearly, but now you should understand how big the difference in opponent level was between those two races."
"Mhm! That's right."
Kitasan Black nodded repeatedly. "Especially racing against Satono Rasen, it felt way easier than my debut race."
"In my debut race, I followed Trainer's instructions and tried to run alongside the opponent next to me at first."
"But I quickly noticed her rhythm felt really strange, so I switched to another one."
"Even after that, everyone's rhythm still felt chaotic, so I just decided to run at my own pace."
"It happened to match the position Trainer had mentioned, so I simply pushed forward with everything I had… and I won."
Hearing this, Yasui Makoto had not yet replied when Vodka, who had followed them out of curiosity, spoke up in surprise.
"Hey, hey, is that really true? I already knew Yasui-kun was talented, but to guide someone to this level with basically no prior experience… isn't that a bit too much?"
"Shouldn't… be that outrageous, right?"
After thinking for a moment, Yasui Makoto smiled and said, "I've reviewed a large number of debut races. Rookie races like that tend to go this way."
"Many Uma Musume perform excellently in training but don't always show their full potential in actual races."
"That's why, in races like these, it's often better to overthink as little as possible."
"Kita-chan has a pretty straightforward personality, so I gave her two simple tasks."
"For most of the race, she only needed to focus on finding a good pacing partner based on rhythm."
"However, after looking into her debut race opponents, none of them had a better sense of rhythm than she did."
"By the time she realized that herself, it was almost time to begin her final spurt."
"At that point, what she needed to focus on became even simpler: just give everything she had to the finish line. Her opponents wouldn't be able to keep up."
Kitasan Black's eyes lit up with sudden understanding.
"So that's how I won? It felt so simple."
Vodka stayed quiet, but her thoughts were far more complicated than before.
What Yasui Makoto said sounded simple enough and easy to understand.
But as one of the top active Uma Musume, she knew just how difficult it was to control a race to that degree… especially before it even started.
Uma Musume may look like human girls and share many psychological traits with them, but they are still a different species.
In daily life, their minds tend to be relatively simple. Yet when it comes to racing, they become extremely sensitive to their surroundings, and their psychology grows far more complex.
Because of this, accurately reading both your own Uma Musume and the opposing horses has always been one of the biggest challenges in the industry.
Everything from the night before the race, sleep quality, pre-race diet, the atmosphere at the racetrack, the opponent's personality and compatibility, the weather, temperature, humidity, and even the condition of the track surface… all of it could affect performance.
If the influence was negative, even a mild case could cause the horse to resist racing.
Over the years, Vodka had seen this happen many times.
Whether they were seniors, peers, or juniors, many Uma Musume had refused to enter the starting gate or even pulled out of races entirely due to obvious or subtle discomfort.
If the trainer failed to calm them properly at that point, the Uma Musume could withdraw from the race on the spot.
Even if they were forced to the gate without proper soothing, their performance would drop in varying degrees, preventing them from showing their true ability.
She remembered how Air Groove's Autumn Flower Award had gone the same way.
Before that race, the senior had an impressive record of three wins and two second places, including a victory in the G1 Oaks, and seemed unstoppable.
However, right before the Autumn Flower Award, she was startled by a camera flash. After that, the senior completely lost her racing form. Not only did she lose by ten lengths, but she was also later diagnosed with a fracture in her right foreleg, which forced her into eight months of recovery.
Trainers who could truly understand an Uma Musume's temperament and handle these situations well during actual races were, without exception, first-class talents.
And if someone could even grasp the condition of the opponents beforehand and make full use of that information, calling them super first-class would not be an exaggeration.
So for someone as young as Yasui-kun to already possess this level of insight and judgment… it couldn't simply be the result of family teachings alone, could it?
While Vodka was quietly marveling at this, Yasui Makoto continued reviewing the previous races with Kitasan Black.
"…I specifically mentioned Satono Rasen in the last race because of her outstanding adaptability."
As he spoke, Yasui Makoto gestured for his Uma Musume to look at the analysis data on the laptop.
"I told you before the race that her first three starts were all in Sapporo, followed by races in Chukyo and Kyoto."
"Sapporo is in Hokkaido, while Chukyo is in Nagoya and Kyoto is in the Kansai region. The difference in track environments is huge."
"On top of that, her first three races were at 1800 meters, while the next two were at 2000 meters. That's the difference between mile and middle-distance racing, which affects both running style and tactics."
"Yet her performances kept improving. That alone shows just how adaptable she is."
"Of course talent plays a part, but she also debuted earlier, received more training, and the Satono family clearly invested heavily in her."
"The field in the last race was quite complex. In addition to highly adaptable runners like Satono Rasen, there were horses used to 1400-meter races who unintentionally pushed the early pace faster, as well as those with powerful finishing kicks."
"Kita-chan, you only have one race of experience. That's simply not enough to handle such complicated race situations in real time."
"That's why I had you follow Satono Rasen through the middle stage. As long as you started your acceleration earlier than she did, it would be difficult for her to close the gap and pass you."
"You should have felt that during the race."
As Yasui Makoto explained, Kitasan Black nodded again and again, her expression showing clear understanding.
When he finished, she asked with visible excitement, "Since that way of winning worked so well, can I try doing it again next time, Trainer?"
To her surprise, Yasui Makoto smiled and shook his head.
"It's not that simple, Kita-chan."
"Strictly speaking, the level of competition in both of your races so far hasn't been very high. Your opponents were only relatively strong and experienced."
"As you move forward, the opponents will only get stronger. The horses you've beaten will continue to improve too, and it's entirely possible they could beat you in the future."
"That's why using your opponents' rhythm against them can only be an occasional surprise tactic. It can never become your main strategy."
"Your next training goal is to gradually develop your own running style and learn, step by step, how to lead the entire race yourself."
---
Bonus chapters
200 Stones - 1 chapter
400 Stones - 2 chapter
600 Stones - 3 chapters
And so on
Also visit my patreon for 30 advance chapters!
patreon.com/Liztl