When Saint King Halo and Shinji Teraizumi set foot on the grounds of Kyoto Racecourse, a light rain was falling.
It drifted through the air, swaying and dancing as it came down.
A black umbrella was raised overhead. With Saint King Halo and Teraizumi standing beneath it together, it did not feel crowded in the least. The broad canopy carved out a small new sky for them. Other than its dark, somewhat oppressive color, it had no flaws at all.
The two of them walked side by side across Kyoto's vast turf. In the distance, they could already see the other runners who would be competing in the Spring Tenno Sho.
With only one day left before the race, rain that the weather forecast had utterly failed to predict had drawn every entrant onto the course, along with all their trainers.
"It doesn't feel like the rain's had that much of an effect," Teraizumi said.
As he spoke, he suddenly stamped hard on the turf beneath his feet. A bit of mud splashed up. Even with rain boots on, some of it still landed on the trouser legs above them, drawing a reproachful glance from Saint King Halo.
"Ah, sorry about that."
[Negative Emotion +5]
The apology was so lacking in sincerity that Saint King Halo could not help making a faintly fierce face at him. In Teraizumi's eyes, though, even that looked a little cute.
"You should try it too."
At his prompting, she dropped the expression and turned serious. She stamped down on the ground herself, carefully feeling the feedback through the sole of her foot.
"Try jogging a little."
Teraizumi had already noticed the looks coming from nearby. As the newly crowned winner of the Osaka Hai, it was only natural that Saint King Halo would be drawing attention here.
He guessed that even though "Saint King Halo is bad at long distances" had practically become public consensus, she would still rank somewhere in the top five in popularity for this race.
She obeyed readily and began testing the ground. The mud underfoot did little to hinder her ability to push off. Uma Musume were naturally quite adaptable to conditions like this, and the discovery gave Teraizumi a small sense of relief.
Layer upon layer of dark clouds had piled up overhead. Even if forecasts could no longer be trusted, just from looking at the sky, Teraizumi felt certain the rain would continue well into the night.
Which meant tomorrow's going almost certainly would not remain firm. Every runner in the field would be tested on her ability to handle slightly heavy turf.
"That's enough."
He called her back in time, then turned his gaze toward where Mejiro Takamine was standing. She was currently instructing the Mejiro runners, adjusting their race strategy to account for the sudden change in weather.
Naturally, tactics were never set in stone. Even when the weather remained unchanged, it was common enough to tweak the plan depending on the condition of the opposition. So there was nothing unusual about Mejiro Takamine making changes right here and now. Adjustments would likely still continue right up until the Tenno Sho itself, and besides, Mejiro Takamine was famous for being exceptionally strict with the younger members of the Mejiro family.
"This race has a lot of strong long-distance runners, so you need to be even more careful," Teraizumi said.
Saint King Halo stiffened slightly and nodded in earnest. Of the three races in the newly established Spring Triple Crown, the one she feared most was unquestionably the Spring Tenno Sho.
The enormous distance made it an exceptionally difficult challenge for her.
Even after spending more than two straight weeks practically living in the swimming pool, she still felt her stamina might not be enough. If Teraizumi had not kept telling her again and again, with utter certainty, that her current stamina was absolutely sufficient, she probably would not have been able to maintain the outward calm she was showing now.
"Seiun Sky will almost certainly fight hard for the lead. This is her specialty, and after what happened in the Osaka Hai, there's no way she won't. That much is easy to predict."
As he spoke, his eyes followed Seiun Sky in the backstretch. Her expression was serious, completely different from her usual laid-back manner. Teraizumi guessed she was already designing some kind of pace trap in her head, planning how to target the runners behind her.
His gaze immediately shifted to Special Week, who was on the curve, walking alongside Jo Kitahara and listening carefully to her trainer's instructions. Having already suffered once because of Seiun Sky's tactics in the Kikuka Sho, it was easy enough to imagine what sort of plan Special Week would bring into this race.
"You can be certain Seiun Sky will build traps into the pace. But one major thing in your favor this time is that there won't be that many horses in front of you to block your view. The field isn't large, so no matter how the pace changes up front, as long as you can find the rhythm that suits you and keep a good read on your distance from Seiun Sky, that'll be enough."
"And Special Week will help you with that. Her position is basically your cue for whether you need to move up early. Because of what happened in the Kikuka Sho, Special Week will probably swing wide and force the issue as early as the third and fourth corners this time. For you, she's an excellent reference point."
Teraizumi knew Saint King Halo's weakness well enough: over a 3200-meter race, there was a real chance she would lose her feel for the pace. It was the lingering effect of how poor her fundamentals in that area had been, and not something that could be corrected in the short term. Which meant he had to come up with a "shortcut" for her.
And Special Week was the answer he had chosen.
"Mejiro Bright's position will probably be similar to yours. The real threats ahead should mainly be Special Week, Hishi Lawyer, Golden Journey, and Seiun Sky. The reason Mejiro Bright can't serve as your main reference is simple: by the time she starts moving, if you wait to go with her, you'll already be too late."
The timing had to be exact. In Teraizumi's mind, Special Week's earlier move was the perfectly calculated benchmark for Saint King Halo.
"But don't rely too much on Special Week either. There'll be plenty of useful reference points in the field, and you need to be flexible with them. Special Week's current form is just too good, so once you enter the home stretch, don't make 'passing Seiun Sky' your goal. Set your sights directly on Special Week instead. That's the better choice for you."
He was convinced that Special Week would pass Seiun Sky. Saint King Halo looked at him and responded with a firm nod. She did not know how he could arrive at such conclusions before the race even began, but trusting Teraizumi had become the guiding principle by which she acted.
He had already proven his ability. With a trainer like him drawing up the battle plan for her, all she had to do was carry it out.
Her dream of the original Triple Crown had already been shattered.
What she sought now was a new Triple Crown.
She slowly swept her gaze across the course, taking in every rival in sight.
Teraizumi noticed what she was doing. There were still several points he wanted to go over, especially concerning Golden Journey, but he chose not to say them. Against a race she did not naturally suit, perhaps Saint King Halo needed to trust herself more than ever.
A strategy that was theoretically optimal for the race but ill-suited to Saint King Halo herself might actually be worse than simply letting her bring out her own full strength. Narrowing his eyes slightly, Teraizumi clapped his hands once, lightly.
"I've still got a few things to tell you. I'll send them to you later when we get back. But for now…"
A smile with an almost predatory sharpness spread across his face.
"Take a good look at them. Every last one of your rivals. Look at their choices. Look at their caution. Halo—you can absolutely beat them."
Newly purchased rune:(Noble) (Battle Maniac) (Abyssal Bard) Child of TurmoilDuring the middle stage of the race, the runner will undergo x checks, where x equals the number of runners in the race. For each check, a value p between 500 and 1800 is randomly generated. If p is lower than the runner's highest stat, the check succeeds. Each successful check increases Domain strength by 2%, track aptitude by 1%, and collision capability by 2%. Each failed check reduces the runner's stamina by 1% and all other runners' stamina by 2%.(Stamina +10, Speed +2, Power +9) — 1800 Emotion Energy
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