Chapter 76: Training Through Racing
"It's not off the table."
Meeting the gazes of the gathered Umamusume, Makoto thought for a moment before speaking in a low tone.
"For most Umamusume, Gold Ship's Satsuki Shō run has very little reference value.
"That Satsuki Shō was on a 'Good' track."
"Because of the moisture content and the impact of the ten prior races, the track conditions were terrible, requiring exceptionally high strength, physical ability, and balance."
"I don't have the exact data, but if I'm not mistaken, Gold Ship is extremely strong in those areas, right?"
"Oh? Not bad, Makoto-san."
Gold Ship proudly flexed her arm in a bodybuilding pose.
"Putting other things aside, in terms of strength, body, and balance, I haven't met a single opponent who could match me so far."
"Of course, it's not like no one's tried to challenge me—but too bad for them, I sent them flying, heh!"
"F–Flying?!" Kitasan Black's eyes widened.
"W–What happened? Did someone get into a fight with you, Gold Ship-senpai…?"
"No, no, I'm talking about in a race, a race!"
Her expression even more smug, Gold Ship boasted:
"There was this one girl who kept going on about how strong they were. During the race, they insisted on bumping into me. And the result…?"
She spread her hands and shrugged.
"They went flying."
Kitasan Black was still baffled, but Vodka looked helpless.
"Hey now, talking behind someone's back like that isn't very nice, Golshi."
"And besides, if I remember right, that incident in the Takarazuka Kinen you're talking about happened in the final turn, didn't it?"
"Bumping when exiting a turn is totally normal—you can't just say it was her trying to deliberately ram you."
Gold Ship immediately protested:
"Oi, Vodka, whose side are you on, mine or her? She was definitely up to no good—that's that!"
"Alright, alright, we know you're strong, Golshi."
Daiwa Scarlet smoothed things over.
"Right now we're talking about Kita-chan's future Satsuki Shō—let's hear what Makoto-kun has to say."
Makoto found the whole thing rather amusing.
The race they were talking about was Gold Ship's first Takarazuka Kinen in her senior year, and yes, there had indeed been a collision.
But it hadn't affected her in the slightest—after the turn, she charged ahead at full power and won brilliantly.
And that was exactly the point he wanted to bring up, so he didn't interrupt earlier.
Depending on moisture content, race terrains are classified as: Firm, Good, Soft, and Heavy.
A Firm track is also called a perfect track—the surface is dry, with little to no moisture, and allows for the fastest times.
A Good track is noticeably stickier. With moisture present, the grass, mud, sand, and water mix into a gel-like texture. Lifting your feet has a certain resistance, requiring more effort to achieve the speeds possible on a Firm track.
A Soft track has even higher moisture content. Footfalls sink in somewhat, demanding even more power, and it becomes very hard to accelerate.
A Heavy track is the rarest condition—also nicknamed a "bog." Every step sinks deep, leaving the track in terrible shape. It's almost impossible to match normal performance on it.
Gold Ship's Satsuki Shō had been on a Good track.
Due to heavy rain and the ten prior races, the outer lanes' turf was still decent, but the inside lanes, pounded by both rain and the horses running earlier, were practically at Soft track levels.
Because of that—just as Gold Ship herself had said—nearly all other Umamusume took the outside lanes. She, however, charged up the inside from dead last, overtaking sixteen horses in one go to take an unbelievable victory.
In theory, Kitasan Black wasn't incapable of running on such a track.
Like Gold Ship, she was a Umamusume with tremendous strength, powerful legs, and excellent physique.
That meant they could train together to improve in that exact area.
Now that Daiwa Scarlet had brought the topic back around, Makoto naturally nodded and said:
"That's exactly what I was going to suggest."
"It's precisely because she has extraordinary strength, physical ability, and balance that Gold Ship wasn't affected by the collision and still won the race."
"The same goes for the Satsuki Shō."
"A Good track can be very muddy, and to run at high speed on it demands tremendous strength."
"After ten races had already been run, the closer you were to the inside lanes, the worse the track condition became."
"Even setting speed aside, just making it through steadily requires not only power but also excellent physical condition and balance."
After explaining this, he turned to Kitasan Black.
"Kitasan Black, you happen to have one of the best levels of strength and physical ability among your peers."
"These past three months, I've been working on developing those very traits."
"So training together with Gold Ship would be a great way to turn that potential into speed and other winning factors."
At his words, the other Umamusume nodded, with only Kitasan Black looking thoughtful.
"True, from that perspective, Goldshi's not completely useless…"
Ignoring Gold Ship's indignant "What do you mean not completely useless?!", Daiwa Scarlet asked:
"Since you've thought this through, Makoto-kun, I assume you have a plan?"
Without holding anything back, Makoto said directly:
"That's right—I want to 'train through racing,' using practice races to improve some of Kitasan Black's abilities."
"Compared to official races, practice races focus less on winning or losing and more on whether the set training goals can be achieved. The stamina drain isn't too heavy either."
"Compared to side-by-side running, this method can work on several goals at once, takes much less training time, and fits Kitasan Black's current needs very well."
"It'll also make scheduling easier for all of you."
"No matter how much you care about Kitasan Black, you still have your own things to do."
"If it delayed you, both Kitasan Black and I would feel bad about it."
Saying this, Makoto stood from his seat, braced his hands on his knees, and bowed deeply.
"Of course, even with this arrangement, I'll inevitably be imposing on you all—but I sincerely hope you'll agree. I'm counting on you."
The sudden formality left the Umamusume surprised and a little taken aback.
"…Wait, Makoto-kun, why are you suddenly being so serious?"
Daiwa Scarlet said in confusion, "Even if you didn't say all this, we'd still help out with everything we've got."
Vodka and the others didn't speak, but their expressions and nodding made it clear they felt the same as Daiwa Scarlet.
Kitasan Black simply stared at Makoto in a daze, subconsciously murmuring,
"Trainer…?"
Straightening up, Makoto met their questioning gazes with a smile.
"I've decided to give my all to help Kitasan Black win every single race from now on."
"I know that might sound far-fetched—after all, in the nearly 100-year history of the Twinkle Series, no Umamusume has ever done it, and I've never even considered such a thing before."
"But it's precisely because it's so hard to achieve that it's worth making it the goal, don't you think?"
"Or maybe I should say… Kitasan Black already told me what her dream was."
"What I just said is probably the dream I've been late in realizing as her trainer."
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