"Alright, so the topics for this interview will include: the upcoming races you're preparing for, the rival you most want to defeat, the competition you're most determined to win, and your expectations for your results."
"If there's anything you'd rather not address directly, feel free to skip it altogether."
The female staff member from the URA smiled as she explained, handing over a form and a pen.
On the form, a long list of questions allowed Miss Platinum to freely mark √ or ×—meaning she could choose which ones to answer.
If other, more experienced horse girls witnessed this, they would probably find it unbelievable. To many, even within Tracen Academy, the URA—as the official racing authority—had always been seen as extremely rigid and obsessed with its own authority.
Even horse girls who had won major prizes received no special treatment from the URA.
After all, even the hugely popular future superstar Oguri Cap couldn't get the URA to make an exception for her participation in the classic races. Their arrogance and strictness were legendary.
Only by winning a G1 race could you earn their slight respect, followed by interviews and subsequent promotional support.
But getting to freely choose which questions to answer—or even whether to answer at all? That was a privilege! In any given generation, there might only be one or two horse girls the URA treated this way!
In the past, this privilege was usually reserved for top-tier horse girls who had won multiple GIs and were exceptionally gifted—only then would the URA acknowledge and value them so highly.
For a monster to earn the URA's recognition with just a single GI win was exceedingly rare—so rare that you could count them on one hand across Japan's entire century-long racing history!
The last one was Agnes Tachyon, who won the Satsuki Sho.
In other words, in the eyes of the URA, the current Platinum was no less than Agnes Tachyon! She had the potential to carry an entire era!
Thus, in the brief time between Platinum's finish and the end of the winner's ceremony, the URA held an emergency meeting centered around her, deciding to invest the highest level of promotional resources to nurture this pegasus who showed promise of surpassing the Emperor herself!
"Huh?"
"Answer whatever I want?"
Platinum looked slightly surprised as she took the form.
The staff members in front of her nodded directly, clearly acting on official instructions.
Platinum glanced down at the form for a moment, casually ticking a few brief topics that would interest the public.
"These, then."
"You can start asking."
--+--
Tracen Academy, nearing dusk.
At this hour, the horse girls' training or classes were usually over, and they would be heading to the cafeteria or starting to rest.
Inside the cafeteria, the large screens scattered throughout were all broadcasting the Yushun Himba (Oaks) from a few hours earlier!
Agnes Tachyon, draped in her white coat, had made a rare appearance in the cafeteria.
As a research enthusiast, she often got so absorbed in her experiments that she'd unintentionally miss dinner.
So, she didn't visit the cafeteria as often as regular horse girls.
This time, after watching the race, she had returned to the infirmary hoping to see that Dr. Lin again—to ask him about the American treatments for tendonitis he'd mentioned.
But unfortunately, the door to the infirmary was closed. Dr. Lin wasn't in; it seemed he'd already clocked out.
So, instead of heading back to her lab, Agnes decided to stop by the nearby cafeteria.
"Dr. Lin clocks out so fast…"
"I'll just grab a bite now and catch him next time."
--+--
A short while later, with her meal in hand, Agnes found an empty seat and looked up at the screen.
The screen had finished showing the race and had moved on to…
An interview?
Curious, Agnes tilted her head up to watch. At the surrounding tables, horse girls like Daiwa Scarlet and Tokai Teio had also paused their meals, interested.
This was Miss Platinum's first interview—surely she'd answer some important questions, right?
On the large screen—
"Welcome, Ms. Platinum, and thank you for joining us. Congratulations on your dominant ten-length victory!"
"For our first question: which race are you preparing for next?"
As the first question rang out, Agnes could hear other horse girls around her grumbling and discussing.
"Seriously? She just ran the Oaks—do they even need to ask?"
"The URA old-timers really stick to their boring, predictable questions. What else could it be but the Shūka Sho?"
"Not necessarily. What about the Kikuka Sho? Since she can't win the Fillies' Triple Crown now, she might aim for the last leg of the Classic Triple Crown instead."
Soon, Platinum's soft, cool voice responded.
"The Japanese Derby. The Irregular Triple Crown."
An extremely brief answer!
But despite its simplicity, the impact of this reply was anything but small.
Even in Tracen Academy, home to the most seasoned horse girls, the entire cafeteria full of them fell into a stunned silence.
Those who had been complaining about the pointlessness of the question just moments ago were now utterly quiet, their faces filled with disbelief!
Even Tokai Teio was left dumbfounded.
"Huh??"
"R-really? The Irregular Triple Crown?"
"But the Japanese Derby is just one week after the Oaks—only a single week apart!"
"Challenging two G1 races in one week? No monster, no matter how battle-hardened or insane, could pull that off!"
"What is that pegasus thinking? She didn't enter both the Oaks and the Derby to choose one—she's going for both?!"
Daiwa Scarlet's ample chest heaved with emotion!
'Could it be… she's really attempting the legendary Irregular Triple Crown?'
'What happens next? Will more and more victims fall to Platinum, or will her undefeated streak break from pushing too hard?'
A sudden thought struck her—
What if those top-tier horse girls of this generation in the Japanese Derby also got beaten by Platinum…
And what if she defeated them by more than five lengths?!
Then wouldn't her own five-length loss in the debut race make her look… even more impressive?!
The mere possibility of this happening made Daiwa Scarlet nod slightly, her expression subtly complex, her eyes filled with anticipation for Platinum.
"Platinum, you have to keep winning big!!"
Maybe, just maybe, she could become known as the "number one under Platinum"?
Back on the screen, the URA interviewer took a deep breath before moving on to the next question.
"May we ask—"
"Which horse girl does Ms. Platinum admire and like the most?"
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.