I may not have been very successful at comforting an umamusume but I can say I at least managed to apologize. I soon found a gift that would melt the distance between us.
Moreover, this gift isn't just a simple ornament. It's something useful for her training: a pair of sports shoes.
These shoes, with a beautiful red color just like her eyes, would be one of the two items I wanted to use to cover her deficiencies. On a Monday, when training time arrived, I asked Grand Ekinoks whether she had brought the shoes.
"You'll be racing in maiden in two weeks. So we'll use these two weeks to fix your deficiencies."
So we wouldn't be doing ordinary training. My attempt to persuade the grumpy Grand Ekinoks didn't take long, because I knew, like any Umamusume, she wanted to win.
If she wants to win, she has to follow my instructions.
"Now, let's talk about the detail that caused you to lose. About your steps."
She had increased her pace in the final meters of her debut race, throwing off her rhythm. Think of it like a car changing gears. If you go faster at a higher gear, it takes some time to reach that speed.
In the first half of the next two weeks, the thing I wanted to do was to reduce this loss of rhythm. If we had enough time, I knew I could eliminate this rhythm loss completely. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time.
"Even though bigger strides might make you faster, there were uphill sections on the track you were racing on. In such areas, smaller steps are more effective. So during training, these will be in your feet. And wear these headsets designed for umamusume."
The headsets were to ensure she hears my commands. In my other hand was something you might call a cliché. It was nothing more than extra weight.
Grand Ekinoks would be tested not by speed in races over 2000 meters, but by endurance. In those races she would need to reach a level of endurance where she could effectively "shift gears" at every moment.
Let's see if this plan to kill two birds with one stone will work.
The maiden race would be 1400 meters. Handling the "gear" issue in short races and starting endurance training for longer races.
I'm not using the phrase "kill two birds with one stone" for nothing.
"If everything is ready, I want you to race 2000 meters."
From Grand Ekinoks's wagging tail, I understood she had heard what I said. A few seconds later, she began to run with her characteristic small steps.
Her weight on the feet made her slower than usual and I watched her through the glasses I held. From her breathing, I understood she didn't like these weights at all. After running until the last 400 meters and clearing the hill on the training track, I instructed her to lengthen her strides.
The rhythm loss occurred again, causing a slight slowdown in speed. Then she found her rhythm and even if she slowed down a bit, she increased her speed. With this small uptick, I saw with my own eyes that my hypothesis was working.
Grand Ekinoks, who finished the race, laid herself down on the turf. After lying there for a few seconds, she suddenly grabbed the weights near her with a surge of anger. When I approached her, she looked at me with a hostile glare.
"Are you a trainer or a tormentor?"
Of course, this method was exhausting, and I must admit that Grand Ekinoks didn't have an "extraordinary" talent. At that moment, Bold Pilot, the last Triple Crown winner's umamusume, came to mind.
Could Grand Ekinoks truly leave her mark on history?
I didn't know the answer to that right now and I pointed at the weights Grand Ekinoks had pushed aside with my finger and said:
"If you don't wear these weights now, you'll run five laps instead of three."
To answer fire with fire and to mold her into her best version, I would have to be as irritating, stubborn and tough as she is.