After confirming the matters regarding business operations, Kitahara felt much more at ease.
Training horse girls required a constant stream of funding. The Academy indeed provided quite a bit—especially from the Central division—but in Kitahara's eyes, it was still far from enough.
The Academy could only provide training grounds, horseshoes, average-quality running shoes, three meals a day, most supplements, medical care, and so on. That did not include the weighted equipment, parachute gear, or the advanced systems he intended to incorporate later, such as wind tunnel training, gravity chamber training, biomechanical motion simulation modeling, OmegaWave and other high-tech methods.
Those things were expensive—without tens of millions, you couldn't even get a glimpse of them. To make them standard training equipment would mean throwing in hundreds of millions, especially in this technologically lagging era.
It was no exaggeration: without having his own industrial operation—one that made serious money—no matter how many prize-winning horse girls he trained, even if he had a dozen like Oguri Cap running to their absolute limits, the prize money would never be enough.
In the other world, Oguri Cap's total career earnings were about 900 million yen. Multiply that by ten and you'd get 9 billion. Sounds like a lot, but at present, that might not even be enough to build a single proper gravity chamber.
This was destined to be a long-term project. But Kitahara wasn't in a rush—everything was already moving forward steadily. The weighted gear and parachute sprint training he had envisioned were already being put into practice, and the same approach could be used to expand further.
The next thing on his schedule was meeting the Central inspection team.
Three days after his discussion with Konan Tomomi, Kitahara met the Central representatives in the Academy Board office.
Leading them was a chestnut-haired horse girl. Kitahara recognized her immediately.
Maruzensky.
Current Vice President of Tracen Academy's Central Student Council. Career record: 8 races, 8 wins. A cumulative lead over second place totaling 61 lengths. A Hall of Fame horse girl, bearing the title of "Dream Supercar."
The presence of such a powerful horse girl made even the staff at Kasamatsu Academy a bit nervous. As the Kasamatsu principal whispered privately to Kitahara, "It's been a long time since we've had someone of this caliber visit a small place like ours."
The Central delegation members clearly held Maruzensky in high regard—throughout their conversations, they would occasionally glance her way, as if checking for her reactions.
But Kitahara, sitting there with the Kasamatsu principal during the talks, couldn't help but feel a sense of regret—perhaps even pity—when he looked at Maruzensky.
Because of her regrets.
No matter the world, Maruzensky's races were the least exciting to watch.
Because she always won.
The only question the audience could ever discuss was by how much she would win.
Would it be three lengths? Four? Maybe five, six, or even seven?
Over her career, she led her opponents by a total of 61 lengths—about 152.5 meters.
An average of 7.625 lengths per race. Any guess would be plausible.
And her victories weren't hollow.
Among the opponents she defeated were even the Kikua Sho-winning girls of her time.
She ran in major graded stakes like the Asahi Hai and Takamatsunomiya Kinen. The Asahi Hai was even a G1 race—there, she beat second place by a staggering 13 lengths, roughly 32.5 meters.
Many times, after the starting gate opened, you could no longer hear the footsteps behind her. It was as if she were the only one running on the entire track.
She was too strong—so strong that when news came that she'd enter the Spring Championship, other competitors avoided the race altogether. Across all of Japan, only four rivals signed up.
Owners of other famous competitors even came to negotiate, essentially asking, "We see each other often, can you ease up a little?" And so, in that race, Maruzensky deliberately held back, winning by only seven lengths.
This very event was even recreated in the game—in that training objective, she always only had four opponents.
That was the "Supercar," Maruzensky.
But she could not compete in the Satsuki Sho, the Japanese Derby, or the Kikua Sho.
Not just the Triple Crown—she couldn't even enter most of the Eight Classic G1s: Oka Sho, Spring Tenno Sho, Oaks, Autumn Tenno Sho, Arima Kinen—all barred.
Because she was a "foreign-bred horse girl." Her mother conceived in England, she was born in Japan.
Such horse girls were banned from running in the Classic races.
In the other world, it was the same. That ban lasted from 1971 to 1984—only 13 years. And yet Maruzensky's entire prime happened to fall squarely within those years.
This world was no different.
Who is truly more unfortunate? Those born without talent—or those born with extraordinary talent yet never given the proper stage to display it?
Kitahara didn't know. But he could guess: in the other world, if Maruzensky could speak her heart, perhaps she would say she felt regret.
Regret at the unfairness of fate? Regret at the rot of the times? Or perhaps some other regret entirely.
This sorrow was even expressed in the game.
In her training mode, if she enters the Japanese Derby, no matter how many competitors there are, the system always assigns her the outermost gate.
For a front-runner like Maruzensky, the outer gate is a huge disadvantage—it means running a longer distance.
But she likely wouldn't mind.
Because all she wanted was a chance—a chance to show what she could do.
There's another race in her training arc, after the Japanese Derby: the Takamatsunomiya Kinen.
In that race, she beat second place—who happened to be the Kikua Sho winner that year—by seven lengths.
The Takamatsunomiya Kinen isn't even a training objective race, but if you choose to enter her there and win, it triggers a special event and grants rewards.
All stats +3, morale increases, skill points +60—but none of that really mattered.
At least in Kitahara's view, that wasn't what Maruzensky wanted.
She wanted the final reward.
A status buff: In the Spotlight.
Surely, she must have longed for a stage where everyone could see her shine. Kitahara believed that.
Perhaps with that thought in his heart, during the conversation with the Central inspection team, Kitahara occasionally glanced at Maruzensky.
Maruzensky appeared quite leisurely, as if oblivious to anyone watching her.
Once in the office, after greetings, she casually pulled from a case brought by her attendants a full set of British-style classical tea ware, along with a tin of tea engraved with English lettering.
She brewed her own tea, holding the cup as she stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing at the training grounds outside.
Every so often, she would take a sip.
It seemed as though she cared little for the ongoing discussions.
The talks went smoothly. The Central representatives simply wanted to understand the situation with Kitahara, Oguri Cap, New Symboli Rudolf, and Super Creek.
According to them, "With Mr. Kitahara's abilities, passing the second round of Central Trainer Certification in January next year will be no problem. Oguri Cap can transfer to Central at any time, Belno Light has already passed, and Super Creek is already Central-affiliated. This is merely a routine inspection."
Thus, the meeting concluded quickly.
Kitahara thought that would be the end of it. But unexpectedly, the seemingly uninvolved Maruzensky suddenly walked over.
"Trainer, would you have time to give me a tour of the Kasamatsu campus?"
Kitahara blinked, then quickly realized: Maruzensky must have something to discuss privately. So he nodded, leading her out into the corridor.
But he didn't expect Maruzensky to speak so directly.
"Here, take this. Be sure to come when the time arrives."
As they strolled between the school buildings, Maruzensky handed him an envelope bearing the URA Association seal.
"This is…?"
Kitahara opened it slightly but hadn't yet read it when Maruzensky explained:
"Umamusume Annual Awards and Association Year Ending."
Being British-bred, Maruzensky's English carried a touch of London accent, but it was perfectly understandable.
"The Year-End Awards Ceremony for the Horse Girls, together with the URA Association's Annual Summary Meeting."