After deciding to hold a practice race, the atmosphere around Kitahara's group wasn't any different from their daily training.
So after arranging the practice race with Tony Bianca and the others, early the next morning—even though the horse girls were still not quite used to the time difference—they were already assembled inside the Epsom racecourse, preparing just like usual.
The practice race would take place at the Epsom racecourse. Considering that Japanese horse girls had never run on such a track before, Lyphard arranged that from now until the end of the competition, Kitahara's team could use the course freely.
Oguri Roman, Gold Ship, and the other horse girls who had not yet debuted were also included in this training.
Special Week, Opera O, Dream Journey, as well as Stay Gold and Deep Impact—although still in elementary school or kindergarten—had a simple morning exercise and were now sitting at the side studying.
"Oguri Cap and the others are already used to this style of training. Little Oguri, Journey—you two still don't have trainers and are still under 'instructor-type' training, but experiencing this early will help your future development."
Looking at Oguri Roman and Stay Gold, Kitahara explained:
"And for this race, President Rudolf and I discussed it with Lyphard. Since it's a practice race, letting you two, who have already begun the full professional stage, participate and get a feel for it is a good idea."
"Don't worry too much about rankings; the important thing is the learning experience. Just do your best during the race."
Training at Tracen Central Academy is roughly divided into two types.
One type is for new students or horse girls without trainers yet. They receive general foundational training from instructors assigned by the academy.
Most of Oguri Roman and Journey's classmates belong to this group.
The other type is targeted training under personal trainers.
And as Kitahara said, this practice race mixes mature fully-trained horse girls like Oguri Cap and Tony Bianca with early-stage full-professional horse girls like Oguri Roman and Journey.
In terms of strength, the latter obviously could not beat the former. But being able to interact and race with world-class horse girls so early brings significant benefits.
The two little horse girls also clearly understood this. Oguri Roman became so nervous she couldn't even speak, only nodding. Golden Journey, usually the big sister type at home, nodded nervously with a stiff expression.
"Well then, I'll lay out the tasks directly and organize our upcoming event schedule."
Seeing the two nod, Kitahara turned to Tamamo Cross and Inari One, speaking seriously:
"It's just early June right now, and there's still a month before summer break at Central Academy."
"So, as I said before, this 'European tour' isn't a vacation—essentially, it's a short-term overseas exchange."
"Tamamo, Inari, your upcoming races are the Takarazuka Kinen at the end of June and the Takamatsunomiya Cup in early July."
"Even though overseas training means unfamiliar tracks, many abilities and techniques apply universally."
"Treat this practice race like a real one. After mid-month, you'll return to Japan for half a month of track acclimation. If you do that, those two races won't be a problem."
Other than this practice race, the team had two confirmed upcoming races—Takarazuka Kinen at the end of June and the Takamatsunomiya Cup in early July.
Both required fan voting to determine who could run. Oguri Cap, Super Creek, and Mejiro Ardan had just competed in the Japanese Derby, and even participating in one practice race was already a serious load.
So even if they would have enough fan votes, they would skip these two races.
That left only Tamamo Cross and Inari One.
The two races are very close together, so it's impossible to enter both.
Both of them have a real chance of winning, so from a team perspective, entering just one would be wasting opportunities.
So Kitahara, Komiyama, and Yuzuhara decided to determine who runs which race by drawing lots.
In the end, Tamamo Cross drew Takarazuka Kinen, and Inari One drew the Takamatsunomiya Cup.
Hearing Kitahara's plan, the two horse girls nodded at the same time.
"Don't worry, old man! I'll give Takarazuka everything I've got!"
"Takamatsunomiya Cup? Only 2,000 meters—piece of cake!"
Hearing their confident statements, Kitahara and the other trainers smiled knowingly, and the tense Oguri Roman and Golden Journey also relaxed a little.
"…Tamamo and Inari are so confident…"
Oguri Roman whispered admiringly. Journey didn't speak, but her eyes toward the two were full of respect.
"Good, maintain that mindset."
Nodding, Kitahara looked toward Oguri Cap, Super Creek, and Mejiro Ardan.
Compared to Tamamo and Inari, their classic-route scheduling was much simpler.
With their current performance, even without running a preparatory race for the Kikuka Sho, they already had enough fans to guarantee priority entry—especially Oguri Cap.
Oguri Cap was now one of the most famous horse girls in Japan. After an undefeated victory in the Japanese Derby, countless fans awaited her attempt to recreate Symboli Rudolf's legend and claim the title of Undefeated Triple Crown.
To exaggerate, she could do absolutely nothing until the Kikuka Sho and still enter as the top popularity vote.
But Kitahara would never plan it that way.
He had already decided that, regardless of fan votes, the three must participate in suitable competitions.
"After this overseas exchange will be the school break—July to August training camp."
Looking at Oguri Cap and the others, Kitahara continued:
"We're considering holding the camp either in Europe or back in Japan. Both locations have pros and cons, and we'll decide after discussion."
"No matter where the camp is held, your first key race in the second half of the year will undoubtedly be the Kikuka Sho."
"This year's Kikuka Sho is scheduled for November 6. That's a full two months after the August camp."
"During that time, you'll be able to enter the Mainichi Okan, the St. Lite Kinen, and the Kobe Shimbun Hai in early October."
Team race schedules are generally drafted by the trainers based on data, condition, and opponent strength, then finalized after consultation.
Oguri Cap and the others rarely object, and this time was no different.
However, a surprised voice suddenly came from the group of observing horse girls.
"Wait, wait."
Sirius Symboli looked stunned. "St. Lite Kinen and Kobe Shimbun Hai I understand."
"Those are standard preparatory races for the Kikuka Sho to secure priority entry."
"But the Mainichi Okan…?"
Her gaze swept across Oguri Cap, Super Creek, and Ardan.
"That's a race without classic-vs-Senior age restriction."
"More importantly, it's considered the 'prelude' to the main G1 circuit in the second half of the year."
"You're really sending three classic-year horsegirl to that?"
Her words left the training group momentarily silent. Then Symboli Rudolf, who was also watching, sighed and gently patted her shoulder.
"Well, saying this may embarrass you a little, but…"
Rudolf shrugged, looking sentimentally toward Oguri Cap, Super Creek, and Ardan.
"They are classic-year horsegirl, yes."
"And normally, classic-year horsegirl are at a disadvantage against senior horsegirls—that's true."
"But these three… Are you sure they're like typical classic-year horses?"
"To put it simply, if you raced against them right now, Sirius—could you confidently say you'd win?"
"Uhh…"
Sirius Symboli choked.
…Hey hey, Rudolf, that's not a little embarrassing—that's very embarrassing…
Kitahara smiled wryly inside.
As Sirius said, having them run St. Lite Kinen and Kobe Shimbun Hai is a totally standard classic-route decision.
Both are G2 races: one at Nakayama turf 2200m, the other at Hanshin turf 2400m, and finishing top three grants priority entry to the Kikuka Sho.
The Mainichi Okan, though also G2, carries special meaning.
As Sirius described, it's considered a prelude to the G1 circuit—held at Tokyo turf 1800m in early October—only three weeks before the Tenno Sho Autumn.
Except for those directly targeting the Tenno Sho, nearly all strong horses preparing for G1s choose this race as a warm-up.
Meaning: almost all G1-capable elites show up. Historically, the level is equivalent to a G1—or sometimes harder.
Thus, the Mainichi Okan gained the nickname "Super G2."
For ordinary classic-year horsegirl, it's too intense.
But for someone like Oguri Cap…
In history, because she couldn't run the Classic Triple Crown, she entered some senior horsegirl circuit races.
Her first race in the second half of the year was the Mainichi Okan.
Her opponents included:
Dyna Actress, record-breaking mile winner
Running Free, runner-up in Tenno Sho Spring
Legend Teio, two-time graded winner
Bold Northman, 7 races 5 wins
And the Derby horse Sirius Symboli
All terrifying G1-level veterans.
And among them, Oguri Cap's result:
Record-breaking victory.
And three weeks later, she entered Tenno Sho Autumn—losing only to Tamamo Cross and finishing second.
So…
"Ahem. Oguri Cap really is something else."
Kitahara awkwardly scratched his cheek, looking between Oguri and Sirius.
"The current plan is: Super Creek and Ardan run the St. Lite Kinen and Kobe Shimbun Hai."
"Oguri Cap will enter the Mainichi Okan."
"For an important race like the Kikuka Sho, three or four months of prep training is ideal. That ensures better adaptation and prevents condition issues."
"But they still need competition experience."
"And a race of suitable intensity is best."
"The Mainichi Okan would be too much for a normal classic-year horse, but for Oguri Cap… it should be just right."
"As for the other two, they might risk insufficient warm-up, so I'll raise their training intensity a little."
"We definitely won't push extreme campaigns—at most, more practice races like this."
He shook his head.
"Oguri Cap entering the Mainichi Okan… whew—"
Sirius Symboli drew in a breath, now serious and a little excited.
"Hah, it's embarrassing to admit, but Oguri Cap really is a terrifying opponent you can't ignore."
"Oh? Does that mean you're thinking of joining this practice race?"
Rudolf smirked. "Earlier you said you were just here 'flying planes' and maintaining training."
"But now your future opponent from the Mainichi Okan is here—are you sure you don't want to adapt early?"
Her tone was full of provocation and encouragement.
"Oh? Sirius is entering the Mainichi Okan too?"
Oguri Cap looked excited. "Then you have to race with us!"
"Of course I'm entering it—everyone knows the Mainichi Okan is the G1 warm-up."
Scratching her head, Sirius Symboli sighed:
"Sigh… I originally planned to treat this trip as a vacation, but…"
"Since it's come to this, how could I NOT race!?"
"You start training first—I'm going back to change!"
Still in casual clothes, Sirius waved and sprinted toward the dormitory.
…That was decisively fast. If Sirius joins the race, then Epsom Academy's side will…
Kitahara silently pondered.
Although it's called a "practice race," ignoring the rookies like Oguri Roman and Journey, the remaining lineup is basically identical to an actual race roster.
Sirius's record wasn't perfect, but as the Japanese Derby winner just like Oguri Cap, her ability was elite among thousands.
And with more race experience and more familiarity with European tracks, her participation would make her a formidable opponent.
Also, to accommodate both Japanese and British horses, the race environment would need some adjustments.
"Don't worry, Kitahara. I'll discuss the arrangement with Lyphard."
Rudolf, reading Kitahara's thoughts, reassured him.
"Competitor arrangements won't be a problem. And instead of worrying about opponents, what you should focus on is training Oguri Cap and the others."
Gesturing toward the Epsom turf, she spoke firmly:
"This is a practice race, not a formal event—and preparation time is short."
"Only one week."
"To be frank, with such a short time, I think Oguri Cap's group has very little chance of winning."
"But adapting to the unique Epsom track will at least make Tony Bianca and the others work harder for their victory."
"And according to Eisei's usual training habits, you all—"
She suddenly shook her head, her gaze turning deep and serious.
"No — it's also so that we Japanese horse girls can obtain sufficient data on our Japan Cup opponents…"
What Symboli Rudolf said was precisely the other reason Kitahara agreed to this match.
Only by knowing both yourself and your opponent can you increase your chances of victory and setting aside Kitahara himself, Japan's current understanding of top international horse girls could be described as 'zero.'
This is no exaggeration. Just like in the other world, the Japanese horse girl industry here treated the outside world with an attitude very close to 'national isolation.'
They prohibit both "bringing foreign horse girls into Japan" and "Japanese horse girls competing abroad," allowing only the Japan Cup as an internationally open race.
Even knowledge about international races and horse girls mostly comes from the private efforts of individual trainers, and overseas expeditions have taken place less than ten times in total…
Under such circumstances, Japan's understanding of the world truly is zero.
But foreign athletes were different — in preparation for the Japan Cup, Tony Bianca, Moonlight Lunacy, and their trainers even studied Japanese, clearly showing their level of preparation.
This information gap, combined with the gap in strength, resulted in the Japan Cup — from its establishment until now, across eight total events — having only two Japanese champions, Katsuragi Ace and Symboli Rudolf.
All other winners were foreign horse girls.
Kitahara didn't know what the other trainers thought, but since he had decided to send Oguri Cap and the others to the Japan Cup, then he would make full use of Eisei Academy's expertise in data analysis and research everything thoroughly without the opponents realizing it.
"…You're right. Since the race arrangement is already set, then—"
Nodding toward Symboli Rudolf, Kitahara turned to face Oguri Cap and the others.He habitually held the stopwatch in one hand, and with the other he lifted the recording clipboard.
"Starting with the basics — according to the training race schedule, 2,423 meters. Everyone will complete 10 rounds of standard parallel runs."
2423 meters was the distance of the British Derby, also the full length of the Epsom racecourse.
A standard parallel run has no restrictions — all horse girls freely run from start to finish, making their own choices of strategy and pacing.
Each run can differ entirely from the previous one, and from this they could collect basic parameters of racing conditions on the track.
Afterward, Kitahara and the other trainers would sort the parameters, combine them with observations and feedback from the horse girls, and derive most of the data for different track positions and different condition states then apply targeted training and adjust race strategies and tactics.
This was the method commonly used by ordinary trainers — but the Eisei team had already moved far beyond that, using instruments spread across the entire course, measuring the whole track down to the second and centimeter.
…The problem was, they hadn't expected training to begin this soon…
Suddenly returning from high-tech assisted training to a primitive level, Kitahara, Miyako, and Yuzuhara were furiously scribbling data that they usually recorded through automated instruments.
Kitahara gave a bitter laugh internally.
He thought it would take a day or two — their equipment hadn't even been air-shipped in yet…
This was a small oversight from the European trip. Because Tony Bianca's invitation pushed training and the training race forward by one or two days, the trainers' workload suddenly skyrocketed today.
Especially without equipment support, Kitahara and the others could barely manage due to their strong fundamentals and experience.
But Miyamura Kyoko and Belno Light were in trouble — in medicine and technology fields, precision to the second and centimeter wasn't enough; they needed milliseconds and micrometers.
That level of precision was far beyond what the naked eye could judge, and without precise judgement, their conclusions could very easily be wrong.
Thus, Eisei Academy's chief physician and chief technician could only rely on basic exposure and manually assist Kitahara, organizing the constantly growing piles of numbers and sketches written across the pages.
The 10 rounds of parallel runs didn't take much time — in a real race, this distance would finish in about three minutes.
Training intensity wasn't as high, but with the horse girls' speed, five to seven minutes per run was enough.
After an hour, Oguri Cap and the others were exhausted and entered mid-session rest.Special Week, Opera O, and others who had been observing stepped forward to deliver towels and energy drinks.
Meanwhile, Kitahara's group started intense discussion — even arguments.
"Senpai, your starting record shouldn't be correct, right? Why is your calculated variance different from mine?"
"Did you consider the uphill? From the 1½-mile mark to the 1-mile-2-furlong point at Epsom is a continuous slope. Because the distance is long, it's not noticeable — so after applying variance based on previous data, my calculation is correct."
"Wait—there's a slope there?"
"I just said it's hard to notice. The curvature radius of more than 500 meters in the opening section also affects visual judgement."
"…Then how did you even know there's a slope there?"
"Simple — you run a lap yourself.
…Wait—last night when I told you to run one lap around Epsom, did you not go?"
After arguing, Kitahara froze, realizing something obvious, and smiled helplessly.
"…Yeah, I didn't run. But I didn't forget — Tama couldn't sleep from jet lag and pulled me into talking all night…"
Scratching his head awkwardly, Komiyama became a bit annoyed.
"But shouldn't Epsom Academy have track data already?"
She pouted toward the academy building.
"We asked Director Lyphard earlier too — but the materials she gave only describe the track, without any concrete numbers!"
"…That's not Epsom Academy's fault."
Kitahara sighed.
"It's simply that outside of Eisei Academy, very few institutions even attempt full track modeling."
"This falls under geographic scientific research. Our data was organized through Belno Light's long-term investigation."
"Forget Epsom — even in Japan, we've only collected data for the tracks that Oguri Cap and the others have raced on."
It was another example of the overall technological lag in this timeline.
The concept of data modeling was on the cutting edge of scientific fields and mostly applied to high-end research.
Using it to break down horse girl racing behavior and track data was almost unheard of — in the other world, it only barely existed at the Olympic level, and never in horse racing.
"Anyway, with instrument support these calculations were easy, but now — all our equipment is still in the air above us…"
He pointed helplessly toward the eastern sky.
"I'll just have to manually 'hand-scrape' the data temporarily. We should receive the equipment this afternoon."
"Now — Komiyama, any more questions? Yuzuhara, you?"
"M-me? I'll… look through the rest of your numbers first. Let Yuzuhara-san go first…"
Afraid of making another mistake, Komiyama shrank back.
"I'll go then. Last night, Inari One and I ran through the course."
Yuzuhara said as a side note,"She also couldn't sleep due to jet lag, so I took her for a run."
"I checked earlier — most of my calculations match Kitahara's with no significant error."
"But this part is suspicious."
He pulled out two sheets from the pile and placed them on the ground.
Both depicted the end section of the 'U'-shaped track at Epsom.
The straight end was covered in little stick-figure horse girls, arrows indicating movement, with names and long strings of numbers and calculations.
"While running with Inari last night, I confirmed that this track end matches the description in Director Lifal's materials."
Tapping the pages, Toyohara explained:
"After entering the straight stretch following the large U-turn curve, there is indeed a long continuous downhill of half a mile."
"These numbers showing Inari, Oguri Cap and the rest align closely with past results; the differences should come from grass surface adaptation."
"We'll discuss grass later. The key point is in the last 50 meters."
He tapped the end of the track.
"There is a very abrupt uphill slope here."
"Such a steep slope doesn't exist in Japanese racecourses. Even Tokyo Racecourse doesn't place the uphill this close to the finish."
"And Oguri and the others seem used to treating slopes as pre-sprint warm-up, so they didn't accelerate to maximum speed at that point."
"This causes their finishing times — or the last three furlong data — to display a dramatic fluctuation drop."
"I think this will strongly affect their performance in a real race."
Kitahara did not respond immediately and instead fell silent.
Not because Yuzuhara was wrong — everything he said matched Kitahara's analysis exactly, and the sheets he displayed were indeed their respective calculations.
The key was that this sort of "special track issue" affecting Oguri Cap and the others was, in Kitahara's eyes, present everywhere on the Epsom course.
Epsom was one of the oldest horse racing tracks in history — and the Epsom Derby was the oldest Derby race of all.
The name 'Derby' itself originated here, established in 1779 by Lord Derby.
But because the course was only open in spring and summer, few horse girls or trainers possessed enough race experience there.
The rare U-shaped layout alone caused huge misjudgments for horse girls accustomed to Japanese loop-circle tracks, and the errors Komiyama mentioned would appear perfectly normal on a circular course.
If trainers could misjudge, horse girls absolutely would — and it showed in the data.
From the start to finish, almost every segment posed similar issues.
They started from the far end of the U-shape, immediately entering a long continuous uphill a feature no Japanese track possessed.
Japanese tracks are artificial, with short slopes, never half-track continuous inclines.
Only natural terrain could produce this.
Such a slope could trick horse girls into believing they were on flat ground, preventing them from applying full power and lowering speed unconsciously.
After that was not a downhill, but a plateau on a large curve, the highest point on the course — famous as Tattenham Corner.
The curve was wide, with the front half level, while the latter half descended during the turn.
"Tattenham Corner" was rare not only in Japan but also across Europe — only Britain, with its castle-estate-converted courses, featured such terrain.
Kitahara had no concrete analytical conclusion yet for how it would affect performance, but the data clearly showed Oguri and the others did not perform as they normally would there.
After the downhill of the curve was another long straight downhill.Similar to the start slope but even more impactful because it was completely straight.
Downhills increase speed through gravity, requiring much more precision and strength to adjust tactics and lane changes.
Oguri Cap and the others had gone through super-high-speed lane-switching training, so they might adapt here — but more training was needed to master it.
Finally, the abrupt uphill before the finish again.
For Japanese horse girls, it was easy to misjudge it as
"the real sprint comes after this, no need to rush yet," resulting in a sharp speed drop.
So despite being "just" a training race, performing well really requires a lot of work…
Thinking silently, Kitahara felt a headache rising.
If they couldn't produce satisfactory results, Tony Bianca and the others would never show their full strength.
And without that — what meaning would there be in 'knowing oneself and the enemy'?