[Sorry for only 1 chapter, Kinda busy. Also if Contrail progeny wins the Hopeful Stakes, extra chapters]
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Miyamura Kyoko's responsibilities within the Team mainly involve medical care, conditioning, and the collection and analysis of physical performance data.
And under the influence of her fellow trainers, even though she had never undergone formal professional training, over time she had been subtly exposed to fairly professional viewpoints and perspectives.
With this foundation, her analysis of race plans had already come very close to a professional level—at the very least, none of the three professional trainers present, Kitahara, Komiyama, and Yuzuhara, could find any major faults in it.
"Wow! Kyoko-nee's analysis is amazing. It feels like you could even try taking the Central Trainer exam!"
Komiyama quickly praised her, then nodded as she thought it over and said,
"Yeah, that's true. If Creek and Ardan want to change their running styles in today's races, even if it's different from our usual preparation style, their adaptability to front-running can definitely withstand such a change."
"As for Oguri…"
She hesitated, her words trailing off, and cast a hesitant glance toward Kitahara.
Miyamura Kyoko, who had just finished her analysis, and Yuzuhara, who had been wearing a contemplative expression the whole time, showed the same look.
Kitahara understood exactly what his colleagues were thinking. They were all torn and worried about whether it was appropriate to adjust the race arrangements at this point.
In the minds of the trainers of the Eisei Team, it was already a shared understanding that the team's horse girls were extremely strong—especially strong within Japan.
This consensus had been made particularly evident in Tamamo Cross's and Inari One's recent two races.
Perhaps those two had encountered some issues in those races, but in the end, their victories had not come with much difficulty.
However, during daily training, the overall atmosphere of the team was still extremely cautious. From overarching strategies to the handling of small details, everything could be described as meticulous.
After all, whether they were consciously aware of it or not, the team members had subconsciously set their development goals at a world-class level, and in all their arrangements, they tacitly assumed that their opponents would perform at their absolute best.
This way of thinking naturally originated from Kitahara's influence. From the very beginning, this chief trainer of the team had set his sights on the world, not just Japan.
That meant that even if the team performed outstandingly in domestic Japanese races, there was still room for improvement, and nothing in daily training could truly be relaxed.
After the trip to Europe—after truly competing against world-class horse girls—this mindset only became more deeply ingrained.
But the entire team had overlooked one thing: if their perspective shifted from the world back to Japan, the strength of Oguri Cap and the others had already become somewhat over-spec.
The opponents in the Takarazuka Kinen and the Takamatsunomiya Kinen included many graded stakes and even G1-level competitors, so those two races couldn't fully reveal this oversight.
However, the Meitetsu Hai, Chukyo Kinen, and Chukyo Championship were only OP-level races.
Originally, under the assumption that all opponents could perfectly exert their abilities just like Oguri Cap and the others, the simulated races still showed back-and-forth contests.
But today, as Kitahara's thinking began to shift, combined with the adverse weather and track conditions that would lower the overall performance level of horse girls, it had already become clear—at least to the trainers—that the opponents were much weaker than expected.
This meant that while the original race plan would certainly still lead to victory, it would very likely fail to bring out the full potential of their own horse girls.
"Change the running style. All of them will run Front running."
Without hesitation, Kitahara quickly made his decision.
"I mean, for Oguri Cap, Creek, and Ardan's three races today, all of them will adjust their running styles to Front running."
The moment he said this, everyone else was stunned. For a brief moment, no one voiced either objection or agreement.
Kitahara knew why. On the surface, completely changing running styles just a few hours before the races did seem rather rushed.
But he had already thought it through.
"I think Kyoko's analysis is correct. Under today's track conditions, with their abilities, it will be very easy for them to take the lead."
Looking at his astonished colleagues, he said in a low voice,
"If we deliberately stick to the previous plan, it will instead restrict their performance. It might even backfire, affecting their mindset in subsequent training and races."
"Escape running—that's the running style for all three of them today."
"As for the corresponding adjustments and tactical arrangements, we'll discuss those after they've showered and changed clothes."
Admittedly, being accustomed to assuming powerful opponents and outstanding performances, and preparing cautiously for everything, anyone would struggle once they suddenly realized that this mindset didn't apply to all races.
Kitahara was no exception.
Before his colleagues looked to him, what he had been weighing in his heart was whether to risk changing running styles and tactics at the last minute.
However, after comparing various memories, he quickly realized that running conservatively was absolutely not a good thing for horse girls.
Because it would limit their talent.
The most classic example was Silence Suzuka.
Silence Suzuka's greatest strength was Front running—specifically, the extremely rare form of great runaway.
Generally speaking, running in first or second place within the pack counts as Front running tactics.
Runaway, however, is an extreme case, referring to situations where the runner pulls far away from the main pack.
This running style places significant demands on horse girls.
Running at the very front means constantly facing pressure from behind. Without sufficient mental resilience, it's impossible to maintain good condition throughout the race—any slight distraction can lead to a collapse in performance.
Alternatively, one might simply not consider the pressure of pursuit at all, which is another rather unique and highly effective form of "pressure resistance."
Without opponents as reference points, a runaway runner must have a thorough grasp of their own stamina, the race situation, remaining distance, timing for exertion, and many other details.
It could even be said that those who truly excel at runaway escape instinctively know when to speed up, when to slow down, and when to unleash a full sprint.
Moreover, whether racehorses or horse girls, most are naturally inclined toward group behavior and perform better when they have opponents to compete against.
This means that horse girls who excel at runaway tend to prefer being alone, or at least are very comfortable in solitude.
Otherwise, being alone at the very front could cause anxiety due to the lack of companions.
Simply put, there are very few racehorses or horse girls who excel at runaway escape, precisely because this running style has very unique requirements in terms of mentality, talent, and personality.
Silence Suzuka was exactly such a horse girl, naturally gifted for runaway.
In her mature years, in races such as the Nakayama Kinen, Kokura Daishoten, Kinko Sho, Takarazuka Kinen, and Mainichi Okan, every one of her runs featured explosive runaway escapes.
Especially in the Kinko Sho, using her best running style, she finished in 1 minute 57.8 seconds, leading the second-place finisher by 11 lengths and winning by a massive margin.
Another equally classic example was the Mainichi Okan, known as the "Strongest G2."
In that race, Silence Suzuka faced Grass Wonder and El Condor Pasa, both of whom had never lost since debut.
Grass Wonder was 4-for-4 before the Mainichi Okan and had set a seasonal track record of 1 minute 33.6 seconds at the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes, which was meant to determine the most promising horse girl.
Because of that, she was selected as the best in her age group and earned the nickname "Maruzensky Reborn."
El Condor Pasa, meanwhile, was 5-for-5 before the Mainichi Okan, especially impressive in his overwhelming victory in the NHK Mile Cup, at one point being rated even higher than Grass Wonder, who also had a streak of dominant wins.
Facing such formidable juniors, Silence Suzuka still claimed the championship with her signature runaway. Grass Wonder and El Condor Pasa each failed due to accelerating too early and too late, respectively.
That Mainichi Okan showdown among the three elites led commentator Aoshima Tatsuya to call it "a G2 race surpassing G1," and attendance exceeded 130,000 spectators.
Yet, despite such outstanding performances in runaway escape, before her mature years, Silence Suzuka had been unable to fully unleash this talent due to team arrangements, nor had she developed a complete tactical system around it.
As a result, in her classic year races such as the Yayoi Sho, Japanese Derby, Tenno Sho (Autumn), and the Hong Kong International Cup, her best result was only second place.
Similar situations are actually not uncommon in the industry.
In fortunate cases, a horse girl can unleash her talent before debut or shortly after debut and achieve astonishing results.
In unfortunate cases, it might take a long time after debut to find the truly suitable running style—or it might only be discovered after retirement, or not discovered even then.
From a factual standpoint, the latter scenario is actually the norm.
Kitahara admitted that because of memories from another world, he had a deeper understanding of many horse girls.
Whether it was Silence Suzuka, Grass Wonder, El Condor Pasa, or many others who hadn't debuted yet at this point in time, he could identify their talents even without seeing them race.
Oguri Cap and the others were the same—just hearing their names allowed him to confirm their talents.
However, this wasn't his own "horse appraisal" ability; it was more like cheating by using an external plug-in.
If he were being honest about his eye for horse girls, without sufficient data analysis, he would actually find it difficult to immediately sense an opponent's strength purely by intuition.
And for that very reason, after unknowingly changing these horse girls in many ways, he knew very well that in many cases, he could no longer rely on memories to judge things.
As Oguri Cap and the others grew stronger, and the races they participated in diverged more and more from his memories, using those memories to judge situations could easily backfire.
He had to adjust his mindset and adopt an explorer's approach, like a beginner, in order to further help them realize their respective wishes.
And today's races happened to serve as the perfect starting point for that transformation.
"Creek and Ardan originally already had some adaptability to leading the pace. In past races, although this adaptability was more often used as a tactical element, they would take the lead at certain stages to control the overall rhythm."
As he said this, his tone unconsciously took on a probing quality.
"But that doesn't mean they can't directly adopt a front-running strategy."
"We've always trained various running styles before, including leading."
"For our team, which doesn't have a horse girl particularly specialized in leading, this kind of training was mainly meant to deal with such opponents. Still, it would enhance their adaptability to a certain extent."
At this point, he paused and thought for a moment.
"To put it simply, suppose Creek's initial adaptability, technique, and mentality for leading were only at D or E level."
"Then theoretically, after our past training, she should now be at around D+ or C level."
"Similarly, Ardan's original leading ability was already quite good, probably at C level."
"Now, she should be around B level."
"In that case, for today's races, they can fully adopt a leading strategy. Even without past race experience in that role, the training is sufficient."
"And besides…"
Kitahara suddenly smiled. "Don't people outside always call me some kind of 'master of strange tactics'?"
"Then let's suddenly change running styles and confuse our opponents a bit."
"That way, in future races, it'll be even harder for opponents to judge what kind of running style and tactics we'll use."
Within the Eisei Team, Kitahara's way of speaking was fairly easy to understand.
In essence, he was referencing the numerical grading system from the mobile game, using it as a shorthand to describe adaptability to distance, track conditions, running styles, as well as base abilities like speed and stamina.
In actual training and races, analysis obviously couldn't be reduced to just a few letters or numbers—it required far more systematic and comprehensive data.
But in tactical communication and discussion, letters and numbers were clearly more convenient.
"That works, senpai. I was actually surprised that you made the decision so quickly. With the race coming up so soon, changing running styles now did seem a bit rushed."
Seeing that Kitahara seemed to have finished his explanation, Komiyama spoke enthusiastically:
"But your reasoning now makes sense."
"Based on our current analysis, Creek and the others do have a clear speed advantage. Instead of restricting that advantage, it's better to change running styles and fully bring it out."
"Just…"
She hesitated again. "It's what I asked earlier. Changing running styles for Creek and Ardan is fine."
"But what about Oguri Cap?"
"Do you also plan to have her change running style, senpai? She's not particularly good at leading."
As soon as she said this, everyone's gaze focused on Kitahara. He didn't speak immediately, instead wearing a serious expression.
Seeing this, Yuzuhara stroked his chin and said thoughtfully:
"I think so too."
"If we use Kitahara's earlier grading, even with training, Oguri Cap's adaptability to leading might not even reach C."
"At that level, changing running style might carry considerable risk."
"But in terms of speed advantage, Oguri Cap's is actually even more pronounced than Creek's or Ardan's."
"If she doesn't adopt a leading style and deliberately suppresses her speed, the loss would be huge…"
As he spoke, Yuzuhara also began to hesitate.
At this moment, Kitahara suddenly smiled.
"I admit that compared to Creek and Ardan, Oguri Cap makes this decision harder for me."
"Her adaptability to leading really isn't strong."
"But whether it's the advantage she should have in this race, or allowing her to better unleash her talent, I want her to show everything she has."
"What's more, her wish for this race is to achieve an even better result."
"Then let her go all out and fight for victory in this race."
Once Kitahara, as the team's chief trainer, made such a clear decision, the others were visibly energized, their hesitation gone.
They all became very proactive—Yuzuhara, Komiyama, Miyamura Kyoko, and Belno Light alike—offering suggestions on how to adjust running styles and tactics within the short span of just a few hours.
"If Oguri Cap runs front running… with her speed, won't that turn into a runaway? Kyoko, can you simulate the specific situation?"
Tahara pondered briefly, then quickly turned to Miyamura Kyoko.
"Actually, my earlier simulation already accounted for that possibility."
Miyamura Kyoko explained, "Before the running styles were fully confirmed, the parameters I used were still relatively conservative."
"If she goes all out, even under the most conservative estimates, Oguri Cap can maintain a lead of over five lengths for a significant portion of the race."
"The only thing we can't be sure about is her mentality and fine-grained handling in that position."
Hearing this, Belno Light, who rarely spoke up in such discussions, couldn't help but add:
"That does sound right…"
She frowned slightly in concern. "Whether in races or training, Oguri has basically never maintained a long-term lead before the final straight."
"If she's leading right from the front, I really don't know if she can adapt."
"Even though her mentality has always been good, if she suddenly faces that much chasing pressure, would it be hard for her to accept it at first…?"
Although the discussion wasn't long, there was absolutely no doubt expressed about Oguri Cap's abilities.
What they were discussing was whether, under an entirely new race situation, she could properly adjust her mindset.
After all, in past training and races, Oguri Cap mostly took a Pace chasing position.
That position doesn't face much chasing pressure. On the contrary, the pressure for a Pace chaser lies in whether they can keep up with the front-runner.
Control of pace is always relative. Leading does allow one to control the overall flow.
But when a Pace chaser has excellent technique and a stable mindset, they can instead use the pace set by the leader to adjust themselves into a very comfortable racing state.
Cruising in a good state allows them to preserve sufficient sprinting power, helping them explode forward in the final stage to claim first place.
And for horse girls skilled at stalking, the instantaneous acceleration from their final kick—combined with their top speed—is more than enough to surpass any late-closing burst.
Oguri Cap was especially strong in this regard. Her acceleration and top speed were absolutely top-tier for her generation.
That was why Belno light said Oguri Cap's mentality had always been good—when her habitual position matched her outstanding abilities, it was actually quite hard for her to feel pressured.
But precisely because of her long-standing habit of running as a Pace chaser, switching to leading meant she would have to face the pressure of pursuit, since that pressure would now be the main source of stress.
In addition, leading requires attention to many details. For Oguri Cap, who was accustomed to stalking or closing, these were things she wasn't very familiar with, and they all needed to be considered.
In past discussions like this, Kitahara would always take the lead in guiding the conversation.
But this time, he didn't. Instead, he looked toward Yuzuhara.
"Yuzuhara, you take the lead on the adjustment plan first."
Then he shifted his gaze to Maruzensky, who seemed to have been slacking off ever since the discussion began.
"Maruzensky, could you step outside with me for a moment?"
Recently, Maruzensky had been assisting with the team's training, so naturally she was also present in the racers' preparation room during the pre-race arrangements.
However, when Miyamura Kyoko first displayed the rendered simulation of the race conditions, Maruzensky had watched with considerable interest.
Before long, though, she revealed a rather strange expression, silently folded her arms, and stared straight at the projection screen without saying a word.
It was as if she really had drifted off into her own thoughts and was just idly zoning out. When Kitahara mentioned her name, she froze for several seconds before reacting.
"Ah… huh? Me?"
Pointing at herself, she asked blankly, "What is it… oh, going out with you for a bit…?"
She repeated the question, and then, quite suddenly, let out a soft laugh.
"So that's how it is… no problem."
Her voice was very low. After that, she stood up directly and even left the preparation room ahead of Kitahara, so no one really noticed.
When Kitahara followed her out, she took the initiative to ask,
"This is specifically about Oguri Cap's situation, right?"
"So you weren't slacking off after all. Looks like you heard everything we discussed just now."
Hearing Maruzensky's question, Kitahara was momentarily taken aback. Then he cracked a joke, before his expression grew slightly more serious as he changed the subject.
"There's something I want to confirm with you."
"…Eh?"
Not getting an immediate response, Maruzensky looked a bit surprised, but she quickly smiled and nodded.
"Even if I don't know what you want to confirm… go ahead and ask."
"You're actually not an Front runner, but a Pace chaser, right?"
Looking straight into Maruzensky's eyes, Kitahara asked this question.
"…Interesting. Generally speaking, anyone who's seen my races when I was active would think I was best at leading the pace, wouldn't they?"
Instead of answering directly, Maruzensky stared at Kitahara up and down with her arms crossed after a long pause, then asked back with interest,
"Why do you think I'm better at Pace chasing?"
Because in another world that's common knowledge—you weren't really escaping, you were just absurdly fast.
He answered silently in his heart. Outwardly, Kitahara pondered for a moment.
"If you just look at the results—eight races, eight wins, with a cumulative margin of sixty-one lengths over second place—you really do look like a Front runner."
He continued thoughtfully, "I think most fans, and quite a number of trainers and horse girls, would think the same."
"But Front runners don't have a second acceleration, or rather, they can't slow down and then speed up again. You can."
"If it weren't obvious in other races, that would be one thing—but your performance in the Nihon Tampa Sho after the Japanese Derby was far too clear."
As he spoke in a low voice, Kitahara carefully watched Maruzensky's expression.
At this moment, he noticed that she showed the same strange look she had in the preparation room, once again falling into silence—or perhaps deep thought and recollection.
Seeing this, Kitahara continued,
"To preserve stamina for the final sprint, front runners don't widen the gap in the latter part of the middle stage. Visually, it looks like they've 'slowed down.'"
"But that's just stopping the acceleration to conserve strength, not an actual loss of speed."
"Once a front runner truly loses speed, they basically have no chance of winning."
"Regaining that high-speed rhythm of leading the pack after losing it would require terrifying physical ability for any horse girl—it's essentially impossible."
"Yet in that Nihon Tampa Sho, you experienced an unexplained loss of speed at the third corner and were almost caught by the pack behind."
"But after exiting the turn and entering the straight, you accelerated again, breaking away into something like a runaway."
"And in the end, you won by a margin of seven lengths."
Hearing Kitahara talk about her past races, a clear look of recollection appeared on Maruzensky's face, and she finally spoke.
"So that's it… I suppose that race really was obvious. If it's a trainer like you, being able to guess my running-style adaptability isn't all that surprising…"
With a faint sigh, Maruzensky nodded.
"That's right. What I'm actually good at is Pace chasing, not runaway like most people think."
So that's how it is.
Kitahara nodded inwardly.
Unlike this world, in the parallel one there had been far more analysis and speculation regarding Maruzensky's running-style adaptability.
She was simply too fast for her opponents to catch up.
The ability to re-accelerate was a very obvious indicator.
Oguri Cap was like that, and Inari One as well—both had similar abilities, all stemming from abundant power.
Maruzensky's Nihon Tampa Sho simply the most obvious example. A similar situation had occurred in her third career race, the Fuchu Stakes.
In that race, due to tactical choices, Maruzensky couldn't fully unleash her adaptability and was once pushed very close by Hishispeed, eventually winning by only a nose.
The reason she could still win was precisely because she had the ability to accelerate again.
Beyond individual races, the traits of her lineage also supported this view. Descendants such as Sakura Chiyono O, Special Week, Winning Ticket, and Seiun Sky were all more adept at stalking.
Compared to these analyses, the mobile game assigning Maruzensky the highest escape adaptability seemed more like a judgment based purely on race results.
The majority view in this world—that Maruzensky was a Front runner—was similar in nature.
After confirming her own adaptability, Maruzensky, like Kitahara earlier, changed the topic.
"Since you asked me this, it means my guess was right."
She nodded. "You know my races well. Just like me, you must have seen that Oguri Cap, Creek, and Ardan are facing a situation similar to what I faced back then."
"Not good at leading, but when the opponents simply can't keep up, you don't really have a choice except to run away a bit."
Smiling as she spread her hands and shrugged, she continued,
"With someone like me as an example, even if Oguri Cap and the others don't have great leading adaptability, changing running styles at this point is still fine."
"That's what you wanted to confirm, right, Kitahara?"
After asking that, she didn't wait for an answer and continued with a smile,
"And you were also probably thinking of having me talk to them a bit, right?"
"After all, they haven't often actually run at the very front. With a senpai like me to reassure them, the race conditions should feel much better."
"Especially Oguri Cap, since her leading adaptability isn't that strong."
Maruzensky felt confident her guesses were correct.
In her impression, Kitahara had always been this kind of trainer—someone who habitually considered everything very thoroughly.
With such a last-minute change in running style, there were far more uncertainties than usual. Since she had relevant experience, even a bit of pre-race communication could greatly benefit Oguri Cap and the others' mental state.
However, contrary to her expectations, after listening to her questions, Kitahara froze for a moment, then awkwardly scratched his cheek.
"Uh… not really. I just wanted to confirm this kind of race situation with you. I hadn't actually thought about asking you to help with anything."
"Eh…? Not at all?"
"Yeah. I figured that just confirming there was a precedent would be enough."
Looking at Maruzensky's astonished expression, Kitahara nodded.
"Because, just like you said at the Takarazuka Kinen, sometimes I should try to trust Oguri Cap and the others."
"So, since you were able to win races using a running style you weren't particularly good at back then, I believe Oguri Cap and the others can definitely do it too."
"Because I think they're all outstanding horse girls like you—ones who will leave behind legends."
"I see…"
Sensing a confidence in Kitahara's words and demeanor that was different from before—more precisely, a sense of trust in his horse girls—Maruzensky smiled.
"Then I won't take your place."
"If it's about trusting them, you should be the one to say it to them yourself."
"Yeah, I will."
As Kitahara nodded, the confidence and trust on his face grew even stronger.
"Even with a completely new way of racing, I believe every one of them can perform excellently."
"Who knows—they might even deliver performances far beyond what we imagine."
The conversation confirming past precedents with Maruzensky didn't last long. Soon, both of them returned to the racers' preparation room.
Although leading hadn't been a running style the team had used in actual races, the related techniques had been trained regularly. Kitahara also briefly explained Maruzensky's case.
With concrete race examples to rely on, the subsequent race arrangements progressed very smoothly.
After Oguri Cap and the others finished their hot showers and changed clothes before returning to the preparation room, the change in running styles was naturally explained to them as well.
There was, of course, some surprise. But in past race arrangements, regardless of personality, the horse girls in the team had always listened seriously to the analyses and plans, and executed them seriously in competition.
By the time the analysis and arrangements were finished, there were still one or two hours left before the race.
Usually at this point, the other team members would head to the spectator area, leaving the competing members their final preparation time.
This time, however, Kitahara didn't leave with the others. Instead, he stayed behind in the preparation room, leaving only himself and his three assigned horse girls there.
"Eh? Is there still something else to arrange, Kitahara?"
Seeing that Kitahara was acting a bit out of character, Oguri Cap was quite surprised. After thinking for a moment, she instinctively assumed there was still something unsaid and asked seriously.
Not only her, but Creek and Ardan also looked over with surprised expressions.
"Not really. If I had to say, I suppose I want to say something I haven't said much before."
Recalling Maruzensky's suggestion, Kitahara smiled.
"Yesterday in Kasamatsu, I also said that in the past I focused too much on training and racing. I actually haven't communicated that much with you."
"I mean outside of training and racing—things like your own thoughts and wishes."
"Thoughts and wishes…?"
Murmuring the phrase, Oguri Cap exchanged looks with Creek and Ardan, then scratched her head.
"It's fine, really. Kitahara has always cared about us—we all know that."
"It's just that you're kind of like an old man. You don't usually say this kind of thing."
The blunt comment made Kitahara, who was feeling quite emotional at the moment, both amused and exasperated. Creek and Ardan couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing.
"It sounds like our trainer is trying to change a bit," said Creek, who was usually gentle and considerate, also joining in with a joke. "Like changing the rigid image we have of you in our minds."
"But honestly, it's fine. We can all see the effort you've put in for us, Mr. Kitahara."
"Sometimes, you don't really need to say everything out loud."
"No, I think it still needs to be said."
Very directly, Kitahara corrected her.
"Maruzensky was right—there's a difference between saying things out loud and not saying them."
"That day at the Takarazuka Kinen, she said that if I believe in you, I should tell you that trust with my own words."
"I think she was right. That's why I stayed here—to tell you that I believe in you."
"I believe in Oguri Cap, Creek, and Ardan. I believe that no matter what kind of race you face, or even in daily training, you can all perform excellently—perhaps even beyond anyone's imagination."
As soon as he said this, the three horse girls in the room exchanged looks, clearly unaccustomed to this version of Kitahara.
Whether it was Oguri Cap, who had first asked the question; Creek, who had just been teasing him; or Ardan, who had been smiling quietly the whole time—when they looked at each other now, their expressions carried something strange, something grateful, along with involuntary smiles.
"I remember every one of your dreams,"
Kitahara said softly.
"I remembered them from the very beginning."
"Oguri Cap wants to become an amazing horse girl. Creek wants to become her parents' pride. Ardan wants to live up to the name of the Mejiro family."
"I remember all of that."
"But time passes, and you've all gone through much more training and many more races than back then."
"Just like Oguri Cap now wants even better race results, Creek and Ardan have the same thoughts."
"I didn't notice that at all until two days ago."
As he spoke, he let out a sigh.
"That's my failure as a trainer."
"I think I also have a dream of becoming a legendary trainer. If I can't help my horse girls achieve their dreams, then my own dream has no meaning."
"Not just dreams—there are things I've overlooked in reality too."
"Like the arrangements for this race. There are indeed uncertainties."
"But in truth, for horse girls—especially outstanding ones like you—perhaps races that are one hundred percent certain don't exist in the first place."
"It's precisely races filled with uncertainty like this that truly expand your possibilities and allow you to fully unleash your talent."
"I believe in you. I believe you can do it, and obtain everything you want."
"And I will do everything I can to help you achieve that and get everything you desire."
Perhaps because he was expressing himself emotionally—something he rarely did—Kitahara ended up saying far more about things outside of training and racing than usual.
And perhaps for the same reason, the three horse girls in the room felt very unaccustomed to it.
In any case, after Kitahara finished speaking, he waited with a slightly unusual sense of anticipation, hoping for some kind of response.
Instead, he awkwardly realized that all three horse girls had fallen silent, wearing peculiar expressions.
Seeing this, he even began to reflect on whether he had said something wrong.
More than reflection, however, what he felt most strongly was embarrassment—so much so that his toes inside his shoes started curling involuntarily.
Soon, still receiving no response at all, he felt an urge to escape the scene. Once that thought arose, he quickly cleared his throat several times and waved his hand.
"Cough, cough… well… that's about it. There's still a bit of time before the race. Get ready, a-and good luck…"
Much like how the horse girls were changing their running styles today, Kitahara's departure after saying this was also different from usual—almost as if he were running away as he fled the preparation room.
After Kitahara left, the strange silence continued to fill the room, until much later, when it was finally broken by a voice coming from the broadcast.
"Next is the parade ring appearance. First up, Group 4, Number 5, single designation—the fan favorite of the Meitetsu Cup, Oguri Cap, entering this race on a sixteen-race winning streak!"
Like a statue coming to life, the silver-gray figure who had been sitting quietly in the preparation room twitched the pair of long ears atop her head, then slowly stood up from her chair and walked toward the door.
When her hand grasped the doorknob, two voices rang out behind her at the same time.
"Good luck, Oguri."
"After the parade ring, make sure you warm up properly. Don't catch a cold—that wouldn't be good, Oguri."
"…Yeah, I will."
Hearing the seemingly casual reminders from her two friends, Oguri Cap, unusually, took a deep breath as if she were nervous.
Then, as she turned the doorknob and pushed the door open, she suddenly tilted her head and smiled.
"Honestly, when I suddenly found out today that I had to change my running style, I was a bit nervous… I mean, when I first heard it."
"But…"
The smile on her face deepened. "Now, there's no problem at all."
"I believe I can do it. I mean, I'll win this race more brilliantly than any time before."
(End of Chapter)