There were a total of 10 horses in Oguri Cap's debut race, and Zhou Tai'an had drawn the number 5 gate, right in the middle.
"Now I'm caught between a rock and a hard place," he thought, casually glancing around after mounting Oguri Cap.
The hostile stares from the other jockeys were completely undisguised.
It would be a lie to say Zhou Tai'an wasn't nervous, but after a few deep breaths, he forced himself to calm down. "I've even run the Arc de Triomphe in my dreams. A local debut race like this won't stop me!"
Although Zhou Tai'an wasn't sure how good the "Ryan Moore's Riding Technique" he had mastered in his dreams really was, he had received plenty of praise for his excellent riding during the past month of dream training, so his confidence was quite high.
"And Fujimasa March is in this race too..." He couldn't help but glance at the horse wearing the number 1 saddlecloth. "Is this world and the real world really following the same path?"
Zhou Tai'an tightened his grip on the whip. "Whether it's here or in reality, Oguri Cap and I will win this debut race!"
Jockey Ando, who had no ride in this race and remained in the jockeys' room, squinted at the image of his junior colleague on the big screen.
"I don't know why, but Zhou-kun has the aura of a top-tier jockey from Central. Is it just my imagination?" he murmured.
One minute before the race, the jockeys, with the help of the racecourse staff, urged their partners into the starting gates one by one.
Although this was Oguri Cap's first time on the track, the process of entering the gate was smooth.
As the number 5 gate, they were the third pair to enter. Zhou Tai'an could feel Oguri Cap trembling slightly beneath him after they were in.
"Is she excited, or nervous?" Zhou Tai'an didn't know the answer, but he chose to think positively. "I believe you're excited too, Oguri Cap."
"Let's teach these arrogant bastards a good lesson!"
With the sound of the bell, the gates sprang open in unison with a "clack."
Acting on instinct, Zhou Tai'an immediately pushed Oguri Cap's neck, urging her to accelerate forward.
"If I'm going to be squeezed from both sides, then I'll break through before they can form a pincer!" He had no intention of wracking his brain for a solution in the heat of an 800-meter blitz. He simply chose the easiest method.
Meanwhile, Fujimasa March and her jockey, Hara Takao, in the innermost lane, had also received instructions from their trainer before the race to seize the lead in this super-sprint. Therefore, upon seeing Zhou Tai'an and Oguri Cap burst forward with aggressive momentum, Hara Takao didn't dare to be complacent and immediately started using his whip.
"Whipping so early?" Zhou Tai'an was quite surprised to see this. "He wants the lead that badly?"
But the lead position was an indispensable part of his own plan, so Zhou Tai'an had no intention of giving him any quarter.
Just as they were about to enter the turn, using his slightly forward position to his advantage, he switched the whip from his right hand to his left and gave Oguri Cap a light tap, guiding his partner to drift towards the inside rail on the right, forcibly blocking Fujimasa March's path.
It had to be admitted that Oguri Cap's habit of eating a lot made her fearless in physical contests against opponents. She was several tens of kilograms heavier than Fujimasa March, and since neither had undergone strength training, Oguri Cap clearly had the advantage in a collision.
Hara Takao was no fool and naturally noticed this. So after Zhou Tai'an blatantly cut him off, he could only grit his teeth and reluctantly pull on the reins, slowing Fujimasa March down slightly to fall in behind Oguri Cap.
…
Maintaining a lead of more than a length, Zhou Tai'an steered Oguri Cap into the turn.
Although he knew that running along the rail was the most efficient path, he still had Oguri Cap move a bit wider.
Zhou Tai'an wasn't worried that Fujimasa March would take advantage of the space he had given up to overtake him.
Because no one was taking the inside lane, the sand there was the thickest, which meant running on it would cause a significant drop in speed. He knew the veteran jockey behind him was well aware of this, so he didn't bother to defend it.
As Zhou Tai'an expected, even though he and Oguri Cap had opened up a gap, Hara Takao and Fujimasa March didn't dare to dive in.
"If you don't take the chance I'm giving you, then I'm sorry." Just as they were about to exit the turn, contrary to common sense, Zhou Tai'an tightened the reins, then immediately pushed hard on Oguri Cap's neck, then tightened the reins again, making Oguri Cap lift her head. He repeated this cycle.
"What is he doing?" The jockeys behind him could only half-understand Zhou Tai'an's actions—namely, the pushing part. Everyone knew this was to help their partners push off their hind legs more smoothly and sprint forward.
But the action of tightening the reins before that was beyond their level of understanding.
"Push-riding helps the partner lower their head and push backward at the same time, while tightening the reins helps them raise their head, making the body tighter and increasing the elasticity of the next step," the reason flashed through Zhou Tai'an's mind.
This body's pushing strength was considerable, and Oguri Cap adapted to the rhythm well. After exiting the turn, she immediately regained the speed she had lost and instantly widened the gap between herself and Fujimasa March.
Hara Takao completely lost his composure. After exiting the turn and hitting the final straight, he gripped his whip tightly in his right hand and began to flail his arm wildly in the air. Every second or two, the whip would land with a "smack" on Fujimasa March's rear.
Hara Takao wanted to use the pain to make his partner chase down the gap between himself and Zhou Tai'an.
At first, he was quite confident, because he noticed that Zhou Tai'an was only push-riding and not using the whip at all, showing a "complacent" attitude.
"I've got to teach this rookie a lesson! Don't think you've won until you cross the finish line!" he gritted his teeth, whipping with even more force.
But with every lash of the whip, the gap between him and Zhou Tai'an widened.
"We won!" As they crossed the finish line, Zhou Tai'an squeezed Oguri Cap's sides with his legs, using his excellent core strength to lift himself out of the saddle, stand up straight, and switch the whip—which he hadn't used once in the entire race—to his left hand, twirling it like a pen.
"A rookie jockey and a rookie horse win on their first outing," the on-site commentator's tone was as listless as the atmosphere in the stands.
It even dampened Zhou Tai'an's excitement considerably.
"Tsk, just like the real Kasamatsu," he complained inwardly. "If I get the chance in the future, I'm definitely going to Central."
As for the "seniors" who had been plotting to teach Zhou Tai'an a lesson before the race, they were complete spectators throughout the 800-meter race, having no impact on him whatsoever.
"Like a bunch of clowns," Jockey Ando muttered to himself, grinning as he sat alone in the jockeys' room.
-------
Enjoying the story? Support the author and get access to early chapters by joining my Patreon!
Find me at My : pat*eon*com/RuneA
I, Herta's Fiancé, the Universe's Number One Male Fist (114 Chapter (Simulpub-Full) )
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Succubus in Sixth Street (330 Chapter)
Reborn in Type-Moon, My Sister is Aoko Aozaki (254 Chapter)
MyGO!! A Story Voiced by Me (130 Chapter)
BLEACH: Blade of Purification (140 Chapter)
Konoha: Starting the Game as Yoriichi (370 Chapter)
My Real Job is Spying on Konoha, but I'm Also its Hokage (140 Chapter)
The Pinnacle of the Navy! Starting from Being Captured by Garp (160 Chapter)
Watching Yu-Gi-Oh! short videos is making the veteran players lose...(80 Chapter)
Uma Musume : The Trainer Who Just Wants to Live (200 Chapter)
Zenless Zone Zero The Random Kamen Rider (170 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: It All Began With Me Being Stepped On by Arlecchino (120 Chapter)
Naruto: I Can Synthesize Summoning Beasts (90 Chapter)
Demon Slayer: The Great Swordsman's System, Disciple of Yoriichi (130 Chapter)
My Wife is a General, but I'm an Emanator of Abundance! (140 Chapter)
Type-Moon: My Nine-Fold Path (140 Chapter)
Uma Musume: They're Peeking at My Diary, and All of Tracen is Panickin (Ending)
The Wild History of Type-Moon world (70 Chapter)
Reborn in Conan, But I Refuse to Be the Bad Guy (80 Chapter)
Ruan Mei is begging me to go back? But there's no going back anymore (140 Chapter)
Just a Slacker at Tracen Academy (148 Chapter)
Survival in Blue Archive (70 Chapter)
Kimetsu no Yaiba: Doma Wasn't Hated Today, Either (100 Chapter)
The Vibe of This Chat Group is a Little Off (100 Chapter)
Heartbreak Simulator: I Broke Them and Made Them Cry (80 Chapter)
The Talentless Trainer Doesn't Want to Restart (80 Chapter)
A Journey Starting as a Quincy (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: The Master of Romance Obstruction (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: You Can't Be a Hero Without a Little Chemical Enhancement (40 Chapter)
Honkai Impact 3rd Your Boyfriend is Really Amazing (40 Chapter)
Warhammer 40K: My Fiancée, Fulgrim (150 Chapter)
Classroom of the Elite: Trying to Capture Me! (120 Chapter)
Genshin Impact My Named Senji Muramas (150 Chapter)
A Chef, the Vice-Captain of the Rocks Pirates? (130 Chapter)
Naruto : My Uchiha Girlfriend is Too Tsundere (100 Chapter)
Type-Moon: Reincarnated in a Lostbelt, I Became the Alien God (60 Chapter)
The Way These Horse Girls Look at Me Is Terrifying! (110 Chapter)
Naruto: Tsunade's Deskmate (120 Chapter)
I Just Want to Live a Normal (50 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: A Hundred Confessions? It's Just a System Task (60 Chapter)
OnePiece : Starting as a Veteran of the Roger Pirates (50 Chapter)
Uma Musume : I Have Special Horse Taming Techniques (50 Chapter)
If there's a particular novel you're enjoying on Patron, please give it a 'like' so I know to focus on it.