Having confirmed that Oguri Cap could not be recruited, the Trainers of Kasamatsu Tracen Academy withdrew to the sidelines, awaiting the next mock race.
"Trainer…" Berno Light asked timidly, "If you and Oguri are going to challenge Central, then what about me?"
"That depends on your performance in the next mock race," Shuta An replied with a shrug. "Regardless of the result, you're still the Racehorse Girl under my care. I'll always find a path forward for you."
"The more I hear that, the more it sounds like Trainer doesn't have much faith in me…" Berno Light pouted. "Then I'll have to work extra hard to surprise Trainer later."
"Go for it."
Shuta An patted her shoulder, muttering under his breath, "I just hope it's a pleasant surprise, not a shock to the system."
After the morning's mock races concluded, Shuta An led Oguri Cap and Berno Light to the edge of the training ground.
"Ahh~!!!" Berno Light slumped—it was clear her results had been far from ideal.
"Judging by the rankings, it's still commendable," Shuta An said, trying to sound encouraging. "You placed fifth out of ten Umamusume. That's quite decent."
"But I lost to first place by nineteen lengths!" Berno Light protested, aware that her displayed ability would not attract any Trainer's interest.
Looking up, her voice carried both anticipation and fear. "Trainer, can I still become a qualified Umamusume?"
Shuta An wanted to comfort her, but seeing the teary-eyed Chestnut-haired girl crouched before him, he could not bring himself to lie. "It will be very difficult," he admitted. "I'll do what I can to help you win a few local races, but whether your talent can reach beyond that… I can't say for sure."
"As I thought…" Berno Light rubbed her eyes. "Even so, I want to try my best. Since I came to Kasamatsu Tracen Academy, I want to stand on the stage of the local series—just once, even if only once."
"Then our goal is to win one race in the local series," Shuta An said, echoing her determination.
"Then I'll trouble Trainer," she whispered softly.
"So, Trainer," Oguri Cap interjected, "do I still need training after the mock race?"
Shuta An turned toward the gray-haired girl he had personally recruited. "Oguri Cap, do you feel any difference in me compared to yesterday?"
"I feel like Trainer is a little closer than yesterday?" Oguri Cap said, uncertain but sincere. "I don't know why I feel that way."
The young man's heart leapt. "The intimacy bonus from the chase training in my dream is real after all!"
He wondered if he could gain other rewards through lucid dreaming. "It'd be great if I could obtain something that permanently increases a Racehorse Girl's abilities!" he mused inwardly.
"Trainer's expression looks strange… It feels like you're daydreaming about something," Berno Light noted bluntly.
That snapped him back to reality. "Right, back to the main topic," he said, scratching his head. "Even though today was a mock race, it was still a race. Oguri Cap, your exertion was higher than usual—"
"It's fine! I'll just eat more at lunch," Oguri Cap interrupted hastily, worried he'd make her rest.
"No. Absolutely not." Shuta An saw through her ploy and refused firmly. "Health comes first. A Umamusume's career only happens once. If an injury prevents your talent from showing, I can always wait for another trainee—but you, Oguri Cap, only have one chance."
Without giving her room to object, he continued, "You must rest today."
Then he turned to Berno Light. "You too. Both of you rest. I'll finalize your training schedules tomorrow. If you want to jog in the morning, just take it slow around the training ground—treat it as a warm-up."
"Okay," both girls replied in unison.
After they left, Shuta An was soon joined by Mr. Kitahara.
"You're really something, An-san!" Kitahara laughed, patting his friend's shoulder. "Oguri Cap ran eight hundred meters in fifty-one point four seconds—good enough to win any local debut race!"
"That's why I made her rest," Shuta An replied. "It's too early to let her run on her own whims."
"Still, you don't seem satisfied," Kitahara observed. "Why?"
"It's not dissatisfaction," Shuta An said after a pause. "But if Oguri Cap's performance were flawless, it wouldn't matter who her Trainer was."
"True. If your trainee's perfect, you're just decoration," Kitahara chuckled. "Anyway, I've figured out how to scout Fujimasa March."
"Then I wish you success," Shuta An smiled. "Once you've recruited her, we can hold regular practice races."
"Haha, then I'll make sure not to fail—An-san needs a good rival after all!" Kitahara laughed.
That evening, Shuta An packed up his papers and left the academy. As he stepped out, he saw Kitahara grinning.
"Looks like you succeeded?" he asked.
"Of course! Your idea worked. I pointed out areas where Fujimasa March could improve, showed her a plan for her growth, and she joined my team right away," Kitahara said proudly. "Shibasaki had plans too, but not as detailed as mine."
"Don't get carried away," Shuta An cautioned. "Since we made promises, we must honor them."
Kitahara's smile softened into determination. "I won't ruin a talent like Fujimasa March. I'll give her everything I've got."
Shuta An nodded. He knew Kitahara was a man of his word.
"I should focus on my side first," he murmured.
Back in his apartment, Shuta An ate a simple meal—milk, bread, and a fried egg—before sitting down to continue his work.
"I already made Oguri Cap's plan yesterday. Next is Berno Light's training and their race schedule for the year."
Though she had performed poorly, Berno Light clearly wasn't talentless. After all, no one entirely without potential could enter Tracen Academy.
Kasamatsu usually scheduled 800-meter races for debuting Uma Musume. These short sprints required no tactics—just a strong start, early lead, and consistent pace to the finish.
"So the priority is her gate start and explosive power," Shuta An wrote. Endurance training could wait; if a Racehorse Girl couldn't last 800 meters, she might as well retire early.
Kasamatsu already had starting gates, and for explosive training, he planned to use barbells.
"If I were still on the West Coast, someone would tell me to use drugs," he thought grimly. He knew such methods yielded short-term gains but long-term damage—heart failure, poisoning, hormonal collapse.
"As a Trainer, I only accompany these girls through a chapter of their lives. How could I ruin their futures for my own success?" he reflected, dismissing his past colleagues' shortcuts.
"In any case, proper training only."
After finalizing Berno Light's plan, he checked the clock.
"Only eight. I can keep going."
He retrieved the Twinkle Series and regional schedules from his shelf to plan Oguri Cap's races. Central trainees could only debut after the Japanese Derby, when new-horse races opened. Locals, however, could debut from early May.
"If possible, I want to gain enough standing to challenge Central soon—without risking Oguri Cap's health."
"Trusting her ability, I'll schedule her debut for the first week of May."
If she won, he'd send her to Hokkaido to prepare for the G3 Hokkaido Shimbun Hai Queen Stakes in August—a fiercely contested race for debut-year locals.
"She'll need capital first. Perhaps after her debut win, she could challenge in Nagoya."
He penciled it in, murmuring, "Ideally, one race every two months."
With that, he set down his pen. "Three races for now. The rest will depend on her progress."
That night, Shuta An dreamt again.
"Aren't you training Oguri Cap today?" he asked Sagami Masayuki after spotting his mentor in the dream stable.
"You really like that girl, don't you?" Sagami teased. "But I told you yesterday—today's light work, she'll just stretch. You're not needed."
"I just find her… pleasing to the eye," Shuta An replied calmly. "If possible, I hope to be entrusted with her future training."
Seeing his earnestness, Sagami smiled. "You can handle her training rides. But for races, the owner decides. I'll put in a good word."
"That's enough!" Shuta An bowed deeply. "Give me one chance, and I'll show what Oguri Cap can do!"
"Then go on," Sagami laughed. "Finish your other rides first, then warm her up to build chemistry."
"I'll work hard!" Shuta An bowed again.
He thought secretly, "I wonder what reward I'll get when I wake up this time?"