Chapter 165: Pay Attention to These Three Umamusume
As he watched the race, Makoto's gaze occasionally drifted toward Duramente, his mind turning over a memory he wasn't entirely sure about.
In that memory, Duramente had apparently suffered a fracture after the Japanese Derby. She then spent a long period recovering from the injury, only returning to racing in February or March of the following year.
Looking at Tokai Teio, Silence Suzuka, and Rice Shower as examples, all of them had also experienced fractures in this world. The difference was that the latter two were not euthanized because of it; they healed and then quietly retired.
By that logic, Duramente might experience something similar in this timeline.
The problem was that, if he remembered correctly, the incident didn't happen during a race or training—it happened during turnout.
This confused Makoto deeply.
Whether horse or Umamusume, both races and training were extremely intense. If a fracture occurred during those, he could understand it.
But turnout? How could an accident even happen there? What were the Japanese trainers and stable hands in that other world doing? He truly couldn't understand.
Even without thinking too deeply, turnout would correspond to something like a rest day for the Umamusume.
How does someone get injured badly enough to fracture something on a rest day? She couldn't have just tripped on flat ground, could she?
Duramente might look a little dazed and dull at times, but she wasn't so airheaded or unlucky that something like that would happen… right?
Questions aside, Makoto held one firm belief.
He did not want Duramente to suffer any injury in this world.
He was convinced that Kitasan Black could beat this opponent fair and square, leaving no room for doubt.
If it had been earlier—especially before he signed a contract with Kitasan Black—he wouldn't have had such thoughts.
But over the past few months, through the girl herself and through race after race, he had gradually rediscovered the very excitement he once felt while competing.
In all top-tier events, the opponents were stronger, more gifted.
Compared to true prodigies, all the effort he put in seemed meaningless—no matter what he did, he could never win a championship.
But perhaps that was the meaning of competition for someone like him—ordinary, with only a little talent—to keep trying to push his limits.
Maybe that was the meaning of extreme sports as a whole.
And now he finally realized that in the beginning, when he first started coaching Kitasan Black, he hadn't truly become a racer trainer. He didn't have the mindset a trainer should have.
Back then, he still carried the mentality of an outsider. As long as he guided her seriously and put in the effort, that was enough.
He didn't know when it changed, but at some point he began genuinely wanting to challenge the limits together with Kitasan Black.
In the other timeline, whether she won or lost, Kitasan Black had never defeated Duramente. It wasn't until her third year after debut that she was finally recognized as the strongest of her generation.
Maybe each defeat had its own unavoidable reason—intense training, late development, accumulated fatigue from constant racing.
But now, he was using the gentlest training methods he could, tailored to her physical development, with specific strategies prepared. And she had already defeated Duramente once.
That proved his belief was correct:
Kitasan Black was no weaker than any opponent, she might even reach her peak earlier.
With this in mind, Makoto didn't rush to say anything. After all, having an idea was one thing; acting on it was another.
Besides, Duramente looked completely fine right now. If he really wanted to warn or hint about something, he still needed to think carefully about how to phrase it.
So while he pondered, his attention remained on the track.
As with any other race day, there were ten races held before the main event—the Dream Trophy.
Most of these were debut races and maiden races, the latter being for Umamusume who failed to win in their earlier debut runs.
Compared to graded stakes races and the upcoming Dream Trophy, the level of these races was naturally limited.
Even so, Kitasan Black, Almond Eye, and Duramente watched with great interest, chatting nonstop about who would win each race and how the competitors performed.
Makoto would occasionally be pulled into the discussion whenever one of them asked for his opinion. But as the Dream Trophy—the highlight of the day—drew near, he fell silent for a long moment before finally giving an answer similar to what he'd once told Silence Suzuka.
"Who will win…? Even if you're the one asking, Kitasan, I really can't give you an answer."
Meeting Kitasan Black's expectant gaze, he spread his hands helplessly.
"If your senpai were still actively racing, I could at least say something with some confidence."
"But I don't know what kind of training they've kept up these past years, or how they prepared for this Dream Trophy. I really can't make any predictions."
Then his expression sharpened, and his tone grew serious.
"But even so, there are three competitors you should definitely pay attention to."
"Three… Is two of them Special Week-senpai and Grass Wonder-senpai?" Kitasan Black guessed hesitantly.
Beside her, Almond Eye and Duramente also looked over curiously.
"No."
Makoto shook his head and pointed to the screen opposite the grandstand.
"Matikanefukukitaru, Seiun Sky, and Mejiro Bright."
The three Umamusume froze for a moment, then followed his gesture toward the screen.
Displayed there was an Umamusume with long brown hair, two delicate braids hanging down beside her ears, and golden eyes.
As if a bit slow on the uptake, she didn't react for a while until the camera had been on her for several seconds. Then she blinked in surprise, looked toward the lens, and slowly curved her eyes into a lazy, gentle smile as she lifted her hand in a slow wave.
"That's… Mejiro Bright-senpai?" Kitasan Black quickly matched the girl on the screen to the name in her memory.
"Bright-senpai…" Almond Eye murmured, thinking for a moment before looking toward Makoto.
"If it's Seiun-senpai and Fuku-senpai, I know they're both Kikuka Sho winners."
"Since Kitasan-senpai is going to compete in the Kikuka Sho soon, you're having us watch these two for the sake of preparation, right?"
Seeing Makoto nod, she then became puzzled.
"As for Bright-senpai… Oh! She's a Spring Tenno Sho winner, so she's also really strong in long-distance races."
"It's not just the Spring Tenno Sho."
Makoto nodded again, then shook his head.
"There's also the Hanshin Daishoten and the Long Distance Championship."
"I've told Kitasan this before—whether it's paying attention to your senpai or your peers, your focus can't be only on G1 races, and you shouldn't pay attention to just one or two results."
"Mejiro Bright and Matikanefukukitaru debuted in the same year. Although she never managed to beat Matikanefukukitaru, Bright recorded the fastest final three furlongs in that year's Kikuka Sho."
"As for the Spring Tenno Sho and the Hanshin Daishoten, both are races of 3200 and 3000 meters. Winning those unquestionably proves long-distance strength."
"And the Long Distance Championship is the longest graded stakes race in the entire Shining Series—3600 meters.
"Almond Eye, the longest race you've run so far was that event run, which were 2400 meters."
"So let me ask you something."
As he often did with Kitasan Black, Makoto deliberately hardened his tone.
"After running 2400 meters, if the race required you to run an additional 1200 meters…."
"Could you win?
"No, could you even finish the race?"
Almond Eye froze immediately and fell deep into thought.
The other two Umamusume also wore solemn, cautious expressions.
Seeing this, Makoto nodded slightly.
"That's why you should pay extra attention during this race. There's a lot to learn from it."
"But…"
His gaze shifted toward the paddock, and he suddenly chuckled.
"As for Bright-senpai's slow, delayed reactions… That part you can definitely skip learning."
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