Soon, it was time to enter the gates. Unable to decide on a tactic, Zhou Tai'an decided to use a standard "Forward" strategy.
"Although this is different from what I learned in America, this is how you should think in Japan."
If this were in America, the most orthodox tactic was never "Forward." Horse Girls confident in their abilities would mostly choose to lead, while those who were not good at breaking from the gate but had outstanding explosive power would choose to chase from behind. "Forward" was often the choice of those who couldn't keep up with the leader but didn't want to give up.
But in Japan, it was different. "Forward" was considered the most orthodox tactic. You could say that most strong Horse Girls would use it, waiting for an opportunity in the early stages and then breaking out from the pack in the second half of the race to fight for victory.
It wasn't surprising that Zhou Tai'an, unable to think of a clever trick for the time being, decided to use a "Forward" strategy.
…
With a "clack," the starting gates sprang open in unison. Zhou Tai'an didn't use his whip, just his hands, and easily got Bordeaux Prune into third place.
The experience of being beaten by Zhou Tai'an in the previous six races made the veteran jockeys at Kasamatsu unhesitatingly decide to mark Bordeaux Prune in this race.
Therefore, Zhou Tai'an noticed that besides two jockeys who had debuted in the same cohort as him, there were no other opponents in front of him.
"Instead of blocking me, they chose to fight for the win?" he muttered, lying low on the horse's back.
It wasn't surprising. The winner's prize for this A-group race was 2 million yen, the most lucrative race at Kasamatsu Racecourse today. In the face of this prize money, the desire to teach a rookie a lesson could be temporarily set aside.
Until just before exiting the final turn, Zhou Tai'an maintained his push-riding posture, following the rhythm of his partner's gallop, using his upper body strength to help him run more efficiently. He had to make up for his partner's lack of ability with his own skill.
In the stands, Saginomi Masao spoke to an old acquaintance beside him. "This is the rookie jockey Nagoya assigned me this year. What do you think?"
His old friend could hear the pride in Saginomi Masao's voice and could only pout. "He's not bad, but Central has a monster rookie this year too."
"Yutaka Take, right?" Although Saginomi Masao was just a trainer at Kasamatsu, he had heard the name of this rising star jockey.
"That's right. He debuted in early March and has already won 22 races at Central. Last month, he rode the sixth favorite, Shiyono Regal, to a second-place finish in the Kinko Sho. Plus, with his father's support, he's expected to take over the mantle from the previous generation of jockeys and become a mainstay of the future."
"Then what do you think of Zhou-kun?" Saginomi Masao was noncommittal about his friend's words and brought the topic back to his apprentice on the track. "Do you think he has the ability to establish himself at Central?"
"Shouldn't be a problem," his friend gave a positive answer. "His riding style is not like any of our country's jockeys. He looks very aggressive, like..."
"Like the jockeys of those foreign horses in the Japan Cup," Saginomi Masao added. "A power-based riding style is exactly what Japanese jockeys are lacking right now."
"Are you thinking of sending him to Central?" the old friend smiled, the wrinkles on his face deepening. "A jockey of this level can get you at least a hundred more wins a year. Are you really willing to let him go, Masao-san?"
"What's there to be willing or not willing about," Saginomi Masao waved his hand. "If Zhou-kun establishes himself at Central, or even succeeds, it will be an honor for me as his teacher."
"You know I don't have many years left until retirement," he sighed. "So I'm thinking of letting him go to Central after Oguri Cap finishes her active career."
At this, Saginomi Masao paused. "When that time comes, I hope you can give him some opportunities, Matsumoto-san."
"That will be about three years from now, right?" Trainer Matsumoto thought for a moment. "As long as Zhou-kun continues to improve, I can help him secure some resources from the owners."
"A while ago, Mr. Uchimura of the Tokai brand told me that because Tokai Roman won a Graded Race, the breeding rights to Symboli Rudolf that he had bought were given to Roman's full sister, Tokai Natural, who was supposed to be trained by me but was injured and never debuted," he grinned. "As long as Zhou-kun wins this race, I'll try to get him the ride on that foal."
"Then let's see if Zhou-kun can achieve the grand feat of 7 wins in one day," Saginomi Masao said, while also cheering for his stable's apprentice jockey in his heart.
After all, that was the main ride on the "Emperor's" first-generation foal.
As they exited the fourth corner and entered the final straight, which was only 238 meters long, Zhou Tai'an could feel Bordeaux Prune's breathing become ragged—a sign of stamina loss.
But he didn't panic.
"It's not just my side that's losing a lot of stamina," Zhou Tai'an glanced at his opponents behind him from the corner of the turn, then looked at the leader in front, and came to a conclusion. "Everyone's stamina loss is about the same. In fact, Bordeaux Prune has lost relatively less."
So what he had to do now was to make his opponents behind him waste more stamina on unnecessary things.
He switched the whip to his left hand and held the reins with his right. Zhou Tai'an squeezed his legs tightly to ensure he wouldn't be thrown off, then abruptly gave Bordeaux Prune a lash with his left hand.
Kasamatsu was a right-handed track. A left-handed whip would make the horse drift to the right, which in this case meant towards the inside rail.
Local jockeys were accustomed to having their horses run on the outside to avoid the deep sand on the inside, which would affect their sprint speed.
"Normally, you really shouldn't go to the inside... but today is different."
Because Kasamatsu had been holding races for four consecutive days. Even if the jockeys didn't want to run on the inside, many horses had trampled the inner sand over these four days. The inside was now not much thicker than the outside.
At the same time, by drifting from the outside to the inside, Zhou Tai'an had also blocked the acceleration space of his opponents who were closing in from behind, forcing them to slow down and find a new route to accelerate.
After catching his opponents off guard with this unconventional move, Zhou Tai'an knew that the rest was up to Bordeaux Prune's own guts.
"Just like in my real-world training, even if I calculate all the situations for Oguri Cap and give her countermeasures, when it comes to the final moment, it's still up to her."
The kind of performance a Horse Girl could deliver in that situation was a true testament to her real talent.
As he thought this, Zhou Tai'an began to furiously swing his whip like a windmill with one hand, while forcefully pushing his partner's neck with the other to reduce the energy consumption of his sprint.
"Bordeaux Prune breaks out! Here he comes, here he comes, here he comes! Don't underestimate the apprentice jockey!" The on-site commentator was excited by the unprecedented performance he was about to witness.
The spectators on the sidelines also became excited—
"Can he do it?"
"It looks like he can catch up!"
"It's not just Oguri Cap who's strong, but her jockey too!"
Saginomi Masao clenched his fists. "Good job! Just like that, charge to the end!"
"Can he really do it?" Trainer Matsumoto squinted, his eyes fixed on the figure that was becoming clearer and clearer in his vision.
Zhou Tai'an was oblivious to all the noise.
"Win this race! Whether in a dream or in reality, I will win every race!" With only this thought in his mind, his push-riding became frenzied, so forceful that anyone watching would have the illusion of neck pain.
"Bordeaux Prune has left all his opponents behind!" The on-site commentator's voice became incredibly passionate. "So what if Central has Yutaka Take?! We at Kasamatsu have the stronger Zhou Tai'an!"
It wasn't until after he had crossed the finish line that a prompt from the viewer sounded in his mind.
He came back to his senses and chose to view it—
[Acquired Transferable Skill—先行の鬼 / Oni of the Forward.]
-------
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