Rice Shower's Winning Live performance was a resounding success.
Since this was the first time Rice Shower had won without being mocked or ridiculed by the audience, her performance at Winning Live was a huge success.
That evening, Sakura Baimu and the TCB Umamusumes celebrated Rice Shower's successful comeback at a restaurant in Kitakyushu City.
"Although we already celebrated once when Rice Shower joined the team, this successful comeback also means that Rice Shower's fracture has fully healed, and she's perfectly capable of participating in races," Sakura Baimu spoke, raising her glass.
"Cheers!"
The Umamusumes also raised their glasses in unison.
"However, this should be the last chance before December for the whole team to travel together. After that, unless someone is participating in a G1 race, there's no need for the whole team to come; your trainer is quite poor," Sakura Baimu laughed.
"It's like you paid for this trip..." Mejiro McQueen scoffed.
"Of course! If Miss McQueen is willing to sponsor us, I wouldn't mind sending the whole team to every race."
"Dream on!"
"Actually, if Trainer-san wants everyone to come watch the races, I'm willing to pay..."
Satono Diamond suggested quietly after hearing Mejiro McQueen's refusal.
"Wow, as expected of Dia-chan. Both of you are young ladies, but she's much nicer than McQueen!" Sakura Baimu patted Satono Diamond on the head.
"Hehe..." Satono Diamond chuckled.
"Dia-chan, don't listen to her. It's not about the money. If the whole team has to come to every race, everyone's training time will be reduced. She's just teasing you," Mejiro McQueen said.
"Huh? Miss McQueen, is that so?" Satono Diamond asked in surprise.
"That's right, I know exactly what's going on with her," Mejiro McQueen murmured, her eyes filled with wariness as she looked at Sakura Baimu.
Her expression seemed to say, "Please don't corrupt these innocent and adorable juniors."
"Oh? McQueen knows me so well? What's going on?" Sakura Baimu, hearing this, squinted mischievously at Mejiro McQueen across from her, resting her chin on her hand as she asked with a smile.
Mejiro McQueen blushed at her words and quickly looked away. "Of course! We've known each other for four years. I know exactly what you're planning."
"Speaking of which..." Smart Falcon suddenly murmured, "If everyone's going to G1 races together, why December? Falco remembers, isn't there the Autumn Tenno Sho with Teio and McQueen in October?"
"You idiot, the Autumn Tenno Sho is held in Tokyo."
"Ugh!"
Smart Falcon blushed even more at Sakura Baimu's dismissive remark.
She had asked another silly question.
"The Japan Cup is also in Tokyo, so you can all go together," Sakura Baimu said.
"What do you mean, 'you all'? Aren't you coming?" Mejiro McQueen looked up and asked.
"I'm going to America with Teio."
"..." Mejiro McQueen rolled her eyes at Sakura Baimu, then suddenly fell silent.
"So, that's basically the situation. Unless we get any new members, we won't be traveling together for non-G1 races anymore."
"New members? Speaking of which, a lot of Dia-chan's classmates and I want to join TCB," Kitasan Black said.
"Kita-chan is right. Even now, classmates still come to me every now and then asking if Trainer-san has any plans to recruit more members," Satono Diamond nodded. "Is Trainer-san still planning to recruit new members for the team?"
"Yes, we're still missing a sprinter specializing in Turf. Rigil's Daiki Shuttle is just too good; she can handle both Dirt and Turf sprint races. We've already have our Dirt runner, and we're still missing one last Turf sprinter."
"Then, Trainer-san, should I go back and ask around among the classmates? I feel like, with Trainer-san's popularity among our sprinters, if she just shouts, 'TCB is recruiting sprinters,' a whole bunch of Umamusumes would be eager to join, right?" Kitasan Black laughed.
"No need. There's no rush. Even if we bring in new talent, TCB will find it difficult to compete with Rigil in a short time. Let's focus on helping you and Dia-chan achieve your goal of winning two Triple Crowns." Sakura Baimu gently shook her head.
"Besides, it would be even better if we could just invite an established Umamusume to join the team; we wouldn't need to start training from scratch."
"Mhm." Kitasan Black nodded repeatedly. "So, does Trainer-san have an Umamusume in mind right now?"
"Haha, actually, I like all Umamusumes, but right now, the one I most want to invite is Tamamo."
"Tamamo-senpai?" Tokai Teio exclaimed in surprise. "I remember she has a trainer."
"The problem isn't her trainer; it's that she's given up since her Arima Kinen with Oguri and hasn't raced at all."
"But Rice remembers Tamamo-senpai wasn't a short-distance Umamusume either," Rice Shower recalled.
"That's true. Genius has nothing to do with distance," Sakura Baimu said with a wave of her hand and a smile.
"As expected of a Trainer-san who is rumored to have harassed every single Umamusume in the academy."
Tokai Teio, upon hearing this, gave Sakura Baimu a thumbs-up.
...
Time flew by as Sakura Baimu chatted with a group of Umamusumes.
The next day, Sakura Baimu took the TCB Umamusumes to Fukuoka before flying back to Tokyo.
Two days later, Sakura Baimu brought Smart Falcon to Niigata Racecourse in Niigata City, Niigata Prefecture, Japan.
They were there for Smart Falcon's second race since joining TCB: the Leopard Stakes.
The Leopard Stakes is an 1800m Dirt Grand Prix race held by the URA at Niigata Racecourse and classified as G3.
This wasn't Smart Falcon's first major race, but it was her first since switching to Dirt racing.
A prolonged period of poor performance had left Smart Falcon somewhat insecure about racing.
Although she had previously defeated Satono Crown in the OP-level Seaside Stakes, it was clear that Smart Falcon still felt some apprehension about competing in a G3-level major race.
"Now entering the arena, gate 8, number 14, Smart Falcon!"
Smart Falcon ranked only twelfth in popularity among all the participating Umamusumes; almost no one at Niigata Racecourse recognized her.
And so, Smart Falcon began her nervous presentation.