December 25
Hanshin Racecourse, Race 11
Radio NIKKEI Hai Nisai Stakes (G3), Turf 2000m
At the time, it was the only graded 2000-meter race in Japan for juveniles, and it was also the only race Luminous Dyna could realistically choose after returning from her successful trip to France in October.
Iwamoto was not surprised in the slightest that Takezono had made this decision. What worried him instead was whether Dyna, after coming back from France, might have trouble readjusting to Japan. But now it seemed that concern had been completely unnecessary.
A week before the race, the team announced that Luminous Dyna would be running in the Radio NIKKEI Hai Nisai Stakes, and even the usually accepting Japanese fans found it hard to understand.
"Isn't this just a nonsense schedule? Luminous-chan hasn't even had two full months off and now she has to carry extra weight in a G3?"
"How was this even approved? She's the only horse in this race carrying more weight! Even with the one-kilo filly allowance, the graded-race penalty still means she has to carry one kilo more than the colts! What were they thinking?!"
There were plenty of doubts online and in public, but to Takezono, they were about as significant as a drizzle.
"Luminous Dyna is the daughter of T M Opera O and Ocean Steed. We believe she has perfectly inherited the best of both parents. So this Radio NIKKEI Hai Nisai Stakes is, in a sense, a test of her ability. If she can win this race comfortably, then we'll have the confidence to aim for history next year—becoming the first filly ever to win the Satsuki Sho, and perhaps even the Triple Crown."
That was Takezono's answer to the criticism: confidence with no real evidence behind it, but enough force in the words to bluff most people. After all, he had been the one who personally mapped out the schedule for the Century's End Overlord back in the day, so at least he had some credibility.
And besides, Luminous Dyna's team was basically the original Opera O lineup all over again. The only difference was that the rider in the saddle was a little better now. At the very least, he would not mistime his move the way he had with Opera O.
Wada himself was confident. Where exactly that confidence came from, nobody knew. But Luminous Dyna liked him, and for now, that was enough.
After all, besides having to shuttle between racecourses and training centers for work, Wada had been spending almost all his time on just two individuals: his own son, Yoki, and his mount, Luminous Dyna.
Vaguely, it had started to feel as though he spent more time with Luminous Dyna than with Yoki.
In any case, this whole team now stood at Hanshin Racecourse under a flawless blue sky, directly in the middle of the storm of public attention.
Weather: ClearTrack Condition: FirmLuminous Dyna's assigned weight: 56 kg
Wada gripped the reins and patted Dyna on the neck. Whenever she got tense, her footwork tended to go slightly out of sync, and only Wada could coax her back into rhythm.
This was the first time in the juvenile season that a graded race had used this kind of class-based weight assignment.
Even though there had been plenty of criticism before the race, by the time the fixed odds were posted, Luminous Dyna's odds were sitting at 1.1. It was so extreme that it was almost at the point where betting on her brought no return at all. No one believed the filly who had won the Prix Marcel Boussac in France was capable of losing. Her fan support had practically fused into a single, overwhelming force.
"Ohh, Hanshin Racecourse today feels almost as lively as Nakayama on Arima Kinen day! Luminous Dyna is clearly the center of attention! She's the only horse in this race carrying an extra kilo, and as a filly, she has to fight fourteen colts for the title!"
"But once again she's drawn the far outside gate. Three races, three outside draws—that luck is truly awful. Still, Luminous Dyna and rider Ryuji Wada are practically specialists at the outside gate by now, so perhaps it won't matter!"
Luminous Dyna was, as always, the last horse to be loaded. But when she reached the gate, she flatly refused to go in.
It was as though some monster that ate little horses lurked inside the dark stall.
Several staff members quickly stretched a barrier line behind the gate in case she bolted backward, while the others all started pushing and tugging at once. Wada himself got involved too, grabbing her tail and helping force her in. Only then did she, very unwillingly, step into the gate.
And the moment she did, she let out an utterly miserable scream of a neigh, startling Red Saints in Gate 14 beside her badly enough to make him squirm.
"Sorry," Wada said to Red Saints' rider, Yasunari Iwata, as he tried to calm the still-fidgeting Luminous Dyna.
"All horses are in… and now, the final graded race of the year before Arima Kinen—the Radio NIKKEI Hai Nisai Stakes!"
Because Dyna had taken so long to load, the attendants were forced to clear the track in a hurry. One of them had barely stepped out of the loading zone when the gates sprang open.
"And they're off!"
Since Wada had never let Dyna fully relax after the loading struggle, she was already keyed up when the gates opened. Even so, she still froze for the briefest moment.
But overall, it was not a disaster.
"Luminous Dyna's break was a little slow, but since she'll be settling toward the rear anyway, it actually suits her usual style! Meanwhile, the also-rallying Ballet of Triumph breaks cleanly from midfield under Yasunari Fukinaga!"
Wada could feel it clearly—ever since coming back from France, Luminous Dyna had changed again.
Not just in temperament. Her stride tempo had slowed even further.
But at the same time, each stride now covered more ground.
That wasn't something he'd fully sensed in the morning works, but in an actual race, especially with the slower tempo of a rear group, the benefit became obvious. Luminous Dyna could conserve far more energy than the others before launching her finishing kick.
At first she had still been a bit nervous, but the moment she realized she was in a race, she settled down completely. She knew where she ought to be, and how she ought to run. Wada hardly needed to do anything at all. At this stage, he just had to sit there and act as a motionless weight.
At least, that was true through the middle stages.
"Hey, hey, hey—if he's just going to drift all the way to the outside anyway, then what was the point of squeezing inward earlier?!"
Takezono's voice rose sharply. His brain was overloaded. He truly could not understand what Wada was doing with Luminous Dyna on the track.
They were only just past halfway, and he was already taking her out wide? Even if her stamina was that good, surely he couldn't just waste it like this! What in the world was he thinking, taking the outside around the turn?!
Iwamoto nearly had his bones shaken loose by Takezono grabbing and jostling him, so he immediately steadied the older man. "Wada must have his reasons! If she stays trapped inside, it's more dangerous for a closer—she might just get boxed in!"
Takezono inhaled sharply, the same kind of gasp he had once made years ago when he learned that Eastern Artist had mounted Ocean Steed.
"Past the final turn now—Luminous Dyna is widest of all, carrying the extra weight but beginning to make her move! Accelerating around the bend! She's picking them off one by one—she's into the top five!"
At that moment, Wada could feel Dyna wanting to go, and he agreed: this was the time.
To his surprise, he had actually matched Dyna's timing.
That alone was progress.
So he drove hard, urging her forward with his hands. He didn't even need to start waving the whip—her fighting spirit was already at a fierce peak.
And on the final stretch, Luminous Dyna came roaring down the far outside in a way nobody could resist. Even with the weight penalty hanging over her, she still surged clear and crossed the wire with multiple lengths in hand.
Three starts. Three wins.
Debut.Prix Marcel Boussac (G1).Radio NIKKEI Hai Nisai Stakes (G3).
A new miracle horse of the juvenile season.
Even before they hit the line, Wada had thrown up a victory gesture toward the crowd—one hand on the reins, the other raised with a single finger: first.
"Luminous Dyna—wins! Her strength is beyond doubt! The fatigue from France, the added weight—none of it had the slightest effect on her performance!"
"And rider Ryuji Wada has finally claimed his first graded win of 2010!"
That was the truth.
Before this race, Ryuji Wada had not won a single graded stake of any level the entire year.
So perhaps Luminous Dyna had, in a sense, made up for a year's worth of regret on his behalf.
Perhaps.
Then JRA ran into a problem.
This year's award voting had become unexpectedly complicated.
Normally the real dispute only appeared around the Horse of the Year title, but this time, the division had appeared in the Best Two-Year-Old Filly category.
Luminous Dyna– one overseas win– one domestic G3 win– undefeated, 3-for-3
Leap Dream– Hanshin Juvenile Fillies (international G1)– one G2– undefeated, 3-for-3
With those two brilliant fillies placed side by side, even voting had become difficult.
Strictly by the grading system, Leap Dream had the clearer résumé thanks to the extra G2. But Luminous Dyna had won a mile G1 at Longchamp, and JRA could already see the possibility of a future Arc challenge through her.
The fans were equally divided. Some voices even began openly hoping that Luminous Dyna would simply fly to France in June of her three-year-old year and prepare directly for the Arc. After all, as a three-year-old filly, she would still enjoy the weight allowance there. Since she had already won once at Longchamp, surely she could win there again.
But then again, this was the first year the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies had been upgraded to G1, and Leap Dream had won it while going 3-for-3 unbeaten. JRA could not simply ignore that. Everyone ended up torn.
No one abstained. They just agonized over which box to tick.
Even the tensions between owner Takezono and Shadai did not affect the vote. Because if they cast completely ridiculous votes, they would get flamed alive.
In the end, after a painfully careful discussion, JRA announced the result for Best Two-Year-Old Filly.
Leap Dream: 148 votesLuminous Dyna: 137 votes
There was no doubt that Leap Dream had won the category.
But that did not mean Luminous Dyna would leave the year without an award.
It seemed to be the first time JRA had ever granted a Special Award to a two-year-old, but at the very least it was enough to keep the fans from exploding. According to the graded-race system, Luminous Dyna really had come up short against Leap Dream.
When Takezono stepped up to receive the award, he wore a broad smile. The last time he had been up there had probably been for T M Opera O or Ocean Steed. And now he stood there again as the owner of their daughter.
That, too, felt like fate.
Oh, right. As far as he knew, the biggest win on Orfevre's record at that point was still just a maiden. Poor Iketoe had it rough. A horse with that kind of temperament must have been a nightmare to ride.
But what did that have to do with Takezono?
Sure, they had been just children back then and "not known any better," but if the adults hadn't properly controlled the kids, then the adults could eat the consequences too. Debts had to be repaid. That was simply the natural law of heaven and earth.
JRA awards a Special Award to a two-year-old for the first time—Luminous Dyna does not win Best Two-Year-Old Filly!
Wada was home for New Year's when he saw the article on his phone.
To him, it was not surprising.
If Luminous Dyna had chosen the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies instead, she would probably have won the title unanimously. But Takezono had been thinking ahead, and had picked the 2000-meter race instead. From that perspective, the decision made sense.
As long as he was still Luminous Dyna's regular rider, Wada felt this had already been the happiest year in a long time.
After all, she was Opera O's daughter—smart, powerful, and practically automatic, just like him.
Admitting that made Wada feel a bit like some shameless freeloader riding on another's talent, but honestly, that was what the experience felt like. Even Masayoshi Ebina had described her that way after the Marcel Boussac.
With a horse like that, winning a Grade 1 was almost inevitable—so long as Wada himself didn't do anything unnecessary.
Which meant his promise to Opera O might finally be fulfilled. His daughter had already won at the top level. All that remained was for Wada himself to get there too.
Perhaps that was only four months away, once the Satsuki Sho arrived.
Maybe someday his son Yoki would even get to ride one of Dyna's foals.
That was how Wada liked to imagine it.
But that was still far too early to be thinking about. By then, who knew what shape his own riding career would be in? His connections in the jockey world were thin as paper.
The only people he really had to rely on now were Takezono and trainer Iwamoto.
Maybe Yoki would one day end up trapped by the same limitations because of his father. Maybe by then, Takezono wouldn't even still be keeping racehorses.
Who knew.
Of course, Luminous Dyna knew absolutely nothing about what her burden of a jockey was fretting over. All she knew was that lately she had been eating extremely well.
Carrots and grapes and other sweet things seemed to arrive in endless supply.
And once—just once—she had licked a strange white crystal from Takezono's hand.
It had been sweeter than carrots and sweeter than grapes by a factor of ten thousand. Her eyes had gone wide on the spot.
But after that one miraculous encounter, Takezono never let her taste that white thing again, and Dyna was deeply troubled by it.
If something could make her that happy, why had she only gotten it once? Why was life as a horse so cruel?
"Let Dyna go out to pasture now. We'll train her straight for the Satsuki Sho. As for Orfevre, he'd better pray he even qualifies for the Satsuki Sho in the first place."
Takezono said that while standing beside her, and Dyna—still not understanding a word—kept stretching out her neck and licking his palm with her tongue, hoping for another taste.
Right.
She didn't understand any of it.
The white stuff she'd licked, in human society, was called sugar.
Join here to read ahead.
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