For Wada, the start of 2011 could only be described as smooth sailing.
Before the Classic season had even begun, he had already picked up several graded-stakes wins, and the fact that he had managed to hold onto his ride on Glory Dyna for the Satsuki Sho already felt like Opera O himself was watching over him.
Well, maybe that really was the case.
But even if Dyna was Opera O's daughter, shouldn't that make her more like his little sister somehow? As things stood now, though, the way she behaved around him felt less like siblings and more like… a mother and son. The family hierarchy was a mess.
Still, whatever.
After the Spring Stakes at the end of March, most horses aiming for the April Classics would normally stay in the stable, rest, and keep training. Sending them back out to pasture at that point was rare.
But Takezono waved a hand and effectively gave Glory Dyna a little "pasture vacation" right there in the stable.
Every morning, she would wake up nice and comfortable, stick her head out the front of her stall, and watch all the older brothers and sisters in the same barn get saddled up and led out. After staring at them for a while, she would stick out her tongue and wander back inside.
As for her?
She got to eat in comfort, and once she had cleaned out her feed tub, she would grab it in her teeth and bang it around until she summoned a two-legger. And those two-leggers did not just bring more food. Sometimes they even refreshed into carrots, or better yet, sugar cubes.
With treatment like that, what else could she be but spoiled rotten?
Well, there was no helping it. Glory Dyna was the face of Iwamoto Stable now. Naturally she had to be kept a little rounder, a little stronger, and a little more imposing, so that when late April came, she could march into the Satsuki Sho and beat up every obnoxious colt foolish enough to stand in her way.
Of course, according to Dyna's personal definition, "obnoxious colts" referred only to males her own age. Older male horses were still all good big brothers. At least at her current age, she was not likely to run into grown stallions.
"Ohhh, good girl, good girl, good girl~ Here, eat up."
The assistant had finally become completely familiar with Glory Dyna lately. Not only did she stop biting him, she now sometimes actively came over and pressed herself against him, which left him floating with pride.
This time, though, he had brought something extra-special hidden behind his back.
The moment Dyna pushed herself into his chest, pinning him in place with the weight of her head against his back, he could barely move at all.
Then—
Pffft.
That was Dyna snorting.
She had heard what he said. A moment later she lifted her head and let him escape.
Actually, Glory Dyna herself had never expected that her love of sweets—especially donuts—would one day be passed down to her future foal.
And that foal would supposedly once get so upset over missing a bite of a jockey's donut in the trainer's stable that she nearly lost her next race over it.
"Well then~ Here's something good for you. Somehow I had a feeling you'd really like this."
A donut. The ultimate fusion of sugar and carbs.
Naturally, it was also a specially made donut for Glory Dyna, containing only a trace amount of vegetable oil and mostly just flour and sugar.
Strictly speaking, it was not all that similar to the kind of donuts humans ate.
But the spirit was the same.
Dyna's eyes went round.
She first sniffed at it, then her lips started twitching and reaching for it nonstop. She stretched her neck farther and farther, practically trying to become a giraffe-horse on the spot. When it did not enter her mouth right away, she even began pawing at the ground in agitation, her shoes clacking sharply on the hard floor as if to demand that the assistant hurry up and feed it to her.
"Okay, okay, look how impatient you are." The assistant laughed, patted her neck, and broke off half the donut to push into her mouth.
At that moment, Glory Dyna had not a trace of elegance befitting a mare.
Well, all right. To be fair, she had never really had much elegance to begin with.
She was now the biggest eater in all of Iwamoto Stable—the kind of eater who could outdo even the males.
She chewed at a speed far faster than when eating grass or feed, because she was genuinely afraid the assistant might do the same thing he had once done with the carrot and eat her share too.
The concept of a two-legger who competed with her for food had already etched itself deep into Dyna's memory.
If she did not eat quickly, then the other half might vanish too.
The assistant waited until she finished, then stuffed the remaining half into her mouth as well. "Honestly, horses really are gluttons… Tell me, Dyna, do you think you can stay unbeaten and win the Satsuki Sho? If you actually pull that off, you'll be one of a kind."
He was honestly proud just to be her assistant. He came from a horse-racing family—everyone in his family worked around horses, and he was the same, having entered the stable world as a training assistant.
Someday, maybe, he might even branch out from under Master Iwamoto and make it on his own as a trainer.
But lately he had given that dream up.
Iwamoto was nearing retirement anyway. When the time came, the stable would be his to inherit.
"Phhh!"
Dyna answered with a snort.
What in the world was this two-legger babbling about? All she needed to do was go into that dark box, run out of it, and make sure there were no horses ahead of her. It was not as if she were going to let anyone beat her.
She loved the feeling of staying in the back and then overtaking them all. The moment she saw another horse's eyes in front of her, it felt like a challenge. And challenges had to be crushed.
The assistant watched her and smiled. "Once the big race is over, I'll take you out and let you graze properly. It's only because we're using the stable as a temporary pasture now that you can't relax outside."
Dyna ignored him. She lowered her head and bit idly at the bedding straw, chewing absentmindedly. The two-legger's dramatic life story meant nothing to her. He had already provided the donut. As far as she was concerned, his purpose was exhausted.
Meanwhile, elsewhere—
"Wada-kun!"
Jockeys had their own circles, their own cliques, and the quality of one's mounts depended a great deal on who you belonged to. Most jockeys were affiliated with some group or stable-backed network, riding their main connections' horses and taking outside requests on the side.
A true free agent like Wada was rare.
After all, being independent usually meant you did not get the best rides—unless you were truly exceptional, the sort of jockey who could lift average horses to graded stakes and even G1 wins. Otherwise, you were left hoping for sheer luck and the occasional monster horse.
Wada was one of those.
Iketoe, on the other hand, had spent the past year getting penalized to hell and back.
Not just penalized—he had also been thrown by Orfevre enough times to go numb.
In the debut race, Orfevre had lost control, bumped another horse, and tried to bite, and Iketoe as the jockey had paid the price. Orfevre herself had been hauled back to the stable for retraining.
But after finally winning her maiden, it was as if she had become cursed. No matter what race they entered after that, she just would not win. OP races, graded stakes—her results were enough to make anyone's head spin.
At last, in the Spring Stakes, there had seemed to be a sliver of a chance. Then Orfevre had gone insane again and tried to bite Glory Dyna's tail like she was carrying on her father's bloodline tradition. She had still managed second place, but afterward she had also tried to charge over toward Dyna again.
Down went Iketoe.
Luckily, he was experienced enough that the fall did not injure him badly. But when he saw Orfevre go flying over the outside rail, his heart genuinely skipped a beat.
Fortunately, Orfevre suffered only some scrapes and would still be able to make the Satsuki Sho. The JRA had dragged her off for yet another eligibility review, only to conclude—once again—that she passed.
At this point, even the officials were out of ideas.
Because Orfevre only truly went berserk when Glory Dyna was present. As her main rider, Iketoe knew better than anyone that in daily life…
…she was actually fairly mild.
"Wada-kun!"
"What's up, Iketoe-kun?"
As riders, the two were not exactly enemies outside of their horses' rivalry. On the track, when Wada rode Glory Dyna and Iketoe rode Orfevre, there was tension. Off the track, they were perfectly normal.
"Next week we go head-to-head in the Satsuki Sho."
Wada thought about it. Right. Glory Dyna versus Orfevre. Most racing fans were not expecting much from Orfevre anyway. What they really wanted to see was Glory Dyna facing credible colts like Swiss Watch in a real clash.
So Wada nodded. "Yeah. And it'll probably be the only Satsuki Sho ever run at Tokyo Racecourse, too. Dyna and I will absolutely give it everything we've got."
That was the end of the exchange—no sparks, no conflict. But Iketoe could not help thinking afterward how Wada seemed so certain he would keep the honor of riding Glory Dyna in such a prestigious race.
Then again—
No other jockey would want to touch a horse as temperamental as Orfevre, especially one with no real accomplishments.
Except him.
What choice did he have? All he could do was ride her as best he could and try to win the Satsuki Sho. At the very least, he wanted her to finish around where her popularity ranking said she should. Otherwise, her future was obvious: once the Derby passed, the gelding knife would be waiting.
That was the determination he carried into the Oka Sho.
And the result?
The second favorite, ridden by Katsumi Ando, beat his first favorite by three-quarters of a length.
Iketoe was numb.
As for Wada, the horse he rode—sixteenth favorite—finished eighteenth.
That left him numb too.
"Hang in there, Wada-kun. There was nothing you could do in the Oka Sho. The horse's ability was what it was."
That was what Takezono told him afterward, because the next big race would be on his horse. He could not let Wada lose his confidence now.
And besides, for a sixteenth favorite to win a G1 was the sort of miracle that came once in a blue moon. Losing was completely normal.
That said, Wada's reputation as a mediocre rider remained intact.
Still, the start of the year had gone better than usual, and the quality of mounts he was offered had improved a little. At least in the lower classes, his in-the-money rate was clearly rising.
By Wednesday, it was time for Glory Dyna's final serious prep gallop before the Satsuki Sho.
The one in the saddle, however, was not Wada. His son had come down with a fever, so he had gone to the hospital with him.
Dyna snorted.
Today the one on her back was the assistant.
"Uh… Master, her feel seems pretty good, right?" The assistant stood in the irons and marveled at how soft Dyna's back felt, while also remaining grateful she had not launched him into orbit.
He patted the neck of the big, sturdy mare beneath him, only to see her ears flick sharply upright as she began circling in place.
"That's her adjusting to you. Compared to Wada, the way you touch her is different, so she's reacting. But today we're just doing a prep run. Let Glory Dyna run freely. As long as you don't fall off, everything's fine."
Iwamoto's voice crackled clearly through the communication system in the helmet.
The assistant switched on the helmet camera and the timing device, then urged Dyna forward.
Her response to pressure on the neck was immediate. The acceleration came a bit slowly at first, but once she crossed a certain threshold, she shot forward with terrifying force.
The assistant could feel instantly that Glory Dyna was nowhere near the level of the other horses he had ridden in training. She was in a different class entirely. At full speed, the wind buffeting his face actually hurt. Without the goggles, he probably would not have been able to keep his eyes open.
"Okay. Record complete. Her condition is excellent. Even with the added body weight, none of it has become dead weight. She really is a beauty."
By now, Glory Dyna had fully shed her winter coat. Under sunlight, she did not gleam gold the way Orfevre's famous tail-tinged coat did, but her darker chestnut had taken on a deep, almost dusky golden richness that suited her perfectly.
And really, that was the truth. In front of outsiders, Glory Dyna was indeed a calm, steady mare with a surprisingly good temper.
Only when provoked did she reveal the ferocious side hidden underneath.
And yes, that was a direct shot at Orfevre.
After the gallop, Glory Dyna was hungry. She wanted food. Unfortunately, she had to bathe first, and that irritated her.
Still, once she got back to the stable, she was finally allowed to eat in peace.
After that, she would be loaded up and sent to Tokyo Racecourse, housed again with the mares running lower-class races that day, and then wait alone in her stall until at last she would be the only mare left, stepping toward the Satsuki Sho stage.
Tokyo Racecourse.Satsuki Sho.G1.2000 meters.
A Satsuki Sho at Tokyo Racecourse—something unprecedented.
And an undefeated filly, also unprecedented.
Glory Dyna entered as the second favorite.
Though she was unbeaten, many people still could not get past the ingrained idea that a filly should not beat colts in the spring of their three-year-old season. Even so, the difference between her odds and those of the favorite, Swiss Watch—the Yayoi Sho winner—was only 0.3.
Because that was how it worked. Colts always got an extra shine in the Classics.
As for Orfevre?
Thirteenth favorite.
Twelve horses were ranked above her, and every one of them had at least one win beyond a maiden.
Orfevre's top win was still… a maiden.
Takezono was all smiles as he entered the paddock, even greeting the journalists with a raised hand.
Walking beside him, Iwamoto watched Glory Dyna circling steadily, her gait calm, no lather breaking across her skin. Her condition was impeccable.
The last time Takezono had smiled this happily had been when Opera O ran in the 2000 Arima Kinen.
And now he was smiling just as broadly for Opera O's daughter.
"Takezono-san! For this Satsuki Sho, how confident are you that the pairing of Glory Dyna and Wada Ryuuji can win?"
Takezono lifted a finger and wagged it.
"One hundred percent confident. Wada-kun won the Satsuki Sho with Opera O. Then with Opera O's daughter, he'll win it again."
"And the Satsuki Sho is only the beginning. The Japanese Derby. The Kikuka Sho. Everything Opera O did not achieve, Wada-kun and Glory Dyna will accomplish together."
A declaration of war?
Probably.
Wada was already in Takezono's trademark pink silks, whip in hand, standing at gate eighteen.
It was the first time since Opera O that he had once again found himself on such a highly regarded horse in a G1. The moment he climbed onto Glory Dyna's back, he could feel his hands trembling. He could barely hold the whip steady.
"Wada-kun, just ride the race the way you think it should be ridden. Trust yourself."
That was Iwamoto's advice. He had raised Wada as a jockey from the beginning. He would not put unnecessary pressure on him now. Besides, Takezono had changed over the past ten years. He no longer jumped immediately to replacing riders.
And Glory Dyna knew who Wada was.
Of course, several colts around them were showing off their manhood in the parade ring and had to be blasted with hoses, but Dyna paid no attention. She only felt all those eyes on her and found it unsettling. That tension made her a little stiff as she trotted toward the gates.
"Relax, relax. Just run your normal race."
Wada kept patting her neck until she settled slightly. Even then, once inside the gate she pawed the floor a few times.
And because of that—
When the gates flew open, Glory Dyna was slow away.
Not disastrously so, but clearly half a beat slower than the others. Wada's heart missed a beat.
"Oh no! Glory Dyna is slow out of the gate and drops right to the rear! That's unfavorable!"
Still, since her usual style was to come from behind, the damage was not too great. Wada steadied himself and let her settle in last.
Then he spotted Iketoe in front of him, placing Orfevre in roughly the same rearward position, just ahead of Glory Dyna.
Only when he confirmed that Dyna was not reacting to Orfevre did Wada finally breathe again.
Thank goodness. She had no interest in Orfevre.
Or perhaps—more likely—she simply could not recognize Orfevre from the rear.
Either way, the race unfolded relatively smoothly through the early stages.
Then Wada saw the bend coming and tensed all over again.
If Glory Dyna stayed where she was and only accelerated after the turn, she might not be able to reach the leaders. But if Wada asked her to quicken too early—
He remembered the Derby.
The Derby where he had cost Opera O the win.
Yet if he did nothing—
Then he remembered the Kikuka Sho, where he had hesitated too long and moved too late.
Wada was trapped between those two ghosts.
"The backmarkers may have been fooled by the pace! Orfevre is beginning to advance, but Glory Dyna still remains in the rear. If she waits until after the fourth turn, will she be able to catch them?"
In the end, Wada chose to trust his own judgment this time.
He waved the whip briefly in front of Dyna's eye, giving her the signal to go.
For a closer, accelerating through the turn was always a difficult choice. Very few horses could do it cleanly without losing speed. But now—
Wada realized Glory Dyna was one of those few.
Though she took the outer route, her powerful body absorbed the strain of the corner almost effortlessly, and she entered the straight without sacrificing much momentum.
"Explosive speed around the bend! Wada's decision is absolutely spot-on, and the horse-and-rider coordination is flawless! Tokyo's stretch is long—this is where the final duel begins!"
Glory Dyna's closing kick began to build.
The move had come a little early, but she had not yet gone into full sprint mode. Exiting the bend in sixth place was an excellent position, and at the 400-meter mark Wada loosened the reins and let her run on instinct.
He had done everything he could.
The rest belonged to Glory Dyna.
Wada knew only that his hands were shaking.
He was so, so close now to fulfilling the promise he had made to Opera O—to win a G1 of his own, then stand proudly in front of him at last.
"She's accelerating, surging! But Glory Dyna is making her move so early—can she sustain it?!"
Wada struck once down her left side with the whip.
Then he tried to strike again.
But he could not.
From sheer tension, he lost hold of the whip on the very first strike, and it went flying somewhere behind them. From there on, he had nothing left but his own arms and the full force of his will.
Ahead of them there were no more horses.
Glory Dyna's ears and mane streamed in the wind before him. In the final hundred meters, he could feel her speed beginning to dull, but under his urging she still held close to top gear.
The hoofbeats behind grew chaotic. Someone was coming.
Who?
Wada did not care.
The finish line was right there.
He drove with everything he had, voice breaking into a fierce shout as he pushed her on.
Then he glanced sideways.
There was no rival close enough.
Which meant—
He had won.
The Satsuki Sho.G1.
The glory Opera O had once achieved now shone again in his daughter.
Wada gently shortened the reins, signaling Dyna to slow down, then thrust a clenched fist toward the stands.
He wanted to cry.
But crying now would have been embarrassing.
Wada's long-cherished wish.
Glory Dyna won by two lengths, crushing Orfevre underfoot yet again.
She became the true queen of her generation.
A filly reigning over the colts.
Yesterday I noticed there's a lump growing outward from one of my ribs.It feels a little uncomfortable.It doesn't seem serious for now, but I'll go get it checked in January and see whether surgery is needed.
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