Over the next few days, the NHK film crew remained constantly occupied, gathering enough footage for the docuntary's first phase before returning to Japan ahead of schedule.
Even for NHK, continuously keeping an entire docuntary team stationed at a five-star hotel in Australia for several months was not a burden they could casually sustain. Their plan was to return three days before the Ranvet Stakes and resu filming from there.
After personally seeing the film crew off at the airport, both Shuta An and jiro Dober visibly relaxed.
"Finally… I don't have to stay tense all the ti anymore,"
jiro Dober said softly after the morning exercise session, accepting the damp towel Shuta An handed her. She wiped the sweat from her neck before glancing toward him.
"So now we officially enter the real training phase, right?"
"Not yet." Shuta An imdiately denied the idea. "We'll continue with low-intensity conditioning until late February. There's no need to rush the training load upward."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"I already told Dober before—the Ranvet Stakes is rely a preparatory race. I ant exactly what I said. I don't have any fixed expectations for your performance there."
jiro Dober blinked in surprise.
"But didn't Trainer say I needed to win the Ranvet Stakes before challenging the Queen Elizabeth Stakes?"
She tilted her head slightly. "You even said that to the film crew."
"And if I lose—"
"Dober."
Shuta An interrupted her helplessly, almost laughing.
"You're a Triple Tiara Uma Musu. There's no race in the world that would reject your entry because of one defeat. Even if you lost the Ranvet Stakes, the Queen Elizabeth Stakes would still welco you."
Only then did jiro Dober finally realize that his earlier statent had rely been a casual remark made during filming.
"Oh… so that's what you ant."
The corners of her lips unconsciously lifted, her expression brightening considerably. But only a mont later, her gaze sharpened again.
"Even so, I still don't want to lose."
Her voice softened, yet the determination inside it beca even clearer.
"I want to win both the Ranvet Stakes and the Queen Elizabeth Stakes."
After wiping the remaining sweat from her face, jiro Dober casually draped the towel over her shoulder before extending her hand toward him.
"Then," she said quietly, "please continue supporting properly, Trainer."
Shuta An lowered his gaze toward the hand extended before him. Then, without hesitation, he firmly grasped it.
Cold.
That was the first sensation that traveled through his palm.
Perhaps because she had only just finished training, jiro Dober's fingertips carried a faint chill despite the warmth of her body.
jiro Dober herself still had not completely adapted to this degree of physical contact. Yet she did not withdraw her hand. Instead, she silently endured the unfamiliar sensation and gradually forced herself to beco accustod to it.
"If I can't even adapt to this much…" she thought quietly, "then I'll never be able to move forward."
The two maintained the handshake for several seconds. Only after that did jiro Dober slowly release him.
Behind his back, Shuta An unconsciously flexed his fingers once or twice.
"She used quite a bit of strength just now—" he thought. "Was that her way of expressing determination?"
anwhile, jiro Dober took a small step forward as if nothing had happened.
"I'm hungry," she announced calmly. "I'm going to eat breakfast now. Trainer should hurry and eat too."
"I'll go with you."
Shuta An imdiately followed after her.
At noon, during the lunch break, jiro Dober unexpectedly did not remain in her own room as she usually had over the past several days. Instead, she carried her drawing board to the balcony outside Shuta An's room and quietly sat down there, using Rosehill Racecourse in the distance as the subject of a sketch.
Behind her, Shuta An sat at the desk with his laptop open, handling work matters sent from Central Tracen Academy.
Occasionally, he lifted his eyes toward jiro Dober's drawing board. But after only a few glances, his attention would always drift elsewhere involuntarily.
Toward the pale, slender nape exposed beneath her dark hair.
Perhaps sensing the lingering gaze behind her, jiro Dober suddenly turned around.
Their eyes t directly.
This ti, Shuta An did not avoid it.
"How's the drawing coming along?" he asked naturally.
"I'll show Trainer once it's finished."
jiro Dober imdiately turned back again, pretending to focus entirely on her sketch.
"Then I'll look forward to it."
Shuta An smiled faintly. He had never once doubted jiro Dober's artistic talent.
By the ti half the lunch break had passed, jiro Dober finally stood up. Carrying the drawing board in both hands, she walked over to the young man and stopped beside him.
"I'm done."
Shuta An raised his eyes.
Then, for a brief mont, he froze.
The sketch before him possessed astonishing completion quality. The outline of Rosehill Racecourse, the distant turf, the layered structure of the stands, even the shadows cast beneath the afternoon sunlight—all of it had been captured with remarkable precision and delicacy.
"Dober…" Shuta An looked genuinely impressed. "Your drawing skills are incredible."
"To finish sothing this complete in such a short amount of ti—" He exhaled softly. "You really are amazing."
The praise made jiro Dober's ears twitch slightly.
Then the young man casually added.
"If there's an opportunity soday, I'd like Dober to draw a portrait sketch for too."
jiro Dober's eyes widened slightly.
"Then—"
"No rush." Shuta An raised a finger before she could continue. "We'll talk about it after the Ranvet Stakes."
"Mhm."
jiro Dober imdiately morized those words in her heart.
During this period in Australia, there were no junior teammates around them. There was no need to deliberately maintain excessive distance. Opportunities like this were extrely rare.
"If I still can't make progress after all this—" jiro Dober thought silently, "Senior Nagasaki and the others will definitely laugh at when I return."
"The seniors already prepared the route for . I only need to follow it step by step. There definitely won't be any mistakes."
That evening, after dinner, Shuta An returned alone to his room and began handling URA Association rating evaluations.
Last week's Tokyo Shimbun Hai had finally allowed King Halo to secure her long-awaited graded race victory.
However, considering that King Halo's front-running performances had always lacked stability, Shuta An ultimately gave a relatively conservative rating after repeated deliberation.
"107."
Even after writing the score down, he still added an additional note beneath it:
"If King Halo can continue achieving strong performances at higher-level graded races in her next start, an upward adjustnt of approximately one additional point may be considered."
Only after sending the evaluation report back to the URA Association did Shuta An finally glance at the ti.
Past 9 PM already.
"Ti to sleep."
He stood up, preparing to take a bath. Yet just as he took his first step, a knock suddenly sounded from outside the room.
"Who is it?"
Shuta An answered reflexively. But only after speaking did he rember the room's excellent soundproofing. The person outside probably could not hear him at all.
Chuckling awkwardly to himself, he walked toward the door and glanced through the peephole display.
Then he paused.
"Why is Dober here at this hour?"
After hesitating briefly, he still opened the door.
"Trainer."
Standing outside was jiro Dober.
She wore a long skirt together with a round-brimd hat, her appearance carrying a rare softness compared to her usual image.
The mont the door opened, she naturally reached forward and lightly grasped Shuta An's wrist.
"Would you like to go for a walk before sleeping?"
Shuta An lowered his gaze toward the hand holding him.
After several seconds of silence, he finally nodded.
"Wait a mont. Let change clothes first."
The instant she received a positive answer, a faint smile imdiately surfaced within jiro Dober's eyes.
"He didn't refuse." Her gaze quietly followed the young man's retreating back. "Just like Senior Nagasaki predicted."
But shortly afterward, jiro Dober lightly pressed her lips together again.
"Still not enough—according to the seniors' plan, Trainer has to beco the one who actively pursues ."
"I can't relax yet."
—
After returning from a brief nightti walk with jiro Dober, Shuta An took a quick bath and went to bed early.
When he opened his eyes again, he was already standing inside the Dream World's Tokyo Racecourse.
Today was guro Kinen race day and the partner he would be riding was Rice Shower.
"This is actually my first ti participating in the guro Kinen—"
Sitting inside the jockey waiting room, Shuta An rested his chin against one hand while quietly organizing the race information in his mind.
guro Kinen was a traditional G2 long-distance race held over 2500 ters on Tokyo Racecourse turf. At the sa ti, it was also one of the oldest graded races in Japan.
The race's na originated from the old guro Racecourse—the predecessor of modern Tokyo Racecourse.
That place had once hosted the very first Japanese Derby.
And this year's guro Kinen had already reached its 107th running.
Although Rice Shower had only managed eighth place in the previous Arima Kinen, the mont the public saw Shuta An returning as his jockey once more, he imdiately seized the position of first favorite.
After all, the shock Tokai Teio delivered at last month's Nikkei Shinshun Hai was still deeply carved into the mories of every jockey in Japan.
That race had completely shattered Yamada Taisei's confidence.
Back then, Yamada Taisei, riding El Casa River, had practically exhausted every ounce of his riding technique just to weave through traffic and force out a miraculous late charge.
Yet even after all that—
Tokai Teio, who had been sitting near third-from-last entering the final stretch, simply ca storming down the absolute outside under Shuta An's command.
One hundred fifty ters.
That was all it took.
He swallowed the entire field whole.
By the finish line, Tokai Teio had opened an additional one and half-length gap over El Casa River.
After the race, Yamada Taisei openly broke down crying during the post-race interview.
According to what Yutaka Take later told Shuta An, Yamada Taisei had even voluntarily offered to step down as jiro Palr's primary jockey afterward.
"His head's completely filled with images of losing to Tokai Teio," Yutaka Take had said helplessly while shaking his head. "Every ti he imagines riding jiro Palr, he imagines Teio crushing him."
"His ntal fortitude really isn't very strong, huh?"
Back then, Shuta An had only responded with a strange little chuckle.
—
"Heh."
And precisely because of that overwhelming performance, every jockey participating in this guro Kinen now secretly kept one eye on him.
Everyone hoped to seize the opportunity to defeat Shuta An's favored horse while Tokai Teio himself was absent.
This ti, Rice Shower drew gate 5.
After briefly reviewing the field composition, Shuta An quickly made his tactical judgnt.
Blizzard—the likely pace-setter—was clearly no longer in peak condition.
In that case, there was no need for Rice Shower to remain overly passive.
"We'll move forward."
As he adjusted the reins, the young man lowered his voice slightly.
"The last ti I encountered Blizzard was during Satsuki Sho. Teio overtook him easily."
"This ti… it'll be Rice Shower's turn."
From gate 6 nearby, jockey Konkō Hiroshi glanced sideways toward him. Although he did not hear the full sentence clearly, he vaguely caught Blizzard's na.
"He's probably already thinking about how to deal with Blizzard—"
Konkō Hiroshi silently exhaled. But unlike the others, he had no ambitions of winning today. Blizzard's condition simply wasn't good enough.
"Forget winning," he thought. "I'll just let him relax and escape comfortably."
Thus, after the gates opened, Konkō Hiroshi rely guided Blizzard forward naturally without aggressively urging him on. Since nobody else contested the lead, Blizzard smoothly took first position after roughly one hundred ters.
anwhile, Shuta An directly sent Rice Shower forward as well.
One length behind Blizzard.
Third position overall.
Between them sat Cheers Power, ridden by Katsumi Shiomura.
Neither jockey in front could be considered elite.
Because of that, Shuta An deliberately avoided applying excessive pressure to either of them. He did not want to accidentally disrupt the race rhythm too early.
As a result, despite sitting in third, he rode Rice Shower as though he herself were already controlling the race from the front.
Every movent remained calm.
asured.
Deliberate.
"Sothing about his rhythm feels off—"
In the stands, Iizuka Yoshitsugu narrowed his eyes.
"The positioning matches. But the riding feel doesn't."
He could not understand what exactly Shuta An was attempting.
Beside him, Rice Shower's Horse Owner looked visibly nervous.
"Is this really okay?"
For a horse owner from a racing family, guro Kinen's prestige was enormous despite being rely a G2. Its history alone gave it influence rivaling so ordinary G1 races.
"It's fine. Trust Shuta-kun."
Even though he himself could not fully grasp the intention behind the ride, Iizuka Yoshitsugu still chose to defend him without hesitation.
Then, as the field entered the backstretch opposite the grandstands, change finally appeared.
Matikanetannhauser.
Yukio Okabe.
The pair originally tracking Rice Shower suddenly advanced forward, clearly intending to pressure his position directly.
"As expected—"
Shuta An's gaze sharpened slightly.
"Blizzard's slow pace couldn't fool Okabe-senpai."
A thousand-ter split of sixty-three seconds.
Any experienced jockey would imdiately realize sothing was wrong.
And because of that—
Shuta An made his move instantly.
Without hesitation, he urged Rice Shower past Cheers Power.
"If it stays this slow, the race becos a pure burst-speed contest later. And that's exactly what I don't want."
He imdiately intensified his pushing rhythm.
"Rice Shower. Use your stamina. Force the field to race on your terms. Take the lead right here."
Against a fully serious Shuta An, Cheers Power and Blizzard simply had no resistance whatsoever.
Before the final corner even arrived, Rice Shower had already overtaken Blizzard and seized the front outright.
"He's leading?!"
Iizuka Yoshitsugu's eyes widened instantly.
"Shuta-kun's way too bold!"
anwhile, Rice Shower's Horse Owner forcibly steadied his emotions.
"Leading…should still be acceptable, right? At least this proves they're proactively changing tactics—"
Yet while the connections felt nervous, the audience in the grandstands had already begun constructing entirely different interpretations.
"With Mihono Bourbon still absent—"
"Could Shuta-kun be intentionally letting Rice Shower inherit Bourbon's style?"
"Is this so kind of tribute to his forr rival?"
If Shuta An had heard those discussions, he probably would have broken into cold sweat on the spot.
Because the truth was embarrassingly simple. Leading was rely the easiest path to victory today.
He held absolutely zero interest in whatever strange "Rice Shower × Mihono Bourbon" narrative horse racing fans had begun inventing.
Then ca the final straight.
But unlike usual, Shuta An did not imdiately unleash the whip.
Instead, he first allowed Rice Shower to maintain his preferred cruising rhythm for several dozen ters.
Only after Matikanetannhauser behind them began visibly reducing the gap did the young man finally move.
The familiar windmill whip exploded into motion.
Yukio Okabe was already aging.
Competing directly against Shuta An in raw upper-body driving strength was simply unrealistic now.
And ultimately—
Relying on the advantage created by that earlier proactive move to the front—
Rice Shower barely defended first place at the finish line.
A nose.
Only a nose separated victory from defeat.
But a win was still a win.
Yet inside the viewing area, neither Iizuka Yoshitsugu nor Rice Shower's Horse Owner looked relieved.
Instead, both stared silently toward the monitor.
"With this kind of performance—can he really challenge jiro McQueen next ti?"
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
For anyone interested for so advanced chapters, or just want to support . Hit the mbership button to my Patreon: spatreon/cw/ModerateCitizens
User Comments
0 comments from readers