After leaving Oguri Cap's house, Zhou Tai'an noticed that her expression was strange.
"Did she talk about something with Mrs. Shiraishi?" he wondered to himself, but didn't directly ask.
He didn't think it was appropriate for an outsider to pry into a private conversation between a mother and daughter.
When they returned to the inn, Sachiko-san had specially delayed the end of lunch for them.
The Horse Girls from Team Rigil and Tojo Hana had already eaten, so only the inn's staff and the three of them were left in the dining room.
"Starting tomorrow, you'll be re-entering the dirt track training phase," Zhou Tai'an said, carrying a plate full of food and smoothly sitting down opposite Oguri Cap, who was already eating heartily. "I hope these few days of swimming practice haven't made you forget the feeling of running on a dirt track."
"How could she forget," Brand New Shine commented from the side. "She still runs at the training track at night, doesn't she?"
"That's true," he smiled. "But the dirt track training starting tomorrow won't be just 400 meters."
Oguri Cap didn't seem nervous. She indicated her attitude indistinctly while chewing, "It's been a while since I've gone back to the training mode from Kasamatsu. I miss it."
"You're really something..." The young trainer gave a helpless smile. Having seen too many Horse Girls who liked to slack off during training, a type like Oguri Cap, who actively looked forward to higher intensity training, was something he really liked.
He turned to look at Brand New Shine. "I need you to go back to Monbetsu Tracen Academy tomorrow to photograph their training ground conditions."
"Are you looking at the changes in the grounds, Trainer?" Brand New Shine blinked and asked.
"Yes. I plan to try to determine the training focus and habits of the Monbetsu Tracen Academy Horse Girls from the changes in the grounds over these few days."
The Monbetsu Horse Girls and trainers wouldn't be on guard against this, nor would they fake anything.
But Brand New Shine couldn't figure out what her trainer could find from two sets of photos.
However, she didn't plan to ask. "I just need to trust my trainer."
The next morning, after the Horse Girls from Team Rigil had finished breakfast and were digesting, preparing to go to the training track, he was already watching Oguri Cap finish her warm-up, about to start her laps.
Taiki Shuttle glanced at her teammates and found that they were all very interested in Oguri Cap's workout—this would be the first time she had done a serious lap training in front of the Rigil girls.
Her eyes darted around, and a good idea popped into her head.
So she walked over to him with a light step. "Trainer-san, can I run with your Horse Girl once?"
"Here?" he was surprised at first, then forcibly suppressed his excitement and asked, "But shouldn't we get Tojo-san's permission first?"
"It's fine," Tojo Hana also emerged from behind the group of horses. "I want to see too."
"My name is Taiki Shuttle!" The chestnut-haired Horse Girl thumped her chest, the resulting waves making him politely avert his gaze. "I'm currently studying at Central Tracen Academy! Although I haven't officially debuted in the Twinkle Series yet, the 'Emperor'-senpai said I will definitely get good results!"
Listening to Taiki Shuttle's overflowing confidence, he put on a thoughtful expression.
"Emmmm..." Feigning reluctance, he agreed to her request. "Alright then, but only one and a half laps."
On this training track, one and a half laps was 600 meters. In a formal race, the last 600 meters (3 furlongs) was a very important indicator. In Oguri Cap's two races so far, her last 3F time in her debut was 36.3 seconds, and in the Wakakoma Sho, it was 37.1 seconds. The former was only an 800-meter race, but in the latter, her time was good enough to be among the top in a condition race (non-Graded) of the same distance at Central.
So he was very confident in Oguri Cap's explosive power in the sprint.
"Facing a Central Horse Girl, a longer distance might not be good, but a 3F sprint should be fine," he thought.
But Tojo Hana was also very happy that he had chosen 600 meters. "Taiki Shuttle's specialty is short distance and mile races. 600 meters is enough for her to perform perfectly."
He called over Oguri Cap, who was just about to start her laps. After Taiki Shuttle had finished her warm-up, the two Horse Girls went to the other end of the training track, stood side by side, and got ready to start.
The Horse Girls from Team Rigil lined up, surrounding the edge of the training track, all looking forward to what kind of performance the gray-coated Horse Girl from Kasamatsu would deliver today.
Facing the gazes of the crowd, Oguri Cap was calm. In her eyes, this was less pressure than at Nagoya Racecourse.
Zhou Tai'an, acting as the starter, swung the small red flag down, cutting through the air, signaling the official start of this impromptu "race."
Noticing the flag's movement, Oguri Cap unhesitatingly started first and immediately accelerated.
Although this was just a private match, facing a Horse Girl from "Central," she had no intention of losing.
Taiki Shuttle had seen Oguri Cap's morning run, but she really hadn't expected her to be so decisive at the start. She was stunned for a moment and was left two lengths behind.
But the Rigil girls and Tojo Hana weren't worried. They felt that the local Horse Girl, who was not good at turning, would show her weakness on the turn.
But Oguri Cap, who was the first to enter the turn, did not, as they had hoped, lose her advantage. She stuck tightly to the inside, not giving Taiki Shuttle any chance to overtake her from the inside.
"This is... did she even practice turning?" Tojo Hana's gaze shifted to him, who was watching Oguri Cap intently not far away. "This isn't something an intern trainer would consider, is it?"
First a "late start," then her inside passing route was blocked. And Oguri Cap herself had been specially trained by him for explosive power. So by the end of the 600 meters, the distance between Taiki Shuttle and Oguri Cap had not decreased at all.
"She's amazing, Taiki Shuttle," Zhou Tai'an said, walking over to Tojo Hana and sighing in a low voice. "If it weren't for the late start, it would have been a draw, right?"
"No, it wouldn't," Tojo Hana shook her head with a bitter smile. "Don't forget, Zhou-kun, Taiki Shuttle was in Oguri Cap's slipstream for the entire 600 meters."
"It was a complete defeat..." she sighed, holding her forehead.
-------
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