Autumn is the season when many turf races are held.
King won the Sprinters Stakes, and my colleagues and juniors are also getting good results, with their Uma Musume winning graded races or at least placing. The newcomers who joined this year are also doing well, with their Uma Musume winning open races and G3 races, so I'd say we have a good momentum going.
However, we can only say it's good momentum because we're winning. Lately, it seems that not only I, but also my colleagues, juniors, and the newcomers are getting a hard time from the trainers in the older generations. Some of the senior trainers are being harsh, or the atmosphere is just bad.
Some of the senior trainers... Tojo-san, the Spica senpai, Miho Bourbon's trainer, and Smart Falcon's trainer are all nice to us. Also, the Canopus senpai are very friendly, and the juniors and newcomers are fond of them.
(Hmm... I guess they would be upset if an Uma Musume being trained by a newcomer loses to them in an open race...)
Saying that it's just the result of a race might be something only the winning side can say. Anyone would be frustrated if the Uma Musume they've worked so hard to train and raise loses.
Even now, in my third year as a trainer, if Urara and the others lose, I'm so frustrated that I can't sleep for a night, or even a few days.
So, I'm not saying the senior trainers shouldn't get mad, but I wish they would at least direct their anger at me and my colleagues. I don't think it's right for them to be harsh on the newcomers who just joined this year.
I thought about this as I looked at the race results section of a sports newspaper in the club room, where it was getting a little chilly in mid-October.
No matter how unpredictable a race can be, it's still a big deal when a trainer with over five years, or even over ten years, of experience is defeated by an Uma Musume being trained by a newcomer who just joined Tracen Academy.
With their training know-how and experience, they have an overwhelming advantage, and unless there's a huge difference in the talent of the Uma Musume they're in charge of, the newcomers should be at a disadvantage due to the difference in the trainers' training skills.
Of course, it's not like the newcomers are winning every single race. Still, this year's newcomers seem to have a pretty high winning percentage.
However, since nearly 20 newcomers joined this year, the high winning percentage of so many newcomers means that the winning percentage of the other trainers has gone down...
(The Spica senpai seem to be raising Daiwa Scarlet and Vodka with care... They haven't raced since their debut win, so I wonder what they're aiming for next?)
My head was starting to hurt from thinking about the winning percentage, so I changed the subject.
I saw Daiwa Scarlet and Vodka at the summer training camp, and they had a splendid debut win. But they haven't raced since, and I think the Spica senpai are training them well.
They're still in the Junior Grade, and those two will be able to make a comeback even if they wait for them to fully mature. In fact, they'll probably run wild in the Classic Grade next year.
Another thing that's on my mind is Team Rigil's T.M. Opera O...
(A fracture, huh... He seemed so energetic at the training camp...)
After the training camp, he apparently injured his leg during training and got a hairline fracture in his bone. Fortunately, it seems to be healing, but I wonder if he had accumulated fatigue?
As someone who only knew the name Haru Urara in my past life, I wonder if horses, which don't exist in this world, were also creatures that were so prone to injury. If they were so prone to injury, I wonder what horses were like in the Sengoku period? Or maybe thoroughbreds are just prone to injury?
Well, there are no horses in this world; there are Uma Musume. And Uma Musume have incredible physical abilities, but it's understandable that they would be prone to injury when a creature the size of a human runs at over 60 kilometers per hour.
However, unlike horses, Uma Musume can communicate, and if there's something wrong, they can understand it themselves and tell you in words. You can't let your guard down, as they might be patient and not say anything, or they might have a fracture without even realizing it.
In any case, many Uma Musume can return to racing just by having surgery, going to hot springs, resting, and then going through rehabilitation.
But...
(That's strange... I heard Ogre Cap had a suspensory ligament injury...)
Just the other day, Ogre Cap returned and ran in the G2 Mainichi Okan. But a suspensory ligament injury is a symptom that should make an Uma Musume consider immediate retirement, but Ogre Cap returned and was running energetically.
She finished in second place after a fierce battle with Grass Wonder, but her movements were clearly not those of someone who had just recovered from a long-term medical treatment. I heard a rumor that she recovered after eating a lot at the cafeteria every day and soaking in the hot springs nearby, but that's probably just a rumor.
If that's true, it would be an incredible piece of information. There are quite a few Uma Musume who have to sadly retire every year due to a suspensory ligament injury, and even if they don't retire, many of them are forced into long-term medical treatment for a year or more. And how many Uma Musume are there who seem to have recovered after a long-term medical treatment, only for the injury to recur as soon as they start running again, forcing them to retire?
It's not impossible, but it's very rare for an Uma Musume who has a suspensory ligament injury to recover to a level where she can compete with G1 Uma Musume in a proper race in less than six months. It's probably better to think that it was a severe inflammation rather than a suspensory ligament injury. Or maybe Ogre Cap's body is so good at recovering that she was able to heal a suspensory ligament injury.
Narita Taishin, who fractured her right leg and developed a bowed tendon after the Tenno Sho (Spring), still hasn't had any news about her return. A bowed tendon and a suspensory ligament injury are supposed to be really troublesome symptoms for an Uma Musume... I'm at the level of questioning whether Ogre Cap really had a suspensory ligament injury because her recovery was so fast.
(I wonder if I could get the documents on Ogre Cap's treatment... I guess that's impossible.)
For other trainers, it's a piece of information they would kill for. Ogre Cap's trainer probably won't spread such valuable information. Being able to heal a suspensory ligament injury is a huge advantage for a trainer. It's such an incredible piece of information that if someone told me they would teach me if I licked their foot, I would go and lick it without a second thought.
Even if the rumor that she recovered by eating a lot and soaking in a hot spring is true, there should be information about what she ate, for how long, how much, what kind of effects the hot springs claimed to have, and how long she soaked in them per day.
Thinking about that, the Spica senpai who gave me the rehabilitation menus for Tokai Teio and Mejiro McQueen are truly amazing, even if they were indebted to me.
The method used to heal Ogre Cap's suspensory ligament injury may not be applicable to other Uma Musume, but it would provide some guidance.
A suspensory ligament injury and a bowed tendon can't always be avoided even if you're careful. In fact, even the strictest trainers must be careful to avoid them. Since they can't be avoided, I would like to get information about them to be prepared for the worst.
However, no matter who goes to talk to Ogre Cap's trainer, he just evades the question and doesn't seem to want to teach them. So for now, I have no choice but to give up.
(I wonder if Ogre Cap will also aim for the autumn Senior Triple Crown?)
Since she has returned, Ogre Cap will probably show up. However, I don't know how well she has prepared if she's going to show up less than a month after the Mainichi Okan.
Still, believing that King will win, I registered her for the Tenno Sho (Autumn).
And in late October, on the day of the Tenno Sho (Autumn).
The Tenno Sho (Autumn) is the 11th race at the Tokyo Racecourse, and the starting time is 3:40 PM, but I arrived at the venue earlier than usual.
The reason for that is simple. I thought this race would also be crowded. And as if to confirm that thought, the area around the Tokyo Racecourse was overflowing with people.
I thought that public transportation might stop because of the crowds, so I borrowed a car from Tracen Academy, and I think that was the right decision. I don't know how long it would have taken to walk from the nearest station to the Tokyo Racecourse with so many people.
"Whoa... there are so many people again today."
Urara got out of the car and stretched, her horse ears twitching as she said that. She can see it, and for an Uma Musume, she can probably tell how many people there are from the sounds around her.
I can hear the noise and commotion, which is similar to a festival, but an Uma Musume race is like a festival for fans. I can understand that if I remember the commotion from the summer training camp.
"King-chan, are you okay? Are you nervous?"
"Yes, I'm fine, Rice-senpai."
Rice asked King with concern, but King replied as calmly as she said. I wondered if this resistance to pressure was also a talent.
It's a common story that an Uma Musume with great talent and a lot of effort gets nervous in a real race, can't show her true strength, and loses. And that's a common story not only for Uma Musume but also for humans.
King seems to have a high resistance to pressure, or maybe she's just used to it... or maybe she's able to control even her own nervousness and act calm. In any case, she's very reliable.
And so, we entered the Tokyo Racecourse as usual, and first, I took King to the waiting room. As I was thinking that this was all a familiar routine now, Rice was looking around in an unnaturally frantic way.
"What's wrong? Did you drop something?"
I was worried that she might have dropped her wallet or smartphone, but Rice shook her head in a flustered manner.
"N-no! It's nothing, Big Brother!"
I nodded, thinking, "I see." I wondered if she wanted to go to the bathroom, but we're not at a stage where we need to be reserved with each other anymore. So I concluded that something was on her mind and headed for the paddock.
But well, it's also a given that the path to the paddock is difficult. I wonder if more Uma Musume fans want to see their condition from the paddock, or if there are just too many people. I pushed my way through the crowd.
"Excuse me, I'm a trainer whose Uma Musume is about to run. Please let us through!"
"I'm a teammate! Please let us through!"
"P-please let us through."
Urara smiled and imitated me, and Rice shyly imitated me. No, I didn't tell them to imitate me. Urara put her hands on my shoulders, and Rice put her hands on Urara's shoulders... What is this again? Playing train?
For some reason, the Uma Musume race fans' eyes widened when they saw my face, and then they smiled warmly and made way for us when they saw Urara and Rice behind me.
Some of them were holding some pretty big cameras and aiming them at us... Hey, it's the butcher from the shopping district. When I stopped, Urara also stopped, and Rice stopped in a flustered manner. I gave the butcher a thumbs-up with a smile, and the butcher also smiled and took a picture.
"Yay! It's the butcher uncle!"
"Now, Urara. You can go see him later. We have to cheer for King first."
Since Urara was about to go to him after the picture, I stopped her with a wry smile. And when we started walking again, we somehow managed to get to the front row of the paddock.
I used to be able to get there without much trouble, but now it's a struggle just to get to the paddock. Still, we made it just in time, so I let out a sigh of relief.
"Gate 2, Biwa Hayahide."
The paddock unveiling began in just a few minutes. And the first one I checked was Biwa Hayahide.
(Hmm... she's in great shape. Everyone really grows a lot after the middle of summer.)
King has also grown, but of course, the other Uma Musume have also grown a lot since the summer training camp. In Biwa Hayahide's case, her large physique made her growth even more noticeable.
(She has a great physique as usual... Huh? What's that? Is she worried about her left leg...?)
Biwa Hayahide was waving to the spectators on the stand, but her posture was slightly off... No, am I just imagining it?
"Gate 3, Happy Meek."
Next, I checked on Meek. She didn't show up at the Sprinters Stakes, so I wonder if she's also aiming to conquer all distances in G1 races, just like King.
Even if she doesn't conquer all G1 distances, it's a great achievement just to conquer all distances in graded races. And Meek has the ability and aptitude to do that.
(Meek has also... grown so much compared to the past...)
And as I checked Meek's body, I couldn't help but think that. It's no exaggeration to say that she's the second Uma Musume I met after Urara.
She was Kiryuin-san's Uma Musume, so we didn't have a deep connection at first, but I was happy and very grateful that she ran with Urara. She stopped running with us at some point because she probably thought it wasn't good practice for her anymore, but I'm so grateful for how much her parallel runs helped us.
(It's a showdown, Kiryuin-san.)
I found Kiryuin-san, who was staring at Meek in the front row of the paddock just like me, and I said that to her in my mind.
"Gate 4, Seiun Sky."
Seiun Sky, who appeared in the paddock, had her usual carefree expression. She's an escape Uma Musume and her expression is hard to read, so it's hard to tell if she's in good or bad condition. But her body is properly prepared...?
(Wait... Seiun Sky's posture is also a little strange... Hmm? Is she favoring her left leg?)
Her posture was slightly leaning to the right in an unnatural way, and she was slightly raising her left leg... If it were just Seiun Sky, I would think she was in bad condition, but I just saw Biwa Hayahide doing something similar.
"Gate 5, Machikane Tannhauser."
As I was tilting my head in confusion, Machikane Tannhauser came out. Her condition isn't bad, and she seems to be in good spirits. She seems to be her usual self, in a way, but being able to be in her usual self for every race is an incredible thing.
"Gate 5, Special Week."
Next, Special Week... And this one, too...
"Oh..."
"She's in great shape..."
"Look at her rear. It's developed nicely."
Special Week was in perfect shape, to the point that the spectators were gasping in admiration. And she seemed to be in excellent spirits, with a fighting spirit I had never seen before.
(Hmm... If this were Rice, she would be an immediate target to mark... )
She's in such good shape that I thought that. However, her opponent this time is King. My marking strategy is a direct inheritance from Rice, but marking just one person is a gamble given the competitors.
"Gate 6, Nice Nature."
Nice Nature... just like Machikane Tannhauser, she seems to be in her usual shape. However, she doesn't seem to be pushing herself and is waving to the spectators with a wry smile.
By the way, Twin Turbo isn't here this time. She finished in 11th place in the G3 Hakodate Kinen in early July, so I thought she would be here this time.
"Gate 6, Winning Ticket."
Next, Winning Ticket... Hmm...
(Both Biwa Hayahide and Seiun Sky and Winning Ticket... their postures are slightly strange... If it's all three of them at the same time, is it some kind of strategy? The trainers in charge are...)
I looked around and found the trainers in charge of the three of them. They were all senior trainers to me, and they were nodding with satisfied expressions as they looked at their Uma Musume.
(They wouldn't be cheating and working together... They would lose their trainer's license if they were caught, and there's no benefit... So, what are those three up to...?)
If it were just one of them, I would suspect an injury, but since it's all three at the same time, I can't tell. Biwa Hayahide and the others don't seem to be in pain from the looks on their faces... If it were my Uma Musume, I would be able to talk to her and ask her if she's in good or bad condition...
But it's impossible to go up to an Uma Musume being trained by another trainer and ask them how they are at the paddock on race day. If I were to do that, I might not only be disqualified, but King might also be disqualified from the race. Well, from the looks of the senior trainers, it doesn't seem like they're in bad condition.
"Gate 8, Ogre Cap."
As I was wondering about that, Ogre Cap finally came out.
Ogre Cap appeared in the paddock with the announcement. I stared at her intently.
(She seems to be in good condition... her posture isn't leaning either, so her suspensory ligament injury really healed...)
I focused on her right leg, but there was nothing wrong with it. She wasn't favoring it, and Ogre Cap was her usual absent-minded self... no, she wasn't. She wasn't nervous, and her expression was full of fighting spirit.
I wonder what kind of magic they used to get her back in shape so quickly, considering the difficulty of healing a suspensory ligament injury.
Or maybe it's an information war, and they're saying it's a suspensory ligament injury to make us let our guard down... No, if that were the case, they wouldn't have had her run in the Mainichi Okan and would have put her straight into a G1 race, right?
"Gate 8, King Halo."
As I was thinking about Ogre Cap, King finally came out. The Tenno Sho (Autumn) has a full gate of 18, but there were some Uma Musume who didn't run, so there were 15 competitors.
This means that King is in the very outer gate, gate 15. I want to believe that it's not a bad starting position since the inner rail is rough in the 11th race. The groundskeepers work hard to maintain the course between races, but there's a limit to what they can do.
"King Halo! Do your best!"
"Ki-ng! Ki-ng!"
"Go! The 'King of the Generation'!"
The spectators cheered for King as she appeared in the paddock. King ran her hand through her hair and smiled gracefully at the voices from the crowd.
Hmm... she looks good. Since she won the Sprinters Stakes last month, her fifth G1 win, the spectators' expectations are high.
Still, I believe King will do it.
And so, the curtain rose on the first race of the autumn Senior Triple Crown that I would challenge with King.
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