It was the JBC series, held in early November.
Just like last year, it was a three-race series of G1 dirt races held on a weekday, but a big story had already emerged even before the races started.
"Trainer, just in case... yes, just in case, I have to ask for confirmation. Was there any sort of arrangement regarding which races Haru Urara, Smart Falcon, and Slein would participate in?"
The story was that Urara and Smart Falcon, who were at the top of the current dirt racing world, and Slein, who was considered the next-best talent, were all participating in different races.
Urara in the JBC Ladies' Classic.
Smart Falcon in the JBC Sprint.
Slein in the JBC Classic.
If someone who wasn't very familiar with umamusume heard this, they would probably tilt their head and wonder what the problem was. But it was enough of a problem that I was summoned by Tazuna-san this morning, the day before the race, to answer questions.
"There was no such arrangement at all... In fact, this was unexpected for us as well..."
"I see... I didn't think you or Haru Urara-san would do something like that, but I have to ask, given my position."
Tazuna-san said this with a wry smile.
There probably wasn't a problem with Slein participating in the JBC Classic, which is a middle-distance race. She had raced in middle-distance G1 races many times before and had even placed third.
But there was a slight problem with Urara, who had won the JBC Sprint last year, racing in the JBC Ladies' Classic, and Smart Falcon, who had won the JBC Ladies' Classic last year, racing in the JBC Sprint.
Although Urara can now run mile and middle-distance races, she was originally a sprinter. She didn't have the stamina for anything other than short distances... Even a short distance was a bit questionable, but her best distance was a short one.
Smart Falcon could run from short to middle distances, but of the three, she was the worst at short distances.
In other words, it was said that it was strange for Smart Falcon to challenge the JBC Sprint, a short-distance race, given her distance aptitude, and it was strange for Urara, who was best at short distances, to challenge the JBC Ladies' Classic, a mile race.
Only those who were familiar with Urara and the others' relationship would think that they tried to race their rival by entering their preferred race, only to find that the rival wasn't there... a simple mix-up.
My colleague, by the way, burst out laughing when he heard the story. Everyone except Kiryuin-san was literally laughing their heads off. But even Kiryuin-san couldn't hold it in and let out a small chuckle.
"Urara said she wanted to compete with Smart Falcon, so I thought we'd go to her preferred race... I never thought Smart Falcon would do the same thing."
I never imagined Smart Falcon would challenge her in a short-distance race, which she's not good at. This might mean that Urara is that important to Smart Falcon... but I can't shake the feeling of being stood up.
"After the entry lists for the three JBC races were announced yesterday, Tracen Academy has been getting a lot of inquiries. Some reporters are even saying it might be a fix."
"If we were going to fix it, I would have had Urara run in the JBC Sprint, which is her best distance..."
I wouldn't say she'd definitely win, but a short-distance race is the easiest for Urara to win. I don't see any reason why we would deliberately avoid it and fix the race, especially when she had a chance to win her second consecutive title... Well, maybe Smart Falcon, who is so dedicated to being a public-facing idol, even read this mix-up and set it up to make her rivalry with Urara even more exciting... No, that's unlikely.
After explaining the situation to Tazuna-san, I headed back to my office, thinking about tomorrow's race.
And the day of the JBC series arrived.
Unlike the JBC Sprint that we ran in last year, the JBC Ladies' Classic is the eighth race and the start time is 4:30 PM, so we prepared a little early and headed to Ohi Racecourse.
Since Urara had a race in the evening, she took the day off from classes, just like last year. Rice and King also took the afternoon off to cheer on their teammate.
Urara was a little down when she found out she wouldn't be in the same race as Smart Falcon, but she used her natural positivity to recover mentally. Her body was in perfect condition, and she was full of motivation for today's race.
Yes... Urara was fine.
"Urara-chan..."
When we arrived at Ohi Racecourse, we ran into Smart Falcon, who looked a bit dejected. Oh, "ran into" sounds bad... I feel like I thought the same thing last year.
"Hehe... Falco is so stupid, isn't she... I wanted to beat Urara-chan, but now I'm in a race she's not in... Hehe..."
Smart Falcon said this, looking down. Hey, trainer over there who's acting like a stranger, is she okay? Huh? This is normal for her...? Is that so...?
"Falco-chan..."
Even Urara was a little taken aback by Smart Falcon's state... but no, she wasn't.
Urara's face lit up, and she took Smart Falcon's hand in both of hers.
"Falco-chan, you wanted to fight me, right? I wanted to fight you too. So we're the same!"
Urara said this with a smile. When Smart Falcon heard this, her gloomy face instantly brightened up, as if it had all been a lie.
"Urara-chan!"
And Smart Falcon, overwhelmed with emotion, hugged Urara. I must have a dirty mind to think, "Is she really okay?"
"Hehe! I'm all pumped up now!"
Smart Falcon hugged Urara for a while, but then she looked up and said this with a smile. Her melting smile was full of energy... Is it really energy? Anyway, she seemed to be in a good mental state.
"Good."
Smart Falcon's trainer muttered. Hey, is it really "good" enough?
I watched Smart Falcon hugging Urara and saw that her body was in perfect condition, as usual. In other words, her trainer must have thought that as long as her mental state recovered, she'd be fine.
"Recovering mentally because of her rival"... It sounds good when you put it that way, but I don't know about that... Well, I'm also healed by Urara therapy, so I can't say much about Smart Falcon.
"Then Urara-chan, Falco will be cheering you on, okay?"
"Yeah! Thank you, Falco-chan! I'll be cheering you on too!"
Smart Falcon was cheering on Urara with a smile, and Urara was cheering on Smart Falcon with a smile. They were both smiling, but the smiles seemed different... I must have been seeing things.
"..."
In the background, behind Urara and Smart Falcon, who were smiling at each other, I saw Slein, who happened to be passing by, look at them and smile, with a vein seemingly popping out on her forehead... That must have been a hallucination, too.
The JBC Ladies' Classic that Urara was challenging. The distance was 1800 meters, which was no problem for Urara now.
And this year's JBC Ladies' Classic... how should I put it...
"Haru Urara has pulled ahead! Haru Urara is strong! She's widening the gap! 200 meters to go! No, 100! The gap is widening even more—Goal!"
"It's like she crushed them effortlessly... The small number of participants is a factor, but she's still a strong girl."
There were no upsets, and Urara won. But in a way, it was probably to be expected, given her ability.
Her rivals like Smart Falcon and Slein weren't there, and neither were the girls she had raced against many times, like Mini Daisy and Heart Caesar. And on top of that, the number of participants was only nine, which was unbelievably low for a G1 race.
I think a lot of the teams probably thought that Smart Falcon would be in this race. And since a lot of the teams probably thought that Urara would be in the JBC Sprint, that race also only had nine participants.
The JBC Sprint, JBC Ladies' Classic, and JBC Classic can all have up to 16 participants. And yet, the JBC Ladies' Classic and JBC Sprint didn't even have double-digit numbers, and the JBC Classic had so many girls registered that a lot of them were left out in the lottery.
Slein, Mini Daisy, and Heart Caesar were all in it, but I wondered how many girls weren't able to participate because they were left out in the lottery.
They might have thought that Urara would win if she was in the JBC Sprint, and Smart Falcon would win if she was in the JBC Ladies' Classic.
But Urara and Smart Falcon were in the opposite races, and the JBC Classic, which they both decided not to race in, was so full that it was overflowing with participants.
There aren't many G1, G2, or G3 dirt races. So most of the stakes races are always full, but the fact that there were three G1 races held on the same day was probably the deciding factor.
As a result of avoiding the races that Urara and Smart Falcon were likely to be in, it caused a huge traffic jam and a lot of girls couldn't race.
(I don't think Urara and I did anything wrong, so I shouldn't worry about it... but still...)
"I decided on which race to participate in to race my rival, but she did the same thing, and we ended up missing each other..." I wonder if anyone would believe that... Well, who am I even trying to get to believe me?
"A pretty predictable result, wouldn't you say?"
"Urara-chan was five horse lengths ahead in the final stretch..."
King muttered, and Rice smiled wryly in agreement.
The winning time wasn't a record, and Urara was still smiling and waving to the crowd, even while catching her breath. No, more than waving, she was raising her hands and bouncing up and down.
Then, as if she remembered something, she looked surprised, puffed out her chest, and raised her right hand with four fingers extended toward the sky.
(Yeah... She can finish a mile race with plenty of room to spare. Well, it's 1800 meters, so it's a bit close...)
I thought this as I watched Urara, who was bouncing up and down with a smile even though she had just finished a race. Thanks to her stamina training in the summer camp, her running has become more powerful than before, and she can now maintain her stamina until the very end.
(Now, what will happen when she races Smart Falcon?)
Slein can't be underestimated, but the biggest threat is still Smart Falcon. I'm also more scared of her because I can't understand her emotions lately.
But I guess I won't know until we actually race. And I believe that Urara will surely win.
And then.
Slein, who was in the JBC Classic, won her first G1 victory, and in her winner's interview, she also announced that she would be participating in the Champions Cup and the Tokyo Daishoten, which caused a huge stir in the world.
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