The Champions Cup, where Urara ran, ended with Urara in first place.
This made me very happy, so much so that I couldn't sleep that night. I'm now relaxing in the club room early in the morning, holding a sports newspaper.
Aside from Urara's victory, the fact that Slein finished second and Smart Falcon third was also a big topic.
Even the sports newspapers I bought said so.
'Smart Falcon defeated, finishes 3rd!'
'Slein's last sprint of perseverance! Passes Smart Falcon for 2nd!'
'Haru Urara's disappointment. Won the race but didn't break the record.'
About Smart Falcon's defeat... wait, the last newspaper is different. If she won with a new record every time, she'd be suspected of doping. And also, please celebrate her win. There's no disappointment here.
Anyway, putting Urara aside for a moment, this is the first time Smart Falcon has finished 3rd since her classic class years. When she lost, and especially when she finished 3rd, there was a commotion at the racecourse.
However, Smart Falcon herself looked cheerful despite the loss. She even scratched her head with a wry smile, as if to say, "I messed up."
Maybe she was so excited to race against Urara that she messed up her pace distribution. No, I don't think Smart Falcon would make such a basic mistake now...
Then, in her post-race interview, she blurted out, "I had so much fun in today's race that I messed up my pace distribution!" with a simple honesty like Urara's. Even the reporter was surprised and, seeing a different Smart Falcon than before, didn't press her for details.
The fact that Smart Falcon also declared her intention to run in the Tokyo Daishoten at the end of the year, saying, "If this was so much fun, then the Tokyo Daishoten will be even more fun! ☆," must have been a major factor in shifting the focus.
It's a good thing that Smart Falcon's mental state is good, but it's been a long time since she ran in this state... maybe about a year? Because of that long gap, it seems she messed up her pace distribution.
Her mental state had also recovered during the JBC Sprint, but she ran a full-throttle sprint in anger because Urara wasn't there and left the other Uma Musume behind... The JBC Sprint was a short-distance race, and she finished before her stamina ran out, so she probably didn't have the same problem as in the Champions Cup.
The problem, if there is one, is that Smart Falcon wasn't dejected despite losing. On the contrary, right after losing, her fighting spirit was raised, and she smiled as she said she was looking forward to the next race. Considering her previous mental instability, this is so much of a threat it makes me want to cry.
"I lost this time, so I'll win next time." With a smile that seemed to say that, Smart Falcon stared at Urara and Slein. Urara smiled back, and Slein had a genuinely disgusted look on her face.
It's better than having a tense atmosphere after a win or a loss, but for someone to get more excited instead of dejected after a loss... it's similar to King getting fired up after a loss, but at the same time, it's completely different. I have no idea what kind of performance Smart Falcon will show in the Tokyo Daishoten.
There are less than four weeks from today, the day after the Champions Cup, until the Tokyo Daishoten. It's impossible to make Urara grow dramatically in such a short period. All I can do is help her recover from the Champions Cup, and while slightly improving her, get her into good shape.
King has the Arima Kinen on the last Sunday of December, and I have to train her in parallel with Urara's adjustments.
If we can get through the end of this year, we'll have a good amount of rest. I have to send them to the race as strong as possible, without any injuries...
(After King's Arima Kinen and Urara's Tokyo Daishoten, a new year will begin... next year, huh.)
They say if you talk about next year, the devil will laugh. For now, I should focus on the immediate races this year.
King has already completed her special registration for the Arima Kinen, and she's overwhelmingly in first place in the fan vote on the URA's website. If King, with her six G1 victories, doesn't make it in the fan vote, it would be a curious story in reverse.
So far, besides King, senior-class Uma Musume like Special Week, Grass Wonder, Oguri Cap, Nice Nature, Machikane Tannhauser, Twin Turbo, and Meek are in the top ranks of the fan vote.
There are many formidable opponents, but Grass Wonder, who didn't show up for the Autumn Tenno Sho or the Japan Cup after all, is finally scheduled to participate. And of course, Special Week and Oguri Cap, whom King recently lost to, cannot be underestimated.
Also, classic-class Uma Musume like Narita Brian and Crazy in Love have announced their participation and are also in the top ranks of the fan vote... Narita Brian, in fact, is in 2nd place, ahead of Special Week. Crazy in Love is on the borderline, but who knows what will happen.
Since it's a popularity poll of who the fans want to see race, those who are more popular tend to pass more easily than those with more ability. In fact, Twin Turbo is fluctuating between 4th and 6th place in the popularity poll, and Oishii Parfait is also in the top ten.
So, the Arima Kinen is full of formidable opponents, including the classic-class Uma Musume. The dirt track only has G1 Uma Musume like Urara, Smart Falcon, and Slein, but nearly half of the turf runners are G1 Uma Musume. In particular, Narita Brian has achieved the Classic Triple Crown. Even though she's a classic-class runner, she's not an opponent to be underestimated.
I was thinking about all this while checking the URA's website on my computer. At the same time, I looked through the names of the Uma Musume I could vote for and couldn't help but sigh.
(Are there no Uma Musume who have returned from injury?)
Seiun Sky, Biwa Hayahide, and Winning Ticket's names aren't there. Neither is Narita Taishin, who was injured in the spring.
(So they haven't revealed the method for curing Oguri Cap's suspensory ligament injury, after all... It can't be helped, but...)
Oguri Cap's trainer's side is still saying the same thing: "We just let her rest, gave her a lot of food, and soaked her in hot springs, and it healed naturally."
This is the official statement, involving even Tadena-san and the Chairwoman, who were worried about the other trainers' recklessness. But few people believe it. By the way, I was half-convinced it might be true... no, I've come to believe it about 70%.
The reason is simple: if you're going to reveal a method that sounds as suspicious as "she got better after eating a lot and taking hot spring baths," it's smarter to just say you don't know the reason for the recovery and keep your mouth shut.
I thought it might be a lie to confuse other trainers and give their team an advantage, but the effect is minimal... The more veteran trainers get angry, saying, "If it could be cured like that, we wouldn't be having so much trouble!"
Many trainers believe it's a lie intended to make Uma Musume get fat by eating a lot and to lower their physical abilities by letting them rest for a long time.
Of course, it's a treatment for suspensory ligament inflammation, not a cure for bowed tendons. Still, both are troublesome conditions that can immediately end an Uma Musume's career, so every trainer desperately wants to know the treatment for Oguri Cap's recovery.
However, since Oguri Cap's trainer's side keeps repeating the same claim, I think it's possible that what they're saying is the truth, or that Oguri Cap has a unique constitution that allows her to recover from suspensory ligament inflammation, or both.
And if it's a unique constitution that only Oguri Cap has, it's useless for treating other Uma Musume and has little meaning.
So, the official announcement from Tadena-san and the Chairwoman put an end to the scene of some trainers prostrating themselves before Rokubei-san and the sub-trainer to learn the secret of Oguri Cap's recovery.
However, now you can see trainers who were looking for a treatment for suspensory ligament inflammation crying as they apologize to their injured Uma Musume, saying, "It didn't work." It's ironic that even as these scenes unfolded, the number of trainers who started to believe that what Oguri Cap's trainers were saying was the truth increased, even if only slightly, because they kept repeating their claims.
Oguri Cap also says, "I ate until my stomach was full at the cafeteria and repeatedly soaked in hot springs, and I was healed before I knew it." She probably couldn't stand the situation where Rokubei-san and the sub-trainer were being blamed.
However, the more veteran you are, the more this treatment method doesn't make sense, which just complicates things. The reaction was especially strong among trainers whose Uma Musume had to retire due to suspensory ligament or bowed tendon issues.
No one resorted to violence to demand the treatment method, but seniors who I wasn't close to would go around asking me, my colleagues, and my juniors, "Do you know any good treatment methods?"
Since they weren't hostile, just not close, I regret not knowing any treatment methods. I did tell them that, along with Oguri Cap's treatment method, all they can do is take their time, get them to rest as much as possible, get proper nutrition, and regularly do things that are good for their body, like hot spring baths, but I don't know how effective that is.
Even if Oguri Cap's treatment method is correct, it would be difficult if they had to eat as much as Oguri Cap. I haven't seen it myself, but rumors and stories from Urara and the others say that Oguri Cap's appetite is astonishing.
Uma Musume eat several times more than I do as an adult male, but she seems to eat several times more than even that. If you eat as much as Oguri Cap, have your body absorb all that nutrition, and then just relax in a hot spring, it seems like you could probably heal most illnesses...
(Eating a lot, and having your body absorb all of it as nutrition, huh... that might just be the answer.)
Thinking that, I closed the Arima Kinen fan vote page.
Even if Biwa Hayahide and the others' bowed tendons were healed, it would probably be impossible for them to appear in the Arima Kinen. Even so, King has many rivals... At the same time, it was somehow sad that so many rivals are retiring.
And so, the days of training Urara and the others for the Arima Kinen and Tokyo Daishoten passed by.
Given the number of fan votes, King's participation in the Arima Kinen is a given, and Urara can participate in the Tokyo Daishoten without any issues if she wants to, due to her earnings. All that's left is to complete the registration process.
As I was training Urara and the others and preparing for the races, the day ended, and the training was over. As I was compiling the day's report in the club room, I suddenly realized something.
"Come to think of it, Christmas is coming up..."
This world has Uma Musume, and a deity to worship called the Three Goddesses. And yet, of course, there's Christmas, they go to the shrine for New Year's, they have Obon, and opinions are split on whether a wedding should be Shinto or Christian. The religious views are not much different from what I knew in my previous life.
It might be because I was born in Japan, but it feels like the religious views of my previous life's Japan just had the Three Goddesses added to them. However, the Three Goddesses are well-known overseas, and some Uma Musume from other countries at Tracen Academy call the Three Goddesses statue the "Three Goddesses."
"Eh! Christmas?! Trainer, are we doing something?!"
Did she hear my muttering? The changing room door burst open, and Urara came out. As I had requested from Tadena-san and the Chairwoman, they put up a wall and a door so it's a proper changing room and can't be seen from the outside... but Urara? It's pointless to come out while you're still changing, you know? It's not ladylike.
"No, I wasn't thinking of doing anything in particular, I just realized it's Christmas, you know."
Saying that, I looked away from Urara and at the calendar on the wall.
This year's Christmas is two days before the Arima Kinen. The Arima Kinen is on Sunday the 27th, and the Tokyo Daishoten is on Tuesday the 29th. So Christmas Day is a Friday, and Christmas Eve is a Thursday.
"Hey, hey, Trainer! I want to have a Christmas party!"
As I was checking the days, Urara made that suggestion.
Last year was right before Rice's Arima Kinen, and the year before was also Rice's Arima Kinen. I realize that I haven't really had a proper Christmas.
It's two days before King's Arima Kinen... no, in this case, would it be better to have a party on Christmas Eve? That would be three days before, which is the time when King will be doing light exercises for adjustment, and Urara will also be gradually recovering from her fatigue.
Thinking that way, it's a good time to take a break before the race.
"A Christmas party, huh... Yes, that sounds good. Alright then, let's have a Christmas party. Is there anything you want to eat, Urara?"
"Trainer's carrot hamburger steak!"
"Not turkey or cake... I'll make it if you want me to, though."
My image of Christmas party food was turkey and cake... Well, I can make everything. No, it would be too much to prepare turkey and cake by myself, so I'll order them from the shopping street. I don't know if I can still make it in time, though.
"Tur-key?"
"It's a roast turkey... a bird that looks like a different-colored chicken. I wonder if an Uma Musume can eat a whole one by herself...?"
I can't let them get too fat, so one bird should be enough. If I make carrot hamburgers and prepare a cake as well, it will be a considerable amount of food.
It would definitely be too much for me to eat alone. But it might be the right amount for Urara and the others, who are Uma Musume.
"My, are you having a Christmas party?"
"A Christmas party... Rice hasn't had one recently."
King and Rice, who had come out of the changing room... Judging by their expressions, they're on board. Although it's a time to focus before a race, they also know the importance of taking a break.
"Alright then... it's decided! We're having a party on Christmas Eve!"
"Yay!"
"O-Oh!"
"Hehe... 'Oh,' you say."
At my words, Urara jumped up happily, and Rice followed her. King smiled at Urara and Rice, and I smiled at all of them.
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