Chapter 94. Dream World Big Upset Part 1
Special Week felt as if she had caught up to Grass Wonder. Grass Wonder, in turn, vaguely felt as though Special Week had reached her.
Special Week's face bloomed into a radiant smile. Grass Wonder, however, quietly suppressed the trace of melancholy in her eyes. She forced a faint smile of her own, already preparing to congratulate Special Week.
At that moment, Mejiro Bright—who had finished third—stepped forward and stopped her.
"They're still determining the result." She reminded Grass Wonder softly, "The outcome hasn't been decided yet."
From where Mejiro Bright stood, the result did not seem as certain as Grass Wonder believed.
Special Week, still beaming moments ago, also noticed that the result had not yet appeared on the scoreboard. Her smile gradually faded.
"Did I really catch up to Grass-chan?"
Her expression tightened as she turned to meet Grass Wonder's gaze.
The two Uma Musume who had crossed the finish line first stood facing each other in silence.
Neither spoke.
After what felt like an eternity, the final results flashed across the display board:
2–7–10–15–11.
Special Week pursed her lips and stepped forward.
"Congratulations, Grass-chan, on winning the Arima Kinen."
"Thank you, Spe-chan."
Grass Wonder embraced Special Week.
"Without Spe-chan, I definitely wouldn't have been able to perform like that at the end."
"Grass-chan, next time we race, I'll win it back!" Special Week hugged her in return, her voice filled with determination. "I will definitely win! I'll make up for these few centimeters with my hard work and sweat!"
"But I don't want to lose to Spe-chan either," Grass Wonder whispered beside her ear. "If Spe-chan wants to beat me, let's race again in next year's Takarazuka Kinen."
"Okay! I won't go on an overseas expedition! I'll challenge the Takarazuka Kinen at the end of June next year!"
(If I remember correctly, Special Week didn't race with Grass Wonder until her third year racing. After losing to El Condor Pasa, Special Week took a break. Both of them race and met in Arima Kinen 1999. Where Grass closely marked Special Week after her monumental winning in Japan Cup. In addition Arima Kinen 1999 also include Opera O, Narita Top Road, Tsurumaru Tsunayoshi, also Stego with Grass Wonder coming on top)
Special Week nodded firmly before finally letting go.
Only Mejiro Bright, who had finished third, remained quietly at the side, smiling without a word.
"I really didn't expect this result."
After the winning live concluded, Shuta An returned to the Academy with his group. Instead of sending the Uma Musume straight back, he led everyone to a family restaurant near the Academy for a simple gathering.
"Today is the last race day of this year's Twinkle Series," Shuta An said after ordering the food and waiting for the waiter to leave. "On New Year's Day next year, everyone should come to my house. We'll have an early-year summary meeting and also arrange everyone's plans for the first half of the year."
"Trainer, does that include me?" Tokai Teio pointed at herself.
"Shouldn't Kurofune be the one asking that question?" Shuta An rolled his eyes at her. "You two will also have plans for the first half of next year. But since neither of you has fully developed yet, don't expect anything special. It will still be mostly basic training."
Tokai Teio's ears drooped at once.
Oguri Cap shifted the conversation back to the Arima Kinen.
"It's unbelievable that the final gap was only two centimeters."
"The key to victory was Grass Wonder taking advantage of Special Week's complacency," Shuta An said. "A Uma Musume who seizes the lead with Senko tactics has a huge advantage at Nakayama Racecourse. Special Week's final burst simply wasn't strong enough to completely overcome the disadvantage of Sashi tactics and crush Grass Wonder."
"To be honest, I can't even imagine a Uma Musume of that level," Berno Light said, shaking her head. "Grass Wonder's last 3F time was 35.8 seconds—not particularly fast. But Special Week ran 34.5 seconds. If she had just been 0.1 seconds faster…"
"There is no 'if'." Shuta An cut her off calmly. "That was the limit of Special Week's final burst at her current level."
He paused before continuing.
"You also need to consider that she ran the Japan Cup less than a month ago. Even though she lost badly to El Condor Pasa, that race still consumed a huge amount of stamina. Her recovery wasn't ideal. Grass Wonder entered this race at one hundred percent condition—Special Week did not."
"When you think about it that way," Mejiro Dober murmured thoughtfully, "it makes sense why Trainer always spaces out our races when planning them. If Grass Wonder-senpai's condition had been the same as Special Week-senpai's—maybe that two-centimeter gap would have disappeared."
"In any case," Shuta An sighed, "Trainer Nishizaki must be feeling extremely frustrated after this race. After all, it was only a two-centimeter difference. He's probably going to have nightmares about the result flashing on the display board."
He shook his head.
"I'd better keep my distance from him for a while. Otherwise, he'll definitely grab me and make me listen to him complain."
The young man had no intention of becoming someone else's emotional dumping ground.
—
This year's Arima Kinen took place on December 22, just three days before Christmas.
Shuta An took the following two days off, planning to prepare for Christmas Eve and Christmas with Berno. The only reason he didn't take more leave was because Central Tracen Academy would soon be on holiday anyway.
The other members of Team Sadalsuud all had their own Christmas plans.
Tokai Teio intended to explore Yokohama with Mayano Top Gun. Mejiro Dober would return to the Mejiro family estate to celebrate the holiday with her relatives. Kurofune was dragged by Curren Chan to Saitama Prefecture for a filming schedule.
Only Silence Suzuka remained in the hospital.
Although she had fully recovered, Shuta An had already paid the hospital fees through the 30th and saw no reason for her to leave early.
But he had not forgotten the Uma Musume lying alone in the hospital.
He still planned to spend some time with Suzuka on Christmas Eve.
And on the night of the 22nd, after Shuta An went to bed and fell asleep, he entered the Dream World.
"I watched Special Week and Grass Wonder race the Arima Kinen during the day…and now I'm going to run the Arima Kinen myself in the Dream World."
Thinking this, the young man sitting in the jockey waiting room at Nakayama Racecourse shook his head.
Matsumoto Shoichi had originally planned to observe Tokai Teio after the discomfort in her leg following the Kikuka Sho, then enter her in the Arima Kinen. But after Shuta An's persuasion, he ultimately decided to let her rest and not race again this year.
Without his main partner, Shuta An could only ride Main Caster from the Shadai Race Horse Club.
In this year's Arima Kinen, despite the huge upset in the Tenno Sho (Autumn), Mejiro McQueen still stood as the overwhelming first favorite.
"It still feels like a one-horse show for Mejiro McQueen—"
Shuta An thought quietly.
"Take-kun can't possibly drift again and get demoted this time…right?"
Main Caster drew gate 7, stall 4. Although her rider was Shuta An—who had already secured nearly 220 wins this year—Main Caster herself had only a single victory to her name: a G3 fillies-only stakes race at the end of last year. In her most recent start, the Japan Cup, she had finished ninth. This was also her first appearance in the Arima Kinen.
Unsurprisingly, she was only the 11th favorite in a field of fifteen.
The overwhelming favorite, Mejiro McQueen, sat firmly in the 1.x odds range. In the Japan Cup he had been beaten by four lengths by Magic Night the second place, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe runner-up ridden by Shuta An, before being "ambushed" by two overseas longshots and finishing fourth. But this time there were no foreign horses in the Arima Kinen.
Among the domestic field, Mejiro McQueen's strength remained the most dependable.
What likely put Take-kun most at ease, however, was not Mejiro McQueen herself—but Main Caster, ridden by Shuta An in this race. Take-kun knew exactly what kind of horse she was. For Main Caster to threaten Mejiro McQueen in the Arima Kinen was simply impossible.
"It's a good thing Tokai Teio didn't run in this year's Arima Kinen. Otherwise, he would've been a troublesome opponent."
Take-kun thought this as he glanced toward his good friend.
As the second undefeated Triple Crown winner after Symboli Rudolf, Tokai Teio's popularity was currently at its peak. If he had participated today, the 1.x odds would have belonged to him.
When Teio's camp announced he would rest for the remainder of the year, public opinion initially turned sour.
Only four races in a year and already resting? Isn't that too lazy?
But Matsumoto Shoichi soon released news that Tokai Teio was suffering from leg discomfort.
Public sentiment flipped instantly.
No one had forgotten the tragedy of Ten Point. If Teio were forced to race while injured, the consequences could be catastrophic. After that announcement, no one dared push for his participation in the Arima Kinen—even though countless fans still longed to see a direct clash between Tokai Teio and Mejiro McQueen.
After entering the gate, Shuta An calmly surveyed the horses around him.
To his left, gate 6, stood Prekrasnie.
To his right, gate 8, was Dai Yusaku, whose popularity ranking was three places lower than Main Caster's.
"Just like Main Caster—both of them are low-popularity contenders," the young man murmured.
"Fortunately, Prekrasnie is a front-running type. Since this is Main Caster's first time tackling the 2500 meters at Nakayama, it's safer to stay behind."
Shuta An knew very well that Main Caster's ability in this field was on the weaker side.
So he decided to gamble on tactics.
"In any case, there's no need to fight for the lead after the start."
He tightened the reins, ready.
Click.
The starting gates burst open.
Shuta An immediately nudged Main Caster forward to get her moving—but he refrained from urging her further. Main Caster was naturally a somewhat dull-tempered horse, so she quickly drifted toward the back of the pack.
Jockey Eda, riding Prekrasnie, lowered his body and drove his mount forward the moment the race began, aiming to seize the lead.
But to his surprise, by the time Prekrasnie reached the front group, someone was already there.
From gate 12, Twin Turbo had already taken the lead.
"Twin Turbo started outside me, yet she got to the front so quickly?"
Jockey Eda was stunned.
"How did she manage that? I don't remember Twin Turbo being this aggressive about taking position—"
There was no time to dwell on it.
Since the lead was gone, Eda chose to secure second place with Prekrasnie and wait for an opportunity.
Twin Turbo currently held three wins from eight career starts.
He had debuted in March this year, winning a 1800-meter dirt maiden with a slow escape pace of 64 seconds per kilometer. Two weeks later, he switched to the Nakayama turf 2000-meter One-Win Class, running 61.4 seconds per kilometer, again leading from start to finish.
Then came the Aoba Sho, a Derby trial—where he was soundly defeated.
After that, he challenged the Two-Win Class, setting a brutal pace of under 59 seconds per kilometer, but still lost by 0.4 seconds.
In the summer, he entered the Tanabata Sho (Fukushima 1800m), set a blazing 58.9-second pace, and captured his first stakes victory by one and a half lengths.
Later, in the St. Lite Kinen and Fukushima Kinen, he set a pace of 59.2 seconds per kilometer, finishing second in both races.
Fans who voted for Twin Turbo to appear in the Arima Kinen wanted only one thing:
To see him runaway from the front.
Jockey Osaki, riding Twin Turbo, had no intention of disappointing them.
The moment the gates opened, he urged Twin Turbo forward with relentless intensity, seizing the lead with astonishing speed. Even the jockeys who noticed his charge were visibly shocked.
"This time," Osaki thought grimly, "I'll set a rhythm with Twin Turbo that makes the whole crowd roar!"
(Twin Turbo characters likely come from this jockey, both came from the same mold)
He pushed even harder.
That aggressive riding perfectly matched Twin Turbo's fiery temperament.
Receiving the signal to continue accelerating, Twin Turbo immediately opened a one-length gap, quickly stretching it to two lengths ahead of Prekrasnie.
"So fast!"
Jockey Eda's eyes widened.
"This is insane—Is Twin Turbo really planning to run away with the Arima Kinen? Mr. Osaki is truly bold!"
Eda himself certainly wouldn't attempt such madness. He kept Prekrasnie steadily in second place, carefully controlling the pace.
The horses behind showed no intention of challenging for the position.
Aside from Twin Turbo pulling farther and farther ahead, the relative positions of the remaining fourteen horses quickly stabilized.
Shuta An and Main Caster remained in thirteenth place.
Ahead of them ran Dai Yusaku, while Prince Syn followed behind.
Although they were surrounded on all sides—effectively boxed in—the race had barely begun. They hadn't even finished the home stretch in front of the grandstand.
Shuta An wasn't worried at all.
He sat calmly in the saddle, riding with steady composure, his gaze drifting forward toward Mejiro McQueen, running just ahead.
"He looks incredible—"
The thought crossed his mind with quiet admiration.
Even so, Shuta An did not regret giving up the main jockey position for Mejiro McQueen in order to ride Tokai Teio instead.