Chapter 59. Team Sadalsuud's First Documentary Part 2
Tokai Teio watched the Queen Elizabeth Stakes preparation phase with great interest.
"I haven't personally prepared for an overseas expedition yet. The Ranvet Stakes segment felt as though Dober-senpai wasn't under any pressure at all because the level of competition was relatively low. It's only here that I can sense Dober-senpai subtly feeling the pressure of needing to win."
"Because I wanted to give Teio some encouragement through consecutive victories," Mejiro Dober explained. "If I couldn't achieve two straight wins, I felt like I wouldn't have the face to cheer Teio on."
"In the end, the first half of the year turned out as well as we could have hoped," Shuta An concluded. "I hope that when the second half of the year is over, we'll be able to look back on those races with the same optimism."
Hearing those words, the pressure weighing on Rice Shower immediately began to rise.
Unlike Tokai Teio and Mejiro Dober, although the two races scheduled for her this year—a debut race and a G3 graded race—were considered the lowest-difficulty campaign among Team Sadalsuud's first-year Uma Musumes, Rice Shower still felt deep down that she was the weakest member of the team.
Shuta An keenly caught the change in atmosphere around Rice Shower and smiled reassuringly.
"Rice Shower, you don't need to be so nervous. Just show your strength and perform well. I can guarantee that at the very least, your debut race won't be a problem."
"Rice will work hard!" Rice Shower nodded vigorously, using the gesture to shake off as much of her unease as possible.
Kurofune couldn't find an opportunity to join the conversation at all and could only envy them in silence.
"I want to debut too—But if I focus on dirt races, there aren't many Twinkle Series races I can enter in Japan during my debut year. I wonder if Shuta Trainer will arrange for me to return to America early."
Although America was both her birthplace and the place where she had grown up, Kurofune honestly felt no attachment to it. The years she had spent there combined could not compare to the time she had spent with Team Sadalsuud and playing together with Curren Chan.
As Mejiro Dober approached the finish line, the screen split into two. The upper half showed the her galloping forward with all her might, while the lower half focused on her Trainer.
At the very last moment, Shuta An did not continue watching Mejiro Dober's figure. Instead, he turned toward the grandstands and performed a knight's bow.
"Although it looked very elegant, if you think about it carefully, it was actually a little irritating," Dober honestly described her feelings. "It felt like he was saying, 'I'm terribly sorry for defeating your Uma Musumes, so please allow me to apologize.'"
"That's true," Teio nodded in agreement. "It's like someone beating me in a fighting game and then apologizing afterward."
"Mainly because beating a beginner like Teio really makes my conscience hurt a little," the young man quipped.
A second later, Tokai Teio's fist landed squarely on him.
After withdrawing her fist, Teio's gaze drifted toward the coffee table as she spoke thoughtfully.
"Speaking of the Queen Elizabeth Stakes, before my Satsuki Sho, I had a lucid dream where Shuta Trainer and I challenged the Queen Elizabeth Stakes together. I've had similar dreams more than once, and I still don't know why."
However, every time she experienced one of those lucid dreams, Tokai Teio felt that her body remained unchanged afterward, so she quickly stopped dwelling on the matter.
Once the Queen Elizabeth Stakes segment ended, the documentary did not immediately transition to the Japanese Derby. Instead, it showed a scene of Shuta An discussing the post-race schedule with the director.
"I promised I would watch her Satsuki Sho, so naturally I have to keep that promise. As a Trainer, you can't make promises you aren't capable of fulfilling. But returning to Japan tonight and heading straight to Nakayama Racecourse is entirely within my capabilities."
"Yes..." Teio murmured softly. "During the Satsuki Sho, Shuta Trainer looked quite exhausted beside the track. For a moment, I even thought he was disappointed with my condition. It scared me enough that I checked myself again during warm-ups, but I couldn't find any problems."
"Actually, I rested quite well on the morning of the Satsuki Sho," Shuta An said, somewhat surprised. "Yet in Teio's eyes I still looked exhausted? Then it seems I only thought I was in good condition."
Soon afterward, the result of drawing two consecutive outermost gates appeared before the audience.
"I suggest the URA Association also assign Teio to the outermost gate for the Kikuka Sho. Thank you."
"Eh?"
The young man blinked in surprise. He was absolutely certain there had been no film crew around when he made that remark.
Yet the person who appeared on the television screen next was Symboli Rudolf.
"To be honest, I completely understood Shuta Trainer's frustration at the time. As someone who had been watching Tokai Teio even before her enrollment, I also had doubts when I saw the gate draw results. However, the URA Association confirmed that it was a machine draw with no additional interference."
"One can only say that my heart felt very heavy at the time. After all, everyone says the Derby belongs to the luckiest Uma Musume. So when Teio encountered such misfortune in the gate draw—saying I wasn't worried would be a lie."
Symboli Rudolf forced a faint smile.
"To achieve the best possible result, it ultimately depended on the efforts of Teio and Shuta Trainer themselves. Those of us on the outside could only offer our support."
At the production team's invitation, Shuta An later recorded a separate analysis regarding Gate 18.
"It was completely a battle for survival," Tokai Teio commented. "If the other competitors had been stronger, winning that Japanese Derby would have been much more difficult."
"That's true. The abilities of that generation hadn't fully matured yet," Shuta An continued. "But by the time of the Kikuka Sho, most of those Uma Musumes will have completed their development. Teio absolutely cannot look at them with the same perspective she had during the Derby."
"Of course, I won't make that mistake." Teio confidently patted her chest. "Because I don't have room to fail. In this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, I intend to leave behind no regrets whatsoever!"
She had declared those words hundreds, thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of times. Yet until victory in the Kikuka Sho was truly secured, Shuta An would never be able to completely set aside his concerns.
The documentary's final scene showed Tokai Teio raising two fingers toward the grandstands after crossing the finish line of the Japanese Derby.
"Whether it is Mejiro Dober or Tokai Teio, their journey this year is still continuing."
Shuta An was about to rise from his seat when the darkened screen suddenly lit up once more.
Beneath the morning sun shining over Central Tracen Academy's training grounds, two Uma Musumes chased one another across the track, one leading and the other following closely behind.
"Beyond the spotlight, in places the vast audience can never see, the members of Team Sadalsuud who have yet to debut continue honing their abilities, preparing to astonish their future fans. Oguri Cap, Silence Suzuka, Mejiro Dober, Tokai Teio—We have every reason to believe that Team Sadalsuud will produce even more star Uma Musumes in the years to come."
That evening, Shuta An fell asleep with Mejiro Dober in his arms.
After entering the Dream World, Shuta An did not remain at Curragh Racecourse in Ireland. Instead, he traveled to Longchamp Racecourse in Paris. Although Curragh was also hosting a G1 race today, Longchamp Racecourse had the G1 Grand Prix de Paris, and André Fabre had already arranged a racing partner for him.
However, Shuta An was actually somewhat dissatisfied.
The horse he would be partnering today, Fort Wood, had finished tenth in the French Derby, beaten by eleven lengths. It was certainly a "good" result.
Still, since he had no Trainer resources available at Curragh, he could only come here to compete.
"Let's just treat this as accumulating European racing experience. After all, this is Longchamp Racecourse, and Teio will come here in October to run in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe."
That was how Shuta An comforted himself.
There were seven races scheduled at Longchamp Racecourse today, and Shuta An would participate in six of them. Thanks to the support of France's top Trainer, apart from the Grand Prix de Paris itself, all five of his other mounts were race favorites.
Even if he failed to win the Grand Prix de Paris, the young man would most likely leave with prize money from five races.
Of course, that held little appeal for Shuta An.
The prize money for ordinary European races was fairly average. If earning prize money had truly been his objective, he could have remained in Japan and aggressively farmed class-race victories throughout the summer.
"The focus is still the Grand Prix de Paris."
Sitting in the jockeys' waiting room, Shuta An closed his eyes and carefully recalled the information he had gathered about the race.
The Grand Prix de Paris was established in 1863.
Its original purpose had been to provide a stage for the finest three-year-old horses from Britain and France to compete against one another. Given the tense relationship between the two nations at the time, the Grand Prix de Paris was one of the rare occasions where the French could find confidence against the British.
The French writer Zola had once described the significance of the Grand Prix de Paris in the eyes of the French people in his work NANA. If French racehorses could defeat the British horses that had crossed the sea to compete, the satisfaction felt by the French would be no less than winning a battle against Britain itself.
Even after World War II, the Grand Prix de Paris remained one of Europe's premier Classic races, standing on equal footing with the Irish Derby.
However, following the establishment of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, the Grand Prix de Paris gradually declined in status. Its prize money remained stagnant, and eventually it was surpassed by the Arc.
To attract more competitors, the race distance was shortened from 3000 meters to its current 2000 meters more than a decade ago. The purse was also increased somewhat, though it still lagged far behind the Arc.
"Even now."
Shuta An slowly opened his eyes.
A staff member from Longchamp Racecourse had already come to remind him that it was time to prepare for the day's first race.
The Grand Prix de Paris was the fourth race on today's card.
Before that, Shuta An comfortably won all three preceding races—the Prix Châtelet, Prix Reuil, and Prix des Tuileries.
Winning ordinary races on horses trained by André Fabre was rarely difficult.
Yet Shuta An felt no sense of relaxation whatsoever.
After all, the G1 Grand Prix de Paris was today's true objective.
And his partner would still be Fort Wood, the horse that had finished tenth in the French Derby.
For this Grand Prix de Paris, André Fabre had entered three runners.
Fort Wood, ridden by Shuta An.
Dernier Empereur, runner-up in this year's French Derby, ridden by Thierry.
And Sharman, winner of last month's G3 Prix Paul de Moussac, ridden by Frankie Dettori.
Fort Wood and Sharman were tied as second favorites in the betting.
The favorite was naturally Dernier Empereur.
Back in the waiting room, Frankie Dettori could not resist teasing him.
"André Fabre tricked you into coming all the way to Longchamp, then didn't even give you the best horse. Shuta An, can you really accept that?"
"What's there not to accept?"
Shuta An waved his hand dismissively.
"Being the favorite doesn't guarantee victory. Besides, Fort Wood's poor result in the French Derby was probably due to the distance exceeding his limits. This time we're back to 2000 meters. I believe he can deliver a very good performance."
"Then good luck to you."
Frankie Dettori replied casually.
Truthfully, he had little expectation for his own mount.
In his eyes, Sharman lacked competitiveness. The horse's previous victory had not come in a particularly strong field, and today Dettori intended to approach the race with a simple punch-in-and-punch-out mentality.
After leaving the waiting room, Shuta An quickly spotted Fort Wood.
The bay horse looked exceptionally spirited. Its head bobbed constantly, its eyes showed no trace of fatigue, and it appeared full of fighting spirit.
The young man then glanced toward Dernier Empereur.
Compared to Fort Wood, that horse appeared much calmer.
"Fort Wood definitely looks to be in better condition."
Shuta An quietly reached that conclusion.
At the same time, beside the track, André Fabre was chatting with Gosden, whose Emperor Jones had also been entered in today's Grand Prix de Paris.
"Why didn't you give Dernier Empereur to Shuta An this time?"
Gosden took the initiative to ask.
"Isn't that your best horse?"
"Aren't you worried he'll feel slighted? Quite a few Trainers in Britain and Ireland were impressed by his performance during Royal Ascot. Then he won the Pretty Polly Stakes yesterday as well. If you don't keep giving him quality mounts, I'd wager plenty of people are already preparing to poach him."
"It's not that I'm slighting him."
André Fabre shook his head.
"Dernier Empereur simply isn't in as good condition as Fort Wood right now. Yesterday, before the final declaration deadline, I decided to give Mr. Shuta the horse with the higher chance of winning."
"Perhaps he was a little dissatisfied at first. But after seeing both horses in person today, he should understand my reasoning."
André Fabre's judgment was entirely correct.
After comparing the conditions of the two horses, Shuta An nodded with satisfaction.
"Indeed, Mr. André Fabre still gave me the horse with the best chance of winning this race."
Nearby, Frankie Dettori glanced toward him and shook his head.
"As expected, André Fabre still values him highly. I wonder what Thierry is thinking right now."
Still, Frankie Dettori did not concern himself with the matter for long. His primary battlefield remained Britain. Not receiving the best horse in France was hardly surprising.
"Let's see how Shuta fights Thierry today."
With that thought, Frankie Dettori decided to find himself a good viewing position and enjoy the show.