The Takarazuka Kinen and the Arima Kinen were collectively known as the Grand Prix races. They stood among the highest-paying events in Japanese horse racing and ranked extremely high in both popularity and prestige among racing fans. Because of that, conquering the Grand Prix races was a lifelong dream for many Japanese horse girls.
There were also bonus rewards for sweeping the Grand Prix, just as there were for taking the Spring Triple Crown, the Autumn Triple Crown, back-to-back Spring and Autumn Tenno Sho titles, or the full Classic Triple Crown. Of course, the bonus for conquering the Classic Triple Crown was the largest of them all.
But since both the Takarazuka Kinen and the Arima Kinen allowed entries from both Classic-year horse girls and older horses, the competition was ferocious. The Arima Kinen in particular was the sort of race where, unless you were the Horse Queen of the year—or at least a horse girl with the potential to become her—you had no chance of winning.
Compared with running in the Commonwealth Cup, Maruzensky would have preferred Xingyun Liuge to go for the Takarazuka Kinen. At the very least, it could serve as useful preparation for the King George later on.
Of course, the "preparation" she had in mind was not about race tactics or mentality. The turf in the two countries was different. What she meant was gaining experience against older horse girls, so that Xingyun Liuge would be better prepared to challenge the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
But Maruzensky understood the taboo of speaking too deeply when one's acquaintance was still shallow. Instead of barging ahead alone and trying to persuade Xingyun Liuge herself, she decided to gather other horse girls and convince her together.
By the next morning, Maruzensky was already feeling relieved. If she had gone off on her own the night before and tried to talk Xingyun Liuge out of it, she would have made a fool of herself.
The Eclipse Stakes in early July was a turf race over roughly 2,000 meters, open to horse girls of Classic age and older. If one chose to view it as a preview of the King George... that was not entirely unreasonable. After all, Xingyun Liuge would be able to see the full splendor of Europe's horse girls there.
The Grand Prix de Paris, meanwhile, was restricted to Classic-year horse girls only. But France was a major racing power in its own right, so seeing what her French contemporaries were like would hardly be a bad thing. Who knew? She might even run into same-generation French horse girls planning to contest the King George as well.
The girls all threw themselves into tense, focused training. Cuihe in particular did so. While Xingyun Liuge would be racing in the Eclipse Stakes, Cuihe herself would be running her debut, officially beginning her career as a horse girl.
And yet all outside attention remained fixed on Xingyun Liuge.
The moment news broke that she had entered the Commonwealth Cup, the major papers splashed it across their pages:
Xingyun Liuge Occupies Ascot Racecourse!
Which, in reality, was not quite what had happened at all.
The Royal Racing Association was holding its world-famous five-day meeting at Ascot, featuring—day by day—the Queen Anne Stakes, the Prince of Wales's Stakes, the Ascot Gold Cup, the Commonwealth Cup, and the Platinum Jubilee Stakes.
Normally, it was the opening and closing days that drew the most attention. The Prince of Wales's Stakes on the second day also enjoyed enormous prestige thanks to sharing the highest purse with the closing-day Platinum Jubilee Stakes.
That left the Commonwealth Cup and the Ascot Gold Cup in a rather awkward position. They carried the lowest purses of the five Group 1 events and received noticeably less attention than the other three.
But Xingyun Liuge had no other choice.
The other four races were open only to older horse girls. The fourth day's Commonwealth Cup was the only one restricted to the Classic generation.
Certainly, there were other races she could have run. But Royal Ascot was a world-class festival, and Xingyun Liuge had no intention of missing it. That was why she had entered the focal event of Day Four—the Commonwealth Cup.
And then a major story broke.
Once word spread that Xingyun Liuge had entered, the horse girls who had already signed up began withdrawing one after another. The field shrank from twelve to five in no time flat, and one of the remaining runners was even from France.
According to one unnamed horse girl who had scratched:
"There's no point racing someone you can't possibly beat."
The discussion around Xingyun Liuge exploded.
Some commentators argued that this year's British horse girls were shamefully lacking in competitive spirit. Others insisted that pragmatism was the wisest choice. Still others suggested that Xingyun Liuge might become the second Eclipse and used that claim to send veiled encouragement to the authorities to try harder.
Amid the din of argument and the thunder of cheers that seemed ready to split the heavens, the Commonwealth Cup—barely 1,200 meters long—came to an end.
The distance had been short, but Xingyun Liuge still finished seven lengths clear of second place and broke the historical record, leaving the rest of the field in tears on the track.
Because in a normal sprint, it was impossible to open up that kind of margin.
That result was no longer the sort of thing a horse girl from the same world could produce.
From the stands, Miesque quietly wiped a bead of cold sweat from her brow. As a French horse girl renowned across Europe in sprint and mile races, she understood perfectly how terrifying Xingyun Liuge's performance had been. She could only feel grateful that she had already moved into the older division and would not have to face a monster like that directly. Otherwise, she feared she might develop a psychological scar.
Still, her expectations toward Xingyun Liuge quietly deepened.
This year's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe had just gained a new top favorite.
What, one wondered, would the reigning middle-distance queens think of that?
At that point, all those harsh opinions about "this year's British horse girls lacking competitive spirit" abruptly vanished. One commentator even published a formal retraction in the paper the very next day, declaring that horse girls should follow the voice in their own hearts, and that this was for the best.
And then, the next morning, another story hit the front pages of the gleefully provocative tabloids:
Five-Crown Queen Xingyun Liuge Approaches Sandown Park Racecourse.
Because her new schedule had already been announced.
Xingyun Liuge would be running in the Eclipse Stakes.
The moment the Daily Mirror, The Guardian, and even The Times all reprinted the story, Mtoto's head started to ache.
Because she, too, was running in the Eclipse Stakes.
As a textbook late-developing horse girl, Mtoto's career could fairly be described as one of bitter hardship followed by belated triumph.
By the end of her Classic year, she had gone seven starts for one win, and that lone victory had come in a maiden race. It was so awkward that some people had even claimed she had started racing before fully maturing.
Fortunately, once she stepped into the older division, she proved herself with beautiful results, stringing together victories in the Brigadier Gerard Stakes, the Prince of Wales's Stakes, and the Eclipse Stakes itself.
This was her second year as an older horse girl. She had already successfully defended her Prince of Wales's title, so her next goal was naturally to defend the Eclipse Stakes as well—and then move on to challenge the King George and the Arc.
She rubbed her forehead helplessly, wiping away cold sweat that seemed unwilling to stop.
"So that little girl I met in the Emirates has already grown into something this ridiculous... No matter how you look at it, this has gone way too far."
To Mtoto, this was a terrible era.
The empire was fading. Overseas territories were breaking away one after another. The future of the realm had already been swallowed by thick fog.
But it was also a beautiful era.
The golden age of horse girls had not yet ended. One powerful racer after another was making a magnificent entrance onto the stage...
Though, to be fair, that was largely because the overseas horse girls were the ones carrying the banner now.
Across the ocean, the American horse girls had built their own golden age with sweat and effort. In the distant, mysterious East, the so-called "emerging market" had been opened still further, and a powerful horse girl had set down her iron hoof to herald the arrival of a new era.
Mtoto took a slow, deep breath and let it out.
"Well, whatever. Maybe that's not such a bad thing. Let this legendary junior from the mysterious East have a proper look at what the afterglow of the old era really means."
A determined light shone in the little girl's eyes, as if to say:
You say the future belongs to you? Then prove it to me.
Did anyone really think an old bag of bones like her was done for?
Withdraw from the race?
Absolutely impossible.
This year, her goal was to defend the Eclipse Stakes, then challenge the King George and the Arc. That had been her plan before, it was her plan now, and it would remain her plan in the future.
No matter who stood in front of her, she would raise her iron hoof and charge with utter resolve.
That was Mtoto's pride.
And more than that, it was the message she wanted to leave behind for the next generation:
If you truly decide to become a horse girl—if you truly choose to walk that road of glory paved with thorns—then there is only one thing left ahead of you.
The one and only sight that just a single racer may behold.
And so June's blazing sun climbed higher still, and scorching July arrived.
Saturday, July 2, 1988.
The Eclipse Stakes — Opening Day.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 165)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter220)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter125)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (This matter is completely finished.)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 220
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 185
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/20
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 248
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 230
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/40
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 125
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 145
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 120
I Can Copy Unique Skills 115
Summoning an Evil God, but the 75
Supernatural Multiverse 110
My Harem Is Indescribable 100
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 105
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 67
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 105
Still playing traditional Honk 80
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 85
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 78
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 55
Transmigrated as Sukuna 80
Checking In in Demon Slayer 85
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 100
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 85
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 80
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 90
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 75
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 85
Why did they assign me to Uma 75
MYGO Beauties 70
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 75
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 80
Honkai's Otherworld? Wait—Who Are You People?! 100
Emiya Shirou, Determined to Slay Every Curse and Evil Spirit 60
The Uma Musume Who Became 60
I'm Definitely Not the King of 80
After Maxing Out Every Class 80
Naruto: I'm Konoha's Local Men 44
Honkai: World Modulation Mode 57
I, the Elden Sword Saint 50
Dio Brando Is Challenging FGO 43
No One Knows Pokémon Better 50
I, Sakazuki, Won't Go Down Tha 45
From Trilobites to Titans 45
Chainsaw Man: Contracted with 55
DanMachi: My Party Members Are 60
An Anime Heroine Darkened 55
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