Grass Wonder's words didn't surprise Yasui in the slightest. They matched one of the possibilities he had already considered.
This Uma Musume had raced Special Week twice, and both performances stood out for very specific reasons.
The first was the Takarazuka Kinen in June. That summer had arrived early, and Grass Wonder suffered a dip in condition after being affected by the heat during a training race. Her form stayed low for some time afterward. Yet the very next day, the moment she spotted Special Week on the track, she transformed completely. An overwhelming aura radiated from her. In that rejuvenated state, she pulled away to win by three lengths over Special Week, with third-place Stay Gold trailing a full ten lengths behind.
The second race, the Arima Kinen at the end of the year, followed a similar pattern. This time it wasn't illness during training but an injury that forced her to withdraw from the Japan Cup. She recovered in time for the Arima Kinen, and on race day her spirits were soaring once again. She defeated Special Week for the second time.
With those memories in mind, hearing Grass Wonder's name made Yasui want to confirm his suspicions right away.
If her performances in those two races had come from training methods or tactical adjustments, they could become a valuable reference for Kitasan Black's special training this time around. For his Uma Musume, the more experience she gained in final spurts and pursuit scenarios, the better. There was no such thing as too much.
If it turned out to be nothing more than interview material, that was fine too. He could simply proceed with normal arrangements.
After quickly comparing his recollections with Grass Wonder's answer, Yasui nodded to himself.
"This situation really is unusual. We can't push you too hard. As for whether we'll use a pursuit tactic, I'll discuss it with you after I've checked your current physical condition. Sound good?"
A training race required clear objectives set in advance. Handling specific gate positions, responding to cornering and blocking, knowing what to do when faced with a pursuit—different goals were best assigned to different Uma Musume so the resulting data could optimize the training that followed.
To make that work, he naturally had to confirm the physical condition of everyone assisting. Special Week and the others had already been checked. The only one left was Grass Wonder, who was now planning to take part.
Having experience with training races, Grass Wonder understood Yasui's thinking immediately. She smiled and nodded without hesitation.
"No problem, Mr. Yasui. Please arrange everything however you need."
…
Saturday morning, the track at Tracen Academy.
As usual, Yasui spotted Kitasan Black warming up from a distance even before he got close. The difference today was that she wasn't on her usual turf track. She was on the wood-chip track.
This track sat along the outermost edge of the grounds and was mainly used for adaptability work and high-intensity training. Its surface was covered with roughly five centimeters of wood chips mixed with binders, laid over a synthetic rubber base. Running on it reduced the impact on joints. The slopes had been designed with purpose as well. A combined slope section of about twelve hundred meters lay directly opposite the grandstand, making it ideal for building slope adaptability, explosive power, and cardiovascular endurance.
Kitasan Black had used the wood-chip track before, though not often. Lately it had become the perfect stand-in for the compound slopes of the Japanese Derby and the ideal venue for this training race.
After watching her warm-up for a while and giving a small nod, Yasui turned his gaze to the other side.
Dozens of meters away, near the turf track on the wood-chip surface, Special Week, Grass Wonder, and Vodka were running side by side, re-adapting to the different footing. Further off, on a wide stretch of grass, Deep Impact was doing crunches while lying on a balance ball. Parallel to her, Orfevre was doing push-ups on a mat by herself.
They had all arrived early. He needed to hurry and finish setting up the venue.
Once he had confirmed everyone's condition, Yasui began unpacking the bags he had brought. This training race wasn't as lively as the last one. Besides the participating Uma Musume, only a few people were training on the weekend, and the grandstand stood empty. Tokai Teio and Mejiro McQueen, the two presidents, were busy elsewhere and hadn't come.
That meant Yasui had to set up everything himself: the laser sensors for recording starts, cruising speeds, and finishes, the drones for filming, and the megaphone for instructions.
He had just finished most of the work when a distant roar and shouting approached from outside the track.
"Hey, can anyone come help push this?"
Yasui recognized Gold Ship's voice instantly. He looked over and froze for a second.
In the Twinkle Series, the starting gates used in actual races were specially constructed. From the bottom rollers to the supports and the hydraulically controlled doors, the entire apparatus was made of metal. A complete set weighed six tons or more.
Outside the racecourse, Uma Musume practiced gate training with the same equipment. Whether at the racecourse or the training grounds, a tow truck usually moved the gates in and out.
At this moment, however, Gold Ship had a rope tied around her waist with an entire set of gates attached to the other end. She had simply pulled the whole thing over by herself.
So when she said she would handle the gates… this was what she meant?
Yasui couldn't help but smile wryly.
Because she was preparing for the Tenno Sho (Spring), Gold Ship wasn't participating in this training race. Still, at the celebration party the night before, she had enthusiastically declared she would definitely come help. Yasui hadn't thought much of it at the time and agreed. She had volunteered to prepare the venue, gates included.
He just never expected her to do it quite like this.
Well, that was Gold Ship for you. And the strength of Uma Musume really was on a completely different level from humans.
Amused and a little moved, Yasui and Kitasan Black, who had stopped warming up, ran toward her.
As they got closer, they saw that besides Gold Ship pulling the gates, Daiwa Scarlet and Suzuka were actually pushing from behind.
When they started helping, Special Week naturally moved next to Suzuka, gripping a section of the alloy support with her, and said with a laugh:
"Suzuka…? Why are you messing around with Gold Ship?"
Vodka, who had also stepped in next to Daiwa Scarlet to help push, looked equally puzzled.
"Yeah, Gold Ship being quirky is one thing, but Daiwa Scarlet and Suzuka… what's going on with you two?"
Orfevre couldn't help complaining from the side.
"Hey, what were you thinking? Couldn't you just drive a car over like normal?"
Gold Ship looked displeased before Suzuka or Daiwa Scarlet could even answer.
"How can you blame me? I originally wanted to drive, but then I found out none of us have a driver's license, so we had to push it over.
Besides, what do you mean, 'what am I thinking'? Just tell me whether you're going to use this gate or not, alright?"