“She is Oguri Cap’s most dangerous opponent in this race.”
“Indeed,” Tojo Hana agreed.
“She debuted in Central, won all three of her races there, then transferred to Monbetsu.
Her ability is definitely Central-grade.”
“Look on the bright side,” Yugi grinned.
“Beating Don Fortis means Oguri Cap now has Central-grade strength too, right?”
After three days of heavy rain, the thick clouds over Hokkaido finally took a break.
That day, Monbetsu Racecourse would post the gate assignments for the Hokkaido Yushun Himba.
Since it was only a national-level local exchange G3 race, there was no formal gate-draw ceremony and no invitation for the participating Uma Musumes to pick their own gates in person.
Yugi and Oguri Cap could only focus on finding their rhythm at the hot spring inn’s training ground while they waited for the results.
After lunch, Yugi changed into fresh clothes and sat in a quiet corner of the lobby with an iced Americano, waiting for the Monbetsu Racecourse staff to arrive.
Tojo Hana, seated across from him, took a sip of barley tea and asked with a smile, “I’m curious, Yamoto-kun.
Do you have a preferred gate, or do you think Oguri Cap will be fine no matter where she draws?”
“I’d love to say the latter, and I do believe her ability can handle any gate,” Yugi replied with a shrug, “but as her trainer, I naturally hope she gets the best possible conditions.
So I’m rooting for an outside gate.
That position has the highest win rate at Monbetsu Racecourse.”
“Then I hope your wish comes true,” Tojo Hana said, raising her cup with a smile.
Yugi lifted his own cup in return and finished the last of his coffee.
“It would be nice, but it won’t ruin our plans either way.”
A short while later, the Monbetsu staff arrived.
Yugi stood up to meet him and took the sealed envelope.
Right there in front of the messenger, he opened it and pulled out the gate sheet.
One glance made him frown.
He thanked the staff politely.
“Thanks for bringing this.”
“It’s no trouble at all.
It’s our job,” the staff replied, waving it off.
“Now that you have the sheet, I’ll head back.”
“Safe travels,” Yugi said, watching him leave.
Tojo Hana walked over and asked, “What did we get?”
Yugi handed her the sheet and pouted.
“Not what we hoped for.
Gate one.”
“So she’ll have to lead?” Tojo Hana understood the track’s quirks well.
She had listened to Yugi’s analysis many times.
“Oguri Cap isn’t going to try a brand-new leading strategy here,” Yugi shook his head.
“The inside gate makes it too easy to get squeezed.
Better to forget about the front and run from off the pace.”
“It’s not necessarily a bad thing,” Silence Suzuka chimed in quietly from the side.
She had been listening the whole time.
“If everyone fights for the lead, it often opens up chances for horses that come from behind.”
“Unless the forecast changes, we’re looking at more rain in the next few days,” Yugi continued.
“The Monbetsu track holds moisture for a long time.
There’s an eighty-percent chance the surface will be heavy on race day.” As he spoke, his frown slowly eased.
“Actually… this might work in our favor.”
When a dirt track turns heavy, the sand gets thinner and horses run faster overall.
That means the usual disadvantage of the inner lane having deeper sand could disappear completely.
With all the recent rain, both the inside and outside lanes were likely thinned out.
“Most Monbetsu Uma Musumes, like the ones from the Tokai region, hate running on the inside,” Yugi explained.
“But Oguri Cap has completely broken that habit under my training.”
Silence Suzuka noticed the confident spark in Yugi’s eyes.
“It’s decided!” The young trainer grinned.
“We’ll save energy early, then surge up the inside in the stretch and surprise everyone.”
Back in the guest room, Yugi gave Oguri Cap an even more detailed pre-race briefing.
He borrowed a whiteboard from Miss Sachiko and sketched a simple layout of the Monbetsu track, walking her through exactly what to do at each section.
When he finished, he added, “That said, I’m giving you full permission to improvise, Oguri Cap.
If you feel something else would work better at any moment, go for it.
No matter what happens, I won’t blame you.”
“I understand,” Oguri Cap nodded.
“I won’t let you down, Trainer.”
“What matters is that you don’t let yourself down.
I don’t want you looking back later thinking, ‘I wish I had done that.'”
“As long as you give everything you have, I won’t be disappointed.” He pointed to his own eyes.
“After all, I’m the one who helped you, Oguri Cap, make it into the Hokkaido Yushun Himba.”
“I will win,” Oguri Cap declared, standing up from the sofa.
She pressed her right fist to her chest and looked straight at her trainer, her voice steady and serious.
“When I left Hokkaido for Kasamatsu, I told myself I would work hard to earn a chance to race there so I wouldn’t waste the love my mother gave me as a filly.”
“You’re the one who saw my potential and invited me to join your team.”
“You’re the one who gave me training far beyond what the academy offered.”
“You’re the one who believed in me enough to let me leave Kasamatsu and step onto a bigger stage.”
“You’re the person who trusts me most… besides my mother.”
Oguri Cap, who rarely spoke so much, lowered her gaze to the floor when she finished.
“For my first Grade race challenge, I want to see your smile at the end.”
Yugi was surprised to hear her say so much at once.
The atmosphere in the living room grew heavy.
Berno Light, sensing it, had slipped into the bedroom and was peeking through a crack in the door.
“Look at me,” Yugi said softly, breaking the tension.
He took Oguri Cap’s hand and met her eyes.
She obeyed and lifted her gaze.
Yugi studied the gray Uma Musume’s delicate face and saw the anxiety she was trying so hard to hide.
This was her first national-level Grade race, several steps above the Tokai Sakura Sho she had only watched before.
Her family would be in the stands too.
He understood every reason for her nerves.
After a moment he spoke from the heart.
“Oguri Cap, you are my hope.
I will always believe you are the strongest Uma Musume.
Together, we can win any race.”
“Please believe in yourself the same way I believe in you.”
He placed her hand over his chest.
“Let my heart be your witness.”
===
After Yugi returned to the bedroom, Oguri Cap stared down at the hand he had held.
She curled her fingers, then opened them again.
“Believe in Trainer… believe in myself, the one Trainer believes in…” She repeated the words quietly in her heart.
From behind the door, Berno Light felt her cheeks grow warm.
“What did Trainer just say to Oguri Cap?”
She had not caught the exact words, only a growing sense that she had become an outsider to the team.
“If I ask Oguri, I definitely won’t get an answer… but asking Trainer directly feels awkward too.” Berno Light bit her lip.
“Still, once everything becomes real…”
She shook her head quickly, trying to push the thought away.
“No, no!
I have to take the initiative somehow!”
Meanwhile, Yugi lay on his bed staring at the ceiling, lost in thought.
“I haven’t had a hot spring bath today,” he muttered to himself.
But no footsteps sounded outside, and he did not feel comfortable walking through the living room without clothes.
It would be far too awkward if Oguri Cap or Berno Light stepped out.
Ever since that earlier incident he had been extra careful.
Once could be brushed off, but twice would be hard to explain.
As he lay there quietly, his eyes slowly closed and he drifted into a dream.
In the dream world that day, Yugi was riding Oguri Cap in an OP race at Nagoya.
Not only that, thanks to his record seven-win day at Kasamatsu, he had earned the trust of other owners and trainers.
Today he was scheduled for five races in Nagoya.
“The first, fourth, fifth, eighth, and Oguri Cap’s eleventh,” he murmured, checking his schedule.
The other four partners he had already met in previous dream sessions.
Their horses were average at best.
Stronger mounts usually had regular jockeys, so he was filling in.
Still, after building confidence earlier, his goal remained the same: win every race.
The day started with a setback.
Yugi dismounted with a frown, clearly displeased.
Sagami Masayuki noticed and tried to comfort him.
“It’s fine.
Don’t worry about losing the favorite.
A lot of people bet on that one just because you were riding.”
“But that’s exactly why it bothers me,” Yugi said with a strained smile.
“I feel like I let the supporters down.”
He now understood Oguri Cap’s nervousness completely.
“There’s no need for that,” Sagami Masayuki clapped him firmly on the shoulder.
“It’s seventy percent the horse and thirty percent the rider.
No matter how hard you try, the horse’s quality still decides most of it.
You’re a jockey, not a miracle worker.”
“I understand,” Yugi replied, head lowered.
Even though he knew the logic, he still wanted revenge in the next race.
After the early loss, he won the next three races cleanly, giving his rivals no chance.
“The only reason Yamoto Yugi didn’t sweep today was that terrible horse in the first race,” the Nagoya commentator noted, and the crowd agreed.
In the jockey lounge, the reception was completely different from what he had experienced at Kasamatsu.
The Nagoya riders gathered around him, eager to hear about his riding technique.
No matter how long they had been racing, they could all see that this young apprentice from Kasamatsu possessed skills that surpassed both local and Central standards.
Yugi did not hold back.
He had already realized in the dream world that his technique was closely tied to his physical fitness.
Even if he taught everything he knew, the local jockeys’ bodies would not let them use it the same way.
He shared generously, which helped him build strong friendships with the Nagoya riders.
When it came time for the day’s feature race, the eleventh on the card and Oguri Cap’s main event, Yugi’s easy smile vanished and his expression turned serious.
The earlier races had been for his own pride.
This one was for Oguri Cap’s honor.
Even after six straight wins at Kasamatsu, this was her first time racing in Nagoya.
She was the second favorite in this OP event, just behind the local star “Overall Commander.”
Yugi did not care about the odds.
He calmly loaded Oguri Cap into the gate, broke cleanly, secured a perfect position just off the leader, and kept the pace relaxed.
On the final straight he angled out, gave one crisp whip, and asked her to accelerate.
“Kasamatsu’s White Meteor pulls away cleanly!
She’s heading straight for the wire!
The combination of genius and genius truly overcomes every doubt!” the commentator called out enthusiastically.
“Undefeated in seven straight races!
Oguri Cap stands at the top of Nagoya’s two-year-olds this summer!”
After crossing the finish line, Yugi heard the roar clearly.
“Seven in a row, huh,” he thought.
In the unsaddling area he slipped lightly from the saddle.
Oguri Cap, usually so calm, suddenly turned and bumped the back of his head.
Yugi winced but smiled, rubbing her nose affectionately.
The next moment, the attribute viewer chimed in his mind once more.
When he checked it, he saw that his affection with Oguri Cap had passed two hundred points and now sat at two hundred and one.
“Two hundred and one… So what’s the actual cap?” He had no idea.
Another question had been bothering him for two months as well.
“How exactly do I teach the Pace Chaser Demon skill?”
With both mysteries on his mind, the young man’s expression grew serious again, even after winning an OP race in the dream world.
===
The next day, Yugi noticed that Oguri Cap’s behavior toward him seemed completely normal.
He felt relieved, but also a little disappointed.
“So reaching two hundred affection still doesn’t change anything?” he wondered.
“Or do I need to ask her directly?”
Still, before such an important race, no change was probably a good thing.
Positive would have been fine, but negative would have been disastrous.
He wanted her to stay mentally sharp.
“Anyway, winning an OP race in the dream only raised her affection to two hundred and one with no other rewards,” he thought.
“I guess real prizes will only come from winning a Grade race in there.”
In Berno Light’s eyes, however, something had shifted ever since Trainer held Oguri Cap’s hand the night before.
“Oguri suddenly started keeping a little more distance from Trainer.”