Hearing the trainer’s answer, Oguri Cap bit her lip, looked up at him, and spoke firmly.
“I understand.
To reach a bigger stage, I will keep winning!”
Berno Light chimed in from the side.
“I’ll cheer for Oguri too!”
“Mhm.” Oguri Cap didn’t think much of it and simply turned to nod at her teammate.
After the two Class C races ended, while the higher-level Class B race was in the paddock display phase, Oguri Cap suddenly spoke to Yugi.
“I feel that after training with the trainer, I would have had a chance to win those last two races.”
“Is that so?” Yugi didn’t express an opinion, his tone flat.
“The level of the next race is a bit higher than the previous two.
Oguri Cap, keep observing.”
Half an hour later, Oguri Cap gave the same answer.
“The next race is today’s main event at Nagoya, the Tokai Sakura Sho.” Yugi was silent for a moment before speaking again.
“Just like the Tokai Derby, it’s a G1 race.
You can use their level as a benchmark for next year’s Tokai Derby.”
In truth, such a comparison wasn’t rigorous, but Yugi felt that for the current Oguri Cap, this kind of comparison was easier to understand.
“In other words, as long as I can be stronger than them, I can win the Tokai Derby next year?” Oguri Cap blinked and asked curiously.
In fact, she really wanted to know to what extent she needed to go to realize her and her trainer’s dream.
“Our goal isn’t the Tokai Derby.” Yugi didn’t answer directly.
“If possible, I hope we can directly challenge Central’s Graded Races, or even G1, next year.”
“But a journey must be taken step by step, and a meal must be eaten bite by bite, right?” He shrugged.
“I can eat it all in one bite,” Oguri Cap muttered softly.
Both Berno Light and Yugi couldn’t hold it in.
The chestnut-haired Uma Musume burst out laughing, while the young man suppressed his laughter, his body shaking.
“The 27th Tokai Sakura Sho is about to begin.” The announcer’s voice echoed through the racecourse.
Meanwhile, the large screen in the center of the track showed the real-time status of the participating Uma Musume.
“Oguri Cap, pay attention to this.
When you truly step onto the stage of a Graded Race, don’t do anything strange when you’re about to go out, because the photographers will aim their lenses at you, and your every move will be projected onto that big screen.” Seeing this scene, Yugi quickly reminded the gray-haired Uma Musume.
“Oh, oh, oh, I see,” Oguri Cap replied casually while staring at the big screen.
“Will she actually remember?” Yugi felt a bit uneasy, but the pre-race display for the Tokai Sakura Sho had ended, and the Uma Musume were preparing to enter the track.
He shifted his attention to the starting gates.
“The consensus favorite before the race is Wide Seiko.
She has won six consecutive races in Nagoya and has incredible momentum.” As the Uma Musume entered the gates one by one, Yugi explained the relevant data of the race to them.
“Her favorite strategy is Pace Chasing, though she can also front-run.
So for her, the most important thing in this Tokai Sakura Sho is to grab a good Pace Chasing position or take the lead and control the pace.”
He noticed that both Oguri Cap and Berno Light looked a bit confused and frowned.
“I’ll explain these things to you before every race in the future — what your main opponents will do to win, what you need to do to win… Once a race reaches a certain level, pre-race strategy becomes very important.”
Hearing this, Oguri Cap immediately stated, “I will listen carefully to the trainer’s words.”
“This is much more relaxing than dealing with those ‘ancestors’ on the West Coast Tracen Academy,” Yugi thought to himself — though that was also because he was only an intern trainer back then…
The entire race unfolded exactly as Yugi had predicted.
Wide Seiko firmly controlled the pace after grabbing the lead and won the Tokai Sakura Sho with a wire-to-wire victory.
“Wide Seiko crosses the line!
Seven consecutive wins achieved!
After Haiseiko at Oi, is our Nagoya also going to welcome its own Haiseiko?!” The live commentator was quite excited.
The corners of Yugi’s mouth curled up.
Although Wide Seiko’s performance in this race was commendable, in his eyes, this level was not yet enough to be compared with Haiseiko.
“That one won the Satsuki Sho after transferring to Central.
This one has only won the Tokai Sakura Sho and hasn’t even challenged Central yet.”
While Yugi was evaluating Wide Seiko, Oguri Cap’s gaze did not stay on the winning Uma Musume on the track.
She turned around, facing the stands that looked much larger than those at Kasamatsu Racecourse.
At this moment, the stands were like a mountain roar and a sea wave, with all the spectators who had come to the scene cheering and applauding for Wide Seiko.
“Wide Seiko!
Wide Seiko!” “The strongest Uma Musume in Tokai!”
“Is this what a Graded Race is like?” Oguri Cap murmured.
Having lived in the countryside of Hokkaido since childhood, it was only today that she witnessed such a scene in person.
Wide Seiko, standing on the field for an interview, was also caught up in the atmosphere.
She took the microphone from the reporter interviewing her and declared loudly to the cheering audience in the stands.
“I’m going to Central!” “I will clear the name of our Tokai region!” “I must continue to win in Central!”
Oguri Cap turned her head and cast her gaze toward Wide Seiko.
“Does every Uma Musume go to Central after dominating the regional series?” For the first time, a sense of inquiry about the existence of “Central” arose in her heart.
After the Tokai Sakura Sho ended, Yugi didn’t stay to watch the last race at Nagoya Racecourse with Oguri Cap and Berno Light, but took them back to the academy.
“We’ve already seen the main course.
The next Class B race isn’t worth watching,” he responded when Berno Light raised a question.
As for Oguri Cap, after hearing the winner of the Tokai Sakura Sho declare her challenge to Central, she hadn’t spoken again, just hanging her head in thought.
Yugi noticed Oguri Cap’s behavior and wasn’t surprised.
Rather, this reaction was exactly what he expected.
If Oguri Cap had behaved like Berno Light, he would have been worried.
As he started the car, he thought to himself, “After seeing the stronger ones in the Tokai region, Oguri Cap should know how much effort she needs to put in, right?”
“Without a goal, one can never climb a mountain.”
Given Yugi’s expectations for Oguri Cap, making Fujimasa March, who was managed by Kitahara-san, the “goal” would be a bit cruel.
After all, when a regional Uma Musume with some talent becomes a “rival” to a Uma Musume whose goal is to defeat Central… in his view, it was more appropriate to make an unfamiliar Uma Musume preparing to challenge Central the “goal”…
After returning to the academy and seeing Oguri Cap and Berno Light off to their classroom, Yugi slowly returned to his office.
As expected, Kitahara-san and several colleagues were waiting for him at the door.
“Yugi-san, someone saw you driving out with your Uma Musume during the lunch break.
What were you doing?” one of the trainers couldn’t help but ask directly after spotting Yugi.
“Nothing much,” Yugi waved his hand.
“I just took them to Nagoya to see the Tokai Sakura Sho.”
“The Tokai Sakura Sho?” Kitahara-san frowned upon hearing his friend’s reply, looking quite worried.
“Is that really okay?”
“What’s the problem?” Yugi raised an eyebrow.
“It’s just a G1 race.”
“But for the Uma Musume of Kasamatsu, that kind of race is at an unattainable level,” another trainer reminded him.
“To let the Uma Musume you’re responsible for watch a race like that—”
“But what does that have to do with my team?” Yugi interrupted him.
“I said it, didn’t I?
Oguri Cap and I are going to challenge Central.
If even a G1 level Uma Musume can discourage her to the point of losing her spirit, then it proves that in terms of mentality—”
He tapped his temple and continued, “I need to give her a good lesson.”
Poor Berno Light was inadvertently forgotten by the other trainers again, but Yugi hadn’t forgotten.
“As for the other Uma Musume I’m in charge of, she told me that considering she isn’t very talented, she plans to switch to support work after trying one debut race.”
“So your team already has all its logistical staff sorted, Yugi-san?” Kitahara-san wore a regretful expression.
“I was thinking that if I couldn’t make it as a trainer later on, I’d head over to your place to do logistics.”
“Well, I wouldn’t have a spot for you either.” Yugi curled his lip.
“As long as you work hard, Kitahara-san, there’s no way you won’t make it.”
“Ha—” Kitahara-san grinned.
For the remainder of April, Yugi stayed at Kasamatsu Tracen Academy six days a week with Oguri Cap and Berno Light for routine training — maintaining a frequency of two high-intensity sessions and three low-intensity warm-up sessions.
As for the remaining day, the young trainer would take them to a shrine near the academy.
When they first arrived, Oguri Cap stood at the bottom of the slope, looking up at the torii gate at the top of the hill, feeling very curious.
“Did the trainer bring us here to pray?” Berno Light asked on behalf of her teammate.
“Pray?” Yugi smiled.
“If you want to, I have no objection.
But the main reason we’re here today isn’t to visit the shrine.”
He wiped the smile from his face and spoke seriously to the two Uma Musume under his charge.
“The training facilities at the academy are quite outdated — this isn’t just a problem at Kasamatsu; it’s the same in Central.”
“Huh?” The two Uma Musume didn’t understand why their trainer would say such a thing.
“But it can’t be helped.
After all, Japan’s training level for the Twinkle Series is indeed quite poor.” Yugi’s tone was matter-of-fact.
“Otherwise, I wouldn’t have come to this country.”
“As for the training facility missing from the academy, it’s the Slope Road.” He continued, “I don’t understand what these academies are thinking.
Since the terrain of some Central racecourses includes such exaggerated slopes, why don’t they set up Slope Roads in their training facilities?”
“Kasamatsu’s academy doesn’t have a Slope Road, so for the past six months, I’ve been looking for ‘substitutes’ on my way to work and running them myself to see how effective they are.” Yugi pointed to the sloped section behind him.
“The result is this place.”
“It’s quite interesting.
Although it leads to the shrine’s torii gate, it’s not a set of high stairs, but a flat uphill road.
Not only can it be used for slope training, but it’s also safer than stairs.” He was clearly very satisfied with this stretch of road.
“Apart from the dedicated slopes built in academies, this is the most suitable choice.”
“So we’re going to run up this?” Oguri Cap pointed.
“It feels like it’ll be much harder than running on the training ground.”
“It is indeed very difficult.” Yugi didn’t deny it.
“So your training time today will be a bit shorter than at the academy.”
“And considering this is the first day for both of you running on a slope, I’ll allow you to run a bit more loosely.” He shook the stopwatch in his hand.
“Around 20 seconds per furlong (200 meters) is fine.”
The two Uma Musume looked at each other, nodded, and began their warm-up exercises.
Yugi sat to the side, pulled out a notebook, and prepared to record Oguri Cap’s slope times.
“Though manual timing is inaccurate and a hassle, I just have to overcome it in a place like this.” He whispered to himself.
“Let me see your adaptability to slopes, Oguri Cap.”
If Oguri Cap showed signs of struggling with slopes, Yugi would not hesitate to cross out Kyoto Racecourse and Nakayama Racecourse when challenging Central in the future.
The Yodo Slope and the extreme uphill climb at the final 200 meters of the straight were no joke.
===
In this way, Oguri Cap and Berno Light spent over half a month getting used to training content and intensity that differed from the other Uma Musume at the academy.
During this period, Yugi recorded the two Uma Musume’s training data by day, and at night in his dreams, he continued to increase his intimacy with Oguri Cap by 1 point per day.
This continued until the last day of April.
“Are we going to run the slope in front of the shrine today?” Berno Light asked as soon as they met in the morning.
“So eager?” Yugi was quite surprised and raised an eyebrow.
“Don’t tell me you’ve fallen in love with the feeling of running slopes now, Berno?”
“No.” Berno Light turned her head away and muttered, “But what’s coming can’t be avoided, and I can feel my own progress, so I can endure it even if I don’t like it.”
“Well,” Yugi’s gaze shifted to Oguri Cap, who was hurrying toward them, “we’re not going to run the slope today.”
Oguri Cap, who had just reached his side, heard this and asked in confusion, “Then what are we doing today?”
“Tomorrow starts May, which means that starting tomorrow, Kasamatsu Racecourse will be holding debut races that both of you can register for.”
At this, Yugi glanced at Oguri Cap and Berno Light.
Both had looks of anticipation on their faces, but there was a slight difference — the former was genuinely looking forward to standing on the track and competing with other Uma Musume, while the latter’s anticipation hid a hint of relief.
“As for your debut races, my plan is this—” He changed his mind on the spot after noticing Berno Light’s reaction.
“May 5th, Kasamatsu Racecourse, both 800m dirt.
Oguri in the first race, Berno Light in the second.”
Hearing this, Berno Light felt a bit nervous.
“Trainer, you aren’t putting us in the same race, are you?”
Although Berno Light didn’t plan to continue as an Uma Musume, she didn’t want to be carried off the track by her teammate in her only race.
“Of course not.” Yugi’s mouth twitched.
“It’s not like it’s an unavoidable race.
From the perspective of my own interests, I’ll definitely register you for separate ones.”
“That’s good.” A look of relief appeared on Oguri Cap’s face as she spoke.
“I don’t want to face Berno Light in my debut race either.”
“Because I want to win together with Berno Light.” She turned her head, meeting her teammate’s eyes while stating her true thoughts.
“Since neither of you has any objections, I’ll register you like that.” Yugi took out a pen and made a mark on the race page in his notebook.
“The entry list won’t be available until the day after tomorrow, so on the 3rd, we’ll halve our morning training time.
I’ll use the remaining half to work out race tactics for both of you and introduce the opponents you need to watch out for.”
“Understood!” The two Uma Musume nodded repeatedly.
During the lunch break, Yugi returned to his office after eating.
Unsurprisingly, he ran into Kitahara-san outside his office door again.
“I say, since you love coming over here so much, why don’t you just apply to move your office next to mine?” Yugi teased his friend.
“It would save you all that walking every day.”
“I have serious business today.” Kitahara-san looked solemn.
“Registration for the Uma Musume’s debut races starts today.
Yugi-san, which race are you planning to enter Oguri and the others in?”
“I don’t plan on delaying any further,” Yugi didn’t hide it from his friend.
“The 5th, Kasamatsu Racecourse, both 800m dirt.
Oguri in the first race, Berno Light in the second.”
“Then that’s quite a coincidence.” Kitahara-san grinned.
“The race I registered March for is also the first race on the 5th.”
“Is that so?” Yugi followed with a smile.
“I’m really looking forward to that race.”
“Hmph, March has great talent and trains very seriously.
We will definitely win!” Kitahara-san pumped his fist.
Yugi could sense the swelling confidence in his friend from his expression and tone.
But he wasn’t about to back down here.
“Oguri’s progress will only be more obvious than Fujimasa March’s!”
“Then let’s wait and see!” Kitahara-san held out his hand.
“Let’s see whose Uma Musume is stronger!”
“Of course!” Yugi high-fived his friend.
“The side that loses this time treats the other and their Uma Musume to a meal.
How about it?”
“Haha, then you’re definitely paying for this meal, Yugi-san!” Kitahara-san laughed happily.
“I haven’t had Matsuhiro’s Kaiseki cuisine in quite a while.”