Chapter 144: The Japanese Derby
As Kitasan Black stepped out from the underground passage, the sudden brightness made her squint. Echoing in her mind were the last words she had exchanged with her senpai—or rather, a question that had suddenly come to her at that moment.
"Um… Teio-senpai, I have a question. A couple of days ago, I had a dream, and it made me wonder… before your Japanese Derby, what were you thinking about?"
At the time, not only Tokai Teio but the other had also paused, caught off guard.
"The Japanese Derby, huh…"
Teio smiled softly, a glint of nostalgia flickering in her eyes.
"Probably… the winner's stage."
"Eh…?" The answer was so unexpected that Kitasan Black froze.
"What she means," Gold Ship said with a grin, "is that before the race, she was already thinking about what comes after she wins."
"Well, something like that."
With her hands folded behind her head and a mischievous expression—one rarely seen these days—Teio laughed lightly.
"And not just the winner's stage, you know. I was also thinking about what I'd say when I saw the President afterward."
"That's still something after you win…"
"Anyway, what about you, Week, Vodka?"
Ignoring Gold Ship's retort, Teio turned toward Special Week and Vodka.
"Me and Vodka, huh?"
After tapping her chin in thought, Special Week clenched her fist with a bright smile.
"For me… I guess I was thinking about how to win!"
"How to win the race?"
Kitasan Black's ears perked up, unable to resist asking, "Then… what did you come up with?"
"Well…"
Using one hand to trace the shape of a racetrack and the other to represent herself, Special Week laughed.
"Like this—whoosh out of the gate, shoom around the track, and zoom zoom zoom! across the finish line! I think that's how I pictured it!"
"Ah…?" Kitasan Black blinked, dumbfounded.
"Hah, that's so you, Week. Guess it's my turn."
Patting Special Week on the shoulder, Vodka thought for a moment, then smiled and pointed toward Daiwa Scarlet.
"I was probably thinking that I absolutely had to beat her that time."
"Beat Scarlet-senpai? But… didn't she not run in that Derby?"
"Yeah, she didn't. But that doesn't matter."
Vodka chuckled. "I was thinking—since she'd won the Oka Sho, I had to win the Oaks to even the score."
"But then she caught a cold and couldn't race, so I decided on the Japanese Derby instead."
"No filly had won this race in over sixty years. If I pulled it off, I figured it'd make up for it somehow."
"So yeah—that's what I was thinking."
To be honest, none of their answers were even close to what Kitasan Black had expected.
But after her initial surprise, she suddenly realized something—their answers, different as they were, perfectly reflected what Makoto had told her earlier.
'No matter what your opponents do, you must never lose sight of your own rhythm.'
Repeating that teaching once more in her heart, she drew in a deep breath and stepped out into the sunlit field of green.
In that instant, it felt almost tangible—the roar of the crowd and the booming voice of the commentator rushed over her like a wave.
"The Japanese Derby is about to begin!"
"Which racer will it be this year? What kind of strategy, what kind of race will she show us?
"Will it be Duramente, whose stunning late charge at Nakayama shook the nation? Can that same burst of speed light up the long straight here?"
"Or will it be Satono Crown, carrying the hopes of her lineage to claim a long-awaited G1 victory?"
"Or perhaps… the undefeated star who has dominated race after race—the Satsuki Sho champion who set off a festival storm—Kitasan Black!?"
At the very moment her name echoed across the racecourse, Kitasan Black's ears twitched instinctively.
The roar from the grandstands grew even louder, so intense it made her eardrums tingle.
With a faint shiver running through her, Kitasan Black lifted her gaze, scanning over the sea of more than a hundred thousand spectators. Her lips parted slightly in awe before her eyes settled on the very front row—right across from the finish line.
Just like when she had entered the underground passage earlier, her senpai were already there, smiling and waving at her.
Her Trainer was waving too.
After he lowered his hand, her Trainer did something utterly familiar—he reached into his ever-present shoulder bag and pulled out a pair of binoculars.
For no clear reason, Kitasan Black let out a quiet laugh.
Meeting those eyes filled with trust and encouragement, she nodded firmly. Then, as she had when stepping onto the green turf moments ago, she took another deep breath.
She turned, and walked toward the starting gate.
...
15:35, Tokyo Racecourse.
The orchestra began playing the exclusive fanfare of the Japanese Derby.
The rousing melody ignited the cheers into a fever pitch—but standing inside the gate, Kitasan Black felt an almost uncanny calm.
'No matter what your opponents do, you must never lose sight of your own rhythm. Respond to all changes with no change.'
Silently repeating that instruction, she shifted her body slightly sideways—left arm braced in front, right leg poised behind—her posture tightening into a perfect starting stance.
Her eyes locked straight ahead, flicking rapidly over the inside and outside lanes, before focusing squarely on the top edge of the closed gate.
Her ears twitched, lowering slightly as she tuned out all unnecessary noise, focusing entirely on the announcer's call.
"And now—the race that will determine the pinnacle of this generation, the Japanese Derby!"
"Eighteen Umamusume of extraordinary talent, each carrying her own dreams and resolve, now stand ready in their gates."
"Having done all they can, they now await the moment to seize glory with sheer, unyielding will—"
"Start!"
At the instant the announcer's excited cry rang out, Kitasan Black's sharp ears caught the crisp clack! of the gates flinging open.
Her eyes flashed. Every muscle in her body tightened like coiled steel. Her left leg, planted forward, released like a spring as she launched out of the gate.
As her body surged ahead, her peripheral vision swept left and right in a split-second scan.
Her gate—number 17—was on the far outside. It was a major disadvantage; cutting inward to the more favorable inner lanes would cost her extra ground.
But breaking from the gate isn't only about cutting inside!
In a heartbeat, she gauged the starts of No. 16 to her left and No. 18 to her right. Without hesitation, she abandoned the idea of moving inward and instead charged straight ahead at full force.
"No. 6, Guardian, slightly slow out of the gate—the rest are off to a clean start!"
The commentator's report rolled smoothly over the loudspeakers.
"Coming past the stands first, No. 1 Satono Rasen and No. 3 Comet Meath pull forward quickly!"
"No. 18 Tagano Café and No. 14 Duramente are both moving toward the inside!"
"No. 10 Ribbon Victory surges up, she's chasing Satono Rasen and Comet Meath— and she's overtaken them!"
"Ribbon Victory takes the lead!"
"Kitasan Black is moving up too! She's not squeezing into the packed inside—she's charging from the outer lane straight ahead!"
The crowd erupted into cheers—and a few gasps of surprise at the unexpected opening.
"Whoa! Not bad at all, Kita-chan!"
Daiwa Scarlet nodded approvingly.
"I was worried the outer gate might give her trouble, but she actually chose to give up the inside to gain a better position instead."
"Don't underestimate our kouhai," Vodka laughed. "You've seen how hard she trains every day. And besides, charging forward from the outermost lane like that? Way cooler, don't you think?"
"Cool, sure… but…"
Silence Suzuka suddenly furrowed her brow.
"Kita-chan… doesn't look like she's planning to take the lead, does she?"