Chapter 129.
Mejiro Dober stepped onto the presentation stage, the crowd instantly erupting into a deafening roar.
For her grand finale, the URA Association had scrapped their initial plans and designed a bespoke racing uniform that perfectly captured her essence. It wasn't overly flashy or revealing—which suited her notoriously shy nature perfectly.
Instead, it was an elegant, Western-style equestrian uniform infused with traditional Japanese aesthetics.
She wore a tailored, high-collared jacket in the deep, signature Mejiro green, accented with immaculate white riding breeches and polished, knee-high riding boots. A stylized, flowing half-cape draped over her left shoulder, catching the wind to give her an air of absolute, unapproachable nobility.
The live commentator's voice blasted through the stadium speakers:
"Gate 6, Mejiro Dober! The undefeated Triple Tiara champion! There is no need for further introduction! In her retirement race, she will undoubtedly go all out to defend her crown. Juniors, if you wish to surpass the queen at the absolute pinnacle, this is your final opportunity!"
"He's right. If they want their future reputation to even approach Dober-senpai's orbit, today is their absolute last chance."
Tokai Teio nodded, her eyes glued to the monitor in the VIP Box.
"With Air Groove opting for the Japan Cup, the competition for second place in this race is going to be a complete bloodbath."
"Only by securing second place can they even claim to be 'close' to Dober." Taiki Shuttle observed, before immediately shaking her head. "But even then, that logic is flawed. None of these girls possess overseas racing records. How can they even talk about surpassing Dober in terms of historical reputation?"
"There's nothing to be done about that." Shuta An smiled, leaning casually against the glass. "The campaign schedule I drafted for Dober over her career is likely a blueprint that absolutely no other Trainer at Central Tracen will attempt for the next few decades."
"Her debut race, followed immediately by the Hakodate Nisai Stakes, is a relatively orthodox route. But pivoting directly into the Nassau Stakes, and then the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf in America—that was completely unprecedented. Currently, no other Japanese Uma Musume has even attempted to challenge those two races in their debut year! Running the Yorkshire Oaks during her Classic campaign was also completely uncharted territory. Then, in her senior year, she chose to execute back-to-back G1 deployments in Australia, fought across Europe during the summer and autumn, and even successfully defended her crown in the Nassau Stakes—"
Taiki Shuttle rattled off her friend's international itinerary as if she were reciting precious family heirlooms.
"It really is just... she's raced in so many countries, leaving behind a legacy that future generations will have to crane their necks to look up to. If a Triple Tiara runner truly wants to surpass Dober, while maintaining an undefeated Triple Tiara record domestically, they would mathematically have to win the Japan Cup, the Arima Kinen, and accumulate an overseas resume that rivals Dober's—It's imaginably hard to achieve."
"But even with all that glory, when historians rank the ultimate achievements of Team Sadalsuud's alumni, Dober-senpai still won't be ranked at absolute number one."
Teio interjected the moment Taiki finished her breathless summary.
"Oguri-senpai's legacy is the bedrock of this era. As the pioneer who single-handedly shattered the ceiling for Central Tracen's overseas expeditions, her historical weight is genuinely difficult to surpass."
"But Teio, you are already incredibly close."
Taiki Shuttle pointed out, looking directly at the brunette.
"After all, you have already conquered the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe—the absolute summit of the turf. What you need now is simply raw volume—the sheer number of G1 wins, breaking course records, and so on. The more those metrics accumulate, the more your statistical probability of surpassing Oguri Cap-senpai increases."
"Exactly! Which is why I am fully planning to showcase my evolved body this month at the Japan Cup!"
Teio stretched her arms over her head, radiating confidence.
"Honestly, when the draw happens next week, I hope they assign me to the absolute furthest outside gate, just so my opponents will have even fewer excuses when I beat them."
"Good luck out there."
Taiki Shuttle offered. Even though she technically belonged to Team Rigil alongside Air Groove, she still nodded politely and offered Teio genuine encouragement.
Down on the track, as Mejiro Dober turned and gracefully exited the presentation stage, the thunderous roar from the grandstands instantly, palpably subsided.
Run for the Dream, who was slated to start from Gate 7 and was also treating this race as her retirement run, stepped onto the stage. Looking out at the noticeably subdued, polite applause, her expression visibly darkened.
"When Run for the Dream secured a graded stakes victory at the end of last year, she definitely didn't anticipate that she would go entirely winless this season, completely failing to even crack the top five."
Taiki Shuttle lamented softly.
"At the time, when I presented her with her trophy, I explicitly warned her to pay careful attention to her campaign scheduling. It seems she didn't take the advice to heart."
"There's nothing you can do in a situation like that." Shuta pouted slightly. "The campaign-planning parameters of some Trainers at this Academy are genuinely terrible. I firmly believe there is a fundamental flaw in the institutional training of Trainers here. They are not instilled with an international, macro-tactical perspective from the beginning of their education. As a result, they shrink their ambitions and spend their entire careers terrified to leave the domestic Japanese circuit."
"Trainer Shuta, you really need to bring this up with President Council Symboli Rudolf and Director Akikawa."
Taiki Shuttle spread her hands helplessly.
"As a student, I am completely locked out of any administrative or URA Association policy affairs."
Shuta completely understood Taiki Shuttle's predicament. As a 'repatriated child'—an Uma Musume born or raised overseas—she was inevitably subjected to subtle, systemic differential treatment by the URA in key political areas compared to those born and raised locally.
As for why Shuta himself had bypassed this institutional discrimination despite his international success, it was a matter of geopolitics: his passport was still tied to the nation that functionally dictated terms to the URA.
Taiki Shuttle has already felt the friction, but Kurofune is still oblivious.
Shuta thought to himself, glancing over at Kurofune, who was happily staring out at the track.
I truly hope the URA Association possesses enough baseline intelligence not to politically discriminate against Kurofune in the future because of her repatriated status. I really hope they have some common sense.
After exiting the presentation stage, Mejiro Dober marched directly behind the starting gates and initiated her dynamic warm-up routine.
Although this was her first time wearing the custom equestrian uniform in a live race environment, the meticulous, bespoke tailoring of the jacket ensured absolutely zero restriction on her shoulder mobility as she went through her paces.
Everything is operating at peak efficiency!
After completing her initial sequence, Dober was profoundly satisfied with her biometric feedback.
I actually feel sharper and more responsive than I did before the Autumn Tenno Sho.
Run for the Dream and God in Chief, who were assigned the gates directly adjacent to Dober, suddenly felt a terrifying, suffocating aura physically wash over them.
The pressure was so dense that God in Chief stumble onto the turf. Fortunately, she didn't sustain any structural damage and avoided a pre-race scratch, but the psychological damage was done.
For the vast majority of the other seventeen Uma Musumes on the track, this was their inaugural experience sharing a starting line with Mejiro Dober. Off the track, analyzing tape, they might have deluded themselves into believing that Dober's pressure wasn't as absolute or terrifying as Tokai Teio's.
But actually standing on the turf, experiencing the sheer, unadulterated density of Dober's aura after she had primed her engine—it was genuinely terrifying.
Is this... is this the pressure of an undefeated Triple Tiara champion?
Phalaenopsis, experiencing the phenomenon firsthand, wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. The starting gates hadn't even opened, yet beads of cold sweat were already continuously forming at her temples.
Even before she stepped into the gate, the suffocating presence radiating from Dober violently triggered a traumatic memory for Phalaenopsis: the absolute, crushing despair of being unable to close the gap on Erimo Excel during the Japanese Oaks.
I need to prove that my abilities have grown significantly since then! I cannot allow myself to be psychologically crushed by Mejiro Dober's aura before the race even begins!
Phalaenopsis clenched her fists at her sides, her manicured nails digging painfully into her palms, using the sharp physical sensation to forcibly anchor her cognitive focus.
"Odd-numbered gates, prepare to load." a URA official barked, gesturing to the runners.
Phalaenopsis, assigned to Gate 11, snapped out of her internal spiral and obediently stepped into the steel confines of the starting gate.
The moment she stepped inside the narrow box, physically breaking her line of sight with Mejiro Dober, the desperate, suffocating sensation instantly evaporated.
It really worked! The blinders approach is effective!
Phalaenopsis thought, relief flooding her system.
As the odd numbers loaded, Mejiro Dober, standing patiently behind Gate 6, turned her head slightly. Her cool gaze swept across the massive facility, locking onto a specific VIP Box hundreds of meters away.
She knew exactly where her lover was standing.
"I will not disappoint you. Please, keep your eyes fixed entirely on me for the next two minutes."
Mejiro Dober, standing on the absolute precipice of the final race of her career, murmured the vow softly to herself.