Chapter 33. Respect Your Dream, Fulfill My Dream [Part 1]
Because Rice Shower drew gate 3, Shuta An and Rice Shower were the second pair to enter the starting gate, immediately after Kyowa Hagoromo in gate 1.
"Kyowa Hagoromo failed to even finish in the top ten in the Sankei Osaka Hai despite leading from the front. Rice Shower absolutely cannot let him block acceleration space."
In Shuta An's eyes, this horse was rather troublesome.
On one hand, starting from gate 1 gave it a natural advantage in securing an early position over Rice Shower. On the other hand, its overall ability was insufficient. If it happened to move in front of Rice Shower during the opening stages, then once it began to weaken in the latter half of the race, it could easily obstruct Rice Shower's acceleration path.
Shuta An glanced toward the neighboring gates and silently assessed the field.
"Towa Nagon in gate 2 is fine. He prefers settling near the rear and waiting for an opportunity."
His gaze shifted again.
"However, Monsieur Siecle in gate 4 needs special attention."
The more he thought about it, the more helpless he felt.
"This is a 3,200-meter race, yet a bunch of racehorses who prefer leading or running prominently—and who have never even contested a long-distance race before—have all signed up."
"Is it because this is the Spring Tenno Sho?"
That was the only explanation he could think of.
"After all, the Emperor still occupies a special place in the hearts of many Japanese people."
However, ever since Japan signed the unequal treaties at the end of the previous century, the Emperor had never again appeared at a racecourse.
Shuta An felt no regret over that whatsoever.
Mejiro McQueen had drawn gate 14, the second-farthest outside gate. Beyond her was gate 15, occupied by Kyowa Yusho.
As the name suggested, Kyowa Yusho and Kyowa Hagoromo shared the same Horse Owner.
One had been assigned the innermost gate.
The other had been assigned the outermost gate.
"The JRA's computer really has a sense of humor."
Yutaka Take could not help but make a joke.
Once Kyowa Yusho entered the gate to his left, Yutaka Take focused completely.
Before this race, Ikee Tairo had conveyed a message from the Mejiro Family's Old Madam.
She hoped Mejiro McQueen would run more aggressively today.
Coincidentally, Yutaka Take felt exactly the same way.
He had no intention of adopting a passive strategy simply because he had drawn an unfavorable outside gate. Having absolute confidence in Mejiro McQueen's stamina, he intended to turn this race into a pure battle of endurance.
"Rice Shower didn't display significantly greater ability than Mihono Bourbon in the 3,000-meter Kikuka Sho."
Yutaka Take's conviction was unwavering.
"Now that the distance has increased by another 200 meters, Mejiro McQueen's superior stamina should become his greatest weapon."
Although Mejiro McQueen made a small fuss while entering the starting gate, Yutaka Take quickly calmed him down.
His behavior did not concern him.
If anything, he viewed it positively.
"He's full of spirit today."
That was unquestionably good news.
Click!
Accompanied by the crisp sound of the gates springing open, all fifteen racehorses burst forward simultaneously.
Since Rice Shower had no need to contest the lead, Shuta An did not immediately urge him after the start.
Instead, he allowed him to run naturally for a few strides and observed him intentions.
After instinctively exploding out of the gate, Rice Shower noticed no pressure coming from behind.
Without any signal urging him forward, he abandoned the idea of aggressively fighting for position and obediently settled within the pack, roughly around eighth place.
Only then did Shuta An glance behind him.
Yutaka Take and Mejiro McQueen had already secured a prominent position near the front.
"Perfect." A faint smile appeared on his lips. "Now I can mark Mejiro McQueen directly."
However, the true leader of the race was Mejiro Palmer.
It was worth mentioning that although Shuta An, while riding Tokai Teio, had once completely shattered Yamada Taisei's confidence to the point where he tearfully offered to surrender his position as Mejiro Palmer's primary jockey, the Mejiro Family had ultimately retained him.
In other words, Yamada Taisei remained aboard Mejiro Palmer for this Spring Tenno Sho.
And in Yamada Taisei's eyes, his greatest rival today was not the overwhelming favorite Mejiro McQueen from the same Mejiro Family.
It was Rice Shower.
More specifically, Rice Shower's jockey—Shuta An.
Because he had to focus on maintaining the lead, Yamada Taisei could not constantly monitor Shuta An's movements.
However, he was certain of one thing.
Shuta An would definitely be watching Yutaka Take and Mejiro McQueen.
"And Yutaka Take will definitely notice that Shuta An is watching him."
Yamada Taisei narrowed his eyes.
"So as long as I pay attention to Yutaka Take's actions, I can roughly infer what Shuta An is planning."
Meanwhile, Yutaka Take steadily kept Mejiro McQueen positioned alongside several horses on the inside.
Thanks to Mejiro McQueen's natural ability, he successfully maintained third place despite starting from an outside gate.
Yutaka Take was fully aware that Shuta An was marking him.
Although he had only briefly glanced toward Rice Shower during the battle for position after the start, he was certain that Shuta An's gaze remained fixed upon him.
"But that doesn't matter."
Yutaka Take leaned forward slightly in the saddle. A small smile surfaced on his lips.
"All I need to do is pressure Yamada Taisei. If I do that, he'll naturally increase the pace. And then this race becomes a battle of endurance."
He firmly believed Rice Shower possessed enough stamina to complete 3,200 meters.
However, he was even more confident that Mejiro McQueen surpassed Rice Shower in both speed and stamina.
Acting upon that confidence, as Mejiro Palmer approached the first corner, Yutaka Take subtly increased the pressure from his legs, making it appear as though Mejiro McQueen intended to move up and challenge for the lead.
Yamada Taisei did not believe Mejiro McQueen would actually attempt to seize first position.
However, once he considered that Yutaka Take must be wary of Shuta An's intentions, he could not help wondering whether this move had been triggered by something Shuta An was doing.
"Rice Shower could move up as well."
His brows furrowed.
Without further hesitation, he increased his urging and even raised the whip slightly as a signal to Mejiro Palmer.
After all, Mejiro Palmer had previously won the Hanshin Daishoten using front-running tactics.
Yamada Taisei trusted his stamina.
Therefore, even after opening a lead of roughly one horse length, he still did not dare relax completely.
Inside the box, Iizuka Yoshitsugu raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Why is Mejiro Palmer increasing the pace here?"
He looked puzzled.
"Did Yutaka Take scare him? But why would Yutaka Take force Mejiro Palmer into setting a faster pace?"
After thinking it over repeatedly, Iizuka Yoshitsugu could only arrive at a single conclusion.
"Do they really believe Rice Shower's stamina is inferior to Mejiro McQueen's?"
His fingers tightened around the railing.
"Then you're being far too naive."
His gaze remained fixed on the track.
"Just wait and see. Rice Shower will absolutely surprise all of you."