Chapter 119. Fully Assembled Fragments
After rounding the bend, Shuta An could see Tahara Seiki and Kei Woman more clearly, using the terrain to his advantage.
It was obvious that Tahara Seiki had one goal in this race: force the pace as hard as possible. Ever since the gates opened, she had been driving the field forward with relentless pressure.
"If I hadn't known Kei Woman and Vega don't share the same owner, I'd almost think Tahara-san was doing this on purpose,"
Shuta An muttered to himself.
"Looks like he really did get instructions from her trainer or owner to run this as a runaway pace."
Tahara Seiki showed no intention of letting Kei Woman ease up and recover after building a gap, at least not before they reached Yodo Slope.
Shuta An kept Vega settled in the trailing group, and Yutaka Take naturally noticed what his friend was doing.
"Keeping Vega back like this—is it because you don't trust her stamina?" he asked.
He already knew about Shuta An's earlier suggestion that Vega should retire soon; the young man had mentioned it when they were out together.
Take himself was not riding a strong horse today, and his break from the gate had been terrible, so he simply tucked in behind Shuta An.
"But from what I can see, Vega's gait still looks excellent," he said, frowning slightly. "Does Ann-san think Vega hasn't improved enough?"
He muttered to himself, "Even if she hasn't improved, she's still the strongest one in the field, isn't she?"
"I can't figure it out. Maybe I should go abroad for training too, or the gap between Ann-san's thinking and mine will keep getting bigger."
His sense of urgency grew even stronger.
When they passed the 1000-meter mark, Shuta An quickly estimated the early pace.
"About fifty-eight seconds," he said with a faint curve at the corner of his mouth. "That's a brutally fast opening. The leaders are going to have a rough time once they hit Yodo Slope."
They had gone out too hard, and now they would have to climb Yodo Slope on top of that. Shuta An could already imagine how badly the horses in front would begin to struggle.
He guided Vega slightly outward, moving her to the outer edge of the pack.
"Soon, a lot of fading horses will start appearing in front of us. If we stay trapped inside, dodging them will be a problem."
Take understood immediately and adjusted his position as well.
His partner might not be especially powerful, but the way the race was unfolding clearly favored him. Even so, he still wanted to do everything he could. As for whether his horse could surge, that was not something he could control.
"If we can surge, maybe we can still pull off an upset," he thought.
"And if we can't, then we can't. We already prepared ourselves for that before the race."
After guiding Vega to the outside, Shuta An did not rush forward.
The pace was still too hot. Trying to advance now would burn stamina too quickly, and the advantage they had saved by letting Tahara Seiki drag the field along would disappear almost immediately.
He was not foolish enough to panic over a temporary loss of position.
"The real chance comes at the top of Yodo Slope," he muttered.
There would be a downhill section after that, but downhill did not mean the horses could simply relax and let the terrain carry them. For safety, the jockeys would still need to keep the pace under control, and that control itself would cost stamina.
"By the time they hit the final straight, the front runners should already be crawling."
He said it like a complaint, but his hands never loosened on the reins. Vega remained in a smooth cruising rhythm, waiting.
In the stands, Yoshida Katsumi watched Shuta An and Vega intently.
"Is this really the right time to retire?" he asked quietly. "Wouldn't another year still be possible?"
Matsuda Hiroshi glanced at the track and replied,
"Shuta-kun means Vega may be at her peak now, and could begin to decline after this. I've seen that happen with overseas racehorses too, but I don't think it should be taken for granted with Vega."
He paused, then added, "Still, Shuta-kun's eye for horses is unusually sharp."
Yoshida Katsumi nodded. "He spotted Sunday Silence. He even suppressed Sunday Silence's price at the auction, then helped drive it up again many times afterward."
He smiled faintly.
"Do you know? Sunday Silence's foals are highly regarded. Our family thinks he may become the answer to Japanese bloodlines in the future."
He leaned back slightly.
"Thinking about it that way, I'm honestly tempted to follow Shuta-kun's advice."
Matsuda Hiroshi said nothing. As Vega's trainer, he had no real power to decide her future.
"If Vega retires this year," Yoshida Katsumi said, "then as compensation, we'll select a few highly rated Sunday Silence foals and place them in your stable."
He knew that if Vega retired after the Classic season, Matsuda Hiroshi would almost certainly feel uneasy, so he offered a practical compensation.
Matsuda was silent for a moment.
That offer was tempting, no doubt. But he still wanted to keep Vega, who had already given him so much.
"If Vega finishes in the top five in the Arima Kinen, I'd like to give her — and myself — one more year," he said at last.
"No problem," Yoshida Katsumi replied without hesitation.
After all, once Vega entered breeding, her foals would eventually be sold to recover costs. From a business standpoint, running her for one more year might not be very different from selling one foal.
—
While the two of them talked, Shuta An and Vega had already passed the highest point of Yodo Slope.
"Now," Shuta An said, gripping the reins. He lifted the whip near Vega's head. "Time to move."
Vega responded at once, obediently beginning her acceleration.
But the speed she produced — and the wind she stirred — were anything but gentle.
By the time she reached the final turn, Vega had already climbed into third place.
Tahara Seiki and Kei Woman were now clearly within sight.
"Thanks for setting such a brutal pace, Tahara-san,"
Shuta An said with a smile, bringing the whip down lightly.
"Now I'm going to take my revenge."
Entering the final straight, Vega's stored stamina and the momentum from the downhill section exploded all at once the moment Shuta An gave the whip.
He didn't need a second strike.
Vega had already surged past Kei Woman and taken the lead.
At that point, there were still 300 meters to go. Behind her, only Kita Flight still showed a visible chase. But even so, it was obvious that in terms of finishing speed, Kita Flight could not match Vega in a 2400-meter race. That simply was not her distance.
Koichi Tsunoda had positioned his mount farther forward than Shuta An had in this race, and although his timing for the burst was slightly later, it still could not make up for the stamina gap.
Yutaka Take was also sprinting hard behind him, but his partner was too weak. Even with all his effort, he could not maintain the momentum once the finish line was still more than 100 meters away.
"Still, finishing in the top five is definitely a great result for a thirteenth favorite,"
Take thought, satisfied with his ride today.
With only 30 meters left, Shuta An, no longer able to hear anything except the pounding of hooves, glanced back almost by instinct.
He saw that the second-place Kita Flight still trailed Vega by four lengths.
Only then did he relax.
He loosened the reins slightly, tightened his hold at Vega's sides, and used the strength of his waist to turn his body toward the stands.
Then, with his right hand twirling the whip and his left hand shooting forward in a punch, he shouted:
"WHEN THE VEGA OF KANSAI SHINES OVERSEAS, DON'T FORGET THE VEGA OF KANTO! CROSSING HANSHIN, FUCHU, AND YODO SLOPE — THE FIRST UNDEFEATED TRIPLE TIARA!"
At the very instant he threw that punch, Vega crossed the finish line.
Watching the scene, Yoshida Katsumi made his decision.
"The next race will be the Arima Kinen," he said. "Let's see which is stronger — an undefeated Triple Tiara, or an undefeated Triple Crown winner."
As for the so-called BNW Three Strong, Yoshida Katsumi honestly didn't think they would be Vega's real opponents.
In the underground passage after dismounting, Shuta An heard the decision and answered without hesitation.
"I'll definitely be riding Tokai Teio in the Arima Kinen."
"I know," Yoshida Katsumi replied. "That's why I'll arrange other jockeys. Do you have anyone in mind, Shuta-kun?"
Shuta An shook his head.
"I won't give advice on that."
He already had a feeling that after today, he would no longer be riding Vega.
More than that, he was more concerned about the clue fragments he would receive when he woke up the next morning, and what kind of talent the "First Magnitude Star" would turn out to be — the one he had spent nearly a year unlocking.
"But speaking of which—" Shuta An thought to himself, "is T.M. Opera O really that strong?"
He had some vague doubts.
The Rigil team's talent was unquestionable, but Tojo Hana's race scheduling and tactical design were another matter entirely.
Still, it was too early to judge anything.
He told himself not to think about it now.
Tonight, in the Dream World, he would first celebrate Vega's victory properly.
After Shuta An finished his interview with the reporters, Hokuto Vega's trainer, Nakano Takayoshi, came up to him with an anxious look.
He was worried that Vega's schedule next year might conflict with Hokuto Vega's, forcing Shuta An to prioritize one over the other.
Shuta An could tell what he was worried about, so he got straight to the point.
"I probably won't be riding Vega next year."
"Huh?!" Nakano Takayoshi blurted out.
If the reporters heard that, it would become a huge story. A jockey who had just won the Triple Tiara being removed from the main ride would certainly draw criticism toward the Yoshida family from racehorses' fans.
"I was the one who suggested it," Shuta An said calmly. "There are some personal reasons. It's a peaceful separation."
"I see…" Nakano Takayoshi let out a breath of relief. "Then next year's schedule should be fine, right?"
"Of course." Shuta An smiled. "I'm really looking forward to Hokuto Vega's performance next year."
Nakano Takayoshi immediately understood the implication.
Does that mean he doesn't have high hopes for Vega next year?
He didn't dare ask.
The next morning, after opening his eyes, Shuta An immediately opened the attribute viewer, ready to see the results of the past six months.
"Congratulations on winning the Queen Elizabeth Cup with Vega. Clue fragment RE obtained. You have also achieved the Undefeated Triple Tiara achievement. A 1% chance to encounter ??? reward has been detected. Confirm linking for use?"
"Eh?"
Shuta An was startled.
This 1% chance encounter reward had first appeared years ago in the Dream World after he won the Chunichi Shimbun Hai, but after that, he had never seen it again.
And because the odds were so low, he had never been willing to gamble on it.
He never expected it to connect with the clue fragments he had gathered over the past six months.
"Use it."
As he got out of bed and prepared to wash up, a thought crossed his mind.
Admire Vega — that should be the name of the First Magnitude Star, right?
Vega was indeed a first-magnitude star in astronomy.
As for Admire—
There were quite a few Uma Musume at the academy with that word in their names. He had seen several, though their abilities were only average, and they had no blood relation to each other.
In the Dream World, he had also encountered an Uma Musume with that name — Admire Bodhisattva.
He had ridden her in her debut race and won by 0.8 seconds over second place. But after leaving for a long expedition abroad, the main ride rights for Admire Bodhisattva had passed to Kamimura Hiroyuki.
Shuta An already had Hokuto Vega as his main dirt horse, so he had never intended to reclaim Admire Bodhisattva.
"But how am I supposed to meet Admire Vega through an encounter chance?"
After breakfast, he got into the car and headed for Central Tracen Academy.
Even then, that question kept circling in his mind.
He drove with unusual caution today, deliberately avoiding any possible accidents.
"It would be way too awkward if I ran into her at a car crash scene," he muttered.