Uma Musume: From Being Knocked Ten Meters Away

Chapter 382 The Choice After the Takarazuka Memorial
Just as Beibu Xuanju was enthusiastically discussing his ideas with Gao Shangjunyi and the others, in another corner of the medical area...

On the way over, Yasui Makoto had already taken out his phone, looked at the caller ID, and then looked surprised.

The caller was shocked. He remembered that as one of the core members of the student council, the other party would come to the scene with the East Sea Emperor and the others to handle some necessary matters during important competitions such as the Emperor's Spring Appreciation. Naturally, he had seen the results of the competition.

Based on his understanding of Da Zhenhan, he shouldn't be the type to make a special call to congratulate the Northern Black Steed on its victory; the Emperor of the East Sea would be more likely to do so.

So he assumed it was an official matter, and after moving to a quieter spot, he quickly answered the phone: "Hello? What's up, Chairman?"

A loud, shocked sound came quickly from the other end of the phone, seemingly coming from a relatively quiet place:

"I do have something to discuss with you. But first, congratulations to you and Xiao Bei on winning the Spring Shield. You did a great job, and you performed exceptionally well."

Although it was a simple and understated congratulation, Yasui Makoto could still sense the relief in the voice. However, he was more concerned about what the big shock was about to say, so after thanking him for his response, he quietly waited for what was to come.

The big shocker didn't keep them in suspense, saying directly on the phone, "Judging from the tournament account's schedule, Xiao Bei's next match is the Takarazuka Memorial, right?"

Besides training logs and preparation plans, much of the content on the event account is public, mainly the race schedules and various activities of the female racehorses.

This makes it easier for fans to plan their trips in advance, so they can easily attend the matches and the winners' stage, or participate in other events such as school festivals.

Yasui Makoto and Kita Genkoto had agreed at the beginning of the year that the first half of the year would involve studying abroad, followed by the Emperor's spring outing and the Takarazuka Memorial.

According to the relevant regulations of the event, Takarazuka Memorial requires a separate fan vote, and only the top ten or so horse girls can get the right to leave.

Having won the championship in the Emperor's Spring Appreciation Tournament, the right to leave is naturally not a problem.

After a moment's thought, Yasui Makoto, having guessed at the source of the great shock, responded:

"The schedule is indeed arranged like this, and with the results of this competition, there shouldn't be any problem with the fan votes. During this period, I will pay attention to the details of training and life to ensure a smooth departure."

"Then...the president should be asking about the plans for the second half of the year?"

The shocking response came quickly:

"That's right. After the competition results were confirmed, President Emperor and I discussed this matter."

"The Emperor's departure from the Takarazuka Memorial for the Spring Horse Race Girl is basically a done deal, except for issues such as personal wishes or health."

"Then, you should be very familiar with Takarazuka's usual practices, so our idea is to ask you and Kobe whether you're planning to pursue the Autumn Triple Crown route in the second half of the year, or consider overseas expeditions, or other ideas, before the association makes a proposal?"

Yasui Makoto was not surprised by the question.

The overseas expedition mentioned in "The Great Shock" actually refers more accurately to the Arc de Triomphe.

For this racehorse girl who once regrettably only won three Arc de Triomphe prizes, her initiative to call and mention the race arrangements must have been driven by a strong attachment to the event. Her decision to take charge of this part of the races in the student council was likely for a similar reason.

Besides, this is also a persistent obsession on the Japanese side.

Yasui Makoto himself didn't quite understand what this obsession was all about, but he roughly knew that the people here had a strong French sentiment.

For example, the name of the Takarazuka Memorial comes from the Takarazuka Revue, a national treasure-level theater company hailed as Japan's Broadway. One of the reasons for its creation was its admiration for French culture, and the company's debut performance was "My Paris." It is precisely because of this sentiment that the Japanese Shining Series industry attaches great importance to the Arc de Triomphe Grand Prix G1, to the point of fervor.

The venue for this event is the Longchamp Arena in Paris, France.

There is no similar explanation internationally for this reason, but Japan implicitly regards the Takarazuka Memorial as a prelude to the Arc de Triomphe Award.

Basically, all the horse girls that can run from Takarazuka Kinen have a race schedule that runs from Takarazuka Kinen to Arc de Triomphe.

For example, the now-retired Golden Ship, due to its two consecutive Takarazuka championships, went to Paris to compete under the spotlight.

The overseas expedition route mentioned by Da Shenhan is this route.

The other route mentioned by the horse racing girl, the Triple Crown, refers to the three races held in the second half of each year.

The Emperor enjoys autumn scenery, the Japan Cup, and the Arima Memorial.

All three races are G1 events. The first two are middle-distance races of 2000m and 2400m respectively, and the last one is a long-distance race of 2500m.

In terms of timing, the three matches are scheduled for October, November, and December, meaning the preparation time is quite tight, and it can be described as a series of matches.

And because these are all high-intensity competitions, post-match recovery is extremely important. A dedicated adjustment period is necessary to avoid the risk of injury in consecutive matches, which means that the time allocated for training, especially targeted training, is relatively much less.

Under this race schedule design, any horse girl who can challenge and win the Autumn Triple Crown is undoubtedly a powerful racehorse girl who will leave her mark on racing history.

And there are very few horses that can be called "Autumn Triple Crown Horse Girl" so far.

Therefore, in reality, most female racehorses and trainers will choose two out of the three Autumn Triple Crowns, or even just one race, and arrange the remaining races as lower-intensity, high-reward races like G2 and G3, rarely running three consecutive G1 races.

This is also the last part of the race schedule that Da Zhenhan mentioned.

"The Autumn Triple Crown, an overseas expedition, or some other route..." Yasui murmured to himself unconsciously, then said somewhat apologetically:

"Um, I'm sorry, President Da Zhenhan, actually... I haven't made any related decisions yet."

"No...decided?" On the other end of the phone, Da Zhensheng was visibly stunned, then asked with a mixture of doubt and urgency:
"That shouldn't be the case. If you and Xiao Bei were able to win the Emperor's Spring Festival, you should have a clear plan for the subsequent matches. How come you haven't made any decisions?"

"You don't even have a draft plan? This doesn't seem like something you would do, Yasui."

In Da Zhen's mind, although Yasui Makoto was young, he handled many things very skillfully and properly. So far, his training and race schedule for the Northern Genko showed clear rules. So for a moment, she couldn't accept the response she had just received.

“I think I can explain,” Yasui Makoto said patiently on the other end of the phone, without rushing.
"It should still be related to his previous overseas trip. Although he did not leave the competition, the intensity of the competitions that Xiao Bei experienced was not low, and even higher than some big prizes."

“Through those competitions, we not only discovered the differences between Japanese and overseas competitions, but also found opportunities to experiment in the field, so I want to confirm whether the experiment is effective before making a decision.”

"And to be honest, it sounds a bit... bizarre, but the truth is that the Tianchun incident that just ended was an adventurous attempt by Xiaobei and me."

(End of this chapter)