Uma Musume: Become a Legendary Trainer

Chapter 202 Start!

After the events were arranged, everyone left words of encouragement for Inari and prepared to head to the audience seats as usual.

The Takamatsunomiya Cup is the finale of the day and will not start until the penultimate game. People can watch the previous games in the audience seats.

However, when I came out of the player preparation area, the staff at the entrance approached me and said that I had an invitation to the VIP viewing room.

After a little questioning, Kitahara unexpectedly learned that Maruzenski and Chiaki came to the Chukyo racecourse on behalf of the two horse girls.

Although it was not clear how the two of them came here, they were quite familiar with each other, and they specially invited them, so the team finally adjusted the viewing location to the indoor area at the top of the audience area.

As soon as I entered the viewing hall, I heard Maruzenski's familiar voice with a smile.

"Hey, Kitahara, long time no see."

Sitting in front of the floor-to-ceiling window facing the runway below the stadium, Maruzenski, still wearing the blue and purple uniform of Central Tresen College, turned around, waved his hand, and greeted with a smile.

"Compared to the past, Eternal World has more and more members and is becoming more and more lively."

"It seems like these little guys are getting along well with their seniors?"

The little guys she was referring to were naturally Oguri Roman and the others. Hearing that such a legendary horse girl had taken the initiative to mention them, the younger generations of the Eternal Team hurriedly responded with a bit of nervousness.

Kitahara, on the other hand, had a lot of contact with Maruzenski, and coupled with the impression he had formed from mobile games, he was not overly cautious about these "old men" in the Uma Musume world like most people in this world, but responded naturally.

"It should be pretty good. They have been eating, living and training together these past few days. I think they are having a lot of fun."

He gave a brief affirmation and motioned for the others to find a seat. He looked at Maruzenski, then at Representative Qianming who was looking at him appraisingly, and asked in confusion:
"Why are you two here? Are you done with the student union stuff?"

He still remembered the time when he visited the student union office before coming to Nagoya for training. Except for Luduo, the symbol of the president, who worked diligently, the rest of the student union backbones were slacking off because they were not good at clerical work.

With such efficiency, he was still a little worried that Luduo himself might not be able to cope with it.

“Actually, I’m busy right now.”

Maruzenski said seriously, "In previous years, the student union has arranged to inspect major competition venues, especially when the big prize competitions begin."

"As you know, there are more than 2000 horse girls in the entire Central Tresen Academy. Sometimes we may overlook some situations just by observing them in the school."

"It is very important to observe their performance in the competition more often to evaluate their development and determine the next training plan."

"And this year, influenced by the outstanding performance of local horse girls like Oguruma and Inari, many students from the local areas are trying to transfer to the central level."

“The school also feels that it needs to learn more about the local situation.”

"So after coming to the Chukyo arena this time, Qianming and I will definitely go check out the local arena in Nagoya."

This surprised Kitahara. He didn't expect that Maruzenski, who usually didn't seem to care much about work, was actually working at this moment. But when he thought about it carefully, the two of them seemed to be better at this kind of external contact work.

Compared to the more methodical and dignified Rudo symbol, Maruzen and Chiaki are more approachable. This kind of personality makes it easier for them to interact with the staff and the horse racing girls.

"I see. I thought you came to Chukyo specifically for Inari. Now it seems I was being too self-indulgent."

Kitahara made a joke, but Maruzenski nodded seriously.

"In fact, there is such a reason behind this."

Looking at Kitahara's slightly stunned expression, Maruzenski said thoughtfully, "Before coming here, Qianming and I discussed with Luduo and Gaofeng about the situation of the Takamatsu Palace Cup."

"Emotionally speaking, we are more familiar with you, and we are more supportive of Inari in our hearts."

"Besides, her strength is also at the top level of this generation. She has a good chance of winning in general matches."

"But we also know her situation."

"If she faces an ordinary opponent, she probably won't have much of a problem."

"But given her personality, if she doesn't prepare in advance, she might fall into the 'trap' set by Yuzhou Yumeng, the horse girl."

"Rudo did say that you would give Inariichi special training in this area during the training period."

"But now we are facing the Takamatsunomiya Cup after just a few days of training. To be honest, we are a little worried about whether she is ready."

"I see. Actually..."

Hearing that these core members of the Student Union were so concerned about the situation of his team, Beiyuan was still somewhat moved. However, just as he was about to explain, a surprised and happy voice suddenly came from the side.

"Ah! So that's how it is! I understand what this year's Oaks Contest is all about!"

This voice attracted the attention of everyone in the room, but the East Sea Emperor who made the voice seemed to ignore it. She stood beside a table and said to herself excitedly:
"Yuzhou Meng-senpai didn't set his sights on the leading horse girl from the beginning. In that race, it seemed that the leading senior was setting the pace."

"But in fact, from the beginning of the team's advance, the rhythm of the latter part has been under the control of Senior Yuzhoumeng."

“Even the lead rhythm was forced out.”

“So it’s safe to say that in this Oaks Race, the loss of speed in the lead and the missed opportunities in the chase were all within her expectations!”

“What a brilliant idea!”

After she finished speaking her mind, the lively girl noticed that all eyes were on her. However, she did not feel embarrassed or shy at all, and instead began to explain herself freely.

"Ah, sorry everyone, I just figured out what was going on with that match recording that Uncle Kitahara asked us to watch. I got too excited. Sorry, sorry!"

The members of the Yongshi team knew exactly what the Emperor of the East China Sea was talking about. Earlier in the contestant preparation room, Beiyuan deliberately played the video of this year's Oaks Competition, hoping that the younger generations would discover something from it.

Now it seems that after failing to see the clues at the time, the Emperor of the East China Sea had been thinking all the way to the viewing hall. Now it seems that he realized something after being reminded by Maruzenski.

For an important competition like the Oaks Tournament, trainers like Kitahara had naturally conducted repeated research, so no matter whether they could react to the words of the East China Sea Emperor at first or not, they would understand what she meant after a little thought.

Representatives Maruzenski and Chiaki, who knew nothing about this, were confused.

"Video of the game...?"

After exchanging a glance with his friend, Maruzenski raised his chin, his eyes wandered for a moment, and he seemed to be thinking about something. "I see, it seems like you are taking extra classes."

"It was the Oaks Contest that Yuzhou Meng won before. I heard Emperor Huang say that."

"Well, it's a small task for them. Let them try to see what they need to pay attention to and learn from that game."

The relevant analysis of the game had been discussed with Oguruma and the others before. Kitahara planned to explain it to the East Sea Emperor and the others after the game, but the latter had figured it out by now, so he did not keep them in suspense.

"She's right, I meant the emperor."

"The most noteworthy player in this year's Oaks Tournament is naturally the champion Yusuke Uzumaki, and the tactics she used in the competition are also the 'trap' you mentioned, which poses a certain threat to Inari."

"In this race, the pace was rarely controlled by the leading horse girl. The leading pace was completely forced out by Yuzhou Meng's acceleration after the second turn."

"The best evidence is that No. 3, who was leading the race, started to lose speed before the big beech tree, which shows that it was not her favorite rhythm at all."

The Oaks Race, like the Japanese Derby, is held at the Tokyo Racecourse. There is a famous big zelkova tree on the inside of the third turn of this racecourse. When the camera takes wide-angle shots, it often loses sight of dozens of meters because of the zelkova tree.

It is amazing that in many legendary classic races, overtaking and being overtaken often happen in these few lost seconds, which makes this big beech tree one of the symbols of the Tokyo stadium.

"After the final sprint at the Big Zelkova tree, the horse girls on the Cosmic Dream side all had problems with not accelerating enough or not having a high enough top speed."

"Her outside opponent had to go a few meters further in the final turn because of his position."

"This distance is not far, but it happened to be this long that she won the victory."

"It's hard not to think that the lead, inside and outside situations were all within her expectations."

"Or maybe it was a result she created deliberately."

At this point, Kitahara paused and said, "I won't go into the specific analysis process between us trainers."

"In short, the final conclusion is that Cosmic Dream has a tactic similar to Super Bay that affects the tempo of the game."

"Her field is likely related to this as well."

"Due to the lack of more detailed data, we are unable to calculate the field triggering conditions and rhythm influencing parameters."

"But with this idea in mind, we have already conducted special training for Inari, and the results are quite satisfactory."

"And in this Zhongjing race, our most confident judgment is that the key position of the Cosmic Dream's tactical system is here at the relatively special 'track sinking' position."

"We have also made relevant arrangements with Inari on this point."

"Is that so? Then it seems our worries are unnecessary. You guys are more prepared for the competition than we expected."

Maruzenski nodded in understanding, with a relaxed smile on his face, "Then I can enjoy the game easily."

"I think with this level of preparation, Inari will give us... no, a lot of people a very wonderful surprise."

Although the arrival of Maruzenski and Chiaki was a bit unexpected, as they were already familiar with each other, the atmosphere in the hall was quite harmonious during the following game.

The topic of discussion naturally revolved around the events seen through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Trainers like Kitahara have a wealth of theoretical knowledge, legendary horse girls like Maruzen and Chiaki have rich experience, and active players such as Oguruma perform "hypothetical match analysis" based on their own characteristics.

It can be said that the content of the exchanges during the period before the start of the Takamatsunomiya Cup was extremely rich.

The ones who benefited the most were naturally Oguri Roman, East Sea Emperor and others.

Unlike the lectures they heard in class, what they could hear now were the opinions that were closest to the actual situation of the game.

These opinions also come from the top horse girls in the past two or three generations, and the best young trainers of this generation.

This made them suddenly understand a lot of knowledge that they only knew or vaguely understood before, and they also had a clearer understanding of what kind of competitions they would participate in in the future.

As time went on, the most watched commentary content soon sounded inside and outside the viewing hall.

"URA's most eye-catching event of the year at the Chukyo Arena, the Takamatsunomiya Cup is about to begin!"

“Although this competition was held after a rainy day, the lineup and the enthusiasm of the audience who came to watch were as high as any big prize!”

"The champion of this year's Oaks Competition and the most popular contestant, Yuzhoumeng, has already stepped onto the stage. Her previous superb race walking skills have undoubtedly conquered many fans. Many spectators have come all the way to Zhongjing to watch her competition!"

Hearing this, some regretful voices were heard in the viewing hall.

"Ah... Just like Tama's previous Takarazuka Kinen, Inari is not the most popular this time."

Little Chestnut Hat suddenly sighed.

"Well, there's nothing we can do."

Hearing this, Tamamo Cross spread his hands and said, "Our Takarazuka Kinen is not favored because we have never run the middle-distance G1. This alone makes us lose popularity."

"Inari's current opponent is the champion of the Oaks Tournament, which makes it even more impossible to compare."

"But her second place popularity isn't bad either. After all, she's one of the most popular horse girls, so her fan base is definitely not much different."

The matching rate refers to the proportion of entering the top 2. According to Inari's current performance, the matching rate has reached a rare 100%. This result is naturally very popular with fans.

"However, I have put more effort into Yuzhou Meng before. Now it seems that the contestants of this Takamatsu Palace Cup are all very strong."

After Tamamo Cross affirmed his friend's strength, he began to think again.

"I won't mention the first and second most popular players. The third most popular player, Gu Shui Comet, is also very strong. He has entered all the recent competitions."

"If we only look at the results of the competition, the fourth most popular team, Yudongniao, is actually the best, winning 5 games in a row... Although the first 3 games were local competitions, they were able to win them all in one go, so their strength is really not bad."

"She's also a horse girl from the local area. It seems that more and more players have moved from the local area to the central area in recent times."

"Of course. Inspired by the examples of Inariichi and Oguruma, the student council receives transfer applications every day."

Staring at the position of the appearance circle on the field, Maruzenski laughed casually after hearing Tamamo Cross's words: "Nowadays, not many people think that the strength of local horse racing girls is not as good as that of the central ones."

"After all, whoever says such things will be speechless if you put the results of Inariichi and Oguruma in front of them."

“Not only has the prejudice against local horse girls improved, but so has the view on the distinction between males and females.”

As she spoke, her eyes slightly turned to Oguri Roman who was standing beside her.

"This has something to do with Beiyuan."

"Many opinions are saying that since she is the horse girl that the Eternal Chief values, and she is also the sister of Oguruma, then Oguruma must be good too."

“Perhaps the reason why Cosmic Dream is so popular right now has something to do with this trend.”

Kitahara was not aware of the situation that Maruzenski described.

The reason why he became Oguri Roman's trainer was, on the one hand, because of the request from Oguri's mother and daughter, and on the other hand, he was very confident that under the increasingly mature training system, Oguri Roman would surely achieve outstanding results in the future.

As for the impact on public opinion, he really hasn't considered it.

But now is not the time to think about these things. While people were chatting in the viewing hall, the appearance circle session had ended.

As the competing horse racing ladies gradually got into position at the starting gates, the commentator's voice became even more excited.

"All the players are ready. Then, G2 Takamatsunomiya Cup, 2000 meters on grass..."

"Start!"

(End of this chapter)