Uma Musume: Become a Legendary Trainer

Chapter 213 Secretariat (8k)

Having once raced on the track as an active athlete, Shirahige understands Uma Musume better than many mothers.

She has experienced the difficulties and progress encountered during training, the expectations and pressure from friends and opponents, the tension, excitement, disappointment and relief before and after the competition.

The same is true for confusion. In her opinion, her daughter is currently encountering some things she has never experienced before on her career path, and for a moment she doesn't know what to do.

However, she did not rush to comfort her or impart experience. Instead, she reached out her hand and gently stroked her daughter's head with satisfaction.

Under her touch, Little Chestnut's long, furry gray ears would sometimes sag and sometimes bounce up, just like her expression of surprise.

Looking at her daughter's expression, Bai Baozhi said softly, "She wants to live up to expectations and perform better. Xiao Lili is becoming more and more mature."

"Mature... maybe..."

Gradually he began to enjoy his mother's touch, and Little Chestnut's eyes narrowed slightly, but his look still revealed confusion.

"So, should I ask Kitahara, Mom...?"

"Of course, he's your trainer, and you're his horse girl."

Giving the answer without hesitation, White Jewel smiled, "Just like what Xiaolili is thinking now, Mom has also encountered it before."

"Has your mother encountered this, too?"

Xiao Limao became curious, "Is it something that happened during the competition?"

"Well, yes."

Nodding, with reminiscence in her eyes, White Jewel's tone became slightly more proud and grateful.

"How should I put it? Compared to Xiao Lili, my mother's grades are not very outstanding, but if it is just at the local level, it should be considered very good."

"Yeah, I know. Although mom only won the championship once in her debut year, she won 4 out of 3 games the next year!"

"And it's an impressive 3-game winning streak!"

Unlike the knowledge he learned in class, when it comes to competitions, Oguruma's memory is extremely good.

After recounting her mother's experiences with admiration, her tone turned to one of regret.

"I remember Kitahara said that my mother's talent is actually very good, but her training and nutritional conditions were not so good before."

“So after the last game, my mom injured her knee and had to retire.”

"If it weren't for this injury, Mom would have won a mile or middle distance major championship!"

"Oh? Mr. Kitahara thinks so highly of me? What a surprise..."

His eyes widened slightly in surprise, and then White Jewel chuckled and shook his head, "Let the past be the past."

"Let's not talk about me for now, let's talk about Oguri and Mr. Kitahara."

"You see, even though he hasn't seen my game in person, Mr. Kitahara still has a certain ability to judge."

"Under his guidance, Xiaolili and your friends have achieved outstanding results."

"From what I've seen and heard, he's been praised highly."

"So, I think, no matter what you think, Xiaolili, as long as it is about the competition, Mr. Kitahara must be the most trustworthy person."

Finally, White Pearl concluded very seriously.

"But……"

Oguruma showed a hesitant expression, "But this time when I came to Kasamatsu, I agreed with him that I should have a good rest and not think about work... it's just the competition."

"He is usually very busy with work, and it is a rare thing for him to have such a rest."

"The last time we had a good time like this was three or four months ago when we went to Hokkaido."

Bai Baozhi was surprised, "Is Mr. Kitahara usually so busy with work?"

Then, she nodded slightly, as if thinking about something. "It feels like that."

"I remember when I was talking to you and your sister on the phone about Mr. Kitahara, you both said he was still working."

"From the reports, there are no interviews with him. It's probably because he is very busy."

"Well, Kitahara is very busy. Not only is he busy with training and competitions, but he also often goes to the Student Union and the Board of Directors. The URA Association also has things to ask him about."

After nodding in affirmation, Xiao Limao became even more distressed.

"So I didn't want to disturb him, especially since I was the one who specifically suggested letting him have a good rest."

"and……"

Scratching her head, she hesitated and said, "For tomorrow's race, the running method, tactics, etc. have all been arranged."

"According to that plan, there is basically no problem with our chances of winning this game."

“Maybe even if I want Kitahara to help me now and want me to perform better in the competition, I’m afraid he will find it difficult…”

What Xiaolimao said is also the practice of the Eternal Team.

According to the team's habit, after the next competition of the group's horse girls is determined, they will start preparing on the day when they receive clear information.

At times like this, the various reserves accumulated over time will play a crucial role.

From the beginning of team building, all members have paid great attention to the application of scientific and technological methods such as instruments, data, and theories.

Up to now, the team's level in this area may still not be considered the best in the world, but it is definitely unmatched by other trainers and teams in Japan.

Even some technologies that have been used for a long time in the eternal world have not yet been tried by Central Tresen College, such as wind tunnel equipment.

The college's data is more comprehensive, but that is still within the standards of the school's routine census.

Naturally, more information such as the age, weight, and experience of all the Japanese horse girls are kept in the school archives.

But when it comes to the specific competition parameters on the field, the academy is still not as good as the Eternal Team.

Various data collection equipment have been set up at any venue where Oguruma and her friends have participated in competitions.

These devices are not collected immediately after the competition, but will be kept until the end of the two consecutive competition days.

This is also done during normal competition adaptation exercises and training on the corresponding track.

Doing this once or twice won't have any effect, but with long-term accumulation, all the data of the horse girls who have run on the corresponding track will be gathered here in Yongshi.

Since Japan's URA Association has not yet noticed this training method based on the "digitalization" concept, there are no regulations on promoting it.

More importantly, there are no prohibitions.

Thus, before he knew it, Yongshi already knew the latter's actual racing situation better than most trainers and horse girls themselves.

With these data based on real training and competitions, coupled with a variety of advanced instruments and equipment, the team is able to perform a large number of simulation calculations through computers before any competition.

Such simulation calculations will definitely deviate from the actual competition and cannot be directly used as preparation parameters.

But coincidentally, there are several horse racing girls in the team who are good at different venues, distances and running methods.

In this way, by combining the collected data, the results of the instrument simulation, and running practice runs, other members can imitate the situation of the contestants' opponents.

The result of such training is that there will be uncertainty in the competition except between the horse girls within the team.

Compared with other opponents, the outcome of the competition can often be determined almost at the beginning.

At least, this is basically what can be considered in Japan in this generation.

Against this background, the response plans for the three events to be held tomorrow, whether it is the Meitetsu Cup at Oguri Cap, or the Chukyo Kinen and Chukyo Championships at Super Kobayashi and Mejiro Altan, are actually very complete.

The last step is to adjust the players' status before the competition as we do now, and to further adjust the competition plan based on changes in the situation on the day before tomorrow's competition.

Adjusting this point is also necessary. After all, the Eternal team can ensure that the data, simulation, training, etc. are the most accurate and highest level in this era.

But we cannot guarantee the weather. There is no way. In this day and age, even in a few years or decades, weather forecasts are not 100% accurate.

Moreover, sometimes due to accidents, horse girls will withdraw from the competition or other situations will occur, so it is impossible to make some adjustments on the spot.

All in all, in Ogurimao's opinion, even though he wants to have a better performance on the field because of his friends' expectations and because he vaguely feels the changes in himself compared to the past.

Since the event has been arranged very completely, it may be difficult to change it in a short period of time.

White Pearl knew that her daughter was competing in the Eternal Team, but she was not aware of the details of the team's daily training, so when she heard Oguruma say that tomorrow's competition had been arranged almost completely, she was still very surprised.

In her era of race walking, there had never been such a training method that arranged every detail down to the smallest detail before the competition even started.

At least she had never heard of it.

Even now, when she chatted with her former trainers or watched some competitions and interviews, she had never encountered such a situation as Yongshi.

In her impression, the Eternal Team seemed to have more trainers, more horse girls, more instruments and equipment, and more strange things.

In other aspects, she seems to be no different from other trainers and horse girls.

So after Xiaolimao finished saying those things, she asked with some doubts, and Xiaolimao also patiently explained for a long time.

As they were talking, the mother and daughter had already arrived at the women's pool.

This bathhouse opened locally in Kasamatsu is very nicely decorated. Just on the women's pool side, the dark gray rocks are used to surround the bathhouse, which can accommodate dozens of people at the same time. The area is very wide.

Although the hot spring looks a bit strangely green, it is still very clear and transparent.

Generally speaking, Japanese hot springs are rarely cleaned intentionally, and the clarity of the water reflects the content of substances in the water that can decompose impurities. In other words, the clearer the water, the better the hot spring effect.

The whole bathroom was filled with thick steam, and any place a little further away had a hazy feeling.

In such a comfortable temperature, whether it was Little Chestnut Hat, White Gemstone, or other horse racing girls, big and small, they all made sounds of joy as soon as they entered the room.

The more cheerful one, like the Emperor of the East China Sea, rushed into the bathtub immediately and let out a comfortable moan.

"Wow! What a great hot spring! McQueen, Xiaoxiaoli and Bairen, come down quickly!"

Having been here many times, Oguruma and White Jewel did not behave so exaggeratedly. They entered the hot spring quietly, squinted their eyes comfortably, and breathed a long sigh of relief.

"Ah... the hot springs back home still feel more comfortable."

With his eyes slightly closed, Oguruma sighed, "Although I also went to a hot spring when I went to Hokkaido last time, it still felt different from the one in Kasamatsu."

"It seems to be because it was colder then, and maybe Hokkaido is colder too."

"Anyway, my body is warm, but my head and the top of my head are a little cool, which feels a little strange."

"Then my whole body warmed up."

"If I have the chance, I'll bring Xiao Te to try the hot springs in Kasamatsu."

"Oh, that's right! Look, mom, I've learned how to swim now!"

Suddenly, the subject was changed, and Kuromakō skillfully assumed the doggy paddling position and swam around the white gem in the hot spring, just like a child showing off to an adult that he had just learned the multiplication table.

"Puchi - ahem, what I meant was, congratulations, Xiaolili, you finally learned how to swim!"

At first, he couldn't help laughing out loud, and fearing that his daughter would be disappointed, Bai Baozhu quickly changed his tone and started praising her.

As a mother, she certainly knew that her daughter could not swim since she was a child. When she was in Tokyo some time ago, she also saw Oguruma's swimming training.

At that time, Xiaolimao had no way of going into the water without a float, but now she can swim freely, which is really worthy of praise.

What made me unable to help laughing was that my daughter's doggy paddling posture was so adorable.

How to put it, it was like a real little puppy, its body floating on the water and its limbs flapping desperately under the water.

All in all, it's very cute.

After the compliment, White Jewel thought for a moment and returned to the previous topic.

"Well, if the race is confirmed, how will Xiaolili run tomorrow?"

"This..."

With a thoughtful look on his face, Oguruma slowly swam back to his mother and soaked in the hot spring normally, thinking: "Apart from the domain, there is nothing special."

"field……?"

This was something that White Pearl was not quite clear about. She had heard this term in the Eternal Team and roughly understood that it was an incredible ability, but she was not sure exactly what it was.

"Well, as for the domain, it is a state that allows me to become very fast and powerful. It can only be activated when I am very focused."

If it was the previous Ogurt Hat, it would actually be difficult to give such a concise and clear description.

Not only now, but when I explained the characteristics of Yongshi's training to my mother before, I was probably only able to be vague and hesitant, and maybe even White Jewel couldn't understand it.

However, after coming to Nagoya for training, during the meal break or the rest period after the training every day, Oguri Mao, Kobayashi, and Aldan would explain some training and competition knowledge to their juniors such as Oguri Roman and Tokai Emperor.

Although this kind of "intellectual training" has not lasted long, Oguruma's ability to express himself has obviously improved, and his understanding of various theories has become deeper.

"Last time when I went to Europe, Kitahara and the others said that the horse girls there have the ability to activate their domains multiple times."

With a rare thoughtful expression, Oguri stroked his chin and said slowly with the style of a trainer: "What is going on? Kitahara and the others are also guessing and trying. Tomorrow's three games between me, Xiaohaiwan and Aldan are an attempt."

“In terms of the start of the race, we pay a lot of attention to the state when we leave the gate. It is easy to get into a state of extreme concentration at this time.”

"According to Beiyuan and the others' speculation, this might be an opportunity to activate the domain."

"Similar situations will occur when turning, going uphill or downhill later, but the effect may not be as good, so you have to give it a try."

"As for the final straight line, my best starting point is right there, so there won't be any problem."

“So, in tomorrow’s race, at least at the start and the final straight, I should have two chances to enter the field.”

She raised two fingers to make a "V" sign, and a confident look gradually appeared on her face. She continued:
"As for the runway, just run normally."

"For example, in my Meitetsu Cup, Kitahara said that it was probably because of my current strength and results that many players withdrew from the competition after hearing that I was going to participate."

"In this case, the remaining five opponents are the strongest among those who registered before, and similar to some previous competitions, whether it is accidental or not, they will join forces to target me."

"But it doesn't matter. As I just said, I just need to run normally in this regard."

He waved his hand and raised a fist in front of him, and in the splash of water, Xiao Limao's face was full of confidence and his tone was firm.

"I've been through this kind of game before, so I have nothing to worry about doing it again."

"Whether it was the outside lane tactics at the start, or the ultra-high-speed lane change and overtaking in the inside lane in the middle and late stages, they did not pose a big threat to me."

“And the Meitetsu Cup race is 1800 meters, which is the mile I am best at and also the mud track I started running on when I debuted.”

"Anyway, these basic aspects are nothing to be afraid of."

Compared with the parallel dimension, Oguruma in another world has never lost in the mile race, no matter what level of reward, he is the real "Mile King".

So far, the little chestnut hat in this world has not participated in many mile events, especially the big prizes at the central level.

But whether it is the actual competition data or the daily practice, it can be proved that she has absolute suppression power on the mile front of this generation.

This kind of suppression is also true within the team. Compared with miles, Tamamo Cross and Little Bay are better at middle and long distance races. It can even be said that they have little adaptability to miles.

Inari Ichi and Mejiro Altan do have good adaptability to the mile, but judging from the results of many training matches, there is still a gap between their strength and Oguruma's in this regard.

Now, after a certain amount of "intellectual training", Oguruma can analyze these himself.

"It's probably because of the strength and speed."

Seeing his mother listening with great interest, Oguruma's spirits became more and more excited, and he thought: "Kitahara and the others said that there are many forms of power."

"If we only talk about muscle performance, Inari and I are not much different in level."

"But she exerts her strength a little slower than I do."

"That way, even with the same level of strength, I can accelerate faster than she can in a mile event."

"The same is true for Xiaoyu, Xiaohaiwan, and Aldan. Not only are they weaker than me in strength, but they also exert their strength more slowly than me."

After thinking for a while, Little Chestnut Hat suddenly laughed.

"Oh, by the way, we usually do strength training like boxing, which is hitting the sandbag, or kicking the sandbag."

"Look, mom, it's like this. There's a sandbag that's this tall and this thick, hanging in front of you."

She gestured in front of the white gem, "Then we put on gloves and either punch or kick out."

"In this kind of training, I am usually the fastest to use enough strength, and when we go to the arcade to play, I also have the best results on the boxing machine!"

As she spoke, her right leg left a white afterimage under the water that could be seen through the water surface, as if it was not affected by the water resistance at all.

Then there was a splash of half a meter on the water surface.

The water splashed towards the mother and daughter of Oguruma, and just as luck would have it, like a small wave, it overturned Tamamo Cross who was lying on her back in the middle of the hot spring.

"Ah, bah, bah! Who is it?! Who is so annoying?!"

"I-I'm sorry, Xiaoyu! I-I didn't mean it! I-I...I swim!"

"Damn it... Don't run away, we're going to splash it back!"

"Ah? Come on...I didn't mean it!"

"Don't run! Damn it... Why is Xiaoli swimming so fast now?! Look, let's just splash him!"

"Wow! Xiaoyu, you splashed in the wrong direction!"

"That's right, Xiaoyu, aim better!"

"Eh? This looks like fun. Uh... Hey! McQueen! Watch out!"

"Emperor?! What are you doing?!"

"Lululu, come chase me, McQueen!"

"You annoying guy...don't run!"

The women's pool suddenly became lively.

While watching her daughter and her friends playing and having fun with each other with a smile, Bai Baozhu was lost in thought.

From what Xiaolili said just now, it seems that there won't be any major problems in this competition.

What she wants is a more outstanding performance. So is there really any room for improvement in such a complete plan...?
Perhaps, Mr. Kitahara does have a solution...?
As she thought about it, she couldn't help but cast her eyes towards the tall wooden wall of the women's pool.

The men's pool is separated from the women's pool by a wall.

"Haqiu——!"

"Brother Kitahara? Are you catching a cold?"

Unlike the bustling scene in the women's pool, in the men's pool, which could also accommodate dozens of people, there were only Kitahara and Yusuhara.

Kasamatsu doesn't have a large population, and it's not a particularly famous tourist area, and this is not the peak tourist season.

As we have just entered July, we will have to wait until the second half of the month for many tourists to come and for more people to visit the hot springs.

So in this case, the Yongshi team that came to take a hot spring bath today is no different from booking the whole place.

After sneezing, Kitahara shook his head and responded.

"Probably not, my nose is just itchy... It's nothing, let's continue watching the game."

He was watching the game with Yusuhara, holding his cell phone wrapped in a sealed plastic case.

After all, they said they wouldn't talk about work during today's outing, but he didn't think watching the game was part of his job.

For horse racing trainers, it is natural to enjoy watching the races.

Besides, compared to other trainers who have various hobbies, Kitahara only has these few hobbies.

Of course, Yuhara also likes to watch the game. The two of them have already watched a lot of Kitahara's "stock".

Guided by the latter's habitual searches and memories from various parallel worlds, his "inventory" is definitely among the best in the world.

In addition to watching, the two also discussed a lot. When Kitahara sneezed, he was watching the most recent American Triple Crown Horse Girls Championship.

The discussion was also about the race of that year and the horse girls of that generation.

"If I were to say, without discussing strength and other events, just looking at the situation of the Triple Crown, this American Triple Crown horse girl and the previous one are a bit like Ludo's symbol and Chiaki's representative."

"It is a little bit similar, but just like what you said, Yuuhara, it is also without discussing strength and competition."

Nodding slightly, Kitahara affirmed.

The two people they were talking to were the two horse girls, Seattle Slalom and Oath.

As prototype horses, both horses have won the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes.

That is to say, they are two of the 13 Triple Crown horses that have won the event in the United States in the past years.

What’s more interesting is that these two horses won the Triple Crown title in 1977 and 1978 respectively, exactly two years apart.

This is something they both find interesting, and is similar to the symbolism of Chiaki and Ludo, who won the Japanese Triple Crown for two consecutive years in 1983 and 1984.

But beyond that, things are complicated. After all, there are definitely huge differences in training conditions, status and competition performance.

The timeline of this world is relatively lagging, and there are not so many "American Triple Crowns". Up to the one the two of them watched, the previous "American Triple Crowns" such as Sir Patton, War General, and Secretariat were all there.

But the two horses, or rather the horse girls, American Pharoah and Justice, after the oath, are too early to arrive.

Compared to the Uma Musume here in Japan, American Pharaoh is roughly of the same generation as Kitagawa Genju and Satomi Hikari, while Justice is even later.

"If we talk about something interesting, it's probably the Seattle Masturbation... or maybe it's not interesting, it's more worth discussing."

Kitahara continued, "After all, this horse girl is not only the 10th Triple Crown winner in American history, but also the first 'Undefeated Triple Crown' to accomplish this feat with 9 wins and 9 losses."

"The tight schedule of the US Triple Crown is known not only to the industry but also to everyone around the world who knows a little bit about it."

"Running three top-level prize races in five weeks, winning without losing, this is as difficult as climbing to the sky no matter how you think about it."

"But this person did it, so from this point of view, I definitely think this person is more worthy of discussion."

Yusuhara thought about it and nodded.

"From the perspective of honor... That's true. Even without considering the arrangement of the competition itself, just being undefeated is as difficult as ascending to heaven."

Then, he sighed and said, "After all, the Japanese horse racing girl industry has been around for quite a while, and there is only one person like Ludo who represents the 'unbeaten triple crown'."

"Perhaps Oguruma, who has been winning games in a row, has a chance, but that is a matter for the future after all."

"Besides, in Uma Musume competitions, no one can be completely sure until the results are known."

Yuhara's statement is still extremely calm.

Because this is how the industry works, there are always dark horses that are unexpected winners. Take the Ludo symbol we just talked about, for example, it has lost before.

Or, without talking about the events in Japan, on the international front, even in competitions like the Arc de Triomphe, the Eclipse Cup, and the Breeders’ Cup, there is no shortage of eye-popping races.

Perhaps feeling that what he had just said was a little inappropriate to be addressed to the trainer of Ogururo, Yusuhara quickly changed the subject.

"By the way, Brother Beiyuan just mentioned the honor difficulty."

Yusuhara pondered, "From the perspective of strength, is there any American horse racing girl that you think is undisputedly powerful?"

"It must be the American triple crown before the Seattle slalom. There is no arguing about that."

Almost without hesitation, Kitahara gave the answer in less than a second.

After all, the horse girl of the American Triple Crown before the Seattle Slalom was Secretariat.

Whether it's this horse girl or the horse she's based on, no one in the industry in that world will ever doubt her ability.

In a sense, since Secretariat in this world has not been retired for very long, her last competition was before Maruzenski's debut.

Therefore, this world's evaluation of her is far from reaching its peak as in another world.

In a parallel dimension, there is a poll in the United States about the "greatest sports moments", and the number one thing is the 1962 points scored in a single game by NBA legend Chamberlain in 100.

The second place is the record set by Secretariat at the 1973th Belmont Stakes in 105.

In this 2400-meter race, the horse won by an incredible 31 lengths.

The gap of 77.5 meters is hard to imagine how it was achieved.

In addition, the various records it set have not been broken even decades later.

In this context, Secretariat is always ranked at the top in various lists of the top 100 athletes in the United States.

Even in a poll of the most famous American racehorses of the 20th century, Secretariat's ranking only second caused great controversy.

For such a racehorse, or such a racehorse girl, Kitahara, who has a more prophetic perspective, would definitely be able to give an answer without hesitation.

After answering, he suddenly had some strange thoughts.

You know, even though they haven't seen each other for a long time, he still exchanges training experiences with his uncle Rokuhei Ginjiro who is far away in the United States over the phone.

The initial purpose of this contact was to inquire about my uncle's recent situation and to get to know the horse racing girl Ning Jing next week.

However, when they unexpectedly talked about the Secretariat, he suddenly thought about whether he could find a chance to meet this legendary horse racing girl.

For example, after the "territory inheritance method" between horse girls is determined?
A horse girl with the strength of Secretariat must have a field.

If they could inherit such a field, what kind of improvement would it be for the team’s horse girls…?
I will try to write more today

There are so many things going on this month. Apart from being sick, there are mainly some household chores, which are very troublesome.

Thank you very much to all book friends for your monthly tickets and support!
I will continue to work hard in the next month, thank you!

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(End of this chapter)