Uma Musume: Become a Legendary Trainer

Chapter 230: The Ambition Symbolized by Luduo

The participating horse racing girls were very active from the beginning, and except for the slightly controversial method of drawing lots, the relay race arrangement was quickly unanimously agreed upon.

Not only did they agree quickly, they also took the initiative to suggest that in order to better develop rapport, they would like to train together with their team members in the coming period.

This is actually Beiyuan’s follow-up arrangement.

The biggest difference between the relay race and URA's shining event lies in the setting of the "baton handover" and "baton handover area".

Since different stages require different runners to complete, runners usually exchange a "marker" when they take over to confirm that the handover on the track has been completed.

In relay races that tend to be entertaining, the "marker" can be a ribbon, a ball or a doll, while more formal events will choose a "baton".

The baton is usually a round log about 20 cm long and 2 cm in diameter.

During the handover, the previous runner needs to pass the baton to the next one before the event can continue.

If the handover is not completed, especially if the last baton is not completed and the team reaches the finish line empty-handed, even if the team is the first to cross the finish line, the entire team will not have any results.

The "baton taking area" in a relay race is also very critical. If you are not careful, the entire team may lose the competition.

The "baton taking area" is set between the tracks of the two athletes and is 20 meters long.

According to the rules, players can only complete the handover within this position. Doing so early or late will be considered a violation of the rules.

In addition to the rules on handovers, each track also has requirements, just like the Shining Series, such as not driving diagonally to affect opponents and not taking shortcuts.

If violated, the entire team’s results will be cancelled.

Overall, there are still many things to pay attention to in the relay race.

Especially in the handover part, so if you want to achieve good results, the tacit understanding between team members will become a very important factor.

If you want to develop tacit understanding, training together is naturally the best way, and this is what Kitahara will talk about next.

Now that the horse racing ladies had offered it, he went along with it and made the arrangements.

"The relay race will be held at 3pm in two weeks."

"During this period, the morning training will continue as usual. In the afternoon, you will train together under the leadership of your respective captains and live together."

"As for housing, we have already negotiated with the staff here, and they will help tidy up the room later."

"As for us trainers, the current idea is to take turns visiting each team to see how the training is going."

"But if you have any special needs, you can take the initiative to ask, and we will do our best to meet them."

With all the arrangements made here, the remaining work, apart from the venue arrangement, is the subsequent training of the horse racing ladies.

Although Kitahara mentioned that his trainers would provide full assistance.

But deep down, he felt that the process of this relay race might be one of the few times when he was truly free.

Because he may not have much opportunity to provide guidance.

Ludo symbolizes that this group of horse girls are not only strong and have excellent records, but they are also top-notch in training.

Perhaps without systematic study, they are not very good in theory.

For example, they may not be able to explain the principles behind a certain starting posture or cornering technique.

But even if they have never been exposed to some abilities, they can quickly master them with just a little attempt based on their experience and talent, and teach them to the younger generation.

Especially as the symbol of Luduo, she is famous for her powerful talent.

When she was in service, many people said that Rudolf may not need any trainers. Not only that, she could even teach trainers how to compete.

So when it really came to training, Kitahara indeed discovered that both he and Komiyayama and the others, when they were moving around among the various Uma Musume teams, rarely got involved in training.

Their main role is to help team members understand the captains' arrangements more quickly through theoretical knowledge.

This situation naturally made the training go much more smoothly than before.

After checking the situation of other teams that day, Kitahara came to the Luduo symbolic team and found that this team had already started practicing the details of the baton handover.

"I know that you sisters probably have a good chemistry, but the chemistry in competitions is different from that in everyday life."

In the same team with Rudo are the two sisters, Aldan Mejiro and McQueen Mejiro, who are also the ones she is teaching.

Not wearing a school uniform like he did on campus, but wearing a red and white sportswear, Rudo stood on the beach with his arms folded, looking at the two Mejiro sisters in front of him with a serious face.

The two sisters were dressed in the same way. They looked like students receiving a lecture or soldiers facing an inspection, with their stomachs tucked in, their chests puffed out, their arms tightly pressed against their sides, and they looked cautious and respectful.

Beiyuan had been here for a while, and the three horse girls had noticed his arrival.

However, after saying hello, the three horse girls ignored Kitahara at the same time, as if he didn't exist.

"Especially in this competition, we need the three of us to cooperate. Considering the running method and tactical arrangement, we must make adjustments."

"For example, the two of you are best at taking the lead. Although you have some adaptability in leading, it is not particularly outstanding..."

"Of course McQueen is better, but as I said before, it's not top-notch."

"My situation is similar, but I am also good at running like this."

"In this case, if I want to save time as the first leg, I might consider going first, or choosing to go behind after ensuring the distance and sprinting condition are suitable."

"If I can gain a relatively large advantage, you might be able to use this advantage to take the lead, which you are not particularly good at, and then develop some tactics."

"But if I'm not the first one to complete the handover, or even the last one, you can only use your best first move to regain the advantage."

"Especially as the last McQueen, you have the fewest options."

"If your sister and I don't have a smooth race before the handover, you will be under a lot of pressure and have no choice."

"have you understood?"

"Yes! I understand!" x2.

"very good."

Hearing the very energetic and even a little nervous responses from the Mejiro sisters, Luduo nodded in satisfaction and waved his hand.

"Then, let's start the baton-passing tacit training as I taught you before!"

"I would like to emphasize again that the 'overhead' baton passing method is the most commonly used and effective method in relay races."

"This method requires a specific hand gesture to hold the stick while running, and you can't be careless."

"There should also be a 100-meter psychological preparation period before the handover, and this cannot be neglected."

“All of this needs to be adapted to in advance.”

“So, give it your all!”

"Yes! Understood!" x2.

After responding with force again, seeing Luduo wave his hand again but stop talking, Aldan and McQueen looked towards Kitahara.

Then, the two of them nodded slightly, greeted briefly, and turned around and ran along the beach one after the other. At this time, the symbol of Luduo turned around with his arms folded, smiled slightly, and walked towards Beiyuan.

"How's it going, Mr. Trainer? There shouldn't be any problem with what I just taught you, right?"

After being together for such a long time, Lu Duo had already called Beiyuan by his first name. It was natural that he was joking when he changed his address now.

Beiyuan did not laugh. His attitude was still very serious. After thinking for a while, he nodded and said:
"In theory, there is no problem, but in terms of handover, we still need to conduct side-by-side training."

"The distance between the handover area is only 20 meters, and you horse girls are all very fast, so you have to achieve a relatively static state in a shorter time."

“This requires a lot of practice.”

The most stable way of handover is definitely for both parties to stand still, and for relay runners who are new to race walking, this is also a common way to develop tacit understanding.

But this is definitely not applicable to horse racing girls, especially those with racing experience. It is best for them to make the handover while running in a relatively static state.

That is to say, within a range of 20 meters, the two are connected and reach an agreement, forming a state similar to stillness.

"You must know these, so I'm just suggesting them."

After giving the suggestion, Kitahara finally started laughing.

"Well, I plan to tell them about this later."

Nodding to acknowledge his plan, Luduo changed the subject very abruptly.

"Ahem, I'm glad you came over. I have something to confirm with you."

More formal than when she had just taught the Mejiro sisters, she returned to her usual serious and solemn demeanor on campus, clenched her fist in front of her lips as if giving a speech, coughed twice, and looked straight at Kitahara.

"I heard from some sources that you have a complete plan for the URA Association or the entire industry."

“People who shared it with me generally spoke highly of the plan.”

"So I thought if it's convenient, could you please just talk to me?"

Beiyuan was stunned. He did not understand what the plan that Luduo symbolized was, so he subconsciously said:
"What plan?"

"Ah, it should be said that it is what you have been doing all along."

As if he had anticipated Kitahara's reaction, Luduo was not surprised by his confusion.

She explained patiently: "If we don't use the word 'plan', maybe we can use the word 'dream'."

"Most people probably think that Kitahara you are an excellent and thoughtful trainer, and your training results are also excellent."

“That’s what I thought at first.”

"But later, I slowly discovered that you have many ideas, dreams, or ambitions."

"I have checked many details with Mr. Koujiu, Chairman Akikawa, and many business people."

"I found that you don't just focus on training, nor do you just focus on certain horse girls."

"It's about the entire Umamusume world."

"And you have a complete set of plans and programs."

"My observations, understandings, and intuition tell me that your plan is of inestimable value to the world."

……ah?

No, Luduo, can you see through my thoughts?

Kitahara was stunned again.

He does have so-called plans, and happens to have ambitions recently.

That is to say, I want to make some changes to the entire Uma Musume world.

He is very confident in his plan, the professionalism of which comes from his business knowledge and experience in running an industry, and it can stand up to various tests both from a theoretical and practical perspective.

In addition to the advantage of being a time traveler, many future prospects of another world can be deduced using business knowledge, which is equivalent to knowing the reverse process of the answer. It is so easy that there is no need to worry about any problems.

He didn't have that thought in the past because he didn't have reliable results, but it's different now.

So if it is really as Luduo and Maruzen said, maybe with these ideas...

As soon as he had this thought, he suddenly calmed down.

If you really want to change, it's not easy.

Japan's horse racing girl industry started late, but has been learning closely from the international scene. Over the past few decades, the entire industry can be described as a behemoth.

In this case, any change will lead to a large amount of resource changes, which may be good or bad.

But no matter good or bad, the resources involved are in the tens of thousands. To be fair, Kitahara asked himself if he were the helmsman of the guild, he might not be willing to change anything easily.

The same is true of the original work.

After missing the opportunity to participate in the Japan Derby, Oguri showed her style in the central arena, which made countless fans feel unfair that she could not participate in the classic event, and public opinion was almost one-sided in support of Oguri.

Even Luduo, the emperor, was willing to bow to her and pleaded with the URA Association to amend the regulations.

The result is that the rules were indeed changed, but after it took effect on Oguri, she still was unable to participate in classic events such as the Satsuki Sho and the Japan Derby.

Although the reality of this world has changed, the core has not changed, because he is still completing these things under the rules of this world.

If he really wants to become the rule himself as he thought before, it is too early now.

"...I do have a lot of ideas, and I even want to change something, but to be honest, I know this is not a game."

After saying this, Beiyuan hesitated. He was thinking about how to explain the symbolism to Luduo.

However, the Ludo symbol seems to have been misunderstood.

"I trust you completely. I mean, I trust that you can change whatever you want to change."

Suddenly saying such a sentence that surprised Beiyuan, a strange look of expectation suddenly appeared on Luduo's symbolic face.

“A lot of things have proven that.”

"Like Little Bay."

"Xiao Haiwan is actually a very good horse girl, but she was hampered by injuries. I had been trying to find a good trainer for her, but unfortunately no one was willing to accept her."

"Now, thanks to your efforts, Kitahara, she has become an outstanding horse girl. I am relieved and grateful."

Bowing slightly towards Beiyuan, Luduo continued:
"So does Aldan."

"Tamamo Cross, Inari Ichi, and the Emperors, they are also proof of this."

"With these proofs, I believe you can definitely change something."

“And I want to do that, too.”

(End of this chapter)