Uma Musume: Become a Legendary Trainer

Chapter 386 Are you coming to Japan to drink British afternoon tea?
In his previous life, Kitahara had no chance to participate in a "gate lottery" like this one.

Even in Japan at that timeline, the gap between local and central events was still quite large.

At that time, the horse racing club he was in was only at a local level, and he could only watch the draw on TV.

As far as I can remember, most G1 events of the level of the Big Eight Race Walking Events would be more grand before the race than they are now.

Well-known people in the industry, including participating jockeys, horse owners, and trainers, will all be invited to attend.

The person who hosts the lottery may also choose a popular figure such as the most famous movie star.

In top-level competitions, racehorses are replaced every three to five years, while jockeys and owners remain the same for more than ten years or even decades.

These people are also very familiar with each other, and some interesting things will happen when they go on stage to draw lots.

The one that left the deepest impression on me was probably the Arima Kinen, the year before Chunqiufen retired.

The most profound thing is that the organizer invited Masami Nagasawa.

At that time, this artist was very popular in the film and entertainment industry. Even though Kitahara didn't pay much attention to this aspect, he had seen a lot of him in various film and television clips and advertising endorsements.

So it was quite a surprise to see this female artist while watching the live broadcast on TV.

Afterwards, I don’t know if it was because he was too excited or for the effect of the show, but when it was Chunqiufen’s turn to draw the gate number, the host who was partnered with Masami Nagasawa lost his grip and the sign almost fell to the ground.

This resulted in a round of jokes from colleagues around him. The main jockey Li Muhua and trainer Kimura Tetsuya couldn't hold it in anymore. Masami Nagasawa, who was also in charge of the drawing, also had a look on her face where she had to hold back her laughter.

When watching those lottery meetings, Kitahara sometimes wondered how far he had to go to have the opportunity to step onto that kind of stage.

Sometimes I have some strange thoughts. I wonder if it would be interesting if the gate draw was done by the horses themselves.

And at this moment, he is already one of the invited guests to a meeting of this level.

The person who drew the lots was actually Uma Musume herself.

I have to say, it’s quite interesting to think about this kind of subtlety that only you can experience.

The layout and process of the draw stand are now almost the same as I remembered.

On the far left is a host seat, where stands the spokesperson of the URA Association, who is reading out the details of the "International Exchange Cup" to the trainers, horse girls, and reporters in the audience.

Although it is not an official competition and some processes were prepared hastily, the overall structure of the competition is still fine.

In principle, the process of the Shining Series was referred to, and the draw, press interviews, debut circle, pre-match warm-up and other links were prepared with the specifications of an exhibition match.

The difference is that except for the warm-up, the duration of each link is shorter than the official competition, and there is no winner's stage.

There is nothing that can be done about this. All the songs and processes for the winner's stage need to be arranged in advance, and the horse racing girls also have to rehearse in advance.

In the past, a lot of communication and coordination was required with overseas players, so the time was already quite tight to set up the framework of the competition.

It is indeed too late to arrange the winner's stage.

However, whether for the organizers or the fans, it is an exciting and satisfying thing to see the outstanding horse girls in their memories return to the racing field again.

The lack of a winner's stage is still acceptable.

Especially if this trial event goes smoothly, the next time it is held, it will undoubtedly be in a more formal form.

At that time, the stage segment was definitely indispensable.

Corresponding to the host seat is a built platform with a round "lottery ball" on it.

If it is horse racing, behind the stage there will be guests like Masami Nagasawa who are invited to host the draw.

And just as Kitahara had thought jokingly, in this case, the one standing there was the horse girl "Honma".

At this time, Kitahara remembered that the last episode of the first season of the anime was also a similar occasion.

The draw was for a fictional event called the "Dream Cup".

The runaway horse girls range from Maruzenski to Ludo Symbol, from Ogururo Hat to Good Opera, from Tokai Emperor to Mejiro McQueen, from Silent Suzuka to Special Week, as well as Narita Shirahito, Air Trough, and Hishi Amazon.

It basically covers the most outstanding, famous and popular racehorses, or horse racing girls, from the 80s to the 90s.

Perhaps because they didn't want to offend anyone, the production team arranged a "crossing the finish line together" ending for the event, leaving viewers familiar with the event, including Kitahara, speechless.

In competitions, especially speed racing, it is rare to see two teams crossing the finish line together once in a hundred races.

Especially in big-ticket bets, I have the impression that there are only a few dozen matches that are judged as "same", and the ones like G1 and G2 can be counted.

Not to mention more than a dozen horse racing girls crossing the finish line at the same time.

So, the result of that episode can only be taken as a glance and not taken seriously.

Because of this, and because so much time has passed, Kitahara doesn’t have a very deep impression of that episode.

He vaguely recalled it when he saw that the person presiding over the drawing ceremony was the Ludo symbol who "participated" in the "Dream Cup".

This legendary horse racing girl with the name of emperor did not sign up for this "International Exchange Competition".

In terms of body size, the effect of the shrinking potion has worn off. However, on the one hand, considering that Rudo cannot formally train while the effect of the potion lasts, and on the other hand, Ailisuko has a proposal to collect data, the emperor's "comeback" has been postponed.

Considering her position as student council president, since she would not be participating in the competition, it was indeed most appropriate for her to be in charge of directing the draw as a representative of Tresen College and the Horse Racing Girls.

After the host finished introducing the details of the competition, the next main event was handed over to Lu Duo.

“Thank you very much to all the guests from home and abroad for coming to this lottery event.”

Picking up the microphone, Lu Duo naturally exuded a majestic aura, and said in a deep and orderly voice: “The purpose of this international exchange competition is to promote exchanges among all parties who love the horse racing business.

“Let’s compete together, grow together, and run towards a better future together.

“That’s what this competition is about.

“As you can see, the horse girls who are responsible for drawing the lots are the contestants of this Japan Cup.

“And the horse racing ladies who go to international exchange competitions are long-established predecessors from various countries.

“As a new international G1 event, the Japan Cup has not only attracted much attention in Japan, but is also becoming more and more influential internationally.

“We have chosen the runaway Umamusume of this race as the draw representative, and the seniors from various countries as the players, in the hope that all these outstanding talents can bring surprises not only to this race, not only in Japan, but also to more races and to audiences around the world.

"Next, on behalf of everyone, I invite all the representatives who have drawn lots to enter the venue."

When Lu Duo was speaking, a row of horse racing girls in formal attire had already lined up on the right side of the stage.

They were the horse racing girls such as Tamamo Cross and Inari Ichi who had participated in the Japan Cup.

The winning uniforms worn during the competition must have been changed.

Although the winning suit is blessed by the three goddesses, it is essentially made of regular fabrics. It is certain that it will get dirty and need to be cleaned and maintained after a fierce game.

The formal attires were prepared for this purpose. After the meeting, the horse racing ladies were led by the staff to the locker room and then came to the venue.

Following Luduo's guidance and everyone's gaze, when they looked towards the right side of the stands like everyone else present, Kitahara couldn't help but chuckled while coughing.

"Ahem... this..."

He couldn't help laughing, "They really prepared children's clothes for them..."

The "two of them" he was referring to were Tamamo Juji and Inari Ichi, who were closest to the stands.

As the champion of this Japan Cup, it was very tacit that both the staff and the Umamusume who were also waiting gave the first place on stage to Inari Ichi.

Although he lost the championship, Tamamo Cross was not willing to fall behind in the final stage of the competition. He beat Tony Bianca by a very small margin and ranked second.

She naturally stood beside Inari. The draw was a replica of the standards of the major G1s. It has to be said that Japan is too rigid in some places.

The G1 draw is usually held two days before the tournament.

For example, the Arima Memorial is usually held on Christmas Day, and the lottery draw is usually held on December 12rd.

And they are basically arranged in the evening, which makes it convenient to hold a banquet afterwards and allow guests to exchange ideas on training, competition or other matters.

However, the Japan Cup ended in the afternoon, and there was still some time before the dinner, but the staff still prepared evening gowns according to the G1 draw.

Compared with the whole scene, it wasn’t particularly strange. After all, the scene still had a bit of a party feel.

But I don't know what the association was thinking. The initial planning details mentioned that it would be difficult to prepare evening gowns for Tamamo Cross and Inari Ichi due to their height, so someone suggested using "children's clothes."

At that time, people who were familiar with the two horse racing girls knew that if this arrangement was really made, the two little girls would probably get furious, so they all expressed their opposition or reservations.

But this matter was too small, so it was put aside.

There are too many things going on in Beiyuan and I don't pay much attention to it.

As a result, the two little girls who were dawdling around the stands at the moment were wearing children's clothes, unlike the other horse racing girls who were wearing mature and elegant evening gowns.

"Shh...keep your voice down, Kitahara."

Although he was far away from the stands, Maruzenski on the side still made a booing gesture in a serious manner, as if he was afraid that the people in front would hear it.

With the lottery going on normally, all the messy thoughts from before faded away, and Maruzen returned to his usual relaxed and casual state.

"There's nothing we can do about it."

She laughed softly and said, "The association insisted on holding it like a party, so we can only use evening gowns.

"Then Tama and Inari...

"It's really hard to find a particularly mature and suitable evening dress for them...

“Then we can only use children’s clothes.

"Keep your voice down, we haven't told them yet.

"and……"

Looking at the stands with a playful look, she smiled and said, "It seems that the two of them haven't noticed yet..."

Hearing this, Beiyuan was stunned and subconsciously focused his attention.

It was obvious that the two little guys were not paying attention to their clothes at all. Instead, they were rushing towards each other in a fierce manner, as if they were about to compete.

"What are they two doing?"

Kitahara was troubled. "So many people are waiting for them, why haven't they come on stage yet...?"

Just as Kitahara said, Tamamo Cross and Inari seemed to have forgotten what the occasion was as they yelled at each other.

On and off the stage, whether it was Luduo, the horse racing ladies preparing to go on stage, or the spectators near the stands, they all gradually revealed helpless or amused expressions.

Soon, Kitahara knew what the two little guys were hesitating about.

"rock-paper-scissors!"

"Hahaha! We won! So we go first!"

"Hey, hey! That's not fair! Let's do it again! Three rounds, two rounds..."

"Lululu, you didn't tell me earlier, so we don't care!"

So, Inari Ichi, who was originally in the first place, and who then gritted his teeth and stared helplessly at Tamamo Juji who came on stage waving his fists, and who was holding a pair of scissors in his hand, became the second one to go on stage.

Hmm, this might be the effect of a horse racing lottery...

But it is more interesting when Uma Musume draws the lottery herself...

Also, are you two children?

Why do all the horse girls like to play rock-paper-scissors...

This little incident made Kitahara and everyone present couldn't help but laugh and complain.

Rudo seemed to be accustomed to such occasions. Even though she looked helpless at first, she quickly regained her serious expression when Tamamo Cross approached.

As if affected by this expression, Tamamo Cross, who had been complacent before, quickly frowned and the movement of drawing lots seemed to be a little faster.

He reached into the plate, stirred it for a few moments as instructed by Luduo, and took out a fist-sized plastic ball.

He opened it and took out a sign that was as wide as a palm and as long as an arm. He pointed the Tamamo Cross to the audience and Luduo respectively.

"Then, the first horse girl to leave the international exchange tournament, chosen by Tamamo Cross..."

Looking at the sign in Tamamo Cross's hand, he turned and nodded towards the host desk, then Lu Duo raised the microphone and nodded to the people present.

"Britain, Shahrastani."

Lu Duo's pronunciation was very standard and everyone present could hear it clearly.

The United Kingdom is actually the United Kingdom of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. Each region has its own independent racing association, so a distinction is made when international racing is announced, and this is fine.

However, as soon as Lu Duo finished speaking, all the guests present, including herself, were in an uproar.

"Saratany?"

The same thing happened to Beiyuan. He suddenly exclaimed, "Is it so exciting right after coming here? Why did she run away? Yongwu didn't explain it specifically before?"

"There are different suggestions from all sides regarding the list, and there are many records. Maybe you, Kitahara, have been too busy recently and don't have time to confirm and update it."

Subconsciously, sensing Kitahara's confusion, Maruzenski explained in a low voice, "But this horse girl is indeed on the list submitted by Britain... or England.

"As for her situation..." After explaining, she began to recall Sharatani's information.

In this regard, Beiyuan is definitely a personal, self-propelled database.

"Yessen Derby, Irish Derby, Double Derby Horse Girl."

Frowning slightly, Kitahara whispered: "This is not the most important thing.

“The most important thing is that Yongwu also participated in her Yesen Derby.

"The last wave lasted 1 seconds, with a terrifying explosive force of 10.3 meters per second. It was unprecedented and will probably be surpassed in the future. This was the last step of Yongwu at that time.

“But, she didn’t outrun Sarathani.

"did not expect……"

Taking a deep breath, he pressed his brows and took a breath as if he had a toothache.

"hiss……

"That's fine with Bai Ling...

"Saratany...

"How did Yongwu come up with the idea of ​​inviting these old rivals over...

"Would you like to come to Japan and have British afternoon tea together...?
"You really want to win the Peak Cup...?"

(End of this chapter)