Chapter 10. Drawing Ceremony and Personal Participation?!
Shuta An hadn't specifically paid attention to how many lengths Hokuto Vega had pulled away from second place, but after waking up in the morning and opening his attribute viewer, he still learned the specifics.
"Riding Hokuto Vega in the Santa Margarita Invitational, you pulled away from second place by 14 lengths and finished with a race record. Hokuto Vega's stunning performance undoubtedly attracted industry attention—of course, because Hokuto Vega's performance was too outstanding, the industry overlooked your existence instead."
"Reward obtained—OVERWHELMING ADVANTAGE—When the difference in lengths between you and second place exceeds 5 lengths in the final stage of the race, effectively reduce the Uma Musume's stamina consumption."
"Isn't this for leading Uma Musume?"
Shuta An muttered to himself. Neither Tokai Teio nor Mejiro Dober would likely ever use this.
"But Teio can't learn this now either."
The young man then realized this—he couldn't find an excuse to "bestow" Teio, not even on the cheek, it wouldn't work.
"Forget it, I won't think about this." Shuta An shook his head. "There are still six days until the Dubai World Cup Race Day, and there's a lot to do this week."
However, despite saying there was a lot to do, Shuta only attended one of the several IFUA meetings from Monday to Wednesday. At that meeting, his proposed G1 race promotion and relegation standards received unanimous approval from the attendees.
And the UAE URA Association got what they wanted—they found a way to quickly upgrade several heavy prize and listed races that were difficult to advance in rank.
"Just throw money at it."
This trick could be learned by other countries and regions, but it's unlikely anyone could play it as skillfully as the oil tycoons in the Middle East.
"Australia also really needs this method," said an Australian Trainer attending the meeting. "The premise is that the various URA Associations can unite and not continue to maintain the status quo by dragging each other down."
—
By Thursday, Shuta no longer let Teio and Dober train at Meydan Racecourse, instead keeping them at the Burj Khalifa hotel to do light exercises in the hotel gym.
But Admire Vega couldn't relax at all.
After the two senior Uma Musume arrived at the gym, they would always compete with each other for records on various facilities—and then Admire Vega was forced to participate.
What frustrated her most was not failing to keep up with Mejiro Dober and Tokai Teio's performance. She knew that without a fully developed body, she couldn't compete with the two seniors.
Instead, in the spinning bike category, Admire Vega, despite giving her all, was slightly outdone by her Trainer.
"This is too ridiculous—" Even the gym staff muttered. "Why can an ordinary person defeat a Uma Musume?"
"It's mainly because Ayabe-chan isn't fully developed yet,"
Shuta An said with a smile, rubbing Admire Vega's head, answering the staff's confusion.
Although Admire Vega was not used to being touched by others, her Trainer had defeated her in the spinning bike category, so she suppressed her temper and allowed her Trainer to fuss over her like a child.
—
"Ouch—"
Back in the guest room, Shuta An rubbed his thighs, sucking in several sharp breaths.
Dober, who pushed the door open without knocking, held muscle patches in her hand and pouted,
"I knew it, Ann would definitely need these after showing off at the gym."
"Sorry for the trouble~" the young man forced a smile. "Sure enough, it's been too long since I've exercised with full effort. Suddenly doing it once is quite unaccustomed."
"It shouldn't affect tonight's drawing ceremony, right?"
Mejiro Dober sat beside her lover, preparing to put muscle patches on his thighs.
"Definitely not." Shuta An was very confident about this. "Anyway, I don't have to run, do I?"
"I heard that the local URA Association will also announce several entertainment activities at tonight's drawing ceremony. I wonder what they are. If they're interesting, let's go explore after the race ends on Sunday night."
"Okay," Shuta An readily agreed. "We'll drag Teio and Ayabe along then."
Mejiro Dober rolled her eyes, then pressed hard on her lover's thigh.
"Ouch!!!" Shuta An nearly jumped up.
—
For the drawing ceremony in the evening, even though Admire Vega wasn't competing, Shuta still brought her along—it wasn't difficult to get a staff pass anyway.
Admire Vega, following behind her Trainer, looked left and right. It was her first time attending such a party, and it was quite novel for her. She had never been to her father's social gatherings. Although she wasn't the main character this time, experiencing the atmosphere firsthand, Admire Vega felt it was quite good.
But the next second, guilt resurfaced in her heart.
The young man turned around and noticed Admire Vega, with a solemn expression, crossing her arms, bowing her head, and biting her lip, looking guilty.
"Are you feeling unwell?" he asked softly. "If you're not feeling well, you can go back and rest. It hasn't officially started yet."
"Then I'll excuse myself." Admire Vega stood up to leave. "I'm very sorry."
"No, it's noth—" Before Shuta An could finish, Admire Vega had already stepped away from the table.
"What kind of expression was that?" He squinted, staring at Admire Vega's back. "Could it be that Ayabe, you really—"
"Why did Ayabe-chan leave?" Dober was a little puzzled, taking her lover's hand. "What did Ann just say?"
"Nothing, it's just that Ayabe isn't feeling well," Shuta An replied vaguely. "Anyway, the guest room is downstairs, she can just take the elevator back. We'll check on her after the drawing ceremony."
"Maybe it's her first time in this kind of setting, and the pressure is too much?"
Teio offered her guess from the side.
"Ayabe-chan isn't the one drawing for the race, so it doesn't seem that serious," Dober shook her head, not thinking Teio's guess was correct.
As for Shuta An, he was still pondering whether the guilt he saw on Admire Vega's face at that moment was an illusion.
Just as the young man continued to ponder, the host of the drawing ceremony stepped onto the stage.
The previously somewhat noisy venue quickly quieted down, and everyone's gaze turned towards the stage in unison.
"Last year's Dubai World Cup Race Day received enthusiastic support from Trainers and Uma Musume from various countries and was a complete success. This year, the UAE URA Association vows to provide an even better experience for all participating Uma Musume and Trainers, and we hope everyone can feel our enthusiasm."
As the host read from the script, Shuta An glanced towards the side of the stage not far away. He noticed that the President of the UAE URA Association, the Sheikh of Dubai, was already standing there, waiting.
"Actually, staying at the Burj Khalifa hotel during this period, we can already feel the enthusiasm," Teio quipped.
"Because we registered to participate, we get to stay for free. If we were here as tourists, it would be 80,000 Japanese Yen a night,"
Mejiro Dober echoed in a low voice.
"Honestly, the price is much more expensive than hotels in Tokyo."
"Dober-senpai, how do you seem so familiar with Tokyo hotel prices? Generally speaking, we don't need to stay in hotels in Tokyo, do we?"
Tokai Teio was a little puzzled.
"Ah~! I was just personally interested, so I looked into it,"
Mejiro Dober stuck out her tongue and chuckled, letting it pass—she couldn't tell Teio that she had researched couple's hotels and luxury hotels before, thinking about when she could pull the young man sitting in the middle to spend a romantic night together.
After the drawing ceremony officially began, Shuta An quickly noticed the difference between this year's drawing ceremony and previous years'—although he was in Australia with Mejiro Dober at this time last year and hadn't watched the live broadcast at all, he had heard Tojo Hana and the others describe it.
"I remember that except for the Dubai World Cup, all other races quickly showed the drawing results," the young man squinted, staring at the stage.
But today was different; for every G1-grade heavy prize race, each starting gate was announced individually. Not only that, every Uma Musume drawn received a separate exclusive VCR—this greatly increased the time spent.
So Shuta An's interest was piqued, and he was very curious to see what kind of exclusive VCR Tokai Teio and Mejiro Dober would get.
After all the draw results for the previous races were announced, it was time for the Dubai Turf draw.
This year's Dubai Turf features 16 Uma Musumes, with the most notable, besides Mejiro Dober, being Terrea Terre, Val Royal, and Noverre.
These three Uma Musumes all had G1 Mile victories in the past. However, their combined G1 wins did not surpass Mejiro Dober's, making Mejiro Dober the recognized top favorite for this race.
Mejiro Dober drew gate number 7—after her name appeared next to "7," a VCR produced by the UAE URA Association played on the big screen on stage.
"THIS IS THE TRIPLE TIARA GENIUS FROM JAPAN! ON ROSEHILL IN AUTUMN, SHE KICKED ASIDE ALL HER OPPONENTS! UNREACHABLE, UNSTOPPABLE! WATCH HER! THE TOP FAVORITE FOR THE QUEEN ELIZABETH STAKES IS HERE!"
"ALL UMA MUSUMES FROM AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND, PAY ATTENTION! THIS IS THE STRONGEST OPPONENT YOU WILL FACE!"
"MEJIRO DOBER CROSSES THE FINISH LINE! THE TRIPLE TIARA QUEEN NOW WEARS THE NEW CROWN OF THE MILE KING!"
"MEJIRO DOBER CROSSES THE FINISH LINE WITH EASE! THERE ARE NO OPPONENTS ON THE TRACK! WITHOUT A DOUBT! THE GREATEST PERFORMANCE IN THE YORKSHIRE OAKS IN A HUNDRED YEARS WAS BORN TODAY!"
As each commentary played, the background showed scenes of Mejiro Dober crossing the finish line first, time and again.
"Undoubtedly last year's strongest Mile Uma Musume, Miss Mejiro Dober, welcome to Dubai. Gate 7 is your gate."
The host bowed slightly before speaking again.
Below the stage, Dober was very satisfied with this gate, and even more satisfied with this VCR.
"Using this approach for my retirement ceremony VCR would be excellent."
"I think so too."
Shuta An nodded.
Afterward, for the Dubai Sheema Classic, Tokai Teio drew gate number 12—undoubtedly another far outside gate.
"I feel like I need to go pray." Teio shrugged. "My gate luck is a bit too subtle."
"Well~ that's true."
Shuta An couldn't deny it. It was impossible to say he had bad luck now; looking at Mejiro Dober's gate, she didn't draw a far outside lane.
"But a far outside lane is fine, Meydan Racecourse in Dubai is a relatively fair track."
The young man continued,
"However, this time Teio needs to have an even stronger start."
"I haven't forgotten Trainer's instructions." Teio responded, "It's just a far outside gate, I will overcome it."
"I also believe Teio will be fine." Shuta An patted Teio's shoulder, his tone steady.
—
And after the gates for the Dubai World Cup were drawn, the Chairman of the UAE URA Association and Dubai Sheikh, who came on stage, did not prepare a closing speech but instead spoke about the additional entertainment programs for this year's Dubai World Cup Race Day.
Shuta An was not interested in this; he estimated that the so-called entertainment programs were just for the Uma Musume to play some mini-games, or sing and dance.
But the friend on stage spoke,
"For this year's entertainment programs, we hope that all Trainers can also participate, so in addition to the usual encore stage program, we have added a new program—Trainer 1000m Run."
"!" Shuta An heard about this program and instantly felt uneasy.
"We hope all Trainers will actively sign up for this competition! The prize money will be the same as the Al Quoz Sprint!"
The man on stage narrowed his eyes, his tone joyful.
"The audience will also be very excited to see what kind of performance Trainers who have trained world-class Uma Musumes will deliver!"
"Ann / Trainer!"
After leaving the venue, Mejiro Dober and Tokai Teio simultaneously called out to the young man.
"Go participate!"
"1000 meters or something—I don't really want to go."
Shuta An shook his head.
"If it were 100 meters, it would only take a few seconds, so running it wouldn't matter, but 1000 meters on turf, I personally think it would be very tiring."
"If you don't want to go, then don't."
Mejiro Dober was very well-behaved.
"If Trainer thinks he'll be embarrassed, then don't go."
Tokai Teio pouted.
"I didn't think that!"
Shuta An knew this was a provocation but couldn't resist.
"Hmph hmph~"
Tokai Teio didn't respond, but her soft snorts conveyed what everyone understood.
Mejiro Dober typed a Line message on her phone and sent it to her lover.
Shuta An picked up his phone and read it silently.
"If you two want to see it, then I'll sign up."
He changed his tune.
"Yeah!"
Tokai Teio felt her provocation was a great success.
Only Mejiro Dober knew how much she had sacrificed.
"Fortunately, Sunday is a safe day."
She secretly rejoiced.