The words were heavy with a determination that made the very space around us feel like it was shimmering.
"Bourbon-san said Rice was amazing. She called me… a Hero."
I am not Rice Shower. I can't claim to understand every single emotion she was feeling in that moment.
But I knew one thing: her words were the absolute, unvarnished truth of her soul.
My rational mind as a trainer was screaming at me to stop her. Her body was recovering, yes, but it wasn't ready for this level of strain yet. But as her fan—and as her Trainer—the words I needed to say were different from what my logic dictated.
"Go and win, Rice."
Rice knew her body wasn't ready for this. But she wanted to win anyway. She wanted to live up to Mihono Bourbon's expectations.
Of course, going all out didn't strictly guarantee her body would break. Since the day I met her, I had done everything in my power to care for her. It wasn't a matter of simple probability; we wouldn't know how the cards fell until they were played. There was a chance she'd be perfectly fine after the race.
There was also, naturally, the chance she would reach her absolute limit.
And yet, I pushed her forward for one very simple reason.
Because…
Because Rice—my Umamusume—wanted to win.
"...Is it… really okay?"
"It's fine. This is what you want, Rice. You want to win here, no matter what. You want to show Mihono Bourbon what it looks like when you win… right?"
"...Yes."
Rice looked at me with surprise, which quickly melted into a radiant, happy smile.
"Then go win. The Arima Kinen is just a waypoint. It's not the finish line. I… I don't want you to overdo it, but I want you to show the fans, and Mihono Bourbon, just how incredible the Umamusume named Rice Shower really is."
That was all I could say.
The day of the Arima Kinen arrived.
The sky had been a clear, piercing blue since morning, with no signs of clouds. The track condition was undoubtedly 'Firm,' a favorable wind for the Umamusume running today.
Including Rice.
The Arima Kinen was the 9th race out of the 10 scheduled for the day. Yet, there was no doubt it was the main event at Nakayama Racecourse. The attendance had already topped 150,000, and the crowds were expected to swell even further as race time approached.
I stood with Urara and Rice, waiting for the moment to begin.
It had been two days since Rice spoke with Bourbon, and her resolve hadn't wavered. If anything, it had grown harder, sharper.
Rice's aura was so intense that even the usually bubbly Urara found it hard to act as she normally did. She kept cycling between approaching Rice and then coming back to me with a worried look.
(The time has finally come…)
Since she was running the Arima Kinen, I had kept the final adjustments light to ensure she didn't carry any lingering fatigue. Rice had followed my instructions dutifully, but the fire burning inside her was impossible to ignore.
At this stage, there was little left for me to do. But that small role would decide Rice's fate today.
My job—was to choose the target for Rice to mark.
The Umamusume, each clad in their unique racing silks, were introduced in the paddock. I watched them closely, needing to decide who Rice should shadow. Ideally, this would have been decided well in advance, but the competitors in a G1 race were so formidable that I couldn't make the call until I saw their condition on the day.
Rice was more focused than I'd ever seen her. But if I picked the wrong target, everything would crumble.
The favorite was last year's undefeated Triple Crown contender, Tokai Teio. But it all depended on her form today—
The introductions began.
"Gate 1, Number 1: Nice Nature."
Nice Nature was the first to appear. She was the 4th favorite today, a testament to her incredibly consistent performance. She hadn't won lately, but she almost always finished 3rd.
I studied her. She wore a black, one-piece racing dress, her voluminous, wavy bronze hair tied back.
(Her conditioning looks good. She's focused… as expected of Team Canopus's leader.)
There was a hint of nerves on her face, but it was balanced by a look of readiness for the grand stage. Her strategy usually involved being a front-runner or a mid-pack closer, making her a likely rival for Rice. More importantly, her inside draw at Gate 1 was a massive advantage for a long-distance turf race.
"Gate 2, Number 3: Mejiro Palmer."
Next was Mejiro Palmer. She was the 15th favorite—nearly at the bottom of the pack. She'd finished 17th in her last race, the Tenno Sho (Autumn), and 9th before that in the Kyoto Daishoten. Her recent record was lackluster, to say the least.
However, she'd won the two races before those—one of which was the Takarazuka Kinen, another fan-voted race just like today's Arima Kinen.