Chapter 64: The Season of Arima, Footsteps, and Reincarnators

Hoshino Wilm won the Japan Cup.

…No—actually, that isn’t something that should be brushed off so casually.

The Japan Cup is a senior mixed G1 race that draws many overseas Uma Musume. Normally, a victory like that would be met with something closer to a roaring, “Yesss! Hoshino Wilm, you did it!!” But… at this point, even winning a G1 barely earns more than a “Good job” from me. It seems my sense of what a race victory is worth has already been completely warped.

…Well, the thing I most want to celebrate isn’t the victory itself anyway, so I’ll set that aside for now.

When Wilm returned to the underground passage, she looked—even by her standards—more worn out than usual. Still, the moment she spotted me, she tried to rush over.

I answered with a wry smile.

"Walk, okay?"

She slowed, trudging her way toward me. When she leaned in, trying to rub her head against me, I placed my hand on it and ruffled her hair a little roughly.

"W-wah."

"Welcome back… Wilm."

"Hehe… I’m home, Ayu—mm, mm. Trainer."

"You made it back safely. I was watching the whole time."

"Yeah. I could hear you cheering."

"…You can really hear that?"

"I told you, didn’t I? When I’m running, my ears are really good."

"…Hmph."

Talking like that, we headed toward the waiting room where Masa and Bourbon were waiting.

…An Uma Musume’s job doesn’t end with the race. Today, she still had one—no, two more tasks ahead of her.

"All right… once you’ve rested a bit, we’re heading to the winner’s interview. Think you’re up for it?"

"Of course. The fans are waiting for me."

Wilm said it with a slightly awkward, but cheerful smile.

As a general rule of the Twinkle Series, Uma Musume who win one of the Eight Major Races are interviewed on the same day—the so-called winner’s interview. Normally, interviews are scheduled later to reduce the burden on the Uma Musume, but the Eight Major Races—events of the greatest scale and prestige—are exceptions. From the URA’s perspective, they want to respond quickly, and above all, many fans want to hear their unfiltered voices as soon as possible.

That said, there are always exceptions and unexpected cases. For example, this year’s Derby, where both first and second place were injured and couldn’t even perform the winning live. This Japan Cup, however, was an exception in the opposite sense. While it isn’t counted among the Eight Major Races, it still holds a same-day interview.

The Eight Major Races are the Satsuki Sho, Japan Derby (Tokyo Yushun), Kikuka Sho, Oka Sho, Oaks, Tenno Sho (Spring and Autumn), and the Arima Kinen—eight races in total. Nowadays, in addition to these, there are many races such as the Takarazuka Kinen, Queen Elizabeth Cup, and the Japan Cup that rival them in scale and prestige, even when limited to middle- and long-distance events.

The concept of the Eight Major Races itself dates back to before the current G1–G3 grading system existed. At the time, everything we’d now classify as G1 through G3 was simply labeled a “graded race,” and the Eight Major Races were created to distinguish the most prestigious among them. As a result, they aren’t necessarily the absolute pinnacle in scale or status anymore.

That’s why large-scale races like the Japan Cup, which stand shoulder to shoulder with the Eight Major Races, now also hold same-day interviews.

The winner’s interview is one of the privileges a victorious Uma Musume earns, alongside the winning live. Uma Musume aren’t judged on ability alone; they’re also part of a popularity-driven industry. They’re half athletes, half idols, after all. Entry priority for most races (excluding Grand Prix events) is determined by both ability and fan support. In other words, those who have both strength and popularity are favored.

Because of that, an Uma Musume with little popularity might not even get the chance to race, even if she has ability. …Though, thanks to the generally good-natured environment, that rarely happens. At worst, the occasional problematic racer gets filtered out. Most of the time, ability and popularity tend to go hand in hand.

In that sense, the winner’s interview is also a prime opportunity to appeal to fans—showcasing your victory, your strength, and even announcing which races you want to challenge next, leaving a strong impression.

That said, both Wilm and Bourbon—my trainees—are overwhelmingly strong Uma Musume who already carry immense expectations. They’re not at risk of losing opportunities just because they don’t push themselves during interviews. For us, at least in terms of self-promotion, the winner’s interview doesn’t carry overwhelming weight.

But at the same time, for fans who just watched the race, hearing their voices directly is something they desperately want. For Wilm, who has recently begun to take fan service seriously, this is unquestionably an important chance to repay that support.

After a short rest, Hoshino Wilm stepped onto the interview stage still wearing her racing outfit. Her gray mantle had been folded away, but the heat—the lingering intensity of the race—still radiated from her. Countless cameras captured her image at once. Flashbulbs popped and flickered, and Wilm narrowed her eyes slightly against the glare.

She stood there to deliver her voice to as many people as possible. The emotion of victory. Her outlook for the future. Her determination for the next race. …And to present herself as she was now.

That was why she endured the flashing cameras so confidently, etching her proud figure as a victor into every lens.

As her contracted trainer, I stood beside her.

There wasn’t much I needed to do here. I had no intention of embellishing her words, nor of forcing her to say anything she didn’t want to say. If there was something she couldn’t answer—or found difficult to answer—I would step in. Nothing more.

And maybe… just being at her side had some effect as well.

She no longer has anyone in this world she could truly call a guardian. She does have distant relatives, but she keeps a certain distance from them. From the little I’ve spoken with them, they see Wilm less as a child and more as an independent relative, which makes it hard to call them guardians.

That’s why I hope that, even if only temporarily, I can be a patch of shade where she can rest. I doubt I can be of much help… but if I can at least block some of the harsh sunlight—give her a place where she doesn’t have to stay on guard and can take a peaceful nap—that would be enough.

…Whether I can truly be that, or how much it would actually help her, I honestly don’t know.

Now then, with both Uma Musume and trainer on stage, the winner’s interview began. One of the interviewers spoke first.

"Hoshino Wilm, congratulations on your victory in the Japan Cup! You overcame a field of very strong Uma Musume—could you share your honest feelings right now?"

I handed her the microphone, and Wilm immediately brought it to her lips.

"It was an amazing race. First of all, I want to thank all the Uma Musume who ran alongside me, and everyone who watched and supported us."

…Oh.

It was a safe answer—but an exceptionally solid one. Half a year ago, she might have said something like, “It was painfully boring. Aren’t there any stronger Uma Musume?” Comparing the two, the sincerity and value of this response are unmistakable.

Lately, the media has been reporting that “Hoshino Wilm seems to be losing her difficult temperament,” and honestly, that’s not far from the truth. She’s simply grown accustomed to it. Ever since she achieved the Triple Crown, the number of interviews and features skyrocketed, and she’s gained a great deal of experience.

Just as her tendency to go out of control during races has eased, her unconventional interview behavior has also steadily diminished. Of course, it hasn’t disappeared completely—like that joint interview with McQueen not too long ago—so we can’t let our guard down entirely.

As reporters scribbled notes, another question followed.

"The final result was a half-length difference between you and Mejiro McQueen. Do you have any thoughts about her?"

"As expected—or perhaps inevitably—she’s an incredibly strong senior. Under my trainer’s guidance, I chose a strategy that would favor me as a front-runner, but she challenged it head-on and overcame it. If my stamina had held out just a little less, or if McQueen-senpai’s stride had stretched just a little more, I think today’s result would have been reversed."

…Yeah.

Keeping my expression neutral, I felt a sharp pang of disappointment inside.

To be honest, I misread the flow of this race—especially McQueen’s late acceleration, which I should have anticipated given the data I had. As a result, I pushed Hoshino Wilm too hard in the final stretch. It was a painful mistake.

The likely causes were focusing too much on the largely unknown overseas Uma Musume, and assuming I had already grasped Mejiro McQueen’s limits from the Takarazuka Kinen and the Tenno Sho (Autumn). But regardless of the reasons, the conclusion is clear: the strategy I devised didn’t lead Wilm to victory—it nearly dragged her down instead.

I need to reflect deeply on this and ensure I never repeat the same mistake.

…But still.

This is a place to celebrate Hoshino Wilm’s victory and convey her emotions. Reflection can come later. For now, I need to focus on the interview unfolding right in front of me.

"How about the overseas Uma Musume?"

"I think they ran extremely well on Japanese turf, which must have felt like an unfamiliar battlefield to them. That said, when you’re running alongside an unconventional front-runner like me, it’s easy to misjudge the pace. If we get another chance to race together, I’d love to face them again at their absolute best. …Of course, next time I’ll still be the one who wins."

The strategy I put together this time was to set a blistering pace and disrupt the judgment of the overseas Uma Musume, who weren’t accustomed to extreme front-running. In practice, they were already being pushed faster than usual, and when they saw McQueen make her move, they were forced to act early. As a result, many of them faded.

The only one who managed to seriously challenge Hoshino Wilm was McQueen, with her near-bottomless stamina.

Well, considering it was that McQueen she traded blows with, even if the overseas girls hadn’t faded, there was a good chance Wilm could have still led it home.
…At worst, though, there might have been someone launching a late charge from even farther back than McQueen. Being able to account for that possibility wasn’t a bad thing.

No—if the end result was that Wilm nearly lost, then “not bad” doesn’t even begin to cover it.

"Next, about the record you’ve just set. With this victory, you’ve achieved six G1 wins at what’s considered nearly the theoretical fastest pace. Do you have any thoughts on that?"

Theoretical fastest, huh…

There are actually quite a few G1 races available in the Twinkle Series. But races that can realistically be combined are surprisingly few.

It’s generally said that after running a race, an Uma Musume’s legs should rest for about a month. The reason is simple: the physical load becomes too intense, dramatically increasing the risk of injury, and without sufficient rest, it’s difficult to perform at full capacity. G1 races in particular demand absolute focus just to secure a win. They’re not something you can brute-force your way through.

Given that premise, Hoshino Wilm’s six G1 victories really can be called nearly the fastest possible.

Up through November of the Classic year, the G1 races an Uma Musume can enter are as follows.

First, at the end of the Junior year: the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes, Hanshin Juvenile Fillies, Hopeful Stakes, and the Zen-Nippon Junior Yushun. These races are held close together, and even winning two would require a willingness to run back-to-back. On top of that, these are Junior-level Uma Musume whose bodies are still developing. Almost no trainer would allow consecutive G1 runs under such conditions.

Next, in April of the Classic year, there’s the Satsuki Sho on the Classic path and the Oka Sho on the Tiara path. It’s standard to choose either the Classic Triple Crown or the Tiara route, and even if you wanted to cross over, entering two races held at the same time is practically unheard of.

In May, there’s the NHK Mile Cup, the Classic Derby, and the Tiara’s Oaks. As mentioned before, no one would realistically run both the Derby and the Oaks. And if you’ve already competed in the Satsuki Sho or Oka Sho in April, skipping the Mile Cup is the norm. Three G1 races in two months is simply too much.

From June to July come the Yasuda Kinen, the Takarazuka Kinen, and the Japan Dirt Derby. Classic-year Uma Musume—especially those on the Triple Crown or Tiara routes—often avoid the Yasuda and Takarazuka altogether, and even if they do enter, balancing both is extremely difficult. As for the Dirt Derby, being on dirt limits the number of G1 opportunities to begin with, making it harder to rack up wins.

Jumping ahead to September and October, there’s the Sprinters Stakes for short distance, the Mile Championship Nambu Hai on dirt, the final Classic race Kikuka Sho, the Tiara’s Shuka Sho, and the Tenno Sho (Autumn). Those who run the first two tend to struggle to enter other G1s due to distance and surface constraints, while middle- and long-distance runners generally focus on either Kikuka Sho/Shuka Sho or the Autumn Tenno Sho.

Finally, in November, there’s the JBC Classic, JBC Sprint, JBC Ladies’ Classic, the Queen Elizabeth Cup, the Mile Championship, and the Japan Cup. Needless to say, the last three usually require choosing just one. From this point on, full-fledged mixed races with Senior-level Uma Musume begin, making victories even harder to come by.
…Though, really, there’s no such thing as an easy G1 win to begin with.

Winning one race in each of these windows—Hopeful Stakes, Satsuki Sho, Japan Derby, Takarazuka Kinen, Kikuka Sho, and the Japan Cup—Hoshino Wilm has achieved six G1 victories at an almost fastest-possible, undefeated pace.

The “almost” is there because there are rare Uma Musume who can run everything—turf and dirt, sprint to long distance. That’s the only reason the qualifier exists. As for Meek, she’s currently sitting at four G1 wins.

…I can feel my sense of perspective slipping.

Normally, a G1 victory is something you can only snatch when your form aligns perfectly within a narrow optimal distance. And here I am thinking, “only four wins.” Four victories alone are enough to carve your name into history as an elite champion.

Looks like my sense of normalcy has been completely shattered by a certain chestnut-haired Uma Musume.

And yet, the one who accomplished this outrageous feat speaks without a trace of pressure.

"As I’ve said before, personally, I don’t place much value on records themselves. …At the same time, this record is something I could never have achieved without the many people and Uma Musume who supported me. Rather than taking pride in myself, I want to first reflect on that reality and express my gratitude to everyone around me."

It’s an incredibly proper—almost exemplary—answer. We didn’t even discuss what she should say beforehand, but… she really can respond appropriately in moments like this now.

In races, she can cover for a losing strategy with sheer ability.
In interviews, she can answer confidently and well.

The things I can do to help her… they’re slowly disappearing.

Thinking that makes my chest feel… strangely heavy.

Yeah. It might be a little painful.

"Currently, the record for most G1 wins stands at seven, held by Symboli Rudolf. With the upcoming Arima Kinen, you’ll be within reach of that. How do you feel about it?"

At the next interviewer’s question, Wilm pauses to think.

Including overseas races complicates things, but at least within the Twinkle Series, the record for most G1 wins belongs to Symboli Rudolf, with seven.

At the Classic level, she conquered the Satsuki Sho, the Japan Derby, the Kikuka Sho, and the Arima Kinen.

At the Senior level, she won the Tenno Sho (Spring), the Japan Cup, and then claimed the Arima Kinen once again.

Out of a total of nine G1 races she entered, she claimed victory in seven. She was, without exaggeration, a living legend.

Even after advancing to the Dream Trophy League, she continued to take first-place favoritism every single time she raced.

People said Wilm was within reach of those historic accomplishments, so I assumed she must have had some thoughts about it.

…but apparently, that wasn’t the case.

"I didn’t really think about it, no. …If anything, I don’t think this year’s Arima Kinen is the kind of race you can win while worrying about other things."

…With her expressionless face, it’s hard to know what she’s really thinking, but maybe she was just realizing, “Oh. I guess I’ve made it that far already.”

Wilm, as she herself says, doesn’t have much interest in records or numbers.

What matters to her is how fun—and how intense—a race can be. Any records that come out of that are secondary.

Well… lately she has been pulling the whole “undefeated Triple Crown Uma Musume” card a bit more often. But that’s clearly just playful banter—half joke, half teasing. I doubt she even realizes how powerful those words actually sound.

…Still, if she starts flexing an undefeated five-crown title after winning this Japan Cup, there really wouldn’t be any Uma Musume left in the world who could stop her.

"Are you especially conscious of the Uma Musume who will be running in the next Arima Kinen?"

"If there’s anyone who isn’t conscious of them, I doubt they’d even manage to place. …If someone like that really exists, that is."

Yeah. That’s hard to argue with.

This year’s Arima Kinen is shaping up to be a battle against some truly outrageous opponents.

Leading the pack are Japan’s top Uma Musume—Special Week—and the otherworldly runaway, Silence Suzuka. Alongside them are the trickster Seiun Sky and the all-rounder Happy Meek.

There’s Mejiro McQueen, the turf virtuoso who displayed astonishing legs this time. Mejiro Ryan, who surpassed her at the Takarazuka Kinen. Dai Taku Helios, who keeps charging forward while barely holding herself together.

Then there’s Nice Nature, who fought tooth and nail in the Kikuka Sho, the revived genius Tokai Teio, and Twin Turbo, who goes all-out from the very first step.

Any one of these Uma Musume would be enough to make a race exciting. A lineup this extravagant is rare—and a race this difficult is just as rare.

Perhaps because of that, Hoshino Wilm was doing something extremely unusual for her: she was clearly paying close attention to the Arima Kinen entrants… especially Special Week and Silence Suzuka.

From a trainer’s perspective, it’s a blessing when your runner is aware of her rivals. Still…

At the same time, it was proof that this year’s Arima Kinen would truly be that difficult.

The fact that even Hoshino Wilm couldn’t ignore it said everything.

"Now then, I’d like to ask about your next race—the year-end Arima Kinen."

Wilm glanced toward me, and I gave her a nod.

No matter what she says, this is something she should express in her own words—her own resolve.

I braced myself, expecting a bold declaration…

But what came out of her mouth was completely unexpected.

"To be honest, I can’t say with certainty that I’ll live up to expectations this time like I always have. Setting those two aside, a race with a lineup this incredible is something no one has ever experienced before. But I swear that I’ll give everything I have… and truly enjoy the race."

The interviewer fell silent, clearly caught off guard by how unusually humble those words were for Hoshino Wilm.

And as her trainer, I couldn’t hide my own surprise either.

Come to think of it, when she’d been listing named competitors earlier, she reacted more strongly to Special Week and Silence Suzuka than to anyone else.

Maybe there really is something fated about them. It seems Wilm is keenly aware of those two right now.

…A race where even she can’t be certain of victory—the Arima Kinen.

Just running through possible developments makes it obvious that Hoshino Wilm will be pushed into a difficult position.

Even so.

I’ll do everything I can to support her—so she can enjoy the race, and so she can win.

Once the winner’s interview wrapped up, it was time for the Winning Live.

I barely have any involvement there, so I watched from the staff seats with Masa and Bourbon, enjoying Hoshino Wilm’s “Special Record!” for the second time, following the Takarazuka Kinen.

By the time all the post-race formalities were finished and we were leaving the track, Wilm was already nodding off, so we decided to call it a day.

A few days later, Wilm, Bourbon, Masa, and I got together for what will probably become a regular victory celebration from here on out.

Well, calling it a celebration might be generous—it’s really just everyone going out to eat whatever the runner feels like having.

"Hoshino Wilm, is there anywhere you want to eat? Somewhere we can manage within half a day, at most."

She rested a hand on her chin and thought for a moment.

"I’m in the mood for something spicy. Would tantanmen be okay?"

In the end, Masa and I were both bright red by the time we finished eating.

It was delicious—definitely delicious—but absurdly spicy.

How can Wilm and Bourbon eat that stuff so casually? Do Uma Musume stomachs neutralize poison or something?