Chapter 116: The Two Triple Crown Uma Musume
At Longchamp Racecourse in Paris, France, an orange-haired Umamusume and a pink-haired Umamusume stood side by side at the edge of the track.
Pointing toward the long stretch before them, the pink-haired girl smiled and nodded.
"So, you see, the best race to get used to this track is the Prix Ganay."
"It's the opening battle of the G1 season."
"The distance is 2100 meters, but much of the course overlaps with the Arc de Triomphe."
"In the past, many seniors who won this race went on to claim the Arc in the same year."
"That's what my master told me."
She spoke in French.
The orange-haired girl fell silent for a while, her gaze thoughtful, before she finally replied in French as well, her tone cold and detached.
"I recall your schedule last year was Prix Ganay, Prince of Wales's Stakes, and the Ruby Stakes… but that wasn't the case two years ago, nor is it this year, right?"
"That's because two years ago was my Classic year, of course it was different."
The pink-haired girl nodded as though it were obvious. "As for this year, it was my master's advice."
"She said my condition still needs more tuning, so I didn't enter this race. My first run will be in May."
After explaining, she tilted her head curiously.
"But didn't you say Japan wasn't planning any overseas expeditions this year? Why'd you suddenly drag me here today?"
"Don't tell me someone's coming to race in France? But you guys have some really important G1s back home these two months, don't you?"
The orange-haired girl gave a slight nod.
"In April and May, the Classics are the Satsuki Sho and the Oka Sho, and for the older horses there's the Spring Tenno Sho…"
Her expression shifted slightly, and she rubbed her temple.
"Come to think of it, a certain someone is preparing for the Spring Tenno Sho right about now…"
"A certain someone? Who's that…?" the pink-haired girl blinked.
"It's— sorry, one moment, I need to take this."
Her ringtone cut her off. She pulled out her phone, glanced at the caller ID, and curled her lips faintly.
"Well, speak of the devil… Want to say hi to that 'certain someone' yourself?"
Curious, the pink-haired girl leaned closer. On the screen appeared a silver-gray-haired Umamusume wearing gray ear covers.
"Ah, so it's Golshi-chan!"
Realizing who it was, she waved enthusiastically at the screen.
"Long time no see, Golshi-chan! How've you been?"
"Moshi moshi? Orf? Can you hear me? Over!"
The voice on the other end greeted them first.
Then, a moment later, came a cry of surprise.
"Wait—Venus?! What the heck are you doing hanging around with Orf?!"
—After some time had passed.
"Kita-chan… that's the kouhai you mentioned before, right?"
Glancing indifferently at Kitasan Black standing beside Gold Ship, the orange-haired girl on the screen gave a small nod.
"She won the Satsuki Sho… not bad."
"For her training race toward the Japanese Derby… nothing wrong with that."
"By the way, make sure you take the Spring Tenno Sho seriously. Don't you dare give me some half-baked race."
Gold Ship immediately started yelling: "You've got no right to say that when your Tenno Sho record is just 11th place!"—but she was completely ignored.
Instead, Orfevre's gaze shifted toward the others.
"Good morning— no, for Japan it should be evening already."
"Good evening, President Teio, Vice President McQueen."
"My European inspection is just about done. I'll be returning to Japan soon."
"Chairwoman and Vice President Deep should already be in Japan by now, yes?"
Hearing this, Gold Ship, still pouting, reluctantly passed the phone over to Tokai Teio.
"Hello? You can hear me, right? Good work, Orf."
After a brief greeting, Tokai Teio quickly switched to her businesslike expression.
"The Chairwoman arrived yesterday. She's handling a lot of the administrative matters for the Satsuki Sho.
"Deep Impact is still in Dubai, but she said before that she should be back around this time."
"I see. Once I return, I'll get in touch with all of you."
On the screen, Orfevre gave a nod before ending the call.
Handing the phone back to a sulking Gold Ship, Tokai Teio turned to Makoto and Kitasan Black with a reassuring look.
"In that case, Kita-chan's upcoming training race should be fine."
"You both know Orf's strength very well, and besides…"
She paused in thought.
"Since Deep Impact will also be coming back to Japan, I can try talking with her, see if she's available to help Kita-chan out."
"Think of it as my way of making up for not being able to personally support her training."
Makoto had no doubts about her words.
As the decisive test for an entire generation, the Classic Triple Crown offered every Umamusume only one chance in her life.
Winning even one of those races meant besting tens of thousands of rivals of the same age.
If you could win all three, it would mean that you stood at the very summit of your generation.
Since the Twinkle Series began, there had only ever been seven such Umamusumes.
Orfevre and Deep Impact were two of them.
The former might have come from the famously eccentric and unpredictable orange family, but there was no disputing her ability.
She not only claimed the Satsuki Sho, the Japanese Derby, and the Kikuka Sho in her Classic year, but also went on to win the year-end Arima Kinen against a field full of seasoned champions.
Unlike the Triple Crown, the Arima Kinen had no age restrictions—winning it proved she had the strength to overwhelm even her elders.
The latter, meanwhile, not only swept the Classic Triple Crown but was also one of the rare "7 G1 Umamusumes," with a career total of seven G1 victories.
Their strength was beyond question.
More importantly, both had Derby-winning experience. Training against them would undoubtedly allow Kitasan Black to learn a great deal.
With such an offer of goodwill, Makoto had no reason to refuse.
"Thank you all so much. I'll give everything I have to prepare for this training race."
He gave a solemn promise, then reflected.
Compared to other academies, positions in the Tracen Academy Student Council were essentially real jobs.
As president, Tokai Teio oversaw overall coordination as well as the racecourses and events within Japan.
Mejiro McQueen's main duty was to assist with this work.
In recent years, with growing emphasis on overseas races, the other vice president, Deep Impact, focused primarily on international affairs.
Orfevre, as commissioner for overseas events, supported her in that role.
From what he'd just heard, Deep Impact had been handling Dubai, while Orfevre had gone to Europe.
To his recollection, the URA Association had no overseas expeditions planned this year, so once those two returned to Japan, their workload shouldn't be too heavy.
Still, there was a chance they might be assigned to domestic events instead. To confirm, Makoto asked:
"Would it be possible for me to know their specific schedule once they're back? It would make planning much easier."
"Well…"
Teio exchanged a quick glance with McQueen, then shook her head.
"In principle, I can't disclose too much. But don't worry—it won't interfere with the training race."
"Makoto-san, you just focus on preparing Kita-chan. Leave the rest to me and McQueen."