Pegasus? Actually, I'm a doctor!

After thinking for a short while, Platinum didn't forget to add, "Tracen's... training and learning resources don't offer much improvement for me."

Not much improvement?

Well, Platinum didn't quite know about those things either.

But one thing was certain, she wasn't just being lazy or whimsical; it was a rational decision made after considering all factors.

She knew that once she joined Tracen Academy and formally enrolled... the trouble would really begin!

She feared she would become incredibly conspicuous, on par with Daiwa Scarlet. She would be chased by a large group of trainers hoping she would join their teams, and invited by many try-hard Uma Musume to train together, or even face off in training races!

In other words—

Not only would she have to work overtime like before, but she wouldn't get paid, and might even have her prize money taken away by some trainer!!!

Platinum would never do such a losing business.

Even if she had to work overtime, she should at least get some overtime pay, not to mention this was unpaid overtime, and her money might be taken away. Platinum found this absolutely unacceptable.

Besides, if she became an Uma Musume, how could she also be a doctor and earn double the money?

(It can't be because I'm greedy for Tracen Academy's food, right? I'm not a gluttonous Hishi Amazon or a big eater.)

(Even the Winners' Stage has "overtime" value, but joining Tracen doesn't seem to have any.)

So, from various angles and perspectives, Platinum didn't think she had any need to join Tracen Academy at all.

"Okay..."

Mejiro McQueen glanced down with a hint of heartache at the dessert she had accidentally dropped, then quickly regained her elegance, waved to Platinum, and made way for her to enter the backstage.

"If you ever change your mind, you're welcome to join and become my junior anytime."

"Oh, right, Symboli Rudolf added you as a friend. Remember to accept it. You can always ask her for help!"

And so, the brief conversation ended.

But that didn't mean the storm and impact of this race would simply dissipate.

Although it was just a mere GIII race, with even higher-level GII and supreme GI races above it, it absolutely couldn't conceal the shock from Platinum Centaurea's Dominant Victory!

The Dominant Victory caused by Platinum had turned into a storm that had already begun to sweep across Japan!!

A few minutes later.

Mejiro McQueen left the backstage and walked to Mejiro Dober's side.

"I didn't expect... to fail."

"Logically, this shouldn't have happened."

And this elegant Mejiro Family young lady, even after leaving, was still lost in thought, unable to understand.

She couldn't imagine why any Uma Musume would refuse to join Japan's Tracen Academy.

Admittedly, looking at the world's major Uma Musume circles, Japan's Tracen Academy wasn't exactly top-tier. There were other super-elite schools overseas.

But this was Japan, and Tracen Academy's dominance in the Japanese Uma Musume world had reached the point where it was "only Tracen and two other types of schools." It was far stronger than any other Japanese Uma Musume school in all aspects.

And since Platinum could become so strong so quickly, it definitely meant she had put in countless efforts and hard work behind the scenes. She must be an Uma Musume who worked hard and loved running and racing, like her and Teio.

So, what was the reason Platinum didn't join Tracen Academy?

After being unable to figure it out, Mejiro McQueen finally shook her head and gave up trying to understand.

And, after recalling the just-concluded graded race, she couldn't help but let out a sigh.

"In less than a day, the name 'Heavenly Horse Platinum' will resound throughout Japan!"

In Japan, Uma Musume races were already a popular national sport.

A sufficiently shocking race could often spread to the point of being known by everyone in a day or two!

However, in the past, almost only the highest-level GI races could reach that level, but today... there seemed to be an exception!

This ordinary GIII race, which should have been unremarkable, directly shocked all the spectators present!

Perhaps even within the grand Tracen Academy, many of those talented and excellent young Uma Musume would be filled with interest and discuss it with surprise after seeing it later, right?

Platinum, like Silence Suzuka, who became famous throughout Japan for her runaway victory in the past, would be highly anticipated!

It was conceivable that the current Assassin Girl would be given names like "Second Silence Suzuka" or "Maruzensky Returns" because of her shocking runaway victory.

Even though she hadn't won a GI race yet, no one doubted her potential and future!

Several hours later.

Platinum, who had successfully finished the Winners' Stage, returned to her room.

"Hoo..."

Having finished everything and successfully gotten off work, she leisurely sat in front of her computer desk.

For Platinum Centaurea, she felt that the winner's stage was even more tiring than the race itself.

After all, no matter what, a race was only two thousand meters, and the race usually only lasted for the length of a song. But the winner's stage required performing at least several songs!

But there was no choice. How could she get fans to voluntarily spend money if she wasn't an outstanding idol?

Platinum Centaurea, working hard at races and overtime at performances to earn money, showed her outstanding talent as a natural-born wage slave.

"When will my merchandise and figures come out so I can make money..."

Platinum Centaurea, pinching her chin and crossing her legs, lazily wished she could make big money without having to work!

"But before that..."

Platinum Centaurea opened her computer and searched for the official URA race website, spending some effort looking for something.

Soon, she found the entry application for the Classic races. The Oaks was only two weeks away, and the Japanese Derby was three weeks away.

Classic races usually required registration at least a month in advance, so normally she would have missed the deadline and be too late to enter...

"Hat!"

"Thank you, Oguri Cap-senpai, let's start the registration."

--The Triple Crown of Transformation begins here!

20. Shocking the URA, Platinum Centaurea to Challenge the Triple Crown of Transformation?!

In theory, every Uma Musume who misses the Classic Triple Crown registration deadline but can still participate by paying a late fee should thank a certain senpai.

That senpai is none other than Oguri Cap, hailed as a "Superstar"!

Oguri Cap debuted and competed from a remote area, showing amazing potential and constantly getting stronger.

Her inspiring story of proving herself from a poor, remote place and coming to the central races and joining Tracen Academy made her very popular with the audience and earned her countless fans.

But an accident happened. Oguri Cap missed the Classic Triple Crown registration deadline and would be unable to participate in the Classic races. Her fans constantly requested that the URA make an exception or change the strict rules, but the rigid URA did not allow it until the very end.

This caused a significant impact. Although the rules were not changed, a new rule was added to allow Uma Musume who missed the one-month advance registration deadline to register and participate by paying a late fee.

Platinum Centaurea is currently one of the beneficiaries.

Platinum Centaurea sincerely thanked that "Oguri Cap-senpai."

For her, who was about to embark on the Triple Crown of Transformation and challenge the Oaks and Japanese Derby in less than a month, she really needed to thank that unseen big-eater senpai.

Platinum Centaurea, who had just won a graded stakes race, perfectly met the new participation requirements!

So, Platinum Centaurea searched and found the relevant information on the race website she had opened on her computer.

[Fillies' Triple Crown · Second Leg · Oaks (Two Weeks Away)]
[Classic Triple Crown · Second Leg · Japanese Derby (Three Weeks Away)]
[Apply!]

After she clicked "Apply" on the official website, she saw a pop-up window that said [Data Pending Review].

"Okay, then I'll wait for the staff to review it."

On the other side, in a conference room somewhere in a tall building.

No less than a dozen adults in suits were gathered together for a meeting.

They were all staff members of the race organizing committee, and in front of them was a large stack of race and Uma Musume information.

This meeting was to discuss how to operate, promote, and publicize all the races in the next month or two.

Promotional resources are often limited. Even for national-level sporting events, it is impossible to heavily promote every race, so it is necessary to make appropriate selections.

Which races are most worthy of full promotion, and which Uma Musume are full of potential and worth promoting? These are all topics of discussion at the meeting.

It can be said that, from the URA's perspective--

[The Uma Musume in front only need to devote themselves to the race and run hard, but the URA staff behind the scenes have many things to consider!]

On the tables in front of these staff members were several documents placed at the very front, clearly regarding them as the focus and important information, and using them as the highest priority for future work.

Most of the documents were about the two Classic races in the next month: the Oaks in the Fillies' Triple Crown, and the Japanese Derby, one of the most watched Classic Triple Crown races in all of Japan!

The documents contained information on the Uma Musume scheduled to participate, and the upcoming promotional videos and resource allocation would be provided for these two major battles.

In addition to the information on these two GI races and the participating athletes, there was also a newcomer who had only won a mere GIII race a few hours ago, who was also receiving a lot of attention within the URA.

It had only taken a short week for Platinum Centaurea to be noticed and paid attention to by the URA as a whole!

But the focus of this meeting was on the Japanese Derby and the Oaks.

"Without a doubt, we should prioritize resources to the Japanese Derby and Agnes Tachyon. Everything else is secondary."

"Agnes Tachyon will definitely win by a landslide and become the second undefeated Triple Crown winner after Symboli Rudolf. She will become the next benchmark like Oguri Cap and Symboli Rudolf, supporting the Japanese Uma Musume world."

"I second that! Tokai Teio, who has fractured twice, has lost the possibility of catching up to the Emperor. It's uncertain when she will return, so the next strongest in Japan can only be Agnes Tachyon."

"Indeed, Agnes Tachyon can't lose. Even the Emperor during her Triple Crown period might not be able to beat Tachyon."

"The monster who will soon be called the 'Superluminal Particle' has suppressed almost all of her contemporaries in the Satsuki Sho and even earlier races. As long as there are no accidents like with Teio, the Triple Crown definitely belongs to her!"

All staff members unanimously raised their hands, passing the motion with a unanimous vote.

"Alright, let's move on to the next topic: the cultivation and preliminary promotion of new talent for next year's Classic year and the next generation."

"Next year will still be an incredible Super Year, with Superstar rookies like Platinum Centaurea, Daiwa Scarlet, and Vodka."

The second key topic of this meeting, when discussing next year's Uma Musume, even brought up Platinum Centaurea.

"If, for three consecutive years, we have an undefeated Satsuki Sho winner Tokai Teio, an undefeated Triple Crown Agnes Tachyon, and an undefeated Triple Crown Platinum Centaurea..."

"Then the Japanese Uma Musume races will achieve a historic breakthrough, and will completely impact the level of world-class races!"

"I propose that we gradually increase the promotion for Platinum Centaurea. Her Dominant Victory is shocking enough to support next year's Classic races. Being able to fight like this shows that her constitution is definitely terrifying, so there's no need to worry about accidents."

"I second that, Platinum Centaurea is worth..."

An accident suddenly occurred.

Just as this topic was reaching a fever pitch, the conference room door was hastily pushed open from the outside.

The person who quickly walked in and interrupted the meeting was a staff member responsible for race review, approaching with a look of astonishment.

And quickly reported the sudden situation.

"Just three minutes ago, that promising monster rookie Platinum Centaurea, who can make a big chase and a Dominant Victory!"

"She simultaneously applied to submit entries for the [Oaks] in two weeks and the [Japanese Derby] in three weeks!"

The simple report immediately stunned all the staff present, some even thinking they had misheard.

"Huh?"

"Platinum Centaurea is going after Tachyon? Really?"

"Wait, why isn't she choosing next year's undefeated Triple Crown? Why is she going to compete with Tachyon for the remaining two crowns?"