Gold Ship

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Gold Ship (黄金船)
Alias(es)	A-Fun; The Unsinkable Battleship; Golden Battleship 58 128
Species/Race	Horse Girl 1
Gender	Female
Affiliation	Gold Ship Family 58
Occupation/Role	Former G1 Horse Girl; senior and training supporter for younger racers 75 252
Status	Retired from competitive racing, but remains involved in the Horse Girl world 252
First Appearance	Chapter 58

Racing Record

Achievement	Details
G1 victories	Six G1 victories are credited to her among her many titles 732
Classic races	Won the Satsuki Sho and Kikuka Sho 59
Grand Prix record	Won the Takarazuka Kinen twice consecutively and also won the Arima Kinen 59
Hanshin Daishoten	Won the 3,000-meter G2 Hanshin Daishoten by one and a quarter horse lengths 65
Tenno Sho Spring	Won on her third attempt after beginning at the rear and executing an extended charge 128
Career results	At one point, she had twelve wins, including ten graded victories and five G1 titles 123

Background / History

Gold Ship is the most famous active member of the Gold Ship Family, a group renowned for producing both exceptionally strong and exceptionally troublesome Horse Girls. The family is associated with “courage, hope, friendship, unruliness, and greatness,” and encounters with its members are said to leave lasting impressions on racers and Trainers alike 58.

Her outstanding talent and subtly strong academic results allowed her to enroll early. However, she disliked school- and Trainer-arranged routines and reached Full Maturity relatively late, leaving her able to race alongside younger Horse Girls despite being their senior 59.

Rather than conventional training, Gold Ship developed strange personal routines involving chess, cards, Rubik’s Cubes, watermelons, crickets, and one-finger watermelon-smashing practice. Although outsiders find these methods impossible to analyze or imitate, they are effective for her individually 59 236. Her physical data remained stable even when her racing performance declined following the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe 59.

After public doubts over her condition following poor performances at the Takarazuka Kinen, Sapporo Kinen, and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, Gold Ship silenced criticism by winning the Hanshin Daishoten 65. She later overcame starting-gate trouble and a difficult three-year pursuit of the Tenno Sho Spring title, winning through a sustained outside-lane advance and an unexpected Early Lead position 126 128.

Gold Ship announced that the Arima Kinen would be her final race. Afterward, she clarified that she was only retiring from racing rather than leaving the industry, and she continued to support younger Horse Girls—especially Kitasan Black 249 252.

Appearance

Gold Ship is a tall Horse Girl with long silver-gray hair, pale pink eyes, and a notably powerful build. Her presence in races is repeatedly compared to a warship or tidal wave breaking through the field 58 247 250.

• Long silver-gray hair 58
• Pale pink eyes 250
• Brown ear covers 65
• Often wears a fiery or bright-red Victory Outfit 65 247
• Has visibly defined forearm muscles and exceptional upper-body strength 567

Personality

Gold Ship is loud, theatrical, mischievous, and habitually irreverent. She turns celebrations into performances, gives wildly embellished descriptions of ordinary events, and treats even serious situations as opportunities for jokes or dramatic roleplay 65 285 725.

Her eccentricity does not reflect a lack of awareness. Members of the Gold Ship Family recognize that she is highly intelligent, quick to understand a situation, and capable of dropping her clownish manner when a junior or friend genuinely needs help 724 730.

She also possesses an introspective side. During a long morning run with Kitasan Black, Gold Ship admitted that she had struggled to understand her own purpose and identity, comparing herself to a Rubik’s Cube she could not solve 700.

Abilities & Skills

Exceptional Physical Strength

Gold Ship considers her strength, physique, and balance unmatched; her race record supports that confidence.

• Possesses top-tier strength, conditioning, and balance, particularly useful on yielding or damaged turf 76.
• Can withstand collisions that would disrupt other racers and still contend for victory 76.
• Has sent opponents flying in race contact, including an incident involving The Matriarch at the Takarazuka Kinen 76.
• Demonstrated enough raw strength to drag a Starting Gate with Daiwa Scarlet and Silent Suzuka 134.
• Regularly performs unconventional strength exercises, including striking riverside stakes with a massive wooden mallet 699.

Long-Distance Racing

Gold Ship is exceptionally suited to middle- and long-distance races.

• Her stamina, power, and grit are outstanding, while her speed is above average 60.
• Signature victories include the Kikuka Sho, Arima Kinen, and Hanshin Daishoten, all races requiring high endurance 123.
• Her strongest middle-distance tactic is a “super-long-distance sprint”: accelerating during the middle phase and sustaining that rise in pace until the finish 123.
• She regards Hanshin Racecourse as effectively her home track, having won the Kobe Shimbun Hai, Hanshin Daishoten, and Takarazuka Kinen there 60.

Closing and Final Burst

Gold Ship is primarily a closer, but her running is difficult to predict.

• Normally runs from late positions before unleashing a powerful charge 75 127.
• Can alter her approach completely, as shown when she turned a presumed late chase into an Early Lead run in the Tenno Sho Spring 128.
• Her Final Burst places severe pressure on nearby racers and can disrupt the entire field’s pace and judgment 247 250.
• Her major weakness is inconsistent starting-gate behavior; she has refused to enter, kicked the gate railing, and required calming before races 59 126.

Racing Insight and Mentorship

Despite claiming that others should not learn from her, Gold Ship understands racing styles, positioning, and individual strengths with unusual clarity.

• Recognized that Kitasan Black was better suited to Escape running while she herself was a closer 75.
• Offered to help Kitasan Black train rather than simply dismissing their incompatible styles 75.
• Correctly anticipated Kitasan Black’s stamina and unusually early acceleration in the Arima Kinen 612.
• Identified Kitasan Black’s habit of becoming impatient to surpass her seniors, winning a bet on the matter with Nakayama Celebration 395.

Persuasion and Improvisation

Gold Ship can reframe situations with enough confidence and absurdity to bring others into her plans.

• Persuaded the disciplinary committee member Supernatural Steed to join an “infiltration” operation by redefining eavesdropping as student welfare 723.
• Used a deliberately flamboyant intervention to draw pressure away from Kitasan Black and Anjing Zhen during their confrontation with Academy representatives 731.
• Her methods are unconventional, but Tokai Teio understood that her intervention was intended to break the deadlock 731.

Training Methods

• Plays chess, cards, mahjong, and Rubik’s Cubes instead of following ordinary routines 59.
• Uses watermelons and crickets in concentration and reaction training because conventional racing terminology functions as a distraction for her 236.
• Practices strength work by attempting to smash watermelons with one finger 59.
• Performs riverside mallet drills against wooden stakes 699.
• Has a history of playing games immediately before important races, including mahjong before the Tenno Sho Spring 123.

Relationships

• Kitasan Black — Junior Horse Girl whom Gold Ship supports through training, racing advice, encouragement, and direct intervention during conflicts with the Academy 75 252 731.
• Gold Artisan — Gold Ship Family member and frequent foil; their relationship is marked by bickering, mutual understanding, and cooperation when their juniors need support 116 724.
• Daiwa Scarlet — Longtime acquaintance who considers Gold Ship a special senior with outstanding talent 58 59.
• Vodka — Longtime acquaintance and fellow friend of Gold Ship; often argues with her but recognizes her exceptional ability 58 75.
• Imanami Takatoshi — Veteran Gold Ship Family Trainer and mentor figure who can calm Gold Ship when her starting-gate behavior becomes disruptive 126 277.
• Stay Gold — Elder sister and fellow Gold Ship Family Horse Girl 277.
• Gold Journey — Eldest sister, who appears in the Summer Dream Trophy 161.
• Clear Sky — Racing rival who recognizes Gold Ship’s past greatness and discusses her retirement with her after the Arima Kinen 252.
• The Matriarch — Rival involved in a disputed collision during the Takarazuka Kinen; Gold Ship remains convinced the contact was deliberate 76.
• Supernatural Steed — Recruited by Gold Ship into the “Justice Plan” and the subsequent office infiltration 723 725.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Hanshin Daishoten Comeback

Amid pessimism about her form, Gold Ship wins the Hanshin Daishoten and broadcasts an exuberant celebration to Kitasan Black’s racecourse, immediately turning her victory into encouragement for her junior 65.

Tenno Sho Spring Victory

Gold Ship causes a commotion before the Tenno Sho Spring by resisting the starting gate, but composes herself after Imanami Takatoshi intervenes. She runs from the rear, uses the outside lane, shifts into an Early Lead position, and finally wins the race on her third attempt 126 128.

Arima Kinen Retirement

Gold Ship enters the Arima Kinen intending to retire after the race. Her final charge pressures Kitasan Black and the rest of the field, while her confidence in Kitasan Black’s potential helps frame the race as a passing of the torch 247 249 252.

Continued Support for Kitasan Black

Following retirement, Gold Ship remains an influential senior. She trains with Kitasan Black, shares her overseas experience and doubts about identity, and helps Kitasan Black define her own ambition as a “World-Class Long-Distance Overlord” 699 700.

The “Justice” Plan

When Kitasan Black and Anjing Zhen face pressure from Academy representatives, Gold Ship organizes an unauthorized operation with Gold Artisan and Supernatural Steed. She ultimately turns the confrontation’s focus toward herself and her allies to protect the junior-Trainer pair 723 725 731.

Notable Quotes

“But I'm a closer. What are you learning from me for? How to fall behind?” 75

“I'm only quitting racing here. It's not like I'm leaving for good.” 252

“A-Fun was actually very smart.” 724

Trivia

• Gold Ship is a persistent fan favorite; during the Arima Kinen, supporters filled the stands with banners, themed outfits, silver-gray earrings, and collaboration coats 245.
• She is associated with a notorious “12.1-billion-yen high kick,” a starting-gate incident in which she fell more than twenty meters behind the field and finished fifteenth in a Takarazuka Kinen 60.
• She is highly competitive in games and frequently plays mahjong, dice games, cards, and other table games with her family 122 288 289.
• Gold Ship once needed to write a self-criticism letter after an accident involving Kitasan Black, though Dream Journey expected her to ramble instead of finishing it 569.