Nighttime Mixed Race

"It really is hot!"

"Yeah, we should've brought a few more changes of clothes."

"My face too—I can't see a thing with all this sweat in my eyes—"

In the preparation room, the jockeys chatted as they waited for the next race to begin.

"After this, let's all go get barbecue!"

Fujita, the youngest among the jockeys, suggested.

"Yeah!"

The group immediately cheered, and even Ochiai, who usually did not enjoy lively gatherings, joined in.

"Alright! The next race is about to start, so get ready."

In the end, Inoue, the most senior jockey, was the one who spoke up.

Ochiai rose from his seat and began stretching his wrists.

The sticky sensation all over his body made him deeply uncomfortable.

Still, it was not enough to affect the race.

He looked up at the electronic screen mounted on the preparation room wall and recalled the race strategy they had planned.

The next race was a one-thousand-meter mixed race for two-year-olds, commissioned by owner Kitano.

Setting her limp aside, the bay filly named Mejiro Sakuya had an exceptionally fine build.

However, what kind of performance such a racehorse could deliver in an official race remained unknown.

"If she really can't run, just pull her up."

Before the race, owner Kitano had given him the instruction: "Safety first."

That surprised him somewhat.

Ordinarily, even if they did not dream of getting rich overnight, owners always hoped to receive returns at least commensurate with what they had spent.

As far as he knew, owner Kitano had spent more than a million yen on Mejiro Sakuya's treatment alone.

Yet in return, all he asked for was the goal of [finish safely].

It was completely—

Incomprehensible.

Putting on his sweat-soaked helmet, he jogged with the others toward the paddock.

"Though she's still a little mentally relaxed, she feels fantastic physically!"

After mounting up, he received that assessment from stablehand Kobayashi.

"Assistant Yoshimoto has been praising her steady stride ever since morning exercise, too."

Feeling a back entirely different from Mejiro Tenma's, Ochiai nodded lightly.

"I'm counting on you!"

Today, owner Kitano had once again appeared in the paddock with great solemnity.

"Leave it to me."

The two maintained the old-fashioned etiquette between jockey and owner from the Showa era, like actors in a period sword-fighting drama who had wandered onto the wrong set.

Since it was a nighttime race, the floodlights around the track had been switched on.

Under the lights, the shadows of people and horses stood out starkly against the white sand.

For racehorses that were frightened by their own shadows, it was undoubtedly a nightmare.

But Mejiro Sakuya was not that type.

Among the opponents outfitted in all sorts of gear, the bay horse looked slightly out of place.

Despite making her debut, she obediently entered the gate under stablehand Kobayashi's lead.

"This girl really is so well-behaved."

After stepping aside and beginning to chat with the others, stablehand Kobayashi could not help saying so.

At that moment, the final horse was only barely shoved and pulled into the gate by its stablehand.

"Number ten, Aachen Palace, has also entered the gate."

"Monbetsu Race 10, JRA-certified two-year-old newcomer race—"

The announcer's leisurely voice came through the speakers.

Ochiai tightened his grip on the reins.

The instant the gates opened, he sensed something was wrong.

Mejiro Sakuya only started moving a full beat after the other horses.

Yet Ochiai remained calm.

Lame horses were usually a little slower than normal horses when pushing off at the start.

Both owner Kitano, who was a veterinarian, and Teacher Tanaka had informed him of that before the race.

"The race begins!"

Only then did the announcer's voice belatedly ring out, as though it too had gotten off to a slow start alongside Mejiro Sakuya.

"Number one, Kazama Yukari, smoothly takes the lead. Number three, Wise Fool, gives chase from slightly behind. Number nine, Mejiro Sakuya, had a poor break and is now at the very back."

Holding the whip in reverse, Ochiai struck several times beside Mejiro Sakuya's ears while increasing the pressure on the reins.

Taking advantage of the other horses fighting for position, he intended to move up slightly along the open outside lane.

That had been the original plan.

But putting it into practice did not go very smoothly.

Perhaps she was simply slow-witted by nature, or perhaps it was because this was their first official partnership. In any case, his whip did not have much effect on Mejiro Sakuya.

Though her position was indeed gradually improving, she was moving up far more slowly than expected.

The turn lay directly ahead.

Ochiai had no choice but to abandon the idea of continuing to accelerate and began edging slightly toward the inside.

"She's a little too far back..."

In the stands, Kitano narrowed his eyes slightly.

However, he was not overly worried about how the race would unfold.

Rather, given their pre-race strategy and Mejiro Sakuya's poor break, her current position was well within expectations.

"Perhaps the fact that I can understand this means I've already shed my status as a racing novice and begun advancing toward a higher realm."

Kitano could not help thinking so.

Meanwhile, Ochiai was facing a difficult choice.

Should he give Mejiro Sakuya the command to accelerate while still in the turn?

Judging from her training and early-race performance, Mejiro Sakuya was undoubtedly the type that was not very responsive to commands.

Moreover, unlike Mejiro Tenma, who shared the same prefix, she did not seem to possess a strong fighting spirit.

Riding such a racehorse was a major test of both a jockey's stamina and sense of timing.

Something called "intuition" or "experience" kept warning Ochiai.

Now was the time to move up.

But it was too early.

He had already spent some of her speed trying to advance during the early stages.

And her position was not ideal, either.

On Mejiro Sakuya's outside, number ten Aachen Palace was faintly blocking her path.

As for the lane directly ahead and the inside lane, they had long since been occupied by the pack.

If he wanted to accelerate, a physical collision with Aachen Palace would likely be unavoidable.

And that was precisely what Ochiai was trying his utmost to avoid.

Besides not being entirely at ease about Mejiro Sakuya being a filly, the more important reason was the pre-race instruction: [finish safely].

If an accident occurred during a collision, he had no idea how he could face owner Kitano afterward.

He chose to hold his position.

Ahead of him, the fourth turn soon came to an end.

Aachen Palace was the first to swing wide.

"Now."

Following close behind, Ochiai guided the reins and moved outward.

During the maneuver, the two racehorses inevitably collided.

Unexpectedly, Mejiro Sakuya easily muscled aside Aachen Palace, a colt, even slightly interrupting his momentum as he accelerated.

"Time to move up."

Without noticing that, Ochiai held the reins in one hand and swung his whip.