A Race of Doing One's Best

Around 6:30 in the evening.

Feeling the rental car sway, I watched the unfamiliar scenery stream past outside the window.

The sky overhead gradually shifted from dark red to navy blue. Though the surrounding scenery had been cast in shadow, the lights coming on in the buildings illuminated the roads.

The clock of my thoughts slowly turned back to that afternoon not long ago.

After having his tack removed in the weighing area, white sweat kept bubbling from both Noah's back and belly.

Today, Noah had unusually not thrown a fit when it came time for his post-race bath.

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"This boy has already worked very hard. If possible, could we avoid putting an even greater burden on him?"

Faced with the request Takeshi had proactively made at the time, I quickly agreed.

We also kept the post-race winner's ceremony as brief as possible. After hurriedly taking photos, we asked the groom to take Noah back to the stable.

Still, there was one memory that could be called amusing—

When he went onstage to receive the trophy, Trainer Uchida instinctively headed toward the jockeys' side. Neither Takeshi nor the surrounding staff noticed anything amiss.

In the end, Mr. Yokoyama, who was in charge of holding the sign, pointed it out and teased Trainer Uchida about it for a while.

"That boy really gave it everything he had."

The trainer beside me spoke, finally bringing me back to my senses.

"It was practically an all-out strike."

I let out a sigh without thinking.

"But it's good that we managed to win."

"Thanks to you, we won our first graded race since registering with the JRA."

"No, it's thanks to you."

As he spoke, the trainer turned toward me and gave a slight bow in the cramped car.

"Our stable's