Morning Light: Kasumigaura and Tokyo's Mile and a Half

8:25 a.m.

Since it was a weekend of watching the races on-site, I got up much later than usual.

The slanting sunlight streaming in through the window made the carpet in the clubhouse room glitter, stabbing painfully at my eyes as soon as I opened them.

I stamped my bare feet against the cold floor, then washed my sleepy face with water that gradually warmed up.

Then I unlocked my phone, and several unread messages immediately popped up on the screen.

[She's maintained good condition even while traveling. She should be able to put in another positive performance today.]

It was a report from Trainer Ikee about Traveler.

I replied with a short message—[I'm looking forward to it]—then sighed softly.

It still feels a little too early...

Next was an unusually timed message from Mr. Yutaka Take: "That girl feels like she should handle even Tokyo's 2,400 meters easily with her stamina today."

Apparently, he had still been using a flip phone until a few years ago, and had only gradually started using LINE fairly recently.

As I marveled inwardly, That's Mr. Yutaka Take for you, I quickly typed out a reply: [I'm counting on you again today.]

Though he had not officially crossed the symbolic threshold of sixty and become one of the "old men" Mr. Yokoyama talked about, Mr. Yutaka Take had indeed been consciously cutting back on activities outside his work as a jockey since the New Year.

When he received the request to become Baozuo's regular jockey, he had even jokingly said things like, "These old bones of mine can't take much more punishment."

Even so, Mr. Yutaka Take readily accepted the request, traveling with the stable to Hong Kong for riding practice and an inspection of the racecourse.

Between the weekday training sessions in Hong