Echoes of Early Spring

February passed uneventfully.

The final stop of the Honshu on-site viewing tour was the Hankyu Cup, the Takamatsunomiya Memorial trial, a turf sprint graded race held at Kyoto Racecourse on the twenty-fourth.

With a strong forward drive maintained all the way to the final hundred meters, it had seemed as though Pegasus was about to claim a long-awaited first Central turf victory.

Instead, he finished second by a nose.

It was a little regrettable that he had failed to carry his winning streak forward.

Once again, they were reminded how difficult it was to win as a Central owner.

Still, based on the current prize-money standings, both Noah and Pegasus had a good chance of qualifying directly for the Takamatsunomiya Memorial.

A message like that soon arrived from Trainer Uchida.

A few days earlier, at the NAR Grand Prix 2028, several familiar owners and breeding representatives had even joked, "Isn't it a little absurd to go from being a long-distance powerhouse to a sprinting powerhouse?"

It could not exactly be called intentional, but upon closer thought, a considerable portion of the entire stable did indeed tend toward turf sprint races.

Turf sprinting was considered a "disaster" by quite a few private owners.

Generally speaking, when JRA private owners attended auctions or selected young horses as part of an ownership syndicate, one issue they placed at high priority was the circumstances surrounding turf sprinters.

For the overwhelming majority of private owners, whose goal was to minimize losses, the most important thing when selecting a new horse was neither finding one with an excellent pedigree nor one with an outstanding physique. It was finding one that could secure opportunities to race.

That point was especially crucial.

No matter how fine a horse's build or bloodline was, it could not prove itself without