Fuchu's Clear Skies After the Rain

"Light's Wedge in front! Light's Wedge in front! But on the inside, Mejiro Impetus in the red cap! Mejiro Impetus is coming!"

Like a mountain flood and tsunami, the incredulous cries of ninety thousand people in Fuchu rose up.

"The two leaders enter the final two hundred meters side by side! Can they claim the Double Crown? Mejiro's long-cherished wish is flying up the inner rail!"

A body caked in mud, hoofbeats pounding like a heartbeat.

"Will it come down to a duel between these two! Mejiro Impetus is chasing hard! Mejiro Impetus is chasing hard! Light's Wedge! Mejiro Impetus! Light's Wedge! Mejiro Impetus!"

A peerless finishing kick, shining beneath Fuchu's post-rain skies.

The instant they crossed the line.

Had he caught up—

So he hadn't won after all—

As that panicked thought raced through his mind, he hurriedly looked toward the large screen broadcasting the race outside the window.

The top two places on the results board remained unlit, while the screen alternated between the bay and dark bay horses.

Becoming a Derby owner was harder than becoming a country's prime minister—

That was apparently a proverb passed down in the United Kingdom, the birthplace of horse racing and the Derby.

The Derby.

It was not his first Derby start; he had even won the Kentucky Derby, the pinnacle of the dirt generation, before his home country's Derby.

Yet the moment that word surfaced in his mind, the muscles in his face tensed involuntarily, and even his breathing grew rapid.

"Hah—

—"

As he seized the chance to catch his breath, he looked toward the breeding representative standing beside him.

At some point, Sugiyama's hand had fallen from his face. Staring sternly at the screen, his expression did not change in the slightest.

His profile, lit by the screen