Begun in Rain, Ended in Sunshine

He set his duffel bag by his feet and looked out the window of the swaying train.

The weather was fine, without a cloud in the sky.

At Chukyo Racecourse, where Noah had won the CBC Cup and the Takamatsunomiya Memorial and made so many memories, today was his retirement ceremony.

After the final race at Chukyo, around three thousand racing fans gathered in the paddock.

"It's really wonderful that he could retire safely."

"I still wanted to see this boy run again."

"Have a happy second life, Noah."

Bathed in the fans' words of regret and blessing, Noah, draped in a purple horse blanket, stepped onto the parade ring track.

Walking through the parade ring, Noah looked more composed than he had during his racing days. He kept turning his head back, as though searching for rivals or saying farewell to his fans.

After completing a parade-ring run that was more of a leisurely stroll than a run, Trainer Uchida, who had been holding back his emotions all this time, finally shed tears.

"Goodbye, Noah."

Under the mildly displeased gaze of the bay horse, the two trainers, Hattori and Uchida, and the three jockeys who had fought alongside Noah—Aito, Kazuo, and Takeshi—took turns hugging his neck.

Trainer Uchida tried to kiss Noah on the forehead, but in the end, amid the bay horse's alarmed gaze and the fans' laughter, he came away empty-handed.

Bathed in the applause of fans reluctant to part with him, Noah officially bid farewell to his racing career at Chukyo Racecourse, which had witnessed both his glory and setbacks, and began stepping toward his second life.

The tale of glory and setbacks slowly came to an end on pages left unfinished.

The day after the retirement ceremony in August was the Prix Jacques Le Marois