"Winning the Guineas really was impressive—but the filly on my side won't lose either."
"Since it's a distance that requires stamina, I'd say the bloodline on our side has the advantage."
"What about you, Kitano?"
May 19th.
From the other side of the sofa in the owners' lounge, President Fujita turned and asked.
The other owners also cast curious looks their way.
"The Yushun Fillies, huh?"
The cool air from the air conditioner effectively dispelled the midsummer heat. Faced with Matsumoto's sudden question, they could only put on a thoughtful expression and look up at the ceiling.
—An Oaks touched by chance.
2030 was the year of the great earthquake.
Just as the future remained uncertain for everyone involved in racing, that year's fillies' Classic campaign was also shrouded in chaos.
Until the Oka Sho began, the undisputed leading contender of the fillies' Classics had been Queen Margot, the previous year's Best Two-Year-Old Filly.
However—
Queen Margot, who had won the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies by nearly five lengths, suffered a crushing defeat in the Oka Sho as the favorite. Then, just a week earlier, her connections abruptly announced that she would not run in the Yushun Fillies.
Ever since the Oka Sho, the first leg of the fillies' Classics, it had been an age of warring ladies.
For a Racehorse to enter the gates of a Classic, it first depended on whether it held priority entry rights for that race.
The remaining spots were then filled in order of prize money earned, while Racehorses lingering on the edge of qualification had to settle the first contest before the race through a lottery.
Thanks to the advantage of winning the Forget-Me-Not Stakes, held at the same track on the same day as the Oka Sho, along with the divided state of