"Looks like we failed again." I had guessed the result before I got up and played the recording on the TV. It came as no surprise.
Japan's contenders had suffered another crushing defeat in this year's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
Of the three Japanese horses entered, including Derby winner Humanity Flourishes, only one had barely managed to finish in the top ten.
No matter how you looked at it, they never stood a chance, I thought as I watched the replay.
"Come to think of it, last night I dreamed I was leading Viserys around the parade ring."
Arian, who had also gotten up early, slid open the paper door. He sat down and said it out of nowhere.
"Viserys?"
The colt was aloof with other horses, but affectionate toward the staff and adorable to look at. Every day, he worked hard to train himself out in the paddock.
Even when the other youngsters watched from a distance, he kept at it without wavering.
Incidentally, Viserys's groom was Arian, a Light-Breed Horse Association trainee taking sole responsibility for raising a horse for the first time since graduating.
I'd heard that even in his dreams, he couldn't stop fussing over Viserys. I'd thought the other staff were exaggerating when they said—
1.1
1
1.1
—but now it seemed they had been telling the truth.
"Really? Was it the parade ring at Longchamp in Paris?"
Yesterday's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe came to mind, so I asked half-jokingly.
It must have bothered Arian. Muttering, "I don't think it was Longchamp," he gave it serious thought.
"No, it was a parade ring here in Japan. I remember hearing Mr. Kitajima lead the singing of 'Kimigayo.'"
"Then it must've been the Derby." The deputy farm manager appeared in the lounge like an NPC