When my midday nap ended, I lifted my eye mask and looked up to find the sky thick with dark clouds.
It would rain. There was no doubt about that.
But rather than the approaching wind and rain, the owners seemed absorbed in a pre-race atmosphere that felt as much like prayer as revelry.
"Just once would be enough. If a horse I owned could break the record for two thousand meters on turf, my life as an owner would be complete."
The moment a fellow owner voiced that sentiment, agreement rose all around him.
If I remembered correctly, the current Central Racing record for two thousand meters on turf was the one minute, fifty-five point two seconds Equinox had set in the Autumn Emperor's Prize in the fifth year of Reiwa.
Beating that time would probably take more than sheer ability or a stroke of luck. As that thought crossed my mind, I opened the racing paper in my hands, still feeling a little uneasy.
The outlook for the 182nd Emperor's Prize seemed perfectly clear.
Yet behind defending champion Light's Wedge, second favoritism had gone to Sawin, who had never raced on Japanese turf and had only two previous starts
to his name. In a sense, the predictions for this Autumn Emperor's Prize were every bit as chaotic as a battlefield.
I took an umbrella handed out by the JRA staff, then rode the elevator downstairs.
Perhaps because people had misjudged the change in the weather, the paddock, shrouded in muggy air and the promise of rain, lacked its usual bustle.
Against the dark sky, even the bright coat on the far side of my vision seemed veiled in gloom.
Light's Wedge stepped along with the cheerful gait of a sprite.
It was not just the fans saying things