Chapter 75 Arima Memorial.
What I saw in front of me was a slightly different scene from Chapter 73 the year before.
Occasionally, when I visit a place I haven't been to for a long time, the scenery in front of me may be different from what I remember.
Maybe it's the hometown where I was born and raised, or maybe it's the small restaurant I often went to.
Or maybe, it was a certain person or horse that was always waiting there.
Time never stops and flows endlessly.
Change itself is equivalent to living.
However, in the passing years, there are always some things that we never, or rather do not want to forget.
Memory may be a gesture against the torrent of time that washes away everything.
Like a wedge driven into the long river of time and space.
There are things that I don't want to forget, and there are memories that I want to keep.
That's why I am moved by every Racehorse like this.
Some Racehorse will remain in the memory of many people.
There are also some Racehorse that can maintain the memories of others through running.
Just when I was thinking about which category Chongli and Poetic Banquet belong to, I heard Mr. Sugiyama shouting "Finally caught up".
Starter's Tower just rises to the top.
While talking to Mr. Sugiyama in a slightly teasing tone, I looked down and saw the crowds of people coming in like waves from behind. Even the aisles were filled with countless horse fans.
Swaying like ripples, there is an endless crowd of people waiting for the game to start.
Perhaps it was because of the heat rising from the crowds that the section of grass facing the stands trembled softly as if there was a heat wave floating on it.
"Central Racing, brought to you by Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and Tokyo Music Corps, is the last big show this year. Race 11, Arima Memorial, the 75th Grand Prix, International Grade 1 Race, there are fifteen heads left."
As the voice of the live broadcast manager Kozuka rang out, the clapping from the stands became louder and louder.
In the context of having to suppress cheers during the epidemic, this method of expressing excitement through clapping that has emerged in the racecourse instead seems to have been thoroughly rooted in Japan racing as a culture of Racehorse spectators.
Unknowingly, I was immersed in this wave.
Perhaps because he sincerely sent support to the fifteen running horses, including Chongli and Poetic Banquet, or perhaps because he was infected by the overly excited Mr. Sugiyama next to him, the applause that was originally intended to "end here" never stopped.
Clap hard until your hands are red.
"After a year of cold winter, carrying the expectations of generations and the dreams of horse racing fans, the runaway horses will gallop across the 2,500-meter track Nakayama. There are many things happening in this year's horse racing, including historic joy and sad farewell."
Although there were calls from horse racing fans before the race for "a showdown with the same title", due to the huge difference in popularity and personality, Poetic Banquet was inevitably regarded as a threat other than Chongli.
However, both Chongli and Poetic Banquet are horses that remain in the memory of others and can maintain this memory through running.
Of course, there is no need to say more about Chongli. Even though he has not yet achieved any rewards, he still has such high expectations for the future of Poetic Banquet.
In other words, believe it.
"Carrying all this, the fifteen runaway horses will set sail with everyone's dreams."
Amidst the live chatter of Kozuka, Tama Giant from the last 15th episode and Light's Wedge from the 12th episode also finally entered the gate.
door.
"The year-end Grand Prix has entered the gate, carrying your dreams and then mine, Arima Memorial racing paper, event guide... Everyone in the stands seemed to be holding the things at hand as loudspeakers, waiting for that moment.
"The game begins!"
The moment the gate popped open, there was a loud clap like the earth was shaking.
At this moment, the focus of his eyes was not on the battle at the front of the horse group, but on the slightly chaotic rear.
green and black.
Same final suit, different helmet.
As if they have embarked on the wrong path of destiny, the two people with the same title have made their own choices since they came out of the gate.
Following the flow after exiting the gate, Chongli and Haruki started from the fifth or sixth position slightly ahead.
Then there are Poetic Banquet and Ryan Moore Jockey, who are dormant behind the horses, waiting for the opportunity.
The stage is Nakayama grassland 2500 meters.
Starting near the third corner on the outer circle, passing a total of six corners, and finally sprinting on the inner circle, it can be called a central race.
The track with the most variety of horses.
Even the undefeated Triple Crown horse Deep Impact was defeated here when he was three years old.
Success or failure is determined by flow, Arima Memorial.
If you can't follow the trend, even the "hero" will lose - This is Nakayama Racecourse's grassland of 2,500 meters.
Fifteen figures gradually approached the straight road for the first time, and then their hearts beat as the tension increased.
He moved his head as close as possible to the glass window, trying to capture the two figures with his naked eyes and sight.
However, with the stands swaying in cheers, arms shaking with intoxication, and vision distorted by the heat wave, it was almost impossible to see clearly the horses below.
In an instant, the track under the setting sun seemed to turn into a battlefield.
It was no longer a roar, but a gushing, grandiose sound of hoofbeats.
The beating of the heart became more intense as the horses approached.
Chongli is in front and Poetic Banquet is behind. At the fast pace of 1,000 meters and fifty-nine seconds and three, the two figures with the same winning uniform, the same title, and running for the same goal gradually widen the distance.
Take a deep breath, clenched your fists, and then looked out the window again.
Nervousness is like a balloon that has been inflated to the extreme and is about to burst.
Even Mr. Sugiyama, who was extremely excited just now, is silent now, as if waiting with a mixture of expectation and fear.
Waiting for the first blow that shatters the silence.
Crossing the slope in front of the grandstand for the first time, heading towards the curve, and crossing the straight.
All that comes into view is a high wall of various winning servers.
The next moment, it was like smelling the opportunity to win or lose, and in an instant it became high-pitched, Kozuka's live voice.
"In the last four hundred meters, when turning from the fourth corner to a straight line, Mejiro Impetus took the lead instead of Light's Wedge! Mejiro Impetus of Most Popular took the lead!"
Bright red, Arabic numeral "4".
And the whip that Jockey wielded with determination.
It is not fighting with the opponent, but like a beam of light, it directly penetrates the front wall constructed by the leading horse.
Carrying roars and spurs, with a majestic figure full of humiliation and glory, he kicked up the mud and cut off the grass clippings in a straight line.
Leap forward.
"Mejiro Impetus is the first! The second crown of autumn is right in front of you! Mejiro Impetus is the first! Mejiro Impetus is the first!"
In front of his sight was the swaying and twisted lawn opposite the heat wave.
What pierced the eardrums was the collective cry of fifty-five thousand people, which was only slightly smaller than the total population of Mitsuishi.
Mr. Sugiyama's face bloomed with a sense of great happiness and joy on the eve of victory.
"We're going to win!"