Arayama

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Arayama (荒山), also identified as Arayama Katsunori 80
Alias(es)	“Crying Arayama”; “Tearman” 96 120
Species/Race	Human
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Arayama Stable; Oi Racecourse’s Kobayashi Branch Stable 66 251
Occupation/Role	Racehorse trainer; former jockey 67 170
Status	Active
First Appearance	Chapter 66 (stable introduced; first direct meeting with Kitano in Chapter 67) 66 67

Background / History

Before becoming a trainer, Arayama rode at Oi Racecourse. He won the Tokyo Daisho as a jockey while his father, trainer Arayama Tokuichi, handled the winning horse; the race later becomes the victory he most wants to achieve as a trainer himself 170.

Trainer Tanaka recommends Arayama Stable to Kitano during Mejiro Sakuya’s planned transfer to South Kanto. Kitano finds the stable notably better equipped than Tanaka Stable, with open stalls, anti-slip flooring, ventilation grilles, fans, standing air conditioners, and spacious staff facilities 66.

Arayama meets Kitano personally after missing the initial stable visit. Kitano discloses Sakuya’s complete medical history, including her stringhalt, and Arayama carefully reviews the records before agreeing to accept her after the All Japan Juvenile Yushun 67.

Appearance

Arayama is an older man with gray-white hair that curves around his ears. He commonly wears a duckbill cap and later appears at the Tokyo Daisho in formal black tailcoat attire 67 170.

• Gray-white, increasingly disheveled hair during stressful overseas campaigns 93 109
• Deep facial wrinkles, especially apparent when exhausted 93
• Often wears a cap embroidered with “MEJIRO” while working 96
• Has strong arms, used extensively in handling and stretching horses 78 120

Personality

Arayama combines rigorous professionalism with an informal, joking manner around his staff. He participates directly in paperwork, horse arrivals, conditioning, track inspections, and stable operations, while allowing his workers to tease him about his repeated pork-belly lunches 76.

He is publicly pessimistic by design. His cautious media statements earn him the nickname “Crying Arayama,” but he explains that lowering expectations protects Sakuya and the camp from unnecessary pressure. In private, he gives direct assessments and acts decisively once he believes a horse is fit to race 96.

Despite his habitual caution, Arayama is exceptionally ambitious. Sakuya’s potential leads him from planning a South Kanto Dirt Triple Crown campaign to proposing the Kentucky Derby and the Middle East Road. He nevertheless recognizes that the final authority over her career belongs to Kitano, not a trainer who has only recently received the horse 77 78 79.

Abilities & Skills

Race Analysis and Strategy

Arayama studies race footage, physiological records, and a horse’s movement rather than accepting established opinions without question.

• Reassessed Tanaka’s belief that Sakuya required a fast pace after reviewing her finishing burst in slow motion and examining her VO₂max data 76
• Identified her slow start, lameness, and comparatively weak hindquarters as disadvantages in high-intensity races 76
• Concluded that her explosive late acceleration could be more effective when saved for slower-paced races 76
• Accepted Wada’s recommendation to retain Sakuya’s closing style at Meydan despite the course’s apparent preference for front-runners 104
• Entrusts in-race tactical decisions to jockeys when conditions cannot be predicted from outside the saddle 120

Horse Care and Conditioning

Arayama prioritizes long-term soundness over forced improvement, particularly in managing Sakuya’s stringhalt and delayed right-hind-leg response.

• Applied to TCK for Sakuya to use special horseshoes immediately after her arrival at the stable 76
• Limited her Saudi training load to roughly half to two-thirds of the workload given to the stable’s other horses 90
• Focused on strengthening her hindquarters for mixed dirt-and-turf overseas surfaces 90
• Would withdraw Sakuya from competition if heat fatigue did not resolve, despite the importance of the Dubai campaign 104
• Shifted her mature-horse program away from intensive training and toward recovery and condition maintenance after the Tokyo Daisho 176

Overseas Campaign Management

Though inexperienced with international expeditions, Arayama researches extensively and adapts through direct observation.

• Admits that overseas preparations are difficult for a small stable lacking foreign experience, personnel, language skills, and procedural knowledge 81
• Inspected King Abdulaziz Racetrack with Wada and Zepp, helping determine that its loose, powdery surface should be treated more like turf than Japanese dirt 94
• Approved lighter aluminum shoes with deeper grooves after the team’s track inspection 94
• Coordinated Sakuya’s Saudi, Dubai, and Kentucky preparations while continuing to manage responsibilities at Oi 120
• Plans a local preparatory race and detailed American arrangements before Sakuya’s Breeders’ Cup Classic campaign 249

Stable Management

Arayama runs a practical but crowded stable whose staff share a close, informal culture.

• Managed forty-six horses during Sakuya’s arrival period and intended to reduce the total to forty-five the following year 76
• Requires a trainer to be present whenever a horse enters the stable 76
• Struggles to refuse new horses, leaving the stable overcrowded despite repeated intentions to reduce its population 251
• Uses Oi’s uphill training track to condition Sakuya and Mejiro Atalanta 251

Relationships

• Kitano — Sakuya’s owner and Arayama’s principal partner. Their relationship begins with Kitano’s full disclosure of Sakuya’s medical records and develops into mutual trust over race selection, training, and overseas expeditions 67 79 249.
• Mejiro Sakuya — Arayama’s foremost trainee. He manages her stringhalt, special shoeing, weight, workload, race tactics, and international career with unusual personal investment 76 90 185.
• Wada Ryuji — Sakuya’s longtime jockey during the Kentucky Derby campaign and Tokyo Daisho comeback. Arayama values Wada’s feel for the mare and yields tactical authority to him when necessary 81 104 120.
• Arayama Tokuichi — His late father and former trainer. Tokuichi trained the horse Arayama rode to victory in the Tokyo Daisho; Arayama brings his father’s memorial portrait to Sakuya’s Tokyo Daisho 170 172.
• Tanaka — Sakuya’s former trainer, who recommends Arayama Stable to Kitano and provides the connection that begins their professional relationship 66 67.
• Zepp / Joseph Schmidt — Expedition farrier and officially contracted stablehand. Arayama recognizes that Zepp’s practical ability may exceed that of many more formally experienced farriers 87.
• Ogawa Masaru — Stablehand and expedition member entrusted with Sakuya’s day-to-day care; Arayama supports his inclusion on the overseas team emphatically 83.
• Yokoyama and Aoyagi — Stablehands assigned to Sakuya after her transfer. They initially doubt Arayama’s overseas ambitions but support the campaign 78.
• Majima Daisuke — A fellow Oi trainer and intrusive Mejiro fan whose repeated visits disrupt Arayama’s work and test his patience 76 77.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Mejiro Sakuya’s Transfer to Oi

Arayama accepts responsibility for Sakuya despite her stringhalt and begins rebuilding her campaign around his own assessment of her racing style. He identifies her as the centerpiece of his Classic generation and considers both the Dirt Triple Crown and stronger Central-circuit opposition 67 76 77.

The Kentucky Derby Proposal

After Sakuya settles into the stable, Arayama becomes consumed by the possibility of taking her abroad. He first proposes the “Kentucky Road,” then defends the more difficult Middle East Road beginning with the Saudi Derby, ultimately convincing Kitano to authorize the plan 78 79.

Overseas Expedition

Arayama helps form the expedition team around Kitano, Wada, Ogawa Masaru, and Zepp. He manages the camp’s limited resources, researches unfamiliar procedures, adjusts Sakuya’s equipment for foreign surfaces, and maintains a deliberately pessimistic public image throughout the Saudi campaign 81 87 94 96.

Kentucky Derby Campaign

At Churchill Downs, Arayama focuses on maintaining Sakuya’s condition and acclimating her to crowds rather than overtraining her. His “Tearman” nickname follows him to America, but he publicly confirms that she is ready for the Kentucky Derby 120. Sakuya’s Kentucky Derby victory later transforms both Mejiro Farm’s standing and Wada’s career 155.

Tokyo Daisho and Family Legacy

Following Sakuya’s surgery and recovery, Arayama and Kitano select the Tokyo Daisho as her comeback target. The race carries profound personal meaning because of Arayama’s and his father’s earlier victory there; Sakuya wins, returning the race to South Kanto after twenty years and fulfilling a dream spanning generations 155 170 172.

Later International Ambitions

Arayama continues to guide Sakuya through world-level campaigns, including the Dubai World Cup and the planned Breeders’ Cup Classic. He remains practical about her weight, preparation time, local prep-race needs, and the limitations of a crowded regional stable 185 249 251.

Notable Quotes

“Having confidence is a good thing, but it can also end up putting pressure on the team.” 96

“She is ready for the Kentucky Derby.” 120

“As a trainer, the race I want to win most is the Tokyo Daisho.” 170

Trivia

• Arayama prefers email to fax, though he accepts that racing administration still requires outdated methods when necessary 76.
• He dislikes ginger and specifically reminds staff not to include it with his meals 76.
• His staff repeatedly complain when he orders pork belly for lunch several days in a row 76.
• His “Crying Arayama” persona becomes “Tearman” among American reporters and Churchill Downs staff during the Kentucky Derby campaign 96 120.