Chapter 24: The Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes
Winter on the ranch might look quiet, but it wasn’t actually quiet at all.
When snow piled up, everything certainly looked peaceful.
The ground turned white. Sounds seemed muffled. Even the air itself felt hushed.
But in reality—
“Sakuuu! White stuff is falling from the sky!”
“It’s snow.”
“Sakuuu! It’s colddd!”
“That’s because it’s winter.”
“Mooom! He destroyed my snow mountain!”
“I don’t know! Environmental destruction is romantic!”
“Don’t make destroying nature sound romantic.”
It was still as noisy as ever.
Though, to be fair, it was the foals’ first winter, so it couldn’t be helped.
This winter, however, there was another noisy presence.
“Hmph…”
Standing at the edge of the pasture, staring dramatically across the lightly snow-covered ground like a man burdened by a tragic past—
Was Mister Crown.
In reality, he was a horse who had debuted successfully, lost properly, won properly, and then returned home properly.
In his debut race, he’d finished second behind Golden Wing.
After that, he lost once more, then finally managed to win a maiden race.
Riding that momentum, he moved into what used to be called the five-million-yen class—though I suppose it isn’t called that anymore—and somehow won another allowance race as well before returning to the ranch for winter.
Which was honestly impressive.
Very impressive.
Back when he’d finished second in his debut, he’d been screaming about his “undefeated Triple Crown road.” Yet he’d still gone on to win races afterward. That alone was admirable.
The problem was—
“Why are you standing around brooding all the time?”
When I asked, Crown slowly turned toward me.
“Saku.”
“Hm?”
“I’ve realized something.”
“What?”
“Horse racing isn’t as easy as I thought.”
“YOU JUST FIGURED THAT OUT!?”
Seriously? Only now?
Couldn’t you have realized that sooner?
“Before my debut, the plan was simple.”
Crown looked into the distance.
“Crush my maiden race. Win my second race easily. Then head undefeated to the Asahi Hai.”
The Asahi Hai.
To put it simply, it was the G1 championship race for two-year-old colts.
“Your plans were way too ambitious.”
“But in reality…”
Crown let out a long sigh.
“I lost once. Then twice. Then barely won a maiden race. Then somehow managed to win another race…”
“You’re doing your best, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, BUT COME ON!!”
Don’t suddenly start shouting.
His voice sliced through the quiet winter air.
“In my mind, every time I went to a racecourse, the crowd would go, ‘W-What’s with that horse!?'”
Here we go.
“The announcers would scream my name every race!”
Of course.
“And fillies would be whispering, ‘Crown-sama is so dreamy…'”
“Stop basing your life plan entirely on fantasies.”
Still, he wasn’t really depressed. He was just loudly complaining about the gap between his expectations and reality. Which meant he was still doing well.
And energetic was much better than the alternative.
Stone, meanwhile, watched him from her stall with half-lidded eyes, carrying the calm confidence of an experienced broodmare.
“Crown.”
“What is it, sis?”
“You came back after winning two races, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Then that’s impressive enough.”
“But I haven’t won a G1 yet…”
Stone snorted.
“Try saying that in front of me. I barely managed to win a G3 before retiring.”
“…Okay, you’ve got me there.”
Crown visibly deflated.
Looking at him now, he’d actually worked pretty hard.
I’d heard from Okabe-san how seriously he took his training.
Crown was clearly frustrated.
Being frustrated means he still wanted to win—
Then he’d be fine.
“Come on.”
I lightly patted his neck.
“The Asahi Hai is today. They’re deciding the champion of your peers. Let’s watch it together.”
One of Crown’s ears twitched.
“Hmph.”
“What kind of reaction is that?”
“If things had gone according to plan, I’d be there…”
He was still muttering.
But well, I understood how he felt.
“Golden Wing’s running in it too.”
The instant I said that, Crown’s eyes lit up.
“He’s the one who beat me!”
“Yep.”
“So he’ll definitely win today too!”
“The fact that your logic is basically ‘he beat me, therefore he must be strong’ is surprisingly straightforward.”
“Shut up!”
Still…
I somewhat understood that feeling too.
You want the horse that beat you to keep proving how strong they are.
Even people probably feel the same way.
◇
To watch together, I put on the small TV in the stable.
Honestly, standing around watching TV in this freezing weather felt ridiculous.
But it couldn’t be helped.
The foals wandered over too.
They probably didn’t understand anything.
They were just curious because all the adults were paying attention.
“Sakuuu, what are we watching?”
“What’s a “G-one”!?”
“Sakuuu, I’m so cold!”
“I’m hungry!”
On the television, the race was about to begin.
“Whoa…”
The fanfare was grand and magnificent.
The gates opened.
The young horses burst forward.
Even through the screen, a G1 really felt different.
The horses looked sharper.
The crowd’s energy felt hotter.
Then the announcer’s voice rose.
“Into the stretch! Golden Wing takes the lead! Is it Golden Wing!?”
“SEE!?”
Crown practically climbed halfway out of his stall.
He looked absurdly happy.
Honestly, maybe he should just go play with Golden Wing sometime.
“He beat me! Look! Of course he’ll win again today!”
And then—
The announcer suddenly shouted.
“Tenzan Sakura is charging up the inside! Tenzan Sakura! Tenzan Sakura! He gets there! Tenzan Sakura wins! Tenzan Sakura captures the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes!”
“WHAAAAAT!?”
Crown reacted incredibly well.
To be fair, I was surprised too.
Golden Wing had lost.
Which meant the winner had to be seriously strong.
“…Huh?”
Looking at the gray horse on the screen, I tilted my head.
Something felt familiar.
Sure, there were plenty of gray horses in the world.
But there was something about him.
His face?
The air about him?
Something that made me think of words like—
“Curse.”
Then—
RING RING RING RING
The landline phone started ringing.
The timing was ridiculous.
“Who calls at a time like this?”
I ran to the main house and picked up the receiver.
“Hello?”
A calm, deep voice answered.
“Oh? Is that Saku-kun?”
“Ah, Tenzan-san.”
“Excellent timing. Were you watching the race?”
Why did this feel like a test?
“The Asahi Hai?”
“Indeed. I called to report the result—and to thank you. The horse we purchased from your ranch, Tenzan Sakura, just won.”
“…Ah.”
Everything clicked.
The face on the television.
The face of the gray colt sold last year.
The memories aligned perfectly.
The one who’d left saying:
“Heh. Someday I’ll crush both you and the colt staying behind.”
So it was that guy.
“Oh? I told your grandfather once the race entry was confirmed. Didn’t he tell you?”
“…No.”
Grandpa had probably thought:
“If Saku knows, he won’t be able to focus on work.”
“Hahaha. Well, no matter. Take pride in the fact that a horse born on your ranch has become a G1 winner. Goodbye.”
Click.
The line went dead.
I slowly lowered the receiver.
“…No way.”
A winner of the Asahi Hai.
A G1 horse.
The gray colt who had grown up here alongside Crown in our pasture was now the champion two-year-old in Japan.
Amazing.
It really was amazing.
But still—
“…I wish life had a save-and-load function.”
I have absolutely no regrets about keeping Crown.
Not even slightly.
But if there had been a world where we’d kept that gray colt too…
Maybe there would be a G1 winner standing in this very ranch right now.
Of course, I knew environment mattered. Tenzan-san’s connections and resources had surely played a role.
But still.
If I could go back to before last year’s sale and ask, “Would you like to stay here too?”
Well, there was no point thinking about it.
But it was hard not to.
◇
“Crown.”
Back in the stable, the horses were still staring at the little television.
“Hm?”
Crown was still a bit dazed, unable to believe that Golden Wing had lost.
“The horse that won the Asahi Hai…”
I smiled.
“It was that gray colt who grew up here with us last year.”
When I said that, Crown froze completely.
His ears.
His eyes.
His neck.
Everything stopped.
…
…
“…HUUUUUH!?”
A few seconds later, it seemed he had fully caught up.
“THAAAAAAT GUYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!”
The foals all jumped in fright.
I immediately scolded him.
“Crown. Quiet. You’re scaring everyone.”
“R-right. Sorry. But seriously! He grew up HERE with me!”
“Yeah.”
Honestly, I felt strange about it too.
“DAAAAMN IT!! HE GOT A G1 BEFORE ME!?”
“Hahaha.”
At that point, all I could do was laugh.
Even the broodmares were buzzing.
“I was supposed to be competing to be the strongest horse of our generation too!”
As Crown complained, he began pacing circles around the stall, so I gave his neck a light tap.
Eventually he calmed down a little, though he still looked frustrated.
“…Alright. I’ve decided.”
“Decided what?”
“Next year, I’m winning everything.”
“That’s way too vague.”
“I’m going to crush Golden Wing, Tenzan Sakura, all of them!”
“Please beat them in races instead of literally crushing them.”
Whether that dream would become reality, I had no idea.
A horse from a tiny ranch like ours winning a G1—
That would be practically a miracle.
And yet…
Maybe miracles weren’t completely impossible.
After all, one had already happened once.
“I GOT IT! If I win the Derby, then I win, right!?”
“That’s not how that works.”
“Crown, if you don’t calm down, I’m cutting your dinner.”
“…I’m sorry.”
Good.
Very good.