On a Pale Horse (Umamusume/Youjo Senki)

[Jostev]

Hilariously if Nice Nature passed by Shirogane to get to Third place that would trigger Shirogane to get serious.

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Unfortunately, we will probably not be seeing Nice Nature in any official races. Nice Nature retired in 1996, while Shirogane debuted 1997, the year after. Quite a few people have drawn parallels between the two, and with Shirogane having debuted right after Nice Nature's retirement I could see it being an in universe joke that Shirogane inherited Nature's curse. Furthermore, if that joke/rumor gained traction then Matikanefukukitaru, being highly superstitious, would probably take it seriously and try to help her- I could even see it being a career or Support card event in the game for the world this story depicts (I am sure there is a word for this term, but when I looked up the word I had thought was applicable (negaverse) it did not appear to have the definition I thought it did). Matikanefukukitaru has a canonical record for helping people around her, too: in the Unity Cup career, Rice Shower talks about how Matikanefukukitaru uses fortune telling and lucky charms to help her with her bad luck (I may be conflating the career with an event), there's an event in Trackblazer (a.k.a. Mant) where Matikanefukukitaru predicts a bad fortune for Mr. C.B. and tries to give her a lucky object (She predicts that an orange object will save her, and gives her a half-drunk orange beverage. Mr. C.B. immediately drinks the rest and Matikanefukukitaru immediately panics about finding a replacement object. My personal interpretation is that Matikanefukukitaru herself was the 'orange thing' that she predicted would save Mr. C.B.), and she's also been shown to help Meisho Doto as well (I don't know how well this example is supported by the games, but it is depicted in other mediums). With that said, this relies entirely on either Matikanefukukitaru drawing a parallel between Shirogane and Nice Nature on her own, or other people in universe drawing a connection (likely as a joke) and spreading it to Matikanefukukitaru. In other words, this cannot happen until Shirogane develops a firm reputation as a "silver collector".


Since I mentioned Meisho Doto and nice Nature anyways, I'd also like to point out that Meisho Doto earned quite a few silvers herself, and while she doesn't have a reputation for being a silver collector or inheriting Nice Nature's 'curse' (both because she mostly got second to T.M. Opera O specifically, and because there was a larger gap between Her debut and Nice Nature's retirement when compared to Shirogane (primarily the former, by a very significant margin)), the character doesn't know that, and may think Shirogane is the reason people don't think She's 'cursed'. Alternatively, Shirogane putting the idea in people's minds could lead to some people joking that the curse split, giving two people a weakened version.


With all that said, none of this has any relevance to the immediate future of the story's plot, and will remain irrelevant for several months (in story/timeline) at least (more likely a couple years, especially for anything involving Meisho Doto). Also, if the author doesn't want to bring up Nice Nature's third place 'curse' in story (for any number of valid reasons), then this information is only good for omakes.

 

[Winged One]

Shiro could also have a pseudo breakthrough when she interacts with the Three Goddess statues, feeling how similar it is to Being X would fill her with enough paranoia that during her next race, believing Being X is interfering with the race, makes break her mental barriers and just bust through her limits. Going Devil of Rhine from the get go.

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Or maybe she gets a flashback to them JJK jumping him.

 

[CuriousMan]

"No, but she'll try to finish the race by dragging you with her teeth."

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What's worse will probably if the jockey didn't fall completely (having your foot tangled in the stirrup for example) and she just keeps on running while dragging you along.

 

[ndh]

What's worse will probably if the jockey didn't fall completely

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She'd more than likely stop, as given how close she hugs; if it's to the inside, it's even more dangerous, and on the other side, the jockey has a high chance of being trampled.

Edit: @WrandmWaffles Kurifuji won the Kikuka Sho in 1943 the only mare to do so

 

[bucketbot129]

Shirogane has kinda internalized some of that old woman IDGAF energy. Also some of the chunni parts of being a teenager. Hanging out with Air Groove probably makes you a bit more overdramatic.

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I'm not sure how close to show you'll be staying because of the irl generations, but that leaves the most delightfully chunni team Rigil member to be scouted soon as the new rookie, TM Opera O.

Much like Rudolf's puns, I suspect Shiro would internally find Opera O deeply amusing, although considering how chunni the Salaryman could be she'd be more aware as to why.

 

[macdjord]

While this atmosphere didn't affect Shirogane all that much, it did seem to put a damper on Suzuka-san's enthusiasm, as while the chestnut haired uma was not the most vocal, she was still very competitive, and having to hold back her preferred instincts to avoid injury was clearly bothering her, to the point where their occasional morning runs didn't seem to do much to lift the older uma's mood despite having good weather.

"Did you argue with Toujou-san again?" After a few days of this, Shirogane thought it was worth bringing up.

"Eh? Oh, not really." Suzuka-san's ears drooped down sadly. "I had another doctor appointment, and they said my leg is much better, but Trainer-san is still worried about it." She sighed forlornly. "And after I didn't do very well in my last race, she's even more worried about it."

"...You really didn't quite look like yourself."

"You saw it too?" Suzuka sighed. "It just didn't feel right."

"Was your leg still giving you trouble?" Shirogane inquired, feeling incredulous. With how concerned their trainer had been about injuries, it seemed odd for her to allow Suzuka to participate if there was a known problem.

"No, not really…" she denied, shaking her head. "It's just that the view was bad."

"Does having others in front of you bother you that much?" It didn't make that much sense to Shirogane, but she grew up in a city so she might be more accustomed to traffic than others.

"I don't like it."

"Hmm…I suppose it is more difficult to run as fast as you prefer to when there are dynamic obstacles you need to avoid."

"But it doesn't bother you," Suzuka-san observed, one ear twitching as she glanced over at her junior.

"Not so much, I'm used to maneuvering around obstacles," Shirogane shrugged. "Came with running deliveries."

"Umm…then why doesn't Trainer-san have you run more towards the back?" Her senpai's tail flicked uncertainly. "You're very good at passing people."

"Aside from lacking the speed to do that reliably."

"Ah…" Sometimes Suzuka seemed to miss the most obvious things.

"We all must adjust to our strengths and limitations if we want to perform well." It was helpful that the standards of success were so simple. Cross the finish line first, without interfering with the other runners beyond acceptable maneuvering. Much more straightforward than managing a group of lunatics to achieve more nebulous targets like the Salaryman and Soldier had to contend with.

Though in her own case she wasn't in a leadership position, and probably would never have to be, so it wasn't necessarily the best comparison.

"So…is what you're saying that I shouldn't run out in front?" This hardly warranted such a distraught expression.

"We both know the alternative hasn't been working too well," Shirogane stressed, shaking her head. "If you need to front run to perform well, and your previous injury makes doing that more risky, then you will have to find ways to mitigate the risk of injury."

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@WrandmWaffles: Was just rereading, and noticed that this conversation, from Ch 18, seems to be almost entirely a repeat of this one, from Ch. 13:

"Hmm…I guess that might be true." Suzuka glanced up at the sky again. "I like the view of the track when running on it."

"Err…what's there to see? Most tracks have some kind of barrier to block the view out of them, and other than that it's just an oval track with stands full of people."

"Yeah…that's why I like running off campus."

"Are you…concerned that the lack of view on the track will hamper your performance?" From their usually brief interactions, Shirogane had come to realize her teammate was a bit of an air head, but she didn't think it would extend this far.

"Umm…not really," her tail swished back and forth as she tried to find the words for it. "I feel like I do better when other runners aren't blocking my view."

"So you prefer running towards the front." She had the speed for it, and enough stamina to keep it up for some distance. "Is that a problem?"

"No? But I sprained my leg a couple times in practice, which is why my debut is later than most of my classmates," Suzuka slumped, her ears flattening against her head. "Trainer-san told me to try holding back a little and not running so far out front, but that doesn't feel right."

Ironically, that was opposite to the advice Toujou-san had offered to Shirogane. Which, given her differing abilities, did actually make some sense.

"I can understand that feeling somewhat, though I won't be debuting that soon." She was hoping to start competing in races with actual prize pools as early as possible, but trying that before she was at least competitive was counterproductive. "Toujou-san suggested I try running out front as fast as I can since my top speed is slower, which has some merit, since I can run for longer than most of you, but it feels a bit wrong to be taking the lead."

The vanguard was a respected position because it was a dangerous one. And while there was no real danger of bodily harm when leading the pack in a simple race, it did have its own risks, as it made you more of a target for the following runners and required more effort due to the air resistance compared to following after another runner.

"Ehhh?! Why is that?"

Shirogane shrugged. "Can you put into words your preference to run ahead?" For herself, any verbalization of her sentiment would make her look insane.

"…Not really…" Suzuka-san looked down, holding her left hand with her right as she frowned. "But I'm not sure I can do my best if I don't run ahead."

"Well you can't do that either if you hurt your leg," Shirogane pointed out. "I'm not sure I'll do that well running ahead myself, but I can understand Toujou-san's reasoning, so it's worth testing at least once, I think."

"Maybe…" her teammate didn't seem entirely convinced, her ears flicking questioningly. "I just like running."

"Then you should make sure you don't overstrain your body and break a leg."

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It still had not prepared her at all for what being on Team Spica was like.

"Nom!"

"Uwaah!"

Teeth clamped on her arm and Special Week almost jumped out of her own skin, falling over onto her face into Team Spica's locker room.

"Wa-hahaha! Got you again, Spe!"

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Shinko Windy is very lucky she hasn't tried that trick on Shirogane, isn't she?

 

[ScarredPunLover]

I'm honestly curious how the theoretical horse Shirogane potentially going 6 for 6 with the crown and tiara races would've impacted the racing scene for a while

My first thought veers towards Zhang Shan, though. For those unfamiliar, she was the first and only woman to win gold against men in Olympic Skeet Shooting. Women would then be barred from competing against men in Skeet Shooting, and a women-only category wouldn't be introduced til 8 years after Shan's victory

Anyway, in that vein, I'm half-imagining mares get banned from the Crown, or maybe the relevant association decides to alter mandatory rest periods to make it so mares wouldn't be able to run both races in each leg. Or some other way to exclude them from the Crown

Also there've been jokes made about both how some particular stallions might react to Shiro, as well as who might've been interested in pairing Shiro with one of their own horses, but I'm especially curious now how the other horses in the Crown and Tiara would react to the bear-killing menace, and how many of the big names in horse breeding would've been trying to outbid each other with offers to Shiro's owners

 

[Admiral Halsey]

in that vein, I'm half-imagining mares get banned from the Crown

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How would that work given IIRC all Uma's are mares?

 

[NewGame+Just]

Additionally, Kurifuji, an undefeated Thoroughbred racemare in the mid-1940s, is occasionally referred to as an unofficial Triple Crown winner, as she won the unusual combination of the Tōkyō Yūshun, Yūshun Himba and Kikuka-shō in 1943.
From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_Crown_of_Thoroughbred_Racing_(Japan)

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Triple crown is basically a term for those who won three differents G1 race in a certain grouping. While I predict Shirogane cant get a straight win, there's always the irregular triple crown for her, especially since she is the type that can run all three races without any demerit. Shirogane is basically MaNT aka Make a New Track scenario wet dreams. Since winning or losing doesn't really matter to her, she's probably the only Uma that get race stats bonus especially when she finished seconds, just like how Nice Nature get more skill points when she places thirds.

Also, being an irregular triple crown winner means she prevented the triple crown or the triple tiara from happening that year. Which is a feat on its own.

 

[ndh]

Shinko Windy is very lucky she hasn't tried that trick on Shirogane, isn't she?

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A broken jaw is very possible if Shinko had tried that both as a horse and as an uma.

 

[arky4444]

At this time (post Asahi Hai), the Class A standings are:
Grass Wonder - 4 wins / 4 starts, Debut (9/13/97) - Open (10/12/97) - G2 (11/8/97) - G1 (12/7/97); winnings = 114.69 million yen.
Shirogane Orzel - 2 wins / 9 starts, 9-2-7-0; known races - Debut @ Nakayama (exact date unknown but after G1 Oka Sho 4/6/97, Ch. 15, 1st place), unspecified race @ Kyoto (Ch. 17, lost to Emocion, does not match any IRL race as IRL Emocion does not race in Kyoto until 1998), unspecified Open (offhandedly mentioned in Ch. 17, 1st place), unspecified Open (mentioned in Ch. 17, lost to Bold Emperor, could be Lavender Sho 7/12/97 with changed outcome), G2 Daily Hai Sansai/Nihai Stakes (10/18/97, mentioned in Ch. 18/19, lost to Bold Emperor), G1 Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes (12/7/97, Ch. 19, lost to Grass Wonder); estimated winnings: 21.32 (2nd place G1) + 15.14 (2nd place G2) + 16.21 (1st place Open) + 6.00 (1st place Debut) + 5x6.46 (5x 2nd place Open) = 90.97 million yen.
King Halo - 3 wins / 3 starts, Debut (10/5/97) - Pre-Open (10/25/97) - G3 (11/15/97); winnings = 48.75 million yen.
El Condor Pasa - 1 win / 1 start, Debut (11/8/97); winnings = 6 million yen.
Special Week - 1 win / 1 start, Debut (11/29/97); winnings = 6 million yen.
Seiun Sky, Tsurumaru Tsuyoshi - will not debut until 1998; 0 yen.

I suspect that Shirogane will run the "Hopeful Stakes" next, as the longest (2000m) graded race for Junior Year at this time. In 1997, however, said race is (1) known as the "Radio Tampa Hai Sansai Stakes", (2) only a G3 instead of a G1, and (3) held in Hanshin instead of Nakayama. The 2024 Umamusume anime movie plays fast and loose with this by pretending that the 2000-edition race was always the G1 Hopeful Stakes while still depicting the race as occuring in Hanshin instead of Nakayama, but the author has so far stuck with IRL 1997 details.

IRL, out of a field of 14, King Halo ran Pace Chaser (P6->P3) and placed 2nd, Bold Emperor changed tactics, also ran Pace Chaser (around P4) and placed 4th (and is the only one that ran both this race and the Asahi Hai), Lord Ax ran Late Surger (around P9) and wins, and Mori Survival was the pace setter that led all the way until the end (P1), placing 3rd.

Story-wise, this is an opportunity to have Shirogane and King Halo face off, as well as see Bold Emperor's reactions as she gets the murder-pony experience for the first time, running next to Shirogane while Shirogane marks Mori Survival. No way Mori Survival survives to place on the podium. Shirogane and Bold Emperor facing off four times in one year, where they each have at least one finish ahead of the other, could also elevate Bold Emperor from minor character to supporting character.

 

[WrandmWaffles]

unspecified race @ Kyoto (Ch. 17, lost to Emocion, does not match any IRL race as IRL Emocion does not race in Kyoto until 1998)

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Yeah looking back this should probably be at Hakodate or Chukyo. I seem to have gotten it mixed up with the Daily Hai Sansai Stakes location, since I intended for Shirogane to face off against Emocion and Bold Emperor as they both debuted fairly early in 1997, so would be among the stronger competitions at the entry level.

unspecified Open (mentioned in Ch. 17, lost to Bold Emperor, could be Lavender Sho 7/12/97 with changed outcome), G2 Daily Hai Sansai/Nihai Stakes (10/18/97, mentioned in Ch. 18/19, lost to Bold Emperor)

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Looking back these should be the same race, since the race I looked at for Bold Emperor to win originally was a debut race so Shirogane couldn't have participated. I added the more explicit description later on in the next chapter but should probably go back and tweak this part to make it line up better.

Still means Shirogane runs against Bold Emperor quite a lot for how races go.

Edit. Looks like it'll be easier to change the TV race to be the Daily Hai and Tensei to bring up a race against Emocion.

 

[TheSmallSauce]

At this time (post Asahi Hai), the Class A standings are:
Grass Wonder - 4 wins / 4 starts, Debut (9/13/97) - Open (10/12/97) - G2 (11/8/97) - G1 (12/7/97); winnings = 114.69 million yen.
Shirogane Orzel - 2 wins / 9 starts, 9-2-7-0; known races - Debut @ Nakayama (exact date unknown but after G1 Oka Sho 4/6/97, Ch. 15, 1st place), unspecified race @ Kyoto (Ch. 17, lost to Emocion, does not match any IRL race as IRL Emocion does not race in Kyoto until 1998), unspecified Open (offhandedly mentioned in Ch. 17, 1st place), unspecified Open (mentioned in Ch. 17, lost to Bold Emperor, could be Lavender Sho 7/12/97 with changed outcome), G2 Daily Hai Sansai/Nihai Stakes (10/18/97, mentioned in Ch. 18/19, lost to Bold Emperor), G1 Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes (12/7/97, Ch. 19, lost to Grass Wonder); estimated winnings: 21.32 (2nd place G1) + 15.14 (2nd place G2) + 16.21 (1st place Open) + 6.00 (1st place Debut) + 5x6.46 (5x 2nd place Open) = 90.97 million yen.
King Halo - 3 wins / 3 starts, Debut (10/5/97) - Pre-Open (10/25/97) - G3 (11/15/97); winnings = 48.75 million yen.
El Condor Pasa - 1 win / 1 start, Debut (11/8/97); winnings = 6 million yen.
Special Week - 1 win / 1 start, Debut (11/29/97); winnings = 6 million yen.
Seiun Sky, Tsurumaru Tsuyoshi - will not debut until 1998; 0 yen.

I suspect that Shirogane will run the "Hopeful Stakes" next, as the longest (2000m) graded race for Junior Year at this time. In 1997, however, said race is (1) known as the "Radio Tampa Hai Sansai Stakes", (2) only a G3 instead of a G1, and (3) held in Hanshin instead of Nakayama. The 2024 Umamusume anime movie plays fast and loose with this by pretending that the 2000-edition race was always the G1 Hopeful Stakes while still depicting the race as occuring in Hanshin instead of Nakayama, but the author has so far stuck with IRL 1997 details.

IRL, out of a field of 14, King Halo ran Pace Chaser (P6->P3) and placed 2nd, Bold Emperor changed tactics, also ran Pace Chaser (around P4) and placed 4th (and is the only one that ran both this race and the Asahi Hai), Lord Ax ran Late Surger (around P9) and wins, and Mori Survival was the pace setter that led all the way until the end (P1), placing 3rd.

Story-wise, this is an opportunity to have Shirogane and King Halo face off, as well as see Bold Emperor's reactions as she gets the murder-pony experience for the first time, running next to Shirogane while Shirogane marks Mori Survival. No way Mori Survival survives to place on the podium. Shirogane and Bold Emperor facing off four times in one year, where they each have at least one finish ahead of the other, could also elevate Bold Emperor from minor character to supporting character.

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Despite running twice as many races, she's made less than Grass. Shiro will probably only overtake Grass in earnings after she retires, considering the vast difference between the prize money for 1st and 2nd place and lower. I also wonder how many races there are where Shiro ends up nuking the frontrunner position, and if that results in other trainers deciding to move their trainees to different strategies.

Completely unrelated, but: goofy nicknames, both in-umaverse and for an IRL horse Shirogane. Goldship has Golshi Warp and La Creatura for two of his more weird nicknames based off his racing style and his general antics. Since it's been mentioned before that Shirogane would seem like a well-behaved horse off the track while being an absolute demon in the starting gates, surely keiba fans would come up with some strange nicknames for her.

Silver Eagle might be something that an announcer comes up with in the heat of the moment during a race, or perhaps something one of her jockeys says when describing her performance in a post-race interview, but it sounds too dignified for the absolute oddball that Shirogane is. Something that better reflects her intimidation factor (but only in races for some reason), her unnatural stillness and maybe what would seem like her ability to understand and converse with people in as much as a horse can communicate without the ability to speak. She would definitely be the kind of horse with interesting habits and behavior that would have a lot of fans and just draw a lot of interest in general.

Maybe Steady Distance had the right idea with Terminator, even if it is a little similar to Mihono Bourbon's Cyborg. Terminator... Professor? For how long she ends up running and how smart she seems. Or maybe Shirogane does particularly well on a certain racecourse, Kyoto for example since it has the two long distance G1s, so something like: 3 Minute Express/Yodo Line/Shirogane Shinkansen or something to that effect. Cause she's like a train; you roughly know when she's going to arrive at the finish line and she's always on time.

Or maybe something like Ai's Kyuukanba nickname, since the -gane part of Shirogane can also be read as kane, meaning money...?

During the infamous "horse-trading" livestream, her owners set up a tablet with a trading app. They'd read out stock names and prices, then turn to her stall and ask:

"Buy or sell?"

She'd respond by tapping her left hoof for "buy" or her right hoof for "sell." Her picks were eerily accurate, it was almost like she could understand the financial news being read aloud on the morning TV.

The viewers started calling her "Buy Oru-zeru" as a joke.

I mean it's a little rough since I don't think Japanese grooms would talk to their horses in English, but it's all I could think of that involves her name in any way. Also its funny to imagine Horse Shirogane reinvesting her prize money into the stock market.

Also here's the progress on the comic so far, for the first panel.

Spoiler: lunaticmonster WIP

 

[Jadalier Rune]

I mean it's a little rough since I don't think Japanese grooms would talk to their horses in English, but it's all I could think of that involves her name in any way. Also its funny to imagine Horse Shirogane reinvesting her prize money into the stock market.

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No no, they are talking in Japanese. You're just translating for them! lol.

 

[Vadelent]

Silver Eagle might be something that an announcer comes up with in the heat of the moment during a race, or perhaps something one of her jockeys says when describing her performance in a post-race interview, but it sounds too dignified for the absolute oddball that Shirogane is.

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I mean, as soon as someone translates it the likelihood is that that's all she'll be known as to the layperson. Ya know, like famous actors who become the face of a certain character. Most people will remember what they played as before they remember and or learn the name of the actual person.

 

[Tonyloco]

For the nicknames, people would take everything they know and see about her, from how she acts inside and outside the races, her size and how she dances and sings at the end of her races.
The fact that while she seems to be very constant on her races but other Uma's have very different outcomes when racing her (some probably doing way better and others way worse than usual)

Some ideas for them

The Terminator nickname fits but I don't think they will use it like that, more like a joke like Chibinator, Ms Roboto.

The silver standard/rule could be used when describing others racing her, something like lets see how this new racers measure up to the silver Standard or Silver Tax.

The opponent Umas who don't know her well would have a more serious nickname for her like the Pale one or Shi, sine Umas tend to be very superstitious and in their world that actually makes sense.

And her hard fans and followers would loom for some cute or awkward nickname to make her more endearing.