On the way to a promised meeting, at a promised place, the trainer’s mind can’t help but think back to a time not too long ago.
Childhood memories of moving to a new place and meeting the neighbors and their daughter.
“Um…….. I’m Buu-chan. ………..nice to meet you, yeah?”
Buena Vista’s legacy doesn’t follow one specific pattern I can summarize in a single blurb, we actually have to see her parentage to give a proper idea to the weight of her accolades. Though by that metric I guess one way you could describe her career is “a daughter that chased the legacy of her family”.
Her mother is Biwa Heidi. She was a contemporary of Air Groove‘s that actually won a race against her early on. But she’s remembered arguably the most for being the last filly before Vodka to even attempt the Nihon Derby. And even though she ended up in 13th place, she tried something Air Groove didn’t, even though trainer Yuuji Ito said very early about Air Groove that “if she was a colt she’d be a Derby contender”.
So what if Biwa Heidi was bred with an actual Nihon Derby winner?
Buena Vista’s father is Special Week. His post-retirement breeding bookings had lowered since the first crop wasn’t particularly successful, but after Cesario and Inti Raimi (not included in the game but while not a winner of big races managed things like second place against Deep Impact in the Nihon Derby) had great showings the bookings rose back up. It was during this period that they tried to breed Biwa Heidi with Special Week instead of Agnes Tachyon.
By the way, for those curious, yeah: Biwa Heidi was owned by the same owner as Biwa Hayahide, but Biwa Heidi was around when the farm went bankrupt and owner Isamu Nakajima died, meaning she was moved to Northern Farm (same farm that owned Still In Love) by the time Buena Vista was born.
Ultimately, Buena Vista (Whose name means “Great View/Scenery” by the way) was purchased by Sunday Racing (same entity that owned Gentildonna) and trained by Hiroshi Matsuda specifically (he didn’t train anyone else in the cast but trained Admire Vega’s mother Vega). And expectations were already sky high for her from day one. Around the time of the purchase, her half brother Admire Aura (Biwa Heidi’s piece with Agnes Tachyon) was making a splash in the Kyoto Kinen and Yayoi Sho but even then Matsuda was sure Buena Vista had more potential than her brother.
Hell, Buena Vista’s training before debut was so good that it was said that she made Daishi Plan (a descendant of Taiki Shuttle that was one of the favorites for the 2008 Kikuka Sho) “look like a child”.
Sidenote, Daishi Plan lost that Kikuka Sho to Oaken Bruce Lee, the generally accepted inspiration for Bitter Glassรฉ in-game. Which would make Glassรฉ a Jungle Pocket descendant incidentally.
These expectations then ran into the issue that Buena Vista lost her debut race in third place. However, it’s accepted that it was one hell of a third place to nab. First place winner Unrivaled would go on to be the winner of the next Satsuki Sho, and even fourth place Three Rolls became the next Kikuka Sho winner (for those curious the 2009 Nihon Derby was won by Logi Universe, one of Neo Universe’s descendants).
She had another maiden race attempt the next month and won first place, however.
One problem: Buena Vista had an existing fetlock inflammation (the fetlock is roughly analogous to a horse’s wrist) and that debut race exacerbated it. It left up in the air her immediate racing prospects but they decided to enter her into the Hanshin JF anyways.
That year the Hanshin JF had 32 applicants. A lottery was held to basically be a tiebreaker among the 17 applicants that could qualify for having 4 million yen in prize money to their name, and among the 6 that were picked for that specific round of lottery Buena Vista made it.
Even though she had a slow start, the rest of the race was marked by a very confident racing pace to the end. Having won this race meant that Buena Vista was the first horse to have a Mother-Daughter victory in the Hanshin JF ever since the race became fillies-only in 1991.
This wouldn’t be the first one of these accolades.
As if sensing the pattern with Biwa Heidi, reporters asked if there was interest in Buena Vista following on Vodka’s steps and running the Nihon Derby, but they said they intended to follow the regular Triple Tiara rotation instead, wanting to aim for longer races since Buena Vista’s consistent pacing would really shine there.
At the end of her debut year of 2008, Buena Vista was rated 110 points in the JPN Throughbred Rankings. This surpassed Tall Poppy (the Hanshin JF winner of the year before and this year’s Oaks winner) and even surpassed Vodka’s own rating of 108 (as you’ll remember, Vodka won the Hanshin JF against Aston Machan). In fact, last time a filly was rated 110 points was Yamakatsu Suzuran in 1999 (that year’s Hanshin JF winner).
The first race she was entered in 2009 was the Tulip Sho, the test run for the Ouka Sho. Buena Vista was easily the most popular in that race, in fact, her win prediction of 72.3% is the highest the Tulip Sho has ever seen. She won, beating Sakura Mimosa in the process.
During the Ouka Sho is when we see another horse enter Buena Vista’s legacy. As the Vodka comparisons intensify the more her career goes on, it was only fitting for Buena Vista to have a Triple Tiara rival. Enter stage left: Red Desire, descended from Manhattan Cafe. The parallels were extra noteworthy because not only was Buena Vista’s main jockey at this point Katsumi Ando (Daiwa Scarlet’s only jockey), but Red Desire would go on overseas expeditions with Vodka later.
But the stage was set and two second-generation Sunday Silence descendants faced against each other.
Buena Vista won by half a length, this was extra important because it meant that Buena Vista was on a win streak of 4 races by now. Comments from Katsumi Ando are interesting because he showed a lot of trust on Buena Vista herself, letting her do her thing for plenty of stretches of the race.
Her next race was the Oaks, the 70th one in fact. Buena Vista’s win prediction of 57.9% was the fifth highest the race had ever seen and it was one hell of a race, but as if continuing the pattern of Fives, this became Buena Vista’s fifth consecutive victory.
It was close though, literally by a nose. Katsumi Ando outright said that it was probably Buena Vista’s own strength that made the difference in the end. Which would actually make her closer to Special Week than it might seem at first glance.
Buena Vista’s staff considered the posibility of making a French expedition if she proved herself in the Ouka Sho and the Oaks, so they made their intent public after this victory, even paying the entry fee for the race. It was also decided for Buena Vista to travel alone and stay with the overseas trainer rather than bringing extra companion horses.
Plans were made, a schedule was planned. They intended for races to be held as close to the trip as possible to minimize downtime. They also entered Buena Vista in the Sapporo Kinen as a test run, where her presence alone brought extra attention to the race. Sadly Buena Vista lost this particular race and the plans changed. Despite the upfront payment they decided to instead stay in Japan and chase the rest of the Triple Tiara.
But this was the start of a brief crashout arc for Buena Vista.
Red Desire finally got a Tiara victory at the Shuuka Sho, where Buena Vista ended up third.
She ended up third again in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup against Queen Spumante and also TM Precure OH MY GOD TM PRECURE FINALLY BECAME RELEVANT TO ONE OF THESE POSTS HOLY SHIT.
2009 closed on a slightly bittersweet note. On one hand she was second most popular behind Vodka to participate in the Arima Kinen, on the other she lost the Arima Kinen… on the third hand it was only second place and it was against Dream Journey.
This Arima Kinen also marked a change in jockey, as Katsumi Ando was replaced with Norihiro Yokoyama (Seiun Sky and Sakura Laurel’s jockey).
The same ranking I mentioned earlier still put her as the best three-year filly of the year, actually tying Vodka on the same year she won the Nihon Derby.
Unlike another crashout arc I mentioned not too long ago, however, Buena Vista would get out of this slump.
At the start of 2010, considerations were made for Buena Vista to participate in Dubai and she ended up with an invite to the Dubai Sheema Classic. With this in mind, they decided to run the Kyoto Kinen, see how she performed, and decide on her participation afterwards. As it so happens, Dream Journey was also participating in the Kyoto Kinen so it would double as a revenge match of sorts.
Buena Vista won, not only taking a victory from Dream Journey, not only being the first filly to win since Wako Chikako in 1995, but also being the first brother-sister victory alongside Admire Aura.
This wouldn’t be the last of these accolades either.
The victory was the confirmation they needed and so they headed for Dubai. But unlike the plans they made for France, Buena Vista wouldn’t travel alone. Laurel Guerreiro (2009’s Takamatsunomiya Kinen and Sprinter Stakes Winner) would run on the Dubai Golden Shaheen the same day as Buena Vista’s Dubai Sheema Classic, and Glorious Noah (a dirt runner contemporary with Transcend) would run in the Godolphin Mile.
For this race the saddle was offered to Christophe Soumillon (Lucky Lilac’s jockey in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup) but he had a prior commitment so the saddle was given to Olivier Peslier (who took Zenno Rob Roy to his Senior Triple Crown).
By the way, Soumillon’s prior commitment was that he was going to be the jockey of RED DESIRE! IN DUBAI!! ON THE SAME DAY!!! Different race, though.
They travelled to Dubai via Singapore and Buena Vista ended up second in her own race by three quarters of a length.
Red Desire and Buena Vista would face each other in the next Victoria Mile, where Buena Vista’s win prediction of 55.3% was the highest in that race’s history and her jockey would be Norihiro Yokoyama again. Ultimately she would win and Red Desire would end in 4th place.
Yokoyama commented that her condition was a bit stiff but she was a great horse and looked forwards to being her jockey for a long time.
Buena Vista would lose the Takarazuka Kinen next to Nakayama Festa, prompting the saddle to change to Christophe Soumillon.
…I use this comedic timing to hide the fact that the real reason Yokoyama couldn’t continue was that he fell from a horse in a different race suffering injuries that included spinal cord injury and skull fracture. Don’t worry, he recovered and ran for a few more years since.
Buena Vista’s next race was the Autumn Tenno Sho, which marked her first victory in a G1 race against male horses.
Next came the Japan Cup. She had seemingly won to the point that Soumillon did a victory lap, but it was determined that due to obstructions, Buena Vista would be demoted to second place, giving Rose Kingdom the victory.
Last in the Senior Triple Crown was the Arima Kinen against Victoire Pisa. This race was so close that after the finish neither Soumillon nor Christophe Lemaire (Victoire Pisa’s jockey) went to the victory paddocks and just dismounted elsewhere. Ultimately the victory was awarded to Victoire Pisa after six minutes of deliberation.
Remember those end-of-year rankings I’ve been bringing up? This year Buena Vista got 121 points, making her the highest-scored filly in those rankings.
The next year opened with plans to participate in the Dubai World Cup. Buena Vista traveled with Transcend and Victoire Pisa, who were running in the same race, and also Rulership who was running the Dubai Sheema Classic (the same one Buena Vista attempted last time, if you’ll remember).
Victoire Pisa won that race, with Buena Vista ending 8th.
Another Takarazuka Kinen was considered after it, but with her good condition they decided instead to try the Victoria Mile again, where the saddle would change (from now until retirement) to Yasunari Iwata (Vodka’s jockey during the Yasuda Kinen and Unrivaled’s jockey during the Satsuki Sho). She lost the race to Apapane, the 2010 (and by extension only third ever after Still In Love) Triple Tiara winner.
She got enough votes that she was invited to the Takarazuka Kinen again but she lost second place against Earnestly (fittingly, a descendant of Grass Wonder).
Buena Vista still had good enough a performance that she was invited to the Autumn Tenno Sho despite not running the preliminary races. There she lost 4th place to Tousen Jordan.
But this is where the echoes of her blood would come back.
Her next race was the Japan Cup, it was the first time ever where she wasn’t the most popular to win (she got second place instead). That position would be granted instead to Danedream, a German horse and winner of the Prix de l’arc de Triomphe.
And so, Buena Vista found herself in the same position Special Week did over 10 years ago. Running the Japan Cup against a foreign horse that defeated one of her contemporaries overseas. THAT’S RIGHT, Nakayama Festa’s last race, the 2011 Prix de L’arc de Triomphe was a race he lost against Danedream.
Buena Vista first shared an accolade with her mother, then with her half brother, and now winning the Japan Cup against Danedream and Tousen Jordan she had earned an accolade to share with her Father. Buena Vista and Special Week are the first father-daughter duo to have won the Japan Cup, and not only that, Buena Vista was recognized as the first filly to ever win the Japan Cup two years in a row even if she was pushed to second from obstructions last year.
Buena Vista retired as she deserved, in the Arima Kinen, where she lost against that year’s Triple Crown winner Orfevre. A retirement ceremony was held afterwards, where she paraded with the sash she won in the Japan Cup.
During the ceremony, many noticed Buena Vista had tears in her eyes. Hard to say what was going through the horse’s mind, but it sure fit the mood of everyone watching the proceedings. A tearful goodbye to an amazing career.
So the first impulse on how to adapt Buena Vista would be to capitalize on the parallels with Special Week, particularly given the Japan Cup part of it.
The problem with this is that unlike Special Week who had expectations but had to prove himself, Buena Vista had high expectations from the get-go. And yet it’s hard to not see her story in a similar light to Special Week as fair as Main Character vibes go, right?
A main heroine, but the really popular type, someone that’s basically the school’s idol or at that caliber, and yet due to existing relationships or contrivances she’s always close to the player to make the plot happen.
She’d have to be like…
Like…
Strap in bitches, it’s gonna be One Of Those posts…
Buena Vista’s scenario is interesting in that it’s the only one so far where the trainer and the trainee have an existing and long-standing previous relationship. Basically, unlike with Curren Chan who had a fateful reencounter with the trainer, Buena Vista and her trainer are childhood friends in close enough terms to visit each other at home and whatnot.
Her introduction chapters set up the specific kind of romantic scenario we’re dealing with off the bat. In their childhood days Buu-chan was a crybaby and her neighbor, her onii-chan/onee-chan, was always there for her. It was the sort of devotion where they would be willing to walk into the rain and get soaking wet just to get Buu-chan an umbrella so SHE wouldn’t get wet. This always made Buu-chan promise that she would grow up to be big and reliable so they wouldn’t need to worry so much about her.
But likewise, seeing her run is what inspired Buu-chan’s neighbor to become a trainer. When they told Buena that they were looking for the Trainer license and that they wanted to be able to train Buena specifically, it became a motivator for Buena to get into Tresen. A very “let’s get get into Tokyo University together” sort of promise.
And so the day came. Buena got into Tresen, her neighbor is now a trainer… and now they’re both discovering a side of each other that they weren’t aware of. For the trainer, Buena had just improved so much when it came to running but also she was… a young lady, a very composed and charismatic one, she wasn’t the young crybaby anymore but a budding woman. Likewise Buena was seeing her neighbor as a consumate professional, the shades of her gentle neighbor were still there, but now they were so serious also…
Complexes also arose as a result, Buena Vista wanted to prove that she was deserving of such a good trainer, but also the trainer didn’t want to corner Buena into feeling forced to training with them, in part from the simple respect of “you should choose” but also from feeling like she was so good she probably deserved someone better as a trainer.
This all came to its tipping point during an exhibition race that also featured Scarlet and Vodka. The race where Buena Vista wants to prove herself to her trainer. Like in the real world, she ends up third, and unlike the real world (I assume, at least) throws a tantrum. She wanted to win so badly! Why now out of every possible time did she have to lose!
She wanted to show them and to everyone in the crowd the heights she can reach with her trainer, that together they can be so dazzling and impressive…
At this point it becomes clear that despite how much things have changed, they’ve also remained the same. Buena Vista is still the crybaby Buu-chan that depends on her neighbor. But she’s also kept her promise of growing up to be dependable.
Her captivating running, all of her practice, it’s all been because of her neighbor, for wanting to captivate THEM, to run for THEM, to be dazzling for THEM. They’ve always been there for her, putting up with her, having fun with her, making sacrifices for her even though being an Uma Musume she’s the most physically resillient one of the two. Hell, they even became a trainer FOR HER…
She’s been able to push so far because she’s always kept them in their heart and so…
The trainer feels left behind again, this amazing girl had everything figured out long before them.
It’s so obvious now, they cannot deny how they feel for each other. The trainer decides it’s now or never, they have to tell Buena Vista-….
But before they can say anything else, she puts her finger on their lips.
She asks for a single thing: Don’t say it now, instead let’s take it from the top. No more flailing around confused.
And so they meet again, at the same promised spot. The trainer plainly asks Buena if she would sign the contract to be their trainee…
As another game once said… The confession is just the prologue.
Once you get to training her introduction gives you the cliff notes of her character. A dazzling racer whose slender frame belies her power, a great student, someone so emotional she’ll tear up because a teacher praised one of her friends.
A popular girl described by many as an “expensive flower”. And yet she only has eyes for her Trainer, her childhood friend. They sign the contract so they can start the Twinkle Series and it all has the vibe/subtext of like… signing a marriage form basically.
While the introduction is basically a truncated version of the kizuna episodes, they also serve to establish that the main overtone of the story will be that push and pull between “Buena Vista and her trainer” and “Buu-chan and her neighbor”, the people they’ve become coexisting with the people they were.
In terms of other relationships, Buena Vista gets along predictably with Cesario (another Special Week descendant) while looking up to Special Week, in fact one of the objectives that is mentioned in her introduction is the Japan Cup (as it is the race of hers that Buena saw with her trainer), but she dismisses it as being too lofty when she hasn’t even debuted.
One encounter before debut with Special Week reveals Buena Vista has a whole page dedicated to her in a magazine, down to speculating what races she might go through. While mention is made of the Triple Tiara, Special Week comments on how the tiara rotation has seen shake ups lately. Specifically bringing up Sweep Toushou winning the Takarazuka Kinen and Vodka winning the Nihon Derby, or even Daiwa Scarlet winning the Arima Kinen.
Hilariously, Special Week is the one that’s like “Sorry I assumed you’d go for the tiara since you have that sort of heroine energy.”
Buena decides on the Triple Tiara for a very interesting reason, though. While she’d like to chase the Triple Crown like Special Week (remember: within the game it’s purely a matter of branding instead of gender), she’d like to instead chase the Triple Tiara and be part of all the moldbreakers that Spe-chan brought up.
Maybe there’s a reason everyone feels like that’s the route she’ll take, who knows…
Her debut race feels like a combination of both of her debuts, particularly since the story makes note of four other girls alongside Buena that are mentioned in the magazine.
Right before the race Buena remembers how one time when she was tense her neighbor made funny faces to make her laugh… now her trainer is the one that’s nervous and so she makes an attempt at a funny face to lighten the mood.
After the race, something noteworthy is that all of those girls that were mentioned show up to cheer for Buena and wish her luck. An old issue arose during the post-race interview, though. One of the reporters asks if Buena Vista got her trainer based only on them being childhood friends when there was an expectation for a talent like Buena to have someone with more experience.
The trainer could’ve mentioned that they did their due dilligence and had a provisional contract so Buena could see if they were a good trainer. But in an even more fitting answer they just say “Please look forward to my work”.
The trainer is really tempted to make a comment apologizing for not being good enough, but they instead decide to swallow those words and live up to the expectations.
Not like they’re the only one trying to live up to expectations in the room or anything…
Next objective, just like in the real world, will be the Hanshin JF
The whole incident does inspire the trainer to redouble their efforts in improving at their craft, for which they decide to learn more about Buena’s school life. Someone else else has decided to narrate what each of Buena’s classmates is like… enter stage left: Transcend, self-proclaimed infobroker of the academy.
Realizing their own blind spots when it comes to school life, the trainer bites and goes to Transcend for info.
The trainer gets to ask about Buena’s school life, what she’s been into lately, and even how Transcend sees her. The trainer learns a lot from this, like how one time Buena forgot her dictionary and before long there were crowds of people offering theirs, that she’s been into salad bowls at restaurants lately, and that Transcend compares her to the centerpiece of an idol group.
Transcend leaves the trainer with a piece of advice: People look down on them because Buena is an expensive flower, so the trainer should improve themselves bit by bit to that perceived level. So they immediately went to review the latest training session but also trying to read up on other topics.
Trainer’s Knowledge has gone up! (Maybe…)
Then they went through a sample of what an Uma Musume does for training to have a hand-on feeling for it.
Trainer’s Strength has gone up! (…probably).
Afterwards Buena Vista shows up with snacks, not unlike when the trainer was studying to become a trainer. Buena wonders if she was just getting in the way, but the trainer reassures her that it made them happy. Then, knowing that Buena was probably worried about them, they reassure her that they’re fine, that they’d do anything to be worthy of being by their side, and to please just wait for a bit longer while that happens.
…
What you thought the Tokimemo comparison was arbitrary? We have just begun!
In preparation for the Hanshin JF, the trainer gives her a hotel room by the mountains, and that worked fine but on the day of the race they got stuck on the elevator without power for an hour. After they managed to get out there were no cars to take them to the racecourse and the trainer noticed the signs that Buena was getting distressed.
Pursed lips, shallow breaths, signs they’ve known since childhood before the crybaby Buu-chan loses her composure. In a moment of quick thinking, the trainer notices a cablecar nearby and from there a cab was waiting for them to go to the racecourse.
After the race the same reporter that got on their case about their childhood friendship grills the trainer for all the inconveniences that meant they almost didn’t make it. Buena is the one that interjects this time, not only recognizing the reporter but talking about how hard-working her trainer is and how she’s only been able to race so well by learning from their work ethic.
This is enough to sway a couple of the reporters into realizing that maybe their dynamic goes deeper than they thought.
Then, outside of the race, a weird girl talks about how grateful she is that Buena Vista has reached this point, as it will be the perfect way to prove her prowess as a saint.
For the next objective they skipped the Tulip Sho and instead just have the Ouka Sho.
New Years is marked by the trainer spending the day with Buena Vista and her mom, and eventually they go to the nearby elementary school for some caligraphy practice. Buena Vista brings her old caligraphy set… which turns out to be a hand me down from her neighbor. In fact, Buena Vista’s name sticker is set gently besides the old name sticker, as if not wanting to cover it.
They meet some fans that talk to her about a voting site where everyone is showing their high expectations for Buena Vista in the Triple Tiara. A comment is also made about the L’arc, but then she wouldn’t be able to be in the Shuuka Sho.
Back at the academy, they run across Red Desire who comments on Buena’s radiance and says “may the three jewels sparkle every day” and it takes Buena a beat to realize Desire meant the Triple Tiara.
The race goes ahead with no problem, Buena isn’t as stiff as she was before, and after victory even the reporters seem to not look down on her trainer. That’s when Red Desire interrupts to make a declaration… That she is a saint that ended up in the wrong world, but she must nonetheless do as a saint must and overcome her trials, and her trial is Buena Vista.
Backstage, Buena gets emotional about the idea that Desire ended up in the wrong world, and how sad it must feel…
Have I mentioned that Buena Vista is Special Week’s daughter?
…have I mentioned that Red Desire is Manhattan Cafe’s daughter?
Next objective is the Oaks, and Red Desire’s impromptu promo is making everyone excited, comparison to the rivalry between Scarlet and Vodka are thrown around. Everyone’s excited to see Buena in the race, some other participants even being frustrated at the “heroine vibe” she’s giving off… and the only one able to take some of that spotlight away is Red Desire, who gives a sermon about how many have given up their dreams before the Oak, and how this is a blessing as the conditions are more favorable to her. The sermon enrapturing Buena to the point she could swear she saw Cafe as Desire talked about “the person she admired most”.
I love the scene because then Buena fights back that the person SHE admires most (Special Week) shone brightest in that exact same distance, and this gets Red Desire excited from what I’m assuming is someone actually playing along with her.
After the race, Red Desire figures something about Buena. At first she claimed Buena was a Weiss Spirit while Desire was a Schwarz Spirit… except that during the race she realized they’re the same, and as such she must adapt. Notably despite her eccentric behavior, seeing her completely unbroken and unfaltering serves as an inspiration for the same competitors that were getting overwhelmed by the “heroine vibe” earlier.
But Buena isn’t falling behind, the excitement from the crowd seems to feed her. Despite this, her trainer catches onto the signs that she might cry but nothing seems to happen.
Next comes the Shuuka Sho… but first! Summer Camp. Another encounter with Red Desire, another episode of Buena’s anxiety tells… but they quickly realize that what’s probably happening is that Buena is reacting to Desire’s determination, something Buena compares to a flame spreading bit by bit.
Buena seems to be overdoing it and her trainer is having none of it. To which her trainer just drops the comment of “Hey, wanna go to Hokkaido?” Buena says yes before realizing what she just said yes reflexively to.
They meet up with Special Week, and when Buena is skeptic of what’s going on, her trainer points to how Buena’s nails have been digging into her palms, she’s been anxious without realizing and her trainer just asks her to trust them on this.
After summer training we also see Red Desire having a similar encounter with Cafe, someone that knows all too well the feeling of chasing something always slightly out of reach.
The Shuuka Sho has the eyes of a lot of people, with even Dream Journey showing up to the race to see “the center of this era”. Buena meets up with Desire and both declare to each other how they must not lose. For the view beyond their eyes. For the world to come.
Win or lose, Buena has garnered the attention of very powerful people. And now that the Tiara rotation is over she can move onto those moldbreaking races she’s wanted to try. With that in mind, while Japan Cup is in their radar, they decide to try the Arima Kinen next.
They did stop to see the next Japan Cup. One where Red Desire lost to Vodka. This inspires Buena Vista, that’s the sort of dazzling victory she’s aiming for, having seen Special Week and now Vodka win.
Come Arima Kinen, Buena’s main rival is Dream Journey, who makes comments about how Buena is swayed like a little girl and yet she possesses a really strong core, wondering also what sights might await Journey if she beats Buena.
Buena’s response is to… ask Journey is she wants to take a deep breath with her. She seems very excited and we all better be in top shape for such an important race, right?
This completely disarms Journey.
Win or lose, Buena ends up completely overwhelmed by the energy of the crowd, prompting Journey to help her get to a dressing room to unwind. She tells Buena that she will surely be the star of next year too, but warns her that the racing world is always in flux and she would do well in being careful not to get caught in a storm… to which Buena says that even if she is, she trusts there’ll be someone to help her get out of it. Journey leaves adding a comment to “be careful of muddy ground”.
They decide to tackle the Victoria Mile next.
It’s the start of a new year and Buena can barely walk around without crowds gathering around her, needing, prompting them to go to an old temple close to her house where they used to play hide n seek as kids.
On the way back they meet up with Nakayama who tells the trainer that they should hold Buena’s hand because she gets lost a lot on her own, to the point where Nakayama wondered if she was there from getting lost yet again. This is also where Nakayama makes it known she has her eyes on racing against Buena this year.
By the way, during the lottery pull in January, she says for her and her trainer to pull at the same time.
Cut to Valentine’s Day. Buena has been gifting chocolates to her trainer every year and this year she wanted to make something special but not too exaggerated so Eishin Flash taught her to make a black forest cake. Afterwards Buena can be seen listless, her trainer was happy so why did she feel so… off?
Enter stage left infobroker Transcend and she has brought trendsetter Viblos with her this time around! Viblos immediately recommends a commercial area redesigned to look like Dubai, with Buena commenting on how she’d love to go someday. During this she admits that her feelings have grown more and more, and she worried if that came through in this year’s chocolate. It’s said so casually too, like this is something that can and should be assumed, like that line was crossed long long ago.
AHEM
During Fan Thanksgiving, Buena gets in a team with the girls she debuted with… three out of the four at least. The opposing team is Vodka’s, and once again Vodka tries to do a bit only to be disarmed by Buena Vista being earnest to hell and back.
Cut to the Victoria Mile. Not only is Buena Vista at the peak of her popularity but people are actually demanding her trainer to show up more, they also wanna see her trainer. This is also another encounter with Red Desire, whose determination of surpassing Buena Vista remains unchanged.
After the race Desire shares one of her revelations with Buena: She’s about to enter a deep forest, a forest where not even the light comes in. Buena replies that she appreciates how concerned Desire is for her and asks her that when she reaches her new world, to take her along to see it.
Next race is the Takarazuka Kinen. Buena returned to the dorms early and ended up at the wrong dorms by accident. She finds Nakayama who makes it known she will also run that race.
As is tradition by now, Nakayama tries to trash talk, commenting how she’s gonna win and upset the status quo… only for Buena to comment that if Nakayama wins it’s because she’s worked herself to the bone rather than from any plot twist, again, disarming Nakayama in the process.
After the race, an idea intrudes on Buena’s head. She hadn’t finished being in this race and people were already wondering when her next race would be. Would it ever be enough? When is enough? When is she done? She always talks about chasing the beautiful scenery ahead, but does she even know how that looks?
Cut to summer training and Buena has attracted so much media attention that they’re taking extra measures to prevent reporters… except one apparently makes it through and it’s one Orfevre invited only to dismiss immediately after getting bored. Orfe then goes to Buena talking about how her finish speed in the Nihon Derby was faster than Buena’s results… only for Buena in her usual fashion to deescalate the situation and disarm Orfe by excitedly claiming that she sure did! and she cannot wait to face against her.
That Nihon Derby is notorious for how Orfevre won despite the rainy conditions.
…be careful of muddy ground indeed.
This is when Buena reveals her current concern. She knows she cannot be the center of the era forever, times will change, and she must achieve whatever her view is before this happens.
This reaches its zenith after summer training. Buena is invited to an exhibition race. By now the weight of everyone’s expectations has become too much, she wants to tell her trainer this, but what if that disappoints them?
The day of the race comes in, Buena is trying really hard to hide her anxiety, she’s even doing the short breaths her trainer can see from a mile away. Even though she wins, she gets disqualified from obstructions and this destroys her, she cries and cries and keeps crying.
It’s only after all this that she finally tells her trainer how she felt, why she didn’t tell them how she felt. And then she feels some slightly morbid relief in how surely nobody expects anything from her, right? But the trainer then receives an email from a fan, fans wanting to show support to Buena now more than ever. the trainer will be there with them.
When the day of the event comes, Buena wondered… what if nobody comes? But they did, their support showing through. Fans saying than more than winning, they wanted to see Buena smile and more races were the means to see her smile more and more.
The fans then talk with her, an office worker that felt motivated to make amends with a co-worker after seeing Buena and Desire in the Oaks, an underclassman that got motivated to not be overwhelmed after her Arima Kinen display…
This reminded her of the shared energy she felt from the crowd… and it reminded her trainer of Buu-chan’s first victory, that wide-eyed smile and her declarations that if Buu-chan winning made onii-chan/onee-chan smile, then she will win lots.
This timeit’s the trainer that asked her to meet at the place where they once made a contract, where they first met in the school. To take it from the top.
What happened just now happened because despite knowing her most of her life, there were parts of her heart that the trainer couldn’t reach. And so they wanted to make a new contract.
One for life.
From now until the end, the trainer would be by Buena’s side. And as proof of this they gifted her their cherished fountain pen. As long as Buena carries it she will never be alone. After all, their dream started with her.
To this Buena asked the trainer to extend their wrist and she tied one of the ribbons she had in her hair to it.
BY THE WAY HER MODEL LITERALLY CHANGES TO SHOW THAT.
With this renewed vigor they head to the Autumn Tenno Sho, and after winning she recovers that feeling she had, of using everyone’s support as strength. The trainer leaves Buena with Special Week and they have a chat. Special Week remembers how in the end of her Japan Cup race her feelings became more and more intense, and that Buena should focus on the things that have driven her up to this point… which immediately brings to mind images of her trainer.
The Japan Cup has names seen and mentioned until now, Tousen Jordan, Eishin Flash, Win Variation is also there.
The trainer can’t help but think back to when they saw Special Week win that very same race, and now Buena was on the other side of it. Only Buena can race, obviously, but she asks her trainer to take the first step with her.
After the race something else from Buena seems to have infected the crowd as everyone cries and thanks Buena for such an amazing race. Buena then decides she wants to try the Arima Kinen again, she has a feeling that the view she’s chased for so long await her there.
Before that there’s the Christmas event. Transcend stops the trainer and checks their stats, determining that they’ve grown smarter and also they look cute together with Buena. They and Buena exchange gifts, with Buena having knit a whole scarf for her trainer.
Buena’s reliability has increased! (…surely).
The evening ends with Buena talking about how everyone keeps talking about how reliable her trainer is. Such a long way from everyone thinking they only got to train Buena from being childhood friends.
Arima Kinen comes in and for once Buena isn’t the most popular, but rather Orfevre is. Despite this, Buena wants to try something. That day Buena won’t be running for all the fans shouting her name outside, but rather she’ll be running for her trainer. This race is for them. In fact, when the time comes and Orfe starts trash talking, Buena’s reaction is not to disarm. She declares that she cannot afford to lose today, the era will not move on just yet. there is someone that must see her and she won’t let Orfevre get in the way of her radiance.
By the end of the race Buena concedes that Orfe’s light is just that dazzling, that powerful. She will entrust the next era to her… but not yet. In that moment she finds her view, an emotion so strong it goes all the way to her trainer to share.
In that moment of victory, Buena only has one thing to say…
“From now on, allow me to continue to be your breathtaking view…”