The second episode of the TBS Sunday Theatre drama "The Royal Family" (Sundays at 9:00 PM), starring Satoshi Tsumabuki, aired on October 19th. The ingenious strategy of the trainer Hironaka, played by Ando Masanobu, caused a storm of emotion.
◇The following contains spoilers
One day, Kozo's (Koichi Sato) eldest son, Yutaro (Kotaro Koizumi), pressures Kozo to disband the horse racing division if he cannot win a race in the JRA by the end of the year. Kozo accepts and tries to get Royal Fight, the most promising horse, to win, but Kozo's forcefulness provokes resistance from the trainer, and they part ways. At Kozo's instructions, Kurisu is forced to quickly find a new trainer for Royal Fight and Royal Izanya, who are both at the same ranch. After many twists and turns, the up-and-coming trainer Hironaka (Ando Masanobu) agrees to take care of both horses. Kozo is initially opposed to Hironaka's clever plan, but reluctantly accepts.
"I think Izanya has a higher chance of winning than Fight." Hironaka's clever strategy was to switch the races of Royal Fight and Royal Izanya, moving Fight to dirt and running Izanya, who had always run on dirt, in a maiden race over 2000 meters on turf, which he had never raced before. In Hironaka's opinion, Izanya's bloodline was strong at 2000 meters. Until then, he had been used in short distances due to concerns about his leg habit, which had not produced results.
When the race began, Izanya was the first to take the lead and made a huge breakaway. He managed to hold off the fierce pursuit of Shiina's (Sawamura Kazuki) horse, Ohn Regis, and the popular "dark horse" Izanya finally achieved his long-awaited victory, completing his mission of achieving his first win in the JRA.
Viewers were moved to tears, saying things like, "This is too much, I'm going to cry," and "Izanya is crying."
