The fanfare boomed, a brassy, triumphant sound that was immediately swallowed by the rumbling cheers of the spectators. The noise created waves of pure energy that washed over the track, a surge you could feel in your bones.
[All runners look amazing! They're ready to show their promising talents to everyone here at Kyoto Racecourse on this cloudy afternoon! Can they show their strengths on this 'Good' going track?]
[Kyoto was hit by quite a heavy rain this morning, and the sun is still shy about showing up. But let's hope the runners are still enthusiastic and go all out.]
[I hope so too! Now, the runners are entering the gate. I suggest putting a close eye on Number 8, the race favorite, Copenhagen!]
[Right. A dominant five-length win in her Make Debut and her never-before-seen late kick have surely put her in the other runners' crosshairs. Among them is this girl, Number 2, Meiner Courage, our second favorite.]
[A Frontrunner Umamusume who won her own Make Debut in a wire-to-wire fashion! Can Meiner Courage replicate that run today? But there's still our third favorite who can turn the tables! Number 6, Silver Miracle!]
[She came in second in the Cosmos Sho at Sapporo back in August. Though a bit unlucky that day, her racing sense is impressive. She might just get her first win here.]
[Alright, the gate-in is complete! The 9th race, Kyoto Junior Stakes, 2000 meters clockwise, is about to begin... and they're off!]
The clang of the gates opening was a single, violent sound, followed immediately by another boom of cheers from the grandstand.
The race had begun.
[As expected! It's this Umamusume, Number 2 Meiner Courage, leading the race right out of the gate! She's chased by Number 13 Ambidextrous, on her outside. In the third position, Number 14 Deep Valor, is struggling to hold her spot against Number 7 Royal Kuoh, Number 9 Dearest Gift, and Number 6 Silver Miracle on the railing!]
[The battle for position at the front is still raging as they pass the grandstand for the first time! Behind the fighting fronts, Number 4 Noble Lacquer, and Number 11 Platonic Myths, are patiently stalking them. Two lengths behind, the rear pack is led by Number 3 Golden Arrow, followed by Number 5 Brave Legend, Number 12 Wonder Spirit, and Number 10 Fast Daido. At the very end, Number 1 Admire Kiseki, on the railing and Number 8 Copenhagen, are still observing the race from the back.]
[As they enter the first corner, the frontrunners are keeping their positions. But behind them, Number 7 Royal Kuoh has won the battle for third place and now leads the main pack. Number 14 Deep Valor has positioned herself on the outside of Number 9 Dearest Gift and Number 6 Silver Miracle. And the positions behind are already further stabilized by the first corner... but is the gap between the packs shrinking?]
[It is shrinking. Number 2 Meiner Courage is leading the race with no significant challenge. This makes her the de facto pacesetter. She seems to have a plan in mind.]
[Now, on the second corner, Number 8 Copenhagen, seems to be content observing from the back. In her last race, she made a move quite early, but it seems that's not the case today.]
[It looks like she also has a plan, but with the packs seemingly jumbled, the race will most likely have a slow pace. She'll need to get a better position for the battle on the homestretch.]
[And here they come to the middle of the backstretch! And the race so far is 1 minute and 5 seconds at the 1000m mark! It's really a crawl!]
[Number 2 Meiner Courage, has so far succeeded in keeping the pace slow. She's clearly trying to mitigate the threat of Copenhagen's late kick.]
[And Copenhagen is still leisurely observing from the back! When will she make a move!?]
[She—]
Click.
"There."
A voice from my side pulled me from my depth. I blinked, and the frozen image on the large projection in our team room came into sharp relief.
"The gap between you and the leader was expanding," the Chief said, his finger pointing at the projection where Meiner Courage was beginning to pull away. What he said was true.
"Meiner Courage slowed the pace down until the second corner, then started to pick it up on the backstretch to get away," I explained, my eyes tracing the lines of the runners. "She knew I was weak on the straights."
"Exactly," the Chief said, leaning back in his chair. "She's meticulous. She won her Make Debut with a fast overall pace. We expected her to replicate that run, but she decided to gamble on a slow pace instead. A direct countermeasure against you."
The Kyoto Junior Stakes was yesterday. Today, we were reviewing my race. It was training for my brain while my body recovered. I felt like I could still do a light session, but reviewing yesterday's race was as crucial. There were some things that needed to be addressed.
"That's the thing about being the favorite," the Chief said, "You get more attention. For a G3, even in the Junior year, 1 minute and 5 seconds for the first 1000 meters is a crawl. They really targeted you, Ko-kun. It was different from your Make Debut, which also had a slow pace due to there was no natural frontrunners. Yesterday was a race engineered to neutralize late kickers."
"Affirmative," I agreed. "And I couldn't really move up in the early corners because I had to save endurance to compensate for the uphill run later on the backstretch."
"Yeah, so far, you were sticking to our plan. And you chose the right decision to stick with it," the Chief said, nodding. "Anyway, we have to be ready for more slow-paced races like this in the future."
"You have to refine your Ideal Strides sooner, Ko-chan," Oguri-san added, her comment punctuated by the soft crunch of a rice cake. She was munching on them from a container we kept stocked in the team room, with no sauce... just plain rice cakes.
I nodded. I didn't mind gathering attention, but if the entire field ganged up on me, it would be troublesome. If I was stuck at the back and couldn't make any early moves, one of the only countermeasures for this kind of slow pace was, as Oguri-san said, an even faster final kick. If they wanted to fight me on the last spurt, I just had to accept their challenge head-on. In other words: brute force. I hoped my progress towards Gear Three could be expedited.
"Let's continue," the Chief said and clicked the remote. The image projected onto the white wall started to move, and the dark room flickered along with the change of scenes.
[And here they come to the middle of the backstretch! And the race so far is 1 minute and 5 seconds at the 1000m mark! It's really a crawl!]
[Number 2 Meiner Courage, has so far succeeded in keeping the pace slow. She's clearly trying to mitigate the threat of Copenhagen's late kick.]
[Now the runners are entering the third corner! There will be a downhill for 150 meters before they enter the fourth corner. The packs are jumbled, the gap between the main and the rear pack is close. The race is very vertical!]
[Copenhagen is finally making a move on the downhill! She moves wide, outside the rear pack! She's now in 10th! But wait! Number 1 Admire Kiseki, follows suit! She moves up into 11th!]
[Both Copenhagen and Admire Kiseki have a free reign on the far outside. And with their positions there and the main pack elongated and wide, they've practically cut off the outside lane for the rest of the rear pack.]
[And they're entering the last corner! The rear pack has to find a way to break through this deadlock!]
[If Copenhagen and Admire Kiseki wait until the homestretch, the other late surgers will have no choice but to try and break out through the main packs.]
[But Copenhagen doesn't want to wait—!]
Click.
"I'm not sure whether Admire Kiseki knew about your quirk or if she was just marking you as the favorite," the Chief explained, pointing at the projection, "but this is why your decision not to push earlier on the downhill paid off. She stuck close to your rear, and you got rushed. Your pacing became faster than we had planned."
"Apologies," I said quietly. "Even after all the desensitization I've done, I still can't shake off that feeling." I saw Oguri-san hold out the container of rice cakes to me. Was she offering me her food? Gratitude, Oguri-san. I took one and dipped it into the relatively untouched bowl of chili sauce on the table.
"Don't worry, Ko-chan," she said and nodded with her voice full of confidence. "We will find a way. I believe it!"
"That's right," the Chief added, giving me a thumbs-up. "I'm still researching more ways to deal with it, and I've found some leads that might work. You can rest assured, Ko-kun."
I hoped so. Because this "quirk" wasn't just about my pacing. It was directly connected to my breathing, my instantaneous thinking, and my stamina management. It would be terrible if it got exploited by a savvy opponent.
Once I got rushed, the panicked feeling stuck with me for a long time. It was deeply uncomfortable. At the very least, we had to find a way for me to return to a focused state after I got rushed. If I could refocus sooner, it would mitigate the stamina leakage for the rest of the race.
"Luckily, it happened during the late race and after you decided not to push early," the Chief said with his analytical tone. He clicked the remote, and the race review continued.
[If Copenhagen and Admire Kiseki wait until the homestretch, the late surgers will have no choice but to try and break out through the main packs.]
[But Copenhagen doesn't want to wait! Chased by Admire Kiseki on her tail, she moves up! Triggered by this, the main pack is also starting to wake up! Number 4 Noble Lacquer moves to the outside of the main pack! She's now the outermost runner on the corner!]
[The main pack is crammed! Copenhagen has no choice but to go even further outside! But she'll eat up so much more distance if she does this!]
Click.
The Chief paused the video again, a smirk playing on his lips. "Not only was Number 2 trying to deal with you by setting a slow pace, but the main pack also seemed to reach a consensus to push you outside." He gestured at the frozen screen. "It's true that you covered more distance compared to the other runners, and with your panicked pace being higher than planned, on paper, this should have been a major problem for your stamina. But they didn't get you. Not exactly."
He stood and walked over to the large whiteboard at the side of the projection. On it was a schematic of the Kyoto track. He tapped the fourth corner with a marker. "You can maintain your speed on the corners thanks to your power and your core muscles. You can fight the centrifugal force of fast cornering just fine, while others are forced to slow down. In other words, your speed on the straights and corners is relatively constant, while others have to decelerate and then re-accelerate. You already know that. That's the foundation of your run, Ko-kun."
I nodded. That was how it had always been.
"But here," he continued with a glint in his eye, "the fourth corner at Kyoto has a huge, gentle radius. This means the further outside you are, the gentler the turn becomes. And your panicked run? It was perfect for entering the corner on that outermost lane. You weren't just maintaining your speed here; you were actually accelerating through the turn." He smirked and clicked the remote, continuing the video.
[And she does just that! Oh, she looks panicked! Is she going to be fine!? Is her decision not to make any early moves biting her in the back?]
[It's about time for her to make up a better position. The final stretch is just ahead.]
[That's right—it's Number 6 Silver Miracle! Silver Miracle from the inside makes a move exiting the final corner! She's triggered the entire field with her kick! The final scramble has begun!]
[With all that saved-up endurance from the slow pace, she's decided to spurt early, and the others are reacting as if they were just waiting for the signal!]
[Meiner Courage is still one length ahead upon entering the homestretch! Can she keep it until the finish line!? Can we see another wire-to-wire finish from her?]
[The Kyoto homestretch is only 320 meters long! With fresh legs from the slow pace, it's anybody's game!]
[From the outside, here come Copenhagen and Admire Kiseki! They're already moving up, outside the main pack!]
[Silver Miracle is closing in from the inside, passing Ambidextrous with her kick! Can Meiner Courage maintain her edge!?]
[It's not just between those two! Copenhagen still hasn't given up! With every stride, the gap is closing quickly! And look at her strides! If you're asking how she can do that, I have the same question!]
[200 meters to go, and Copenhagen has already caught up to Meiner Courage and Silver Miracle! She doesn't show any signs of slowing down! She's breaking away from them!]
[Meiner Courage and Silver Miracle are trying to fight back! But it's no use! Copenhagen can't be stopped!]
[Copenhagen is getting away! So strong! Two lengths! Three lengths! Four lengths! The gap just keeps expanding!]
[And goal in! With a vast gap of six lengths, Number 8, Copenhagen, has won the Kyoto Junior Stakes! A monstrous performance from the little monster!]
[Even when the others have fresh legs from the slow pace, they still can't keep up with Copenhagen! Just how fast is she!?]
[In second place is Number 6, Silver Miracle, followed by Number 2, Meiner Courage, in third, a neck behind!]
Click.
The screen went black, plunging the room into a comfortable darkness.
"Hah... we've been training for weeks to hit 68 km/h, and we still just fell short of it," the Chief sighed, a tired but deeply satisfied smirk on his face. "But who would have thought..."
"I also don't know how, Chief," I admitted, my voice quiet. "I was panicking. All I could think about was getting away from anyone behind me. It was also the first time I've ever felt like I was going to collapse after a race."
"You did collapse, Ko-chan," Oguri-san said plainly from the other side of the room.
"Right..." I didn't faint, not exactly, but I remembered the feeling.
My legs had turned to jelly the moment I crossed the finish line, and I'd just... sprawled onto the turf. My lungs and lower body were on fire, my breath coming in ragged, tearing gasps. The feeling was even worse than the early days of my most intense training.
"You really gave me a scare back then," the Chief said, his smile turning a bit wry.
"Apologies, and gratitude for your concern" I said again.
"Still," he continued, his smirk returning, "10.6 seconds on the final furlong and finally! A top speed of 68.1 km/h... you really did it, huh?"
"Just be careful in future races," Oguri-san added in between her munches. "You'll need plans for the many tricks they'll throw at you."
"That's right," the Chief agreed, his tone becoming analytical again. "Objectively speaking, your Ideal Strides are still full of holes. They're undoubtedly fast, but the requirements for them are quite delicate. Your burst acceleration is high, but once you reach your base top speed, it's still not enough to shift into Gear Two. You still need to 'rev up.' And this revving-up process is critical and sensitive. Your way forward needs to be clear, with no disruptions. It can't be done in a touch-and-go situation; you have to accumulate the turnover rate steadily, and if you're disrupted, you have to restart the whole process. But once those requirements are fulfilled... it's only getting faster from there."
Yeah. You could say my Ideal Strides were like an 18-inch naval gun built on a house of cards. The setup was delicate and tedious, but once I succeeded in unleashing it, the result was devastating.
"And what you did yesterday was our plan, plus some chaotic variables," the Chief explained with a tint of excitement in his eyes. "One, you got rushed. Two, you were forced to go far outside on the fourth corner. Three, the track was 'Good.' You were panicked entering that gentle fourth corner, and because of that, you basically ran it at your base top speed. And bam! Once you stepped onto the homestretch, you started to accumulate your turnover rate without needing to wait for Gear One to peak, because you were already there. Add in the deeper grip from the 'Good' going track, and your transition to Gear Two was smoother and quicker. The bounciness of that yielding track although not as good as firm track also further reduced your ground contact time."
"But the most important thing is," I said, looking him in the eye, "can I do it again?"
The Chief smiled and nodded. "That's correct. You don't want it to be a one-and-done, right?"
"Affirmative," I said, my hand instinctively tightening into a fist. "And I still remember the tempo, the feeling of that speed. I believe I can replicate it. No, I have to."
"That's great! The Hopeful Stakes is at the end of the year. Let's reach that speed again before then, roger?"
"Roger that, Sir!"
"Ou! And Oguri, your Winter Dream Trophy is on the 31st of December," the Chief said, turning to her. "Mejiro Ramonu and Maruzensky will be staging their revenge, without a doubt. We're preparing as best as we can, but we won't know until the race ends, so we'd better not let our guard down."
"Un," Oguri-san nodded, her mouth full of food. She looked like a squirrel. A Squirrel Kaiju, huh?
"Alright, next, let's review your Summer DTL," the Chief said.
And so, our tactical training continued. After Oguri-san's Summer DTL, we studied previous Mile DTLs, and the races of Maruzensky and Mejiro Ramonu. We broke down their traits, habits, strengths, and weaknesses. It wasn't that the other runners weren't a threat, as no doubt, they were all incredibly strong, but the priority was those two. I also gained a lot of insight from watching these veterans. Piece by piece, I was selecting the necessary puzzle pieces to develop my own run.
At the very least, if I really couldn't change the foundation of my cannon from a house of cards, then I wanted those cards to be as sturdy and fortified as possible.
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