Chapter 278.
Click!
The starting gates snapped open in unison, and all eighteen Uma Musume surged forward onto the turf.
Mejiro Dober didn't hesitate.
She carved fiercely through the pack, slipping past the Run for the Dream and GodinChief duo to secure a prime cruising position on the inside lane.
Meanwhile, Mejiro Victoria—who had boldly declared she would dictate the pace—launched from the outermost gate.
Completely disregarding the positional disadvantage, she unleashed a blinding sprint on the outside, sweeping past the pack to hug the rail. By the time they crossed the grandstand for the first time, she had successfully wrestled the lead.
Currently sitting in fifth, Mejiro Dober shifted into a cruising rhythm. Remembering Ann's instructions from Thursday, she prepared to dismantle her opponents with a classic leading strategy.
"Dober-senpai secured a great spot. A strong leading position won't be a disadvantage in this race."
Tokai Teio observed, standing beside Shuta Ann in the trainer's box.
"But that other Mejiro girl is fighting so aggressively for the front. Won't she drag the pace up too high?"
Kurofune asked nervously.
"No, she won't." Shuta Ann replied, completely unfazed. "She isn't built to set a blistering pace. She might look aggressive out of the gate, but she'll throttle back soon."
"Besides." Taiki Shuttle tilted her head in confusion, "the Mejiro family wouldn't sabotage the retirement race of their own star, would they?"
Clearly, Taiki didn't understand the Mejiro family dynamics. Despite Shuta Ann being the Mejiro family's trusted "son-in-law." if Mejiro McQueen were retiring and Tokai Teio was eligible to run, Teio would absolutely take the turf just to "liven up the atmosphere."
The first turn of the Queen Elizabeth II Cup sat 404 meters from the gates.
Mejiro Victoria cleared the 400-meter mark in a brisk 23.8 seconds.
It looked like the prelude to a high-speed shootout. However, Run for the Dream, chasing in second, refused to press the issue.
Happy to oblige, Victoria immediately braked upon entering the first bend, and Run for the Dream mirrored her.
With a monster like Mejiro Dober looming in the rear view, none of the front-runners wanted to drain their stamina early. Dober's endurance was peerless; a war of attrition meant certain defeat for the other seventeen girls on the track.
To ensure everyone had the stamina to challenge Dober's explosive final leg, Victoria intentionally suppressed the pace, leading the pack at a crawl toward the backstretch.
"The pace is dropping, just as Trainer predicted."
Kurofune noted sharply.
"With the race developing this slowly, everyone will have full tanks for the final sprint."
Taiki Shuttle said, eyes glued to the JumboTron.
"So where will Dober choose to make her move?"
"The final corner." Shuta Ann interjected. "It's a downhill slope. The others lack the core control to accelerate safely there, but Dober won't have an issue."
"Well, Dober has run so many tracks. Her vast experience gives her the edge."
Taiki nodded sagely.
"Exactly."
Shuta Ann agreed, though he felt a sudden twinge of guilt. He firmly believed Dober's flawless body control wasn't born strictly from race experience, but rather from the rigorous variety of 'nightly activities' they shared.
As the pack crossed the 1200-meter marker, the screen flashed the passing time for the first kilometer: 1:01.0.
"Goodness, sixty-one seconds for the first thousand meters—that's crawling!" Tokai Teio's eyes widened. "Senpai really needs to break out early."
Down on the turf, Mejiro Dober was already shifting gears. Hugging the rail, she watched the four girls ahead relentlessly marking each other—which ironically left a pristine, unobstructed lane right down the middle.
If Run for the Dream doesn't drift, I'll launch when there are 600 meters left.
Dober calculated.
They're stalling, thinking I'll wait for the final straight to sprint like they will. If I fire my engines 400 meters early, they won't be able to stop me.
The latter half of Kyoto Racecourse's backstretch featured the infamous Yodo Slope. As the pack hit the incline, the overall pace naturally dropped as the runners conserved energy. But Dober, whose hill-climbing strength was unmatched, refused to brake. She maintained her flat-ground cruising speed, aggressively chewing up the turf.
Approaching the final bend, Dober seamlessly climbed the ranks: fifth to fourth, fourth to third. Only Run for the Dream and Victoria remained.
"MEJIRO DOBER IS MOVING UP! IS SHE GOING TO UNLEASH HER FINAL LEG HERE?! THERE ARE STILL 800 METERS LEFT TO THE FINISH LINE!"
The commentator's voice boomed over the roar of the stadium.
"THE LEADERS CLEARLY DIDN'T EXPECT A SPRINT THIS EARLY! THEY'RE PAYING THE PRICE FOR THEIR CONFIDENCE! MEJIRO DOBER IS CHANGING HER STRIDE!"
Tuning out the deafening noise, forgetting the rivals fading beside her, Dober focused entirely on the path ahead. She sharpened her willpower into a blade, ready to carve the turf apart.
Miles away in the Mejiro estate, Mejiro McQueen leaped from the couch, her eyes locked on the live broadcast.
"This is it! Just like the Autumn Tenno Sho!"
McQueen cried out, unable to contain her excitement.
"Dober has entered that state again!"
Back in the trainer's box, Shuta Ann gripped the railing.
"She's in the Zone again. But there are still over 700 meters left. Can she sustain that level of focus all the way to the wire on willpower alone?"
Tokai Teio remained perfectly still, silently gazing at Dober's fierce silhouette, wondering what her senior was feeling in that solitary world of speed.
Meanwhile, Taiki Shuttle and Kurofune were practically jumping out of the stands.
"DOBER-CHAN! SENPAI! GO! GO! BLOW RIGHT PAST THEM!"