The relay race is 8000 meters long, starting at the entrance to the outer track, with four exchanges at the finish line, the pre-finish steep climb, the heart-stopping steep climb, and the finish line itself.
The first and last runners, Umamusume, run the 2000-meter middle-distance course.
The second runner, Umamusume, runs 1700 meters, the third 1000 meters, and the fourth 1300 meters.
Mejiro McQueen's leading speed this time is very fast, even faster than in yesterday's races against Abyss and Golden Crown Eagle.
Even with Sakura Baimu's enhanced horseshoes, her ability shouldn't have improved so dramatically in such a short time.
Mejiro McQueen's reason for running so fast is, of course, to vent her frustration.
"Since yesterday, Mejiro McQueen has chosen a leading pace for three consecutive races. And each time, she has managed to build a significant advantage in the opening!"
"Could it be that Mejiro McQueen is changing her running style? Is she trying to switch from a pace-chaser to a front-runner?"
"Now, Mejiro McQueen is six lengths ahead of Flying Rabbit!"
Flying Rabbit watched Mejiro McQueen's retreating figure and felt a growing sense of urgency.
If it were a race with many Umamusumes, it wouldn't be so bad.
But in this almost one-on-one relay race, being left so far behind in the opening is truly frustrating.
She knew Mejiro McQueen would lose speed, but she couldn't pinpoint exactly when she would run out of energy.
Therefore, Flying Rabbit had no choice but to pick up the pace in the opening.
"Flying Rabbit is accelerating too!"
"Mejiro McQueen has entered the straight and is heading towards the steep climb!"
"For Mejiro McQueen, a long-distance specialist, the 2000-meter middle-distance race seems like a lot of leeway!"
Soon, Mejiro McQueen reached the top of the steep climb and then charged forward while maintaining her speed.
Most of the Tracen Academy Umamusumes present were already used to Mejiro McQueen's climbing speed.
After being amazed so many times, they were no longer surprised.
However, for the American Umamusume, Mejiro McQueen's climbing technique still caught their attention.
"That posture!!"
Obey Your Master, who had watched Sakura Baimu's race against Golden Crown Eagle the previous night, was stunned to see Mejiro McQueen's climbing technique—which barely sacrificed speed and relied purely on her strong will to withstand the immense pressure—and immediately stood up in astonishment.
"What's wrong, Obey Your Master?" Urban Sea was puzzled by Obey Your Master's excitement.
Mejiro McQueen's climbing technique was impressive, but was it really necessary to be this surprised?
"I knew I'd seen that Umamusume climbing technique somewhere before! It turns out it was the same technique Mejiro McQueen used in her race against Golden Crown Eagle yesterday afternoon!"
Combined with the fact that she had also seen Tokai Teio use the same climbing technique in her race against Abyss's Umamusume the previous day.
Obey Your Master immediately realized that TCB was likely connected to the Umamusume from the previous night.
She directly shouted to the BH Umamusumes who were leisurely waiting for their fourth and fifth batons:
"The Umamusume I told you about this morning, the one who beat Golden Crown Eagle, is probably connected to TCB! Pay attention!"
The two BH Umamusumes were startled upon hearing Obey Your Master's voice.
"Really...really? Obey Your Master, how did you know?!" The fifth baton exchanger, American Durian, shouted at Obey Your Master.
"Their uphill posture is exactly the same!"
"Ah!!!"
The fourth baton exchanger, BH Umamusume Miracle Fantasy, suddenly turned pale and let out a gasp.
"Tokai Teio and Mejiro McQueen are definitely not the Umamusume who beat Golden Crown Eagle last night. Their skills aren't comparable to Golden Crown Eagle's."
"Then Obey Your Master said that the Umamusume has connections with TCB, and that Umamusume, who's in charge of the second and third batters for TCB, is supposedly a newcomer..."
"So the last remaining Umamusume, the Smart Falcon that terrified Lilian from Abyss, is the one I'm running with?!?!"
Miracle Fantasy hadn't followed Abyss's race yesterday.
But she had heard that Lilian was so scared before the race that she almost withdrew.
And after finishing the race, she was even more terrified of that Smart Falcon and cried.
Later, Lilian from Abyss even gave that Smart Falcon the nickname "Demon Lord Falcon," showing just how much psychological damage that Umamusume had caused her.
"No... it can't be such a coincidence, right? I just happened to run into it? This... this can't be real, right?"
Miracle Fantasy was suddenly plunged into deep self-doubt.
--
"Flying Rabbit has reached the third bend, and she's starting to accelerate!!"
"The distance between her and Mejiro McQueen is gradually closing!"
Flying Rabbit's gaze was now fixed intently on Mejiro McQueen's back, her body already creating a gust of wind.
The 8-length gap was gradually being closed by Flying Rabbit to about 6 lengths.
Having personally experienced Mejiro McQueen's strength, she couldn't help but feel a chill.
Her normal acceleration speed wasn't much faster than Mejiro McQueen's normal speed.
"Is the difference in strength really that big?"
Flying Rabbit was shocked, but at that moment, she saw Mejiro McQueen, having reached the final straight, suddenly surge forward.
"Mejiro McQueen's final straight-line acceleration! That's incredible!"
"Mejiro McQueen wasn't discouraged after losing to Golden Crown Eagle yesterday; her speed hasn't been affected at all!"
"Her final straight-line acceleration is still terrifying!"
Some retired Umamusumes from Tracen Academy in the arena, seeing that Mejiro McQueen hadn't been discouraged by yesterday's defeat, immediately felt relieved.
Flying Rabbit, caught off guard, found herself once again far behind Mejiro McQueen.
She gritted her teeth and activated her Zone.
She stomped heavily on the ground and then rapidly caught up.
"Flying Rabbit accelerated again! But the gap between her and Mejiro McQueen hasn't narrowed."
"400 meters left! Mejiro McQueen has pulled far ahead of Flying Rabbit!"
"So fast! Mejiro McQueen is even faster than yesterday!"
Flying Rabbit's eyes burned with rage. While enduring the discomfort of activating her Zone, she realized she truly couldn't close the gap with Mejiro McQueen.
Her confidence as a Zone user was rapidly eroded in this match against Mejiro McQueen.
"It's okay... their second and third batters are both rookie Umamusumes!"