As the commentator's voice gradually calmed down, the field on the track sped through the right-side curve, swiftly entering the back straight.
Compared to the initial segment, the runners stretched out notably along the straight.
Seiun Sky was first to clear the turn; barely half a second later, Special Week rapidly followed.
Nearly two seconds afterward, Mejiro Bright—who'd lingered at the tail end since the start—finally trotted past the bend at her sluggish pace.
Just as at the gate break, the dozen or so swiftly advancing silhouettes seemed to have rehearsed their mutual understanding, making no remarkable confrontations as they passed the turn.
This made the commentary turn even more placid, and even the cheers in the stands seemed to lower a notch or two.
"No direct confrontations at all? Looks like..."
Leaning over the railing in front of her, Almond Eye's enthusiasm wasn't as high as before. "The senpais probably want to settle it at the final corner or on the straight, right...?"
Beside her, Kitasan Black and Duramente both stared at the runners on the track, nodding in unison as they heard Almond Eye's words.
Yet, as Kitasan Black nodded, an odd feeling rose inside her, causing her to slightly frown.
"At the final corner or straight...? That doesn't feel like Spe-senpai or Grass-senpai's style, though..."
Perplexed, she recalled their previous training races, trying to pinpoint the source of that strange feeling.
"Your intuition isn't wrong."
Also closely watching the race situation, Yasui Makoto abruptly interjected, "It's not that there's no direct confrontation—the contest started long ago..."
"No—it's been ongoing since the gate opened!" At this, his voice involuntarily intensified.
Three pairs of startled eyes simultaneously turned towards him. Before the three Uma Musume could speak, the commentary sharply rose again.
"The field has passed the 600-meter mark! The time is... 34.4 seconds!"
Compared to the previously calming voice, this sudden exclamation was clearly abrupt.
After a split-second of stunned silence, the stands quickly erupted into exclamations and chatter—mostly surprised, confused murmurs.
"34.4 seconds...?"
Almond Eye instinctively felt this number must mean something important. Hearing nearby cries of "so fast!", her eyes widened, and she subconsciously whispered while quickly trying to process it.
"Is this... really fast?"
"Yeah! Really fast!"
"...Very fast."
Almost simultaneously, Kitasan Black and Duramente answered together, nodding emphatically, and Yasui Makoto also affirmed with the same tone.
"For the opening segment, it's extremely fast."
As if influenced by the runners' speed, his own speech quickened.
"Last year's Tenno Sho Autumn final three furlongs were 33.7 seconds, the year before was 34.6, and the year prior was 33.1..."
"In other words, the average speed of the last three furlongs at Tenno Sho Autumn these past three years was about 17.7 meters per second!"
"And now they're clocking 17.4 meters per second just 600 meters into the race..."
"As expected, trying the same old trick again, Seiun Sky...?"
Same old trick...?
The same question simultaneously emerged within the three Uma Musume beside him—even Kitasan Black and Duramente, who had already sensed the pace from the 600-meter split.
Before they could voice their confusion, the commentator continued his exclamation:
"A very familiar tactic! Seiun Sky seems intent on replicating her Kikuka Sho strategy—but will her rivals allow such a tactic to succeed? This is, after all, something she's done before!"
Prompted by the commentator, murmurs of sudden understanding rippled through the stands. Kitasan Black slapped her forehead, exclaiming as well.
"Right! I remember now! Trainer mentioned it—Seiun-senpai's 'pacing deception'!"
Then, her expression turned puzzled again.
"But if senpai really wants to reuse this tactic... isn't the commentator basically alerting everyone else? Plus... wouldn't all the other senpais already know about this tactic anyway...?"
"That's why I said the confrontation already started."
Yasui Makoto straightforwardly continued:
"I did tell you about the 'pacing deception,' but don't forget that was the 3000-meter Kikuka Sho. This race, however, is 2000 meters—much closer to the Tenno Sho Autumn scenario."
"Seiun Sky certainly considered all these conditions, and more importantly—"
He pointed toward the bluish figure closely trailing her.
"She used that tactic right in front of Special Week before. Unless she doesn't care about winning, there's no way she'd simply repeat the same old move."
"And besides, why do you think Special Week is pressing her this closely? Precisely because she's been gauging Seiun Sky's intentions from the very moment the gates opened!"
Apart from this, Yasui Makoto had many other reminders he'd wanted to share with Kitasan Black.
He'd noticed Seiun Sky's unusual pace shortly after the break.
100 meters, 200 meters, 300 meters... Even without reference markers, his experience and intuition told him this Uma Musume's pace kept accelerating.
For other trainers—especially rookies—pacing was indeed an important competitive factor, yet among equally vital factors, it was also the most frequently overlooked.
Compared to the usually gradual fluctuations in pace, elements like gate reaction times, cornering speeds, and the late kicks on the final straight were more viscerally exciting, more directly stimulating, and thus naturally attracted more attention.
But Yasui Makoto had experienced countless extreme speed competitions and clearly understood the importance of pacing.
In any speed-based competition, maximum speed was indeed critical.
But the contestants were flesh and blood, after all, with limited stamina. Under this condition, the combined application of pacing and stamina distribution was one key benchmark differentiating truly masterful competitors.
In that past Kikuka Sho, Seiun Sky and her trainer had executed a textbook demonstration of precisely this application.
She abandoned her previous slow-paced front-running strategy, immediately opened a significant lead from the gate, and charged through the first 1000 meters at high speed, forcing her rivals to keep pace without daring to hold back.
Mid-race, she abruptly slowed, delicately balancing pace on the very edge of fading, making rivals mistakenly assume she had no stamina left.
Then, in the final 1000 meters, she unleashed all the stamina she'd secretly preserved, accelerating abruptly beyond even her initial thousand-meter speed, securing victory by an overwhelming five-length margin.
This was the "pacing deception" Yasui Makoto had described to Kitasan Black.
Such a tactic was easy to explain, yet the difficulty lay in precisely controlling just how much one should slow mid-race—just enough to quietly conserve stamina while thoroughly misleading opponents.
Numerous theories could easily outline the difficulties involved.
For instance, one needed to factor in previous performances, specialized pre-race training, the track and competition conditions on race day, and real-time adjustments... Naturally, gathering all these factors perfectly was extremely challenging.
But the clearest proof of its difficulty was that since Seiun Sky, no other Uma Musume had successfully replicated this tactic in the Kikuka Sho and emerged victorious.
Initially noting Seiun Sky's abnormal early speed, Yasui Makoto's first reaction was identical to Kitasan Black's and the commentator's: subconsciously assuming she was repeating her old trick.
However, Special Week's performance immediately altered his perception.
Two and a half lengths—the gap Special Week maintained behind Seiun Sky had remained precisely that from start to finish.
With Special Week pressing her this tightly, Seiun Sky had no realistic opportunity to reuse her previous trick—unless, as he'd just said, she didn't care about winning.
But since clearly she intended to win, there must be another card up her sleeve.