That dull, lifeless sculpture was actually pierced through by the Phantom Maiden Goddess with a single arrow!
Shattered into a pile of dust, scattered to the corners of the hall!
Even as the lucky runner-up, it was as if... she was nothing but a small fry, utterly unworthy of setting foot in the Pegasus Hall of Fame!
Among all the runners-up defeated by Platinum throughout history, from the first one, Daiwa Scarlet, to those from the Irregular Quadruple Crown races—Galileo, Mejiro Dober, Manhattan Cafe, and others...
Even the likes of Montjeu and Dubai Millennium from the Dubai World Cup, regardless of their stature, all had their places enshrined in the historic Pegasus Hall of Fame.
Yet, alone among them, Fame and Glory—the most outstanding racer from the current roster of the renowned European superpower, the Coolmore Group—became the only Uma Musume to ever finish second and yet be deemed unworthy of entering the Pegasus Hall!
And remember, this happened almost simultaneously after Platinum's overwhelming victory in the Eclipse Stakes!
Tens of thousands of spectators in the stands, the other competing Uma Musume charging toward the finish line, countless viewers watching the live broadcast on television—all witnessed that unbelievable scene.
The Encirclement!
The greatest scandal in Eclipse Stakes history!
Platinum, spreading her wings and fully revealing her Pegasus form, shattered through it all!
And in the end, that sculpture, beyond everyone's understanding, was pierced and shattered by the arrow of the Phantom Maiden Goddess, declaring it unworthy of the Pegasus Hall!
It's safe to say that everything that happened in this race was a globally renowned spectacle, destined to spread across the world and be remembered for generations.
Right now, the spectator stands were completely boiling over!
The excitement, the endless uproar, far surpassed the cheers for any star Uma Musume crossing the finish line in previous years.
"Platinum!! Platinum!! Platinum!!"
"A forty-length domination? Such unheard-of strength—is this the true power of an angered Pegasus?!"
"Huh? Fame and Glory's sculpture just appeared and got shot down? Not worthy of the Hall?"
"Without a doubt, this is the ultimate revenge. To pull such a shameless encirclement—they totally deserved this."
"Yeees—! So intense! Platinum utterly humiliated Fame and Glory! Platinum is invincible, woah!!"
"Incredible! There really is an Uma Musume who can tear through an encirclement? She broke Coolmore's siege!"
Amid the endless voices, there was both the shock of ordinary spectators and the ecstatic surprise of fans.
After all...
Who could resist a Pegasus that could spread its wings and fly just above the ground?
Not to mention, this was a race filled with tension and wonder, unfolding under a joint blockade by Europe's top-tier supergroup.
Even Daiwa Scarlet was wide-eyed.
"Gulp..."
With her swallowing hard, utterly stunned, and her slightly hurried breaths, her incredibly ample bosom—far more generous than Platinum's—rose and fell noticeably.
On the surface, from the spectators' perspective, the ones most directly involved in forming the encirclement were three Uma Musume from the Coolmore Group.
But as a professional Uma Musume herself, Daiwa Scarlet could tell at a glance that there weren't just three blockers—there were four.
At the very front, there had originally been a Coolmore front-runner who got a smooth start and accelerated, but once her teammates successfully blocked Platinum, she began [slow pacing].
This slow pacing made the Eclipse Stakes—already one of the shortest middle-distance races—feel incredibly sluggish in the first few hundred meters.
That itself... was already a form of assistance to her blocking teammates.
Because usually, when an Uma Musume gets trapped, it's often due to poor positioning, and in such cases, the entire field will eventually accelerate, leaving some chance of breaking free.
This kind of trapping is the most common and isn't even considered a true encirclement by many—just the bitter result of inflexible positioning.
The rarer scenario is... a powerful star Uma Musume, feared by the entire field, who, if she slips up in positioning, gets intentionally boxed in by surrounding opponents out of shared hostility.
In cases like that, she usually has to wait until the final straight sprint, when the blockers themselves need to unleash their final burst to reach the finish, finally creating an opening to break free.
Both these types of trapping happen spontaneously during the race.
But the third type—this race—was something incredibly rare anywhere in the world: a true, premeditated scandal! A plan trained specifically before the race to target Platinum.
There was even a Coolmore Uma Musume acting as a front-runner to slow the pace, aiming to completely nullify Platinum's stamina advantage by the final sprint!
"This... just being a star or a favorite, getting trapped due to poor positioning, is enough to ruin the victory for most strong racers."
"Breaking free and winning under those circumstances would already make for an incredibly spectacular highlight."
"But compared to that, Platinum..."
"She achieved a completely impossible victory under the most vicious, unprecedented scandal?!"
Daiwa Scarlet didn't understand, and she was deeply shocked.
Currently, she had already won the first two crowns of the Japanese Classic Triple Tiara and was highly likely to defeat Vodka again in the final crown to achieve the Triple Tiara feat.
But as she grew and approached her peak, watching this Eclipse Stakes as a spectator left her utterly bewildered.
I mean, is this a performance a Japanese Uma Musume can deliver?
The previous generation's strongest Japanese Uma Musume, Symboli Rudolf, was already considered extremely "overpowered," far exceeding the achievements of the generation before that, the five-crown warrior Mr. C.B..
And now, Platinum—the Pegasus of this generation, surpassing the Emperor—her performance is just... absurdly beyond reason, isn't it?
"Gulp..."
Daiwa Scarlet suddenly felt less excited about the year-end Arima Kinen.
Even the essential confidence and fighting spirit every Uma Musume should have, even the bold declaration of "I'll win!"—right now, Daiwa Scarlet couldn't bring herself to say it at all.
"If I were to face Platinum a second time, just how many lengths..."
"would I lose by?"
--+--
Past the finish line!
The four Uma Musume from the current Coolmore battalion crossed the finish line one after another and then...
They all stood there dazed, their expressions blank, as if they couldn't believe they'd suffered such an impossible defeat here!
The most affected among them was none other than Fame and Glory.
As the main force in the encirclement and the second most popular contender before the race—the standout of the Coolmore Group—this loss hit her especially hard.
"I, I…"
"Ran so disgracefully, even with the encirclement, and lost by a full forty lengths?!"
Having studied Platinum's race recordings before the event, Fame and Glory knew Platinum's results by heart.
Because of that, she knew the two sculptures standing in the farthest corner of the Pegasus Hall... were Tokai Teio and Agnes Tachyon, who both lost by thirty-six lengths.
But now, she herself—under a targeted, scandalous encirclement that forced Platinum to brake and accelerate from scratch—had lost by forty lengths!
And even... her own sculpture for the Pegasus Hall had been destroyed the moment it appeared!!
Fame and Glory's face twisted in bitterness, and she let out a deep sigh.
She could already foresee it—the impact of this race wouldn't end with Platinum's victory.
The truly heavyweight consequences were about to unfold!
Such an obvious scandal, a malicious encirclement even casual viewers with no knowledge of racing could see... they were going to pay for it now!
Both she and the Coolmore Group had thought they were taking Platinum seriously enough, which was why they resorted to the dirtiest tactics.
But as long as they won, as long as the encirclement wasn't too blatant or ugly, Coolmore's connections could muddy the waters, turning the scandal into a matter of debate and confusion.
Thus... minimizing the fallout, even exonerating themselves entirely, framing it as the first or second type of common or rare positioning trap, ensuring they faced no penalties.
Winning under those conditions would've been an absolute double victory—Coolmore and them winning twice!
That was what Fame and Glory and the Coolmore Group had researched and hoped for before the race.
But Platinum didn't choose to bolt ahead early; instead, she held back, forcing them into an obviously blatant encirclement.
Beating Platinum under these circumstances would still bring significant negative fallout and likely post-race penalties. But as long as they won, the benefits would outweigh the drawbacks.
Yet what Fame and Glory never dreamed of was!
Under the most negative, most obvious circumstances, they were overtaken by Platinum, who spread her jet-black wings like a true Pegasus!
And now... their plotted scandal, their encirclement, was going to exact the most painful price.
"It's over…"
"Why is this Pegasus so strong??"
"With such despicable tactics, I've lost any chance of earning her recognition, becoming the first runner-up unworthy of the Hall…"
As Fame and Glory reeled from the shock.
Beside her, another Coolmore front-runner Uma Musume looked somewhat dejected.
Before the race, when Fame and Glory and Coolmore's higher-ups proposed the encirclement, she had been intrigued and fired up, saying...
'Taking on Platinum must be fun!'
But now—
The front-runner girl sighed.
"If I'd known she was this strong, I wouldn't have joined in."
A few seconds later...
The four defeated Uma Musume from the prestigious Coolmore Group, each with different expressions, all stared at the silver-haired girl walking away in the distance as if she were a monster.
--+--
Front rows of the spectator stands.
The higher-ups of the Coolmore Group all looked stunned.
They couldn't process it immediately, but once they finally accepted the crushing defeat and the shattering of their plans.
They were all, without exception, sweating buckets!
"It's, it's over…"
"The consequences will be severe, potentially setting our development back by years."
"And Fame and Glory and the others will definitely face suspensions of no less than a month or two."
The development of a prestigious Uma Musume family naturally relies on the fame, popularity, and influence of its racers.
And that popularity and fame often stem from results.
When winning a race, a prestigious family can use its accumulated connections, channels, and resources to amplify the victory's visibility, giving their Uma Musume an extra boost in recognition and popularity.
In turn, their Uma Musume feeds back into the family's prestige, creating a cycle.
That's why, in debut races, if an Uma Musume comes from a prestigious family, she's naturally considered a favorite.
Coolmore Group's development had nearly peaked, with slower growth in recent years. Over the last year or two, none of their family's Uma Musume could compare to Platinum, Sea the Stars, or Secretariat.
That's why... they chose to take a risk, encircling Platinum!
It was a nefarious plot with high risk and high reward, and now that it had failed, the tables had turned—they were about to face the consequences of their own actions.
"It's not just suspensions for Fame and Glory and the others. This will trigger a chain reaction, significantly damaging the popularity, endorsements, and future development of all Coolmore's Uma Musume."
"We're done for. We can't handle this cost; Coolmore is going to bleed heavily."
"A double-edged sword... are we about to feel its sharpest edge?"
"Platinum—how did this monster pull it off?!"
They were certain of one thing: the tale of the Pegasus Platinum single-handedly crushing the entire Coolmore battalion's scandalous encirclement would become a legend told for half a century, maybe even longer!
--+--
It didn't take long.
The silver-haired girl had already left the turf track.
She then arrived before the solo Winner's Stage and met the official event reporter preparing to conduct interviews.
The current reporter, a woman in her twenties, was practically sparkling, gazing at Platinum with the admiration of a starstruck fan.
While handing over the interview questions to choose from, she also offered her work pass, hoping Platinum would sign it.
'I finally managed to get this interview...'
"Miss Platinum, I'm your fan—could you give me an autograph?!"
Platinum nodded calmly and was about to sign when she paused for a moment.
An autograph...
Should she sign "Platinum," or "Centaurea"?
For her now, her racing name was Platinum, but her original name was Centaurea.
But she quickly remembered that Secretariat was in a similar situation.
And when Secretariat signed, she didn't use her originally somewhat cute name "Big Red," but instead signed the imposing and sharp "Secretariat."
It seemed that usually, they signed with the most widely known racing name.
If any fans specifically wanted her original name later, she could write "Centaurea" then.
So Platinum finished signing, selected a few questions that could be answered briefly, and then signaled that the interview could begin.
--+--
A few minutes later.
The live Q&A interview began.
The reporter reined in her excitement, maintaining her professionalism as she asked the questions.
"Congratulations, Platinum, on your absolute dominant victory, maintaining your unbeaten record and setting a new one in the process."
"May we ask what your next targeted race will be?"
This was a standard question that always interested the public—they wanted to know where a G1-winning powerhouse would challenge next.
In Japan, such questions weren't as meaningful because there were only so many G1 races, all spaced out, so after winning one, you'd usually just move on to the next.
But in Europe, there were plenty of G1 options.
There were other steady, conventional G1 races in a month or two, and then there was the extremely challenging, super G1 King George Stakes about a month later.
Would the battle-hardened Platinum continue her role as the Conqueror King?
Under the reporter's sparkling, expectant gaze, Platinum, with her usual composure, calmly gave her answer.
"[The King George Stakes.]"
Her sights were set on the European Triple Crown!
Platinum was also curious about what kind of monster existed in the King George Stakes that would make the wealthy, well-connected Coolmore Group believe that even going all-out, they couldn't simultaneously encircle her and another monster.
Surely, that would be an extraordinary opponent.
This choice made the fan-reporter nod repeatedly, then she composed herself and moved on to the next question.
It was... a more controversial, attention-grabbing question.
Usually, when an encirclement occurred, the trapped Uma Musume would lose in the vast majority of cases.
Even if there were rare come-from-behind victories, that race would still be considered a "dark mark" by the event officials.
So, regardless of the outcome, such a provocative question would almost never be offered. After all, event organizers didn't want their races constantly associated with terms like 'scandal' or 'encirclement.'
But this time, they allowed this question, which showed just how spectacularly Platinum had won and how immense Pegasus's influence was!
The event organizers had decided in a very short time that this race didn't need any cover-up—it was a crown-winning race that would be remembered for half a century, maybe even a whole one!
Since they couldn't hide it... they might as well let the storm rage even fiercer.
"Now for the next question: Platinum, what are your thoughts on and evaluation of Fame and Glory, the Uma Musume who finished second and was closest to you in this race?"
After the second question was asked, many viewers watching the live broadcast were stunned at first, then quickly listened intently.
Many fans and spectators wanted to know how the Pegasus Platinum would react after being trapped.
Would she express dissatisfaction and hope for strict punishment from the officials?
Or lose her composure, show anger?
Or perhaps...
Amid much speculation, the silver-haired girl, in a calm and detached tone, gave the briefest possible answer.
"Who?"
It seemed she didn't even remember who finished second.
After all, the Pegasus Hall of Fame had no new sculpture recorded—only... scattered fragments on the floor.
That one-word answer was the Pegasus Platinum's attitude.
Fame and Glory?
Who was that?
She was just passing through, merely tearing apart a net along the way.
That simple, understated response made the fan-reporter's eyes widen, and it took her a few seconds to recover before she continued.
"Now for the third question..."
--+--
On the car ride home.
Sea the Stars and Galileo were both looking down at their phones, watching Platinum's live interview.
"She's really riding high now," Galileo couldn't help but marvel.
Aside from being amazed by Platinum's strength, she felt a slight bitterness in her heart.
'How come Platinum is already in Europe, but Dr. Lin hasn't arrived yet...'
Sea the Stars, however, gave a slight nod, acknowledging Platinum's victory, her absolute confidence after the race, and that one-word response to the Coolmore Uma Musume.
"The Eclipse Stakes couldn't stop her. The scandalous encirclement couldn't hold her."
"Next, it's Coolmore's turn to pay the price!"
From the front seat, Urban Sea, who was driving, spoke up with great interest.
"This will probably be the most painful lesson the Coolmore Group has ever received. Such a large group taught a lesson by a young filly who just entered her classic year."
"As for how severe the cost and negative impact will be... it's hard to even imagine."
"They all underestimated Platinum too much. They treated her as an easy target, a lone wolf, some nobody from a fallen family."
"But... she's the sole representative of Japan, even all of Asia! And she's practically the darling of at least two National Racing Associations."
"Those two associations have been vying for her favor more than you'd think. Now is the perfect time for them to step up and show how much they value Platinum."
Urban Sea's words left her two daughters momentarily stunned.
"Two associations? Vying for her favor?"
"Yes, Japan's URA—the official racing authority—and Dubai's racing authority."
"Those two are dreaming of the day Platinum returns to race in their events!"
Platinum, not from a prestigious family?
Wrong!
"In my opinion, Platinum alone... is the equivalent of the most prestigious family!"
Japan's URA and Dubai's racing authority were about to make their move!
--+--
Meanwhile, in America.
A somewhat lazy, dark-hearted young doctor was reading the newspaper in his reopened clinic.
The next moment, he opened his rewards.
And collected the different rewards for the two Pegasus victories—Nearl's and Platinum's!
[Race: Hopeful Stakes (Victory)]
[Race: Eclipse Stakes (Victory)]
[Rewards: …]
--+--
T/N: To the recommendation of one of my readers, I am somewhat pleased to announce that I have another Uma Musume fanfiction up!
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
There should be... around 70+ advanced chapters?
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.