Chapter 38. Assasination Part 1
Rice's start was very smooth, but Mihono Bourbon's starting speed next to her was even faster, and after starting, to secure her leading position, Mihono Bourbon immediately chose to accelerate without hesitation, pulling away, and then aggressively cut into the inner lane.
Both Rice Shower and the Uma Musume who started further inside were slightly disrupted by Mihono Bourbon's aggressive cut.
However, because she had created a sufficient distance, even though Mihono Bourbon's action did have some impact, she would not be penalized for serious foul play if there was a post-race appeal.
After being interfered with by Mihono Bourbon's cut, Rice Shower immediately followed suit, cutting into the inner lane with her.
Because Mihono Bourbon had created enough distance, Rice's action did not affect the opponents behind her. When they crossed the finish line for the first time, Mihono Bourbon was leading, Rice was close behind, and the third-place Mermaid Tavern was three lengths behind Rice.
"Start from here!!!"
Shuta Ann, standing by the stands, shouted loudly, as if giving instructions to Rice Shower.
Trainer Kuronuma turned his head, a little surprised.
"What is this guy doing? It's just the beginning, isn't it? Why is he shouting so excitedly?"
He couldn't find the answer.
Rice Shower, of course, couldn't clearly hear the specific sounds from the side of the Racecourse while running, but she vaguely heard her Trainer's shouting. She didn't know what he was shouting, but Rice still managed to guess.
"He must be telling me to start applying pressure to Mihono Bourbon here."
Rice thought.
So she did, immediately accelerating, trying to move forward and start putting pressure on Mihono Bourbon.
Mihono Bourbon was originally focused on the upcoming turn, but almost simultaneously as Rice Shower started to accelerate, Mihono Bourbon felt the pressure.
"Detect pressure, response method—synchronous acceleration."
Mihono Bourbon firmly remembered her Trainer's supreme instruction that she not give up the leading position, so she naturally chose to accelerate with Rice Shower, maintaining the horse length gap between herself and Rice.
"The first 400 meters were passed in 12.8-11.7 seconds; it should be faster next."
Tokai Teio, standing next to Shuta Ann, provided the data.
"Rice is moving up to apply pressure now, so the speed will definitely increase. I hope to push the pace directly into the sub-59 second range for the first 1000 meters, bringing the race into a situation where endurance and grit are burned in the latter half."
Shuta Ann continued.
"This was the tactic I set for Rice before the race."
"It seems Mihono Bourbon has fallen for it; her speed has clearly increased significantly. She wouldn't ignore the fact that this race is 2400 meters, would she?"
Tokai Teio raised an eyebrow.
To be honest, Tokai Teio was quite interested in Mihono Bourbon, as she was the new generation Triple Crown Winner hyped by the media.
Moreover, in the previous pair of consecutive Triple Crown Uma Musume, the later one severely beat the earlier one multiple times—many media outlets subtly suggested that Mihono Bourbon would also replicate Symboli Rudolf, inflicting a painful blow to Tokai Teio's career.
The reason was simple: Mihono Bourbon, who excelled at setting a fast pace, was precisely the type of opponent Tokai Teio disliked the most.
Tokai Teio did not deny this.
But if Mihono Bourbon couldn't perfectly handle even Rice's tactic of applying pressure by following closely today, then in Tokai Teio's mind, Mihono Bourbon wouldn't really be qualified to challenge her and cause her trouble.
"She won't disappoint me, will she?"
Tokai Teio murmured to herself—she didn't dare say this in front of Shuta Ann, after all, for Rice Shower to win, Mihono Bourbon's performance would definitely disappoint Tokai Teio.
—
After turning onto the straight opposite the stands, Shuta Ann glanced at Tokai Teio, who dutifully reported the sectional timing data.
"11.4-11.4."
"The time for the first 800 meters reached 47.3 seconds; it feels like Rice can still perfectly execute the tactic."
Shuta Ann felt satisfied.
"It depends on what pace Mihono Bourbon will set in the 800 to 1000-meter segment. Will she continue to maintain a cruising speed of 11.4 seconds, or slow down and sacrifice some advantage to conserve stamina?"
As his words fell, Tokai Teio reported a new sectional timing.
"12.2."
"She still slowed down." Shuta Ann was a little disappointed. "The first 1000 meters in 59.5 seconds. Did Mihono Bourbon maintain her composure here? I thought she would continue to be agitated."
"She definitely won't maintain that 11.4-second pace." Tokai Teio retorted. "Does the Trainer think Mihono Bourbon is some kind of reckless runaway like Daitaku Helios and Mejiro Palmer?"
"I actually did think that."
Shuta An chuckled.
"After all, Kuronuma is like other Trainers in terms of tactics. His creative focused Slope training is good byt his mastery of Slope Training intensity is quite average."
Kuronuma didn't quite catch what Shuta An said, but he figured it wasn't a compliment.
"The race isn't even halfway through, and you already think you can win?"
He glanced at Shuta An, muttering to himself.
—
Mihono Bourbon had indeed decided to slow down on her own. Although she still remembered her Trainer's instructions, Rice Shower's pressure had consumed too much of Mihono Bourbon's stamina.
She judged that if she continued at that pace, the stamina consumed in the first 1000 meters would be more than in all her previous races. Considering this was her first time challenging 2400 meters, Mihono Bourbon sharply decelerated in the 800 to 1000-meter segment.
However, facing a visibly decelerating Mihono Bourbon, Rice Shower did not choose to maintain cruising speed and overtake her, taking the lead. Instead, she dutifully followed behind.
"If I go up, it'll be Mihono Bourbon's turn to mark me."
Rice Shower also kept a cool head, not fooled by Mihono Bourbon's feigned weakness.
But at this point, the third-place Mermaid Tavern was already seven lengths behind Rice Shower.
However, Mermaid Tavern herself was not in a hurry at all.
"Those two up fronts don't even see us, pulling such a fast pace. They'll have a tough time when they enter the final straight!"
Mermaid Tavern thought, then continued to control her pace.
And although the Uma Musume behind realized that Mihono Bourbon and Rice Shower had pulled quite far ahead, no one chose to accelerate and overtake Mermaid Tavern; they still obediently followed behind.
Matikanetannhauser had thought about accelerating, but then remembered Trainer Minamisaka's request for her to run a late-surge race. So, she suppressed the urge.