The race date quickly arrived, starting naturally with Special Week's race.
"How do you feel?" Seiun Sky leaned against the wall, looking at Special Week.
Although G1 races require wearing a winning uniform, it was clear that none of the junior-level participants had one, so they were still wearing tracksuits.
Everyone had known about Special Week participating in the Hopeful Stakes for a long time, and her friends had all come to watch. The Spica members also gave them space to chat.
"I feel like I'm walking behind Z-chan..." Special Week sat in the lounge with her eyes closed, as if sensing the atmosphere of the racecourse.
"Well, good luck. You can definitely do it." Grass Wonder encouraged her with a Yamato Nadeshiko smile.
"Thank you, Xiao Cao. How are your legs doing?"
"It'll still take some time, but with the help of my seniors, they'll be better next year."
"Eh? Xiao Cao is recovering that quickly?" El Condor Pasa looked surprised.
"Mm, but it will require a period of rehabilitation. Satsuki Sho might be unlikely, but I'll work hard for the Japanese Derby." Even Grass Wonder seemed happy when talking about racing.
"Oh my~ Another rival. Seiun-chan might as well just lie down~" Seiun Sky on the side still looked like a slacker.
However, Special Week, having been reminded by Zero that Seiun Sky was definitely not ordinary, naturally wouldn't fall for that trick.
"Eh? Be careful of Seiun Sky?"
"That's right. Although she always looks listless, I can confirm that her desire for victory is absolutely no less than any of yours." That's what Zero had said at the time.
"Special Week, I'll be waiting right here for the moment you win the trophy." Seiun Sky also offered her encouragement from the side.
"Eh, is Seiun-chan so sure Little Special can win?" Seiun Sky leaned closer to Seiun Sky with a mischievous smile.
"Th-that's natural! As rivals to a first-class me, you all must also be first-class!"
"But Seiun-chan is so lazy, so she can't be first-class anymore, which means Seiun-chan is abandoned, wuwuwu~" Seiun Sky immediately started to pretend to cry.
"Eh!? No, that's not it!?" Seiun Sky immediately panicked, and when she tried to comfort her, she saw Seiun Sky's triumphant smile.
Watching the two of them start to bicker again, Special Week couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"Little Special! This is for you!" Haru Urara opened the door and came in, handing Special Week a bag of carrot gummies.
"Eh?"
"Hehe, these are my favorite candies, super delicious! I brought them today for Little Special's race!"
"Thank you, Urara-chan!" Special Week happily ate one gummy.
One was enough; eating more might affect her condition.
With the encouragement of her friends, Special Week's slight nervousness eased considerably.
"Have you chatted enough? The race is about to start. Little Special, go backstage and prepare for your appearance." Zero also walked in.
"Eh? That fast?"
"That's right? Don't fall again this time, lol."
"I won't!" Zero was naturally referring to Special Week's incident during her debut race appearance, where she pulled herself down with too much force when taking off her jacket due to nervousness. At the time, this clumsy yet adorable act actually drew more attention.
Of course, more of the reason was standing still on the winner's stage.
In short, Special Week left the lounge, and Zero took everyone to the spectator stands.
It was a G1 race after all; although there weren't that many people, there were still quite a few.
Zero's Arima Kinen participant lineup had also been finalized, a dream lineup that thrilled countless horse racing fans, who eagerly awaited that day. Because of this, many had come early to scout the location, especially since this Hopeful Stakes also featured a child reportedly personally trained by Zero.
To avoid causing a commotion, Zero still watched from an indoor area with floor-to-ceiling windows, along with the Student Council members.
"What, are you nervous?" The Emperor couldn't help but find Zero's expression amusing.
"Of course, I'm very worried she'll pull that stunt again when she appears later."
So that's what she's worried about = =
The Emperor, slightly embarrassed, did not continue speaking.
The commentators were still the familiar two; indeed, there were questions on the Association's official website like "Does the Association only have these two commentators?" However, these two were indeed the Association's most excellent commentators.
As the commentators introduced each Uma Musume, Special Week walked into the gate.
Standing inside the gate, Special Week felt exceptionally calm, the pre-race tension having been thrown to the winds.
The atmosphere of a G1 race was truly completely different from her debut race; her heartbeat seemed to achieve a strange resonance with the surrounding cheers.
The weather was clear, and the track conditions were good.
It was perfect weather for running, although for Special Week, a heavy track was actually more suitable for her performance.
But it didn't matter; anyway, for Special Week, her opponents this time posed little threat.
The reason for Zero's confidence was, of course, the stats she saw on the panel.
[Special Week Stamina: D+]
This level of stamina was enough to ensure Special Week could accelerate from the mid-stage all the way to the end, which was perfectly suited for Special Week, who had been persuaded by Trainer Okino to choose a Leading (leading) strategy this time.
The race began, and her gate-starting technique, honed through special training, was once again put to use.
Gate starts are a very important technique for any Uma Musume, especially for those employing the Escape and leading strategies.
Although she couldn't yet achieve Zero's level of bursting out the moment the gate opened, her gate-starting was already as proficient as those Uma Musume who had been racing for a long time.
Following the grand strategy Zero taught her, she easily found and occupied a good position.
In this race, there was only one Uma Musume using the great Escape tactic; unfortunately, from the fact that the opponent didn't try to recover stamina even in the mid-stage, it was clear that she didn't have enough stamina to maintain it all the way.
Having run with Zero many times, Special Week also had a sufficient understanding of the great Escape tactic.
The opponent had pulled ahead by quite a few horse lengths and seemed quite pleased with herself, but a great Escape isn't something that can be achieved by mindlessly accelerating all the way.
Once the rhythm is lost due to insufficient stamina distribution, the drawbacks of the great Escape running style are the most obvious of all running styles.
There might be Uma Musume whose initial acceleration equals normal speed, making it seem like they aren't recovering stamina in the mid-stage, but this opponent was definitely not one of them.
In this race, partly due to being from a famous team, she also faced a lot of targeting, but this level was nothing compared to Zero's weighted training.
Zero's so-called "weighted" training was something every team member recalled with lingering fear.
Because she would suddenly bump into you while you were running, and with considerable force.
Occasionally, she would also use interference skills, and even trip their legs.
Of course, even if they accidentally fell victim, she could always catch them before they fell and got injured.
Those Uma Musume who interfered with her might have thought they successfully pulled her, but in reality, they never considered that such a degree was merely a light brush against her.
And now, the race is entering my distance!
With six hundred meters remaining, the Uma Musume who was in the great Escape had long since fallen back by an unknown distance; now, there was only one Uma Musume ahead of her.
It didn't matter that the opponent occupied the inside lane; ever since trying the outside lane in her first run with Zero, Special Week had fallen in love with the feeling of overtaking from the outside.
She galloped wildly, not using her climbing technique on the steep uphill of the final straight.
As if by some strange impulse, Special Week chose to hide some of her strength; she felt it wasn't the right time yet.
Therefore, her speed slowed slightly, but no one would demand more from her, because at this moment, she had already pulled eight horse lengths ahead of the second-place runner.
After the longer steep uphill, there was a very short flat straight to the finish line, which was already enough.
[Whole Heart and Soul]
She accelerated once more, crossing the finish line, and even continued for a distance due to her speed before slowing down after crossing it.
Her excellent results were also displayed on the scoreboard.
"Finish—line! The winner is Special Week! And she, from the same team as that one, has claimed her first G1 trophy! Let us cheer for the new champion!" The commentator's commentary never stopped for a moment, and her voice rose to a high pitch as Special Week crossed the finish line.
In this race, Special Week's overall performance was flawless, so perfect that it didn't seem like a junior-grade Uma Musume.
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