"That horse girl's pretty solid. Good start, decent pace, and her stride stayed clean even at the midpoint. You got your eye on her?"
"Yeah, she's looking good. Might have a shot at winning her debut race."
A few trainers had gathered together and started chatting.
They weren't just picking the fastest runners. Even a first-place finisher didn't automatically catch their interest.
They had their own theories about assessing a horse girl's aptitude.
What about the one leading at the front?
They could tell at a glance she had no sense of strategy. She'd definitely run out of steam later.
And even if she didn't, there was a huge difference between barely staggering across the finish line and completing the race without even breaking your breathing pattern.
As for those who missed the gate... not even worth mentioning.
Any properly trained horse girl wouldn't make such a rookie mistake.
"I think that blonde horse girl is better. I've watched her training. She's incredibly hardworking."
"Want to bet on who wins this race?"
"Number 6, probably."
Everyone seemed to be debating which horse girl was stronger.
"What do you think?" Seiun Sky asked Hayato with a smile, wanting to join in the fun. She'd watched plenty of races and felt pretty confident in her judgment.
"The best one should be number 16. She might be behind now, but her running style is actually a pace-chaser type."
After all, she was the only horse girl on the field with A-rank stamina aptitude.
This was a 2000-meter turf race. For horse girls with only B or C-rank stamina, it wasn't going to be easy.
In the final stretch, number 16, who'd been conserving energy at the back this whole time, would definitely take first. It was obvious.
"Number 16?" Seiun Sky looked down at number 16, still near the back of the pack, and blinked. "You sure about that?"
"How's that even possible?" One trainer who'd overheard their conversation laughed. "That tiny horse girl couldn't possibly make it to the front..."
Before she could finish, they watched as number 16 accelerated past horse girl after horse girl at incredible speed, almost effortlessly taking the lead.
Silence.
The trainers and horse girls near Hayato all turned to stare at him.
"Hehe..." Seiun Sky immediately clutched her stomach laughing. She laughed for a good while before finally composing herself, her face returning to its calm expression.
Those trainers all felt completely embarrassed.
The race ended quickly. Naturally, the winner was number 16, Memory Maze.
None of the trainers approached that horse girl, all assuming Hayato had already claimed her.
They refused to believe Hayato had figured it out at first glance. They suspected he'd been observing that horse girl for a long time, maybe even coached her specifically.
The second group started soon after.
Again, Hayato didn't find his target in this group either.
There was one horse girl with A-rank stamina and B-rank mid-pack running style.
But like he'd said before, none of them were better than Urara.
"This time, which horse girl do you think will win?" Seiun Sky asked Hayato tentatively.
"Number 8, probably. She's also a late surger. Even if her start was slow, it won't matter much."
"Eh? That's really hard to believe, you know?" Seiun Sky said mockingly.
Quite a few trainers also thought it was impossible. A horse girl who was late out of the gate... why was he so confident she'd win?
Could you really tell just by looking?
"Just watch!" Hayato replied calmly. "When she started, it looked intentional to me, like she wanted to stay at the back. It wasn't actually a slow start."
Everyone gave Hayato another skeptical look.
Can you really tell that?
Actually, yeah.
He could see notifications for horse girls with slow starts, but number 8 didn't have that notification, meaning it wasn't truly a slow start.
The system also displayed which running style each horse girl was using, so he could conclude.
These rookie horse girls all had their own strategies for how to win.
Those without high speed and stamina chose late surger or pace-chaser running styles. These two styles need conserved energy.
But she had low power, wasn't good at positioning, and didn't want to get boxed in by other horse girls.
So she deliberately held back half a beat.
The race quickly reached the midpoint. Sure enough, just as Hayato predicted, number 8 started her push, gradually advancing to second place.
In the final stretch, she shot straight to the front while the other horse girls had no energy left to chase.
Silence.
"My, my! If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I'd find it hard to believe someone could predict a race's outcome at a single glance!"
Seiun Sky looked at Hayato, then down at number 8 who'd just claimed victory.
Even she had to admire Hayato's insight.
And those veteran trainers who'd been thinking about how to educate Hayato now looked at him differently.
One trainer ran straight down and asked number 8, "Did you deliberately slow down half a beat at the gate?"
Number 8 thought they were trying to recruit her and got a bit shy. "Y-yes, I'm not good at fighting for track position, so I wanted to save my stamina for later. That's why I held back half a beat."
"So it really was like that?" The trainer walked away.
Number 8 felt confused. "Um..."
What about recruiting?
Not interested anymore?
Another horse girl walked over to number 8 and said, "There was a trainer who actually figured out at a glance that you deliberately slowed down, and he knew you'd definitely win."
"That amazing?"
"Yeah. That trainer also predicted a Uma Musume pace chaser win in the previous race. Even though he's a new trainer, he's probably got real talent. Mick, you're lucky. Why don't you ask if he'll take you?"
"Huh?"
...
King Halo arrived at the scene with her running clothes. Seeing Seiun Sky in the back, she came over to say hello.
"Seiun, are you really too lazy to even participate in debut races?"
"Aha, didn't feel necessary." Seiun Sky's tone remained flat, not even looking up as she continued watching below.
"Being this lazy means you'll never find a first-rate trainer to take you." King Halo crossed her arms, radiating ojou-sama energy.
Seiun Sky glanced at Hayato, then lowered her head. "Ah well, doesn't really matter..."
She didn't want to expose the fact that no trainers actually wanted to recruit her.
There'd been plenty when she first arrived at school, but then for some reason they all disappeared.
If Hayato found out, wouldn't that lower her value?
"Hm? King Halo?" Hayato checked her data panel.
[King Halo
Physical Condition: 88/100
Speed: 123 Stamina: 93 Power: 154 Guts: 118 Intelligence: 124
Field Aptitude: Turf A, Dirt G
Distance Aptitude: Short: A, Mile: B, Medium: B, Long: C
Running Style Aptitude: Front Runner: G, Pace-Chaser: B, Late-Surger: A, End-Closer: D
"Unfortunately, in the game Uma Musume, she's just a one-star character...." Hayato let out a quiet sigh. As someone who had played Uma Musume in his previous life, he knew all too well just how tragic King Halo's story was.
"Say, you're not trying to recruit me, are you?" King Halo also noticed Hayato sneaking glances at her.
"No, I'm not."
Hayato looked away, no longer watching her.
"Oh ho, ho, ho! How about it? Are you captivated by this King's brilliance?"
She laughed loudly, seeming to wait for Hayato to say something, but found him acting as if nothing had happened, quietly watching the race.
"Hmph! Fine, I shall be magnanimous and at least hear your self-introduction!"
Seiun Sky covered her mouth, laughing as she looked at Hayato, curious how he'd respond. 'This seemed fun.'
"Sorry, I'm standing in the wrong spot." Hayato chose to escape.
There were many troublesome characters among horse girls, and King Halo was one of them.
Compared to Gold Ship, which would kidnap trainers and force them to sign contracts, King Halo wasn't that bad.
He just found her difficult to deal with.
"Hey, that's a bit much, don't you think?" Seiun Sky tugged on his sleeve, signaling him to play along a bit.
Hayato reluctantly turned back. "Hello, Miss King. I'm a new trainer named Hayato. Being new, a dazzling horse girl like yourself is beyond my reach."
"Oh ho ho ho! So you're just shy? If you're a newbie, that won't do. I only sign with first-rate trainers." King Halo laughed in response.
"Yes, yes, of course." Hayato nodded repeatedly.
"He is first-rate." Seiun Sky pointed at him lightly, wanting to expose his cover.
Anyone who could assess horse girls on the field at a glance... if that's not first-rate, no one could claim to be.
King Halo teased, "Fine, fine, you're a first-rate new trainer. Watch my upcoming performance carefully. I'm in the fourth group. You should feel honored to witness this King's race. Hmph!"
She put her hands on her hips and "hmph'd" to finish, striking a pose she thought looked cool.
"If it's the fourth group, it looks like it's about to start," Hayato reminded her.
"Oh no... I was heading to the field, but somehow ended up walking here." King Halo dropped the cool act and sprinted toward the race venue without any grace.
Watching King Halo's retreating figure, Seiun Sky shook her head helplessly.
King was still the same. Once she started posing, she forgot everything else.
She turned back to Hayato. "What do you think of King Halo? She's really skilled."
"How should I put it... Want the truth?"
Hayato left it hanging, not finishing his thought.
"You can't tell, can you? King Halo is in the same year as me. Even I'm not totally confident I could beat her."
"Then you're wrong," Hayato spoke confidently. "King Halo is a horse girl with high aptitude for short distances. At short distance, you definitely can't beat her, but at intermediate distance like this, it's hard to say."
Since there weren't many horse girls on the field with A-rank intermediate distance aptitude, Hayato couldn't say she'd definitely struggle.
About the same as the average horse girl, probably.
Hayato continued, "Below 1400 meters, she will win against you. Above 2000 meters, you will win. But between 1400 and 1800, you're evenly matched. As for this race..."
He carefully examined the data of the horse girls on the field, then said, "First place will be difficult. 80% chance of second place, 19% chance of third."
"Eh? Only 1% chance of first?"
"No, 1% is fourth place or below."
Distance aptitude was more important than any other stat. In a race unsuited to her, King Halo really couldn't display her full strength. Second place was already pretty good.
Seiun Sky tilted her neck, her sapphire eyes glinting as she said softly, "This is getting more and more interesting. You're really that accurate?"
As King Halo's friend, and since King Halo always dragged her to practice together, she knew her abilities inside and out.
Actually, she found King Halo kind of annoying because she was too hardworking.
Still, to gather intel on King Halo, she didn't mind training together.
Come to think of it, the races she'd lost to King really were all under 1400 meters.
Was this a coincidence?
She didn't think so.
She knew King Halo wasn't suited for long distances, so she'd secretly practiced long distances, wanting not lose to her at those lengths.
But just now, Hayato had laid out their entire situation in a single sentence...
What was going on?
I've never shown my long-distance ability in public. How did this guy figure it out?
She felt inexplicably unsettled by Hayato Trainer-san.
...
On the field.
King Halo arrived late but didn't panic, quickly adjusting her breathing.
Click.
With a light sound, she smoothly broke from the gate.
The start went fine, but during positioning, she got pushed into the center of the pack.
This position wasn't terrible, but King Halo, who only wanted first place and didn't understand what to do in mid-pack running, felt extremely anxious.
All she wanted was to break through to the front.
At the thousand-meter mark, she felt herself losing steam, already struggling to breathe.
And the horse girl at the front seemed unreachably far away.
The reason was her low stamina. Even with a higher speed than her opponent, she couldn't fully utilize it. Just managing to keep pace for two thousand meters was already impressive.
After 1400 meters.
"Huff... ahh... huff. Can't give up. I'm from the King family. A mere tryout race can't stop this King's grand ambitions..."
"Move aside, you people in front!!!"
Swoosh!
She was already gasping for air, occasionally wiping sweat from her forehead.
After an intense struggle, she finally broke free from the pack, successfully reaching second position.
Now she was running purely on willpower. The outcome was obvious, and it was exhausting.
The horse girl in front knew King Halo was using her body as a windbreak and suddenly veered sideways with a burst of acceleration.