King Halo completely lost her windbreak, getting buffeted by the wind and messing up her breathing rhythm and stride.
At this point she couldn't worry about that anymore. She quickly ramped up her speed for the final spurt.
Before long, she actually overtook the horse girl in front of her.
She even got a bit cocky. "Hmph! Know the power of this King now? How dare you block my path!"
1800 meters.
Victory was right there in front of her. She ran even harder.
"Seems like your prediction was wrong? King Halo is going to take first, you know?" Seiun Sky wasn't trying to mock Hayato.
After all, King Halo hadn't been running this whole race comfortably. Even if she won, it'd be a tough victory.
"That's right! King Halo's mother was a top-tier horse girl who won G1 races. Truly worthy of her prestigious bloodline." Some trainers wanted to point out Hayato's mistake.
"The race isn't over yet. Keep watching. Number 4 still has plenty of stamina left in her body."
Hayato pointed to number 4 on the field.
Sure enough, that horse girl was right behind King Halo, not even breathing hard.
As expected, with just fifty meters left, that horse girl suddenly accelerated hard, catching King Halo completely off guard.
Swoosh!
"What?"
King Halo, who thought she was about to win and got carried away, didn't even react. She desperately tried to speed up but found she was already running on empty.
In the end, King Halo lost to number 4 by a head.
King Halo lay on the grass in disappointment, gasping heavily. This race had really taken everything out of her.
And she still lost in the final spurt.
Her opponent was clearly more strategic. The reason for her loss? Maybe some trainers say it's her carelessness.
But actually, she just had insufficient stamina, and because it was a medium distance race, it affected her normal performance.
Even though she didn't win, after leaving the field, plenty of trainers still approached her.
The reason was simple. She was the descendant of a top-tier horse girl.
Trainers assessed horse girls mainly by bloodline. They believed good bloodlines meant good horse girls.
King Halo's abilities weren't actually that high, but G-III races weren't too difficult, and these trainers didn't have huge ambitions. Being able to run G-III was satisfying enough.
As for the one who came in first in this race, if she didn't have some impressive background, no one would fight over her. They'd just keep an eye on her at most.
"I'm not surprised, after all, this is the era after Oguri retired. This era still glorifies the bloodline of Uma Musume." Hayato shook his head, unconsciously turned to look at Seiun Sky, the only local horse that moved to the central without a strong lineage but could defeat Special Week, known as the Great General of Japan.
"Miss King, although you only got second place, you still ran quite well. Please sign with me."
"Miss King, would you sign with me? I believe together we can create a bright future."
"Miss King, you're truly worthy of being a top horse girl's descendant. May I ask..."
"My my, the ojou-sama sure is popular. Why aren't you going over there?" Seiun Sky turned her head to Hayato, blinking as her horse's ears twitched slightly. "If you don't make your move, someone else will snatch her up."
"Just watch." Hayato pointed to King Halo, who was no longer disappointed and had immediately gotten full of herself again.
"Oh ho, ho, ho... Is the first wave of recruitment finally here? One at a time, form a line. This King won't accept trainers who can't queue properly."
"No, no, just from that comment I can tell you're not a first-rate trainer. Move aside."
"Rookie trainers, don't bother me. I only want first-rate trainers. First-rate, first-rate! Do you even understand what first-rate means?"
"You'll become first-rate in the future? When? Come back when you actually become first-rate. Next!"
"Eh? Is this girl not upset at all? And here I was worried about her. I even had a practice race ticket, just for her." Seiun Sky looked somewhat impressed.
"That's just how she is," Hayato said helplessly.
In this ojou-sama's eyes, only first-rate mattered, and her standard for first-rate was trainers who'd trained first-rate horse girls.
There were only a handful of trainers like that in all of Tracen.
Oguri Cap's trainer counted, but he'd already retired.
Tamamo Cross and Super Creek's trainers also counted, but they weren't at the venue right now. Who knew if they were even still trainers?
'If someone doesn't know her backstory, they would definitely find this young lady's arrogance unpleasant to watch.' Hayato is unconsciously holding his forehead.
The fifth group quickly took the field.
Hayato continued looking down. "Finally. There you are, Silence Suzuka."
She was his target.
Fortunately, Silence Suzuka didn't have a trainer yet.
"Silence Suzuka?" Seiun Sky's expression turned serious as she followed Hayato's gaze and saw a quiet horse girl wearing green ear covers.
Clang.
With a light sound, the pack bolted.
Running at the very front was Silence Suzuka, leaving the other horse girls far behind.
She didn't care at all about the other horse girls' feelings. Didn't even glance back. Just ran, ran hard, ran with everything she had.
The gap with second place kept widening.
With this running style, she felt absolutely no pressure.
So there was no sudden drop in speed. She just had to run with all her might.
When the gap reached 11 lengths, the horse girls behind finally couldn't take it anymore. They sped up slightly, closing the distance a bit, but only barely.
This running style had a fatal flaw. Because it was reckless running, injuries came easily.
She wouldn't even know if she exceeded her body's limits.
"Wow, number 8's so fast! Can she maintain that lead at that speed?"
"What an unrestrained pace. If we could recruit her and give her proper guidance, she'd be a monster on the field!"
The trainers started discussing Silence Suzuka.
'Those who have watched Uma Musume season 1 must know what happened to Silence Suzuka.'
Hayato's face remained calm. He wasn't worried. Right now, no one recognized this thoroughbred for what she was.
The race quickly entered the second half of the thousand-meter mark.
Silence Suzuka's speed didn't drop. In fact, it increased.
She'd now opened up a 13-length gap with second place.
"Damn it, what kind of monster is this?"
Some horse girls on the field started cursing.
Being left behind by such a huge distance was humiliating.
At this point, the horse girls behind finally gave chase, and Silence Suzuka's speed dropped somewhat, quickly closing to about 8 lengths.
In the final stretch, all the horse girls' stamina was nearly depleted.
The horse girls in the back ultimately gave up. They just wanted to conserve energy. Forget first place, they'd settle for second.
This race was absolutely thrilling to watch. A horse girl with this kind of performance was incredibly rare.
When the race ended, the entire venue erupted in cheers.
Silence Suzuka finished with a multi-length lead.
Even after finishing, her face remained remarkably calm. She looked back at the horse girls far behind her, still not quite processing it.
"Did I... win?"