"Welcome to our Hanshin Racecourse!"
"Just after enjoying the battle between the two heroes of our Hanshin Daishoten, we now have the Osaka Hai. What spectacular performance will the horse girls in this race show us?"
"This year's classic races might be quite intense. Biwa Hayahide is also participating in the Wakaba Stakes at another track right now."
"Yes! This month's races are all just warm-up races before the GI, right? Strong horse girls have already appeared one after another in the previous races, but there's also a very anticipated horse girl in this race."
"You're referring to Seiun Sky, right? Unfortunately, her popularity only ranks fifth. We should be able to see another epic-level escape race, though."
Speaking of Seiun Sky, the commentator's face showed anticipation, his eyes bright with interest.
"In her last race, Seiun Sky won by 6 lengths, it's quite spectacular."
"This race was for the senior division and was also a GII, raising the difficulty to new heights. Whether she could achieve similar results was hard to say, the bar was much higher now."
"Otherwise, Seiun Sky would be the top favorite without question."
Juveniles directly challenging the senior division was just rare, not unheard of. Oguri Cap was an example, a horse girl's strength wasn't entirely based on age.
Taiki Shuttle and other short-distance specialist horse girls were examples. Due to distance adaptability issues, they'd give up on classic races entirely.
It was insanely hard. But if Seiun Sky actually managed to do this, she'd prove she was on another level, taking on senior uma musume over long distances and winning in her very first year.
"Nah...."
Seiun Sky was still the same, leisurely entering the race venue like she had all the time in the world.
Her gaze wandered across the spectator seats, searching for people and Uma Musume she knew, picking out familiar faces.
As her eyes roamed, she saw Mayano Top Gun, saw Sakura Laurel, saw Hayato and others, and even saw Symboli Rudolf, Tojo Hana...
"They all came? Are they that eager to see me?" Seiun Sky muttered to herself.
If I lose, what will happen to Trainer? I'm really curious.
Thinking about this, she even broke into a smile, amused by the thought.
Right now, Biwa Hayahide was at another venue competing in the Wakaba Stakes. Unfortunately, because it was at the same time as Seiun Sky's race, fewer people went to watch her race than came to Seiun Sky's side.
Her popularity might be somewhat low, but there were still many who believed she could win, rather than treating her as a joke or a long shot.
"Go Sei-chan! Go Sei-chan!" Mayano Top Gun waved her hand, cheering enthusiastically for her, voice carrying over the crowd.
"Don't worry, Mayano-chan. Today, your master will teach you the essence of the great escape. Watch carefully."
Although she wanted to lose, the conditions didn't seem to allow it. When they entered, Trainer still called them small fish.
Whether they're small fish or not, let me find out. The Tenno Sho Spring trial race, the Osaka Hai GII.
Seiun Sky
Stamina: 90/100 Excellent
Speed: 323
Stamina: 278
Power: 189
Guts: 223
Wits: 265
Track Aptitude: Turf A, Dirt G
Distance Aptitude: Sprint G, Mile B, Medium A, Long A
Running Style Aptitude: Front Runner A, Pace-Chaser B, End-Closer D, Late-Surger E
...
This was the current Seiun Sky stats.
Most senior division Uma Musume had stats similar to Yukino Bijin's. They had fewer skills, just two or three, five at most.
She now truly possessed strength equivalent to the senior division, enough to compete on equal footing.
Quite a few horse girls directed unfriendly looks at Seiun Sky, their expressions cold. In terms of age and seniority, they all ranked higher than Seiun Sky.
In terms of achievements, several of them had won Grade races.
Toward Seiun Sky, they were disdainful, not only because she was a juvenile Uma Musume, but also because of her bloodline background.
Seiun Sky also saw quite a few familiar faces here.
Sakura Eiko O, she was this race's top favorite. Not a GI horse girl, but she'd won GII races before.
The Sakura army in their names had no weaklings. She was one of the strong opponents in this race.
Walking to the starting gate, Seiun Sky stopped and even took two steps back. "It's still early before the start."
—
"What's going on with Seiun?" King Halo asked, confused by the hesitation.
"Gate phobia." Hayato frowned slightly. Despite having done countless gate-start training sessions before the race, Seiun Sky's fear of gates still appeared, stubborn as ever.
This could directly lead to Seiun Sky's condition dropping.
In a situation where she was evenly matched with her opponents, a drop in condition would also decrease her strength. Even a 2% debuff could be the key to victory or defeat.
"Seiun Sky's condition doesn't seem very good." Seeing Hayato, Tojo Hana walked over, attempting to make conversation. She probably didn't dislike Hayato anymore and even seemed to want to befriend him.
"Yeah, but it's fine. Even so, winning this race shouldn't be a big problem."
"Is the escape runner trainer that confident in your team member?" Maruzensky also walked over, with Rudolf Symbol and Air Groove following behind her like an entourage.
That damn oldwoman, actually wearing leggings with casual wear, showing off her snow-white thighs and stomach. Combined with her provocative gestures, she was full of seductive power.
Hayato watched for a moment before looking away, forcing his eyes elsewhere. "I believe in her."
Until the last moment before the start, Seiun Sky was ushered into the gate by staff, practically pushed in.
Alright, all the horse girls have entered the gates now. Seiun Sky took quite a bit of time entering the gate. Will she be able to stand out in this race?
After the red light came on, all the horse girls held their breath. Seiun Sky also put away her carefree smile and positioned herself, getting serious.
"CLANG!"
BANG!
Click—
CLANK!
The gates opened. All the horse girls burst from their gates.
It's started! Number 1 horse girl has a starting mistake, she might have hit the gate. She's at the back of the pack. Number 2 horse girl also had a starting mistake, but the impact isn't major.
Number 1 horse girl's speed was dropping slower and slower, muttering to herself, "Damn it, who the hell just imitated the sound of the gates opening before?!"
The race continued. Even if some horse girls had starting problems, the race wouldn't be terminated. Being disrupted by sounds, what was that compared to gate tricks? Those were real cheating.
"In Seiun Sky's races, there always seem to be horse girls who make starting mistakes." Tojo Hana said meaningfully, her tone pointed.
She'd watched the race videos of Seiun Sky and Silence Suzuka many times. She'd been trying to research how Hayato made horse girls who'd exhausted their stamina still able to accelerate in the late stages.
Unfortunately, she hadn't succeeded yet.
"I think that's just a coincidence, hehe." Hayato's expression changed as he laughed dryly, the sound forced.
This was absolutely not a coincidence.
Hayato knew Seiun Sky too well. When encountering horse girls she didn't know or horse girls who annoyed her, she'd do things to interfere with other horse girls, little tricks here and there.
This actually wasn't a big deal because Seiun Sky didn't know those horse girls anyway. Using small tricks was perfectly normal in her strategy book.
She'd even take pride in it. Even if she lost the race, she could still laugh about it without regrets.
If those horse girls had shown Seiun Sky some respect before the race, it would've been fine. Otherwise, this kind of situation would definitely occur.
Even in games, the red skill is not considered cheating....
The track was a battlefield. If you had the ability, train to the point where you couldn't be disrupted.
---
The more I dig for information, the harder it is to find. It seems that only a few major famous matches have complete information from before '99.