Chapter 116. Slow Pace and Different Position Choices — Arima Kinen (Part 1)
"Click!"
Accompanied by the sound of the starting gates springing open, Mejiro Dober burst forward explosively. The very first thing she did was glance toward her left, clearly catching sight of Going Suzuka and Daiwa Oshu accelerating aggressively toward the front, both unmistakably intending to contest the lead position.
However, the undefeated Triple Tiara Uma Musume did not rush to make an immediate judgment. Instead, she chose to remain close behind Grass Wonder, who was positioned slightly to her right, gradually cutting inward toward the rail while calmly observing the rhythm of the race.
Only after determining the pace would she decide whether she needed to move ahead of Grass Wonder early on.
At the same time, Mejiro Dober had no need to worry about becoming trapped within the pack and losing the chance to break free toward the front. Among the Uma Musume positioned to her left, only Mejiro Bright decisively chose to fall behind from the very beginning.
This was also Mejiro Bright's habitual racing style—dropping toward the rear had practically become instinct for her.
When Shuta An had analyzed the possible developments of this race beforehand, despite Mejiro Bright also being a graded race-winning Uma Musume, he had not even mentioned her name once.
The reason was simple: her tactical style was far too singular. She always raced from behind, and therefore posed virtually no influence on Mejiro Dober's performance in this Arima Kinen.
"Daiwa Oshu seems to have reached a tacit understanding with Going Suzuka," Shuta An commented after the field entered the downhill turn. "Going Suzuka will handle the headwind in front, while Daiwa Oshu, whose stamina is slightly inferior, follows directly behind her without applying pressure."
"So this means the race is going to become a slow-pace race, right?" Kurofune immediately grasped the critical point. "Then Dober-chan should move forward now?"
"She should advance," Agnes Digital answered almost immediately.
Among the Uma Musume present, her race-viewing experience was probably the richest.
"Since Going Suzuka intends to slow the pace down, Dober absolutely cannot continue staying behind Special Week-senpai and Grass Wonder-senpai. In terms of stamina, she isn't superior to those two. The best option is to move up now, using the positional advantage from horse lengths to compensate for the gap in stamina and explosive finishing power, then resist their pursuit as much as possible once they enter the final straight."
"Exactly." Shuta An revealed an approving expression.
"Miss Agnes Digital's analysis is correct. That's also the instruction I gave Dober beforehand. She should have noticed it already by now."
Just as Shuta An had predicted, although Mejiro Dober herself could not directly observe the precise actions of Daiwa Oshu and Going Suzuka up ahead, she could still clearly sense that the opening pace of the leading group over the first four hundred meters was significantly slower than she had anticipated.
"It feels like it's somewhere in the twenty-five to six second range. Even though this is a 2500-meter race, this pace is much slower than previous years."
To prepare her for the Arima Kinen, Shuta had specifically organized pace data from prior races so she could accurately judge what qualified as a slow pace at Nakayama Racecourse.
"Last year's Arima Kinen reached the first four hundred meters in the latter half of the twenty-four second range. This year is almost a full second slower. And this is still the acceleration phase immediately after the start, meaning this race is almost guaranteed to become a slow-pace battle."
The moment she realized this, Mejiro Dober immediately began utilizing the downhill section to build momentum, preparing herself to move forward upon entering the straight before the grandstand.
"As for positioning—I could move behind Symboli Indi right now. Right now Tsurumaru Tsuyoshi is marking her. If I move up and mark the same target together with Tsurumaru Tsuyoshi, she probably wouldn't mind, right?"
However, Mejiro Dober quickly dismissed the idea herself.
"No. If I move there, I'll end up directly ahead of Stay Gold."
Within Central Tracen Academy, Stay Gold's reputation was simply too infamous. Mejiro Dober had absolutely no intention of provoking her today at Nakayama Racecourse.
"It's safer to stay behind Stay Gold," Mejiro Dober concluded inwardly.
—
"I wonder what kind of positioning Dober will ultimately choose this time."
Although Shuta An had established an overall tactical framework for Mejiro Dober, he had never rigidly instructed her to specifically mark a certain opponent. After all, race conditions changed too rapidly. In most situations, overly detailed micromanagement like "move five meters to the left" was both unrealistic and inappropriate.
Thinking this, the young man turned toward Rice Shower and Kurofune.
"Tell me," he said, "if it were you two, then after entering the straight before the grandstand, whose position would you choose to take behind?"
After pausing briefly, he also looked toward Agnes Digital and Curren Chan.
"You two can share your thoughts as well."
"This isn't some formal examination. Just say whatever comes to mind," Shuta An said warmly, his tone extremely gentle as he tried his best not to place pressure upon the four Uma Musume.
"If it were me…" Kurofune frowned slightly while staring at the field on-screen, thinking carefully before speaking. "I would choose to follow in third position, directly behind Daiwa Oshu, without pressuring her."
"Why?" Shuta An did not immediately evaluate her answer and instead continued asking.
"Because I feel Going Suzuka intends to create an extremely slow pace this time. Even though I've never raced 2500 meters before, if the pace becomes ultra-slow, then I think I could afford to be more aggressive and stay at the very tail end of the leading group. That would maximize the horse length difference against Special Week-senpai and Grass Wonder-senpai."
"The final straight at Nakayama Racecourse is very short. If I can establish a sufficient positional advantage beforehand, then both offense and defense during the final straight become much easier."
The young man merely nodded silently, still withholding any direct evaluation.
Then Rice Shower timidly raised her hand and spoke softly.
"My thoughts are similar to Kurofune-chan's. Also, following behind Daiwa Oshu would make it easier to avoid getting blocked by other opponents during the sprint. If someone intentionally wanted to interfere, they could even predict the acceleration lines Special Week-senpai and Grass Wonder-senpai might take and obstruct them in advance."
When it became Agnes Digital's turn, however, she shook her head.
"I would choose to follow behind Special Week-senpai."
"Why?" Shuta An was genuinely surprised by her answer.
"Because then I could be sandwiched perfectly between Special Week-senpai and Grass Wonder-senpai."
At the very end of her sentence, Agnes Digital closed her eyes with a deeply satisfied expression.
"…"
For a moment, Shuta An genuinely did not know how to respond.
"As for Curren, Curren doesn't know," Curren Chan said at that moment. "After all, Curren only just enrolled and still hasn't learned many things yet. So where would Big Brother position her?"
Curren Chan had deliberately handed the young man an opportunity to demonstrate his capabilities in front of everyone present, but Shuta An clearly had no intention of taking the bait.
He merely waved his hand lightly.
"There is no absolute correct answer to this kind of question. As long as you can fully utilize your own strengths, then there's no problem."
"I see…" Curren Chan looked slightly disappointed. Her tiny scheme had failed to work on the man before her this time.
While Shuta Trainer was chatting with the other four Uma Musumes by the grandstand, Going Suzuka, who was leading the pack, had already entered the straight before the grandstand.
Although the Uma Musumes in this race had started at a slow pace, the formation of the pack was relatively spread out. Because of this, Mejiro Dober, who suddenly accelerated after entering the straight, appeared even more eye-catching.
"Let's see where Dober plans to position herself," Shuta Trainer stared fixedly at Mejiro Dober's figure, his gaze not shifting in the slightest.
Although the young man had spoken vaguely when answering Curren Chan earlier, in his personal judgment, the most suitable position was actually behind Stay Gold while marking Tsurumaru Tsuyoshi.
The main purpose of this positioning was to avoid provoking Stay Gold and causing some unexpected incident on the track.
Although Stay Gold's greatest achievement so far was still only the Akanko Tokubetsu, she had, after all, finished second in the Tenno Sho (Autumn) for two consecutive years and had even entered the top three in the Spring Tenno Sho. Both her speed and stamina were outstanding. If she became stubborn, anything could happen.
"Even if defeating Special Week and Grass Wonder already requires hoping for an unexpected development, it's still best to stay far away from an uncontrollable troublemaker like Stay Gold and avoid taking the initiative to ignite her."
This latter statement was something not only Shuta Trainer, but many Trainers at Central Tracen Academy, would repeatedly tell their Uma Musumes.
And Mejiro Dober had clearly taken those words to heart.
As for Kurofune and Rice Shower, who paid little attention to Stay Gold—
"Forget it. They'll never encounter Stay Gold on the Twinkle Series stage anyway, and even in daily life their circles barely overlap. There's no need to specifically remind them,"
Shuta Trainer Shuta thought inwardly.
In any case, Stay Gold normally did not cause much trouble within the Academy itself. Most of the chaos she created happened outside the Academy, which constantly gave Symboli Rudolf and the others headaches.
Just before reaching Stay Gold's rear, Mejiro Dober slightly slowed her pace. After firmly securing the position behind Stay Gold, she shifted slightly inward, cutting off the route of Yusei Top Run from gate four. Then, while hugging the rail, she returned to a cruising rhythm once more.
"Mejiro Dober has advanced into fifth position! Meanwhile, Special Week and Grass Wonder remain unmoved. The Derby Uma Musume and last year's Arima Kinen champion are still positioned at the rear of the pack, waiting for their opportunity!" the commentator quickly explained the current state of the three most popular contenders.
"This is bad—" Tojo Hana muttered softly. "It seems Mejiro Dober has already seized control of the pace. Grass Wonder must begin accelerating earlier than both Special Week and Mejiro Dober, otherwise she'll suffer greatly once they enter the final straight."
At this moment, Nishizaki Ryu held exactly the same thought as Tojo Hana.
"Special Week, you have to move up. If you stay behind any longer, it'll be very easy to fail to catch them in time."
The Uma Musumes of Team Spica standing beside Nishizaki Ryu were also discussing the unfolding situation.
"Doesn't it feel like Mejiro Dober's acceleration timing is way too early?" Vodka raised an eyebrow. "They've only passed the grandstand straight for the first time."
"Vodka, what do you know?" Daiwa Scarlet puffed her cheeks. "With Daiwa Oshu and Going Suzuka deliberately slowing the pace, moving up early is completely normal."
"The first 1000 meters was 65.6 seconds. This pace is much slower than last year's," Nishizaki Ryu glanced toward the big screen.
"She absolutely needed to improve her position now. Otherwise, she would become too passive during the final sprint."
"It'll be fine!" Gold Ship raised her head confidently. "Believe in Spe-chan! Her finishing burst in the Japan Cup was incredible. She'll definitely be fine at Nakayama Racecourse too!"
"After all, this year's Special Week is racing with a desire for revenge," Mejiro McQueen also spoke up.
"I believe that among the twelve Uma Musumes in this race, no one possesses a stronger determination than Special Week."
"Even Dober... probably doesn't," she thought silently.
After all, from Mejiro McQueen's perspective, most of the pressure surrounding this Arima Kinen rested on Shuta Trainer's shoulders. Mejiro Dober herself did not possess that kind of desperate obsession of "I absolutely must win this Arima Kinen."
"This is also Shuta Trainer's fault. If he placed a little more pressure on Dober, perhaps she would become unbelievably serious."
Mejiro McQueen muttered inwardly while watching the figures running along the track.
After entering the straight opposite the grandstand, Grass Wonder narrowed her eyes slightly and prepared to improve her position.
"The pace of this race is extremely slow. It looks like, in the end, only Spe-chan, Dober, and I will remain to contest the final sprint."
Naturally, the opponent Grass Wonder cared about most was still Special Week.
However, at this moment, Special Week remained behind her. In Grass Wonder's judgment, unless Special Week began accelerating together with her, then the initiative of this race was currently in her own hands.
As for Mejiro Dober, Grass Wonder had already watched every replay of her Twinkle Series races. She had a relatively thorough understanding of Mejiro Dober's finishing speed.
"However, the Arima Kinen is still a 2500-meter race. This is Miss Mejiro Dober's first attempt at this distance, so her stamina remains questionable. Moreover, she advanced her position so early, meaning her physical expenditure should be greater than mine."
Grass Wonder narrowed her eyes slightly, attempting to locate Mejiro Dober through the gaps between several opponents.
Only after advancing two more positions did Mejiro Dober's back finally enter Grass Wonder's field of vision.
"Her pace still looks extremely stable—" Grass Wonder immediately abandoned her previous optimistic assumption. "I can't expect Miss Mejiro Dober to lose speed during the final sprint."
Thus, Grass Wonder decisively altered her approach. She shifted several steps outward, creating enough space for acceleration.
"I should advance two more positions and reduce the distance between myself and Mejiro Dober to within two horse lengths."
While Grass Wonder's thoughts raced rapidly, Special Week was naturally not remaining idle either.
She had been quietly observing Grass Wonder the entire time, trying to determine what her greatest rival and closest friend intended to do.
"I wonder who Grass Wonder is targeting—After moving up two positions, she should probably wait until just before exiting the final corner before accelerating, right?" That was originally what Special Week believed.
But after seeing Grass Wonder suddenly alter her line, Special Week froze momentarily before immediately preparing to accelerate as well. She adjusted both her stride frequency and rhythm, intending to follow closely behind.
"I don't know what Grass Wonder noticed, but I absolutely can't continue waiting here anymore!"
Special Week's eyes were incomparably resolute.
"I don't want to experience that overwhelming regret from last year ever again!"
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