Just as they entered the first turn, Don Fortis, who had been running in second place, suddenly accelerated.
She looked determined to seize the lead from Happy Green.
“The pace is already quite fast, yet Don Fortis is making her move from this position.
Isn’t she worried she’ll push the entire race into an extremely high speed?” the live commentator wondered.
Yugi and Tojo Hana could both guess exactly what Don Fortis was thinking.
She simply believed her raw power was the strongest in the field and wanted to set an incredibly fast pace to drain every opponent’s stamina.
In Yugi’s view, the strategy was not bad at all, provided Oguri Cap was not in the race.
“When it comes to stamina, the strongest horse in this field is not you, Don Fortis.” The young man narrowed his eyes, staring intently at the two Uma Musumes battling fiercely for the lead at the front of the pack.
Oguri Cap also began to pick up speed, slowly closing the four-length gap to Southern Prosperity ahead of her.
“I have absolutely no problem with this pace,” the gray Uma Musume muttered to herself.
===
Tojo Hana made her judgment with a confident tone.
“She should be controlling her leading speed here on the back straight.
Don Fortis definitely cannot accelerate flat out for the full eighteen hundred meters.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Yugi replied, also speaking to White Narubi.
“I don’t know about the other Uma Musumes, but my instruction to Oguri Cap right now is to conserve her leg strength.”
“So Oguri has to hold back here and not charge forward?” White Narubi asked, pursing her lips.
“Exactly.
Conserving energy at this stage is very important,” Yugi explained patiently to Oguri Cap’s mother.
“A punch needs to be pulled back before it can strike with full power, and the same goes for a race.”
Tojo Hana quietly noted the young man’s words.
Perhaps she could share this with Silence Suzuka later and help her learn to resist the urge to push too early.
Yugi kept his eyes fixed on Oguri Cap, watching as his Uma Musume approached the final turn.
“The key to victory lies right here.” He clenched his fists, watching eagerly.
===
Rewinding to twenty seconds earlier.
The five Uma Musumes ahead of Oguri Cap all knew their positioning through the upcoming turn would decide the outcome of the race.
They also shared one clear understanding: none of them were particularly skilled at running the inside line through a turn.
To their relief, Oguri Cap had shown in the first turn that she was not strong on the inside either.
So, as the back straight came to an end, the five horses ahead of her moved outward by a few steps in unspoken agreement, deliberately opening up the inside lane.
Oguri Cap’s eyes lit up.
“Should I accelerate now?
They’ve already given me the space.” The question flashed through her mind.
According to Yugi’s instructions, she was supposed to keep conserving stamina at this stage and only begin her push after exiting the turn.
But the sudden appearance of a perfect acceleration gap made her heart race.
Her natural racing instinct urged her to seize the opening and turn it into a memory these opponents would never forget.
Oguri Cap found herself torn.
Should she trust her instinct, or trust her trainer?
Her instinct had always been praised by Yugi, yet this time it went directly against his orders.
Then she remembered the extra words Yugi had added after giving his instructions that day.
“I grant you permission to improvise, Oguri Cap.
If you feel that deviating from my plan at a certain moment would be better, then go ahead and do it.”
“Go ahead and do it…” She bit her lip, lowered her stance slightly, and prepared to accelerate.
“Here, I’ll trust my—”
In the next second, Don Fortis, who had entered the turn first, glanced back using the curve of the track.
That single look fell directly on Oguri Cap and interrupted her thoughts.
The gray Uma Musume instantly realized the flaw in her plan.
“If I accelerate here, there are still five opponents ahead of me.
Overtaking them will take time.
Don Fortis or Happy Green could easily wait until they exit the final turn and then cut inward, legally blocking my path.
The others wouldn’t even need to cooperate to trap me on the inside and keep me boxed in!”
===
Back in the stands, Yugi had just finished explaining his plan to White Narubi.
He now turned to Berno Light to explain why he hoped Oguri Cap would continue holding back.
“Then Oguri…” Berno Light knew her friend well and worried she might not be able to resist such an obvious opening.
“I trust her,” Yugi said firmly.
“And she will trust me completely.”
As his words landed, Oguri Cap also abandoned the idea, rejecting the call of instinct.
“Indeed, I still have to trust the trainer’s instructions.” She muttered to herself while preparing to enter the final bend.
After the five opponents ahead entered the turn, they all took the outside path just as they had in the first turn.
The space they left on the inside lane not only stayed open but grew even wider.
Yet Oguri Cap still did not cut to the inside.
The near-mistake from earlier remained fresh in her mind.
“Very good.
These guys will definitely keep drifting outward to create their own acceleration space while trying to squeeze whatever path they think Oguri Cap will take.” Yugi pumped his fist.
“Soon it will be time for the real show.”
Several trainers in the VIP area noticed his excited reaction and frowned.
“The Kasamatsu trainer looks very worked up.
Could he and his Uma Musume be hiding some kind of trump card?” Their thoughts ran along similar lines.
While the Monbetsu trainers pondered, Oguri Cap reached the latter half of the final bend behind the leading group.
At this point Don Fortis had already begun adjusting her position, preparing for the three-hundred-and-thirty-meter final straight.
She did not cut to the inside but continued drifting outward.
For Don Fortis, all her biggest rivals came from Tracen Academy, so everyone knew each other’s strengths.
“If this were a Central graded race, I would definitely fight for the inside lane.
But this is Monbetsu.
There’s no point.”
The next second, however, a strange sense of danger stirred in her heart.
Oguri Cap noticed that the opponents ahead of her had all started to accelerate.
“That’s right.
It’s now!” The gray Uma Musume realized the exact “timing” her trainer had mentioned had arrived.
Without hesitation she took several quick steps toward the inside, then released all the energy she had been saving.
“Oguri Cap suddenly cut to the inside!
Her speed didn’t drop at all.
In fact, it’s increasing!
This completely shatters everyone’s impression of her!”
Once she reached the inside lane, Oguri Cap unleashed her finishing kick.
With the shorter distance advantage, she smoothly passed four opponents in a row.
Now only Don Fortis remained ahead of her.
“Tsk…” Don Fortis had already noticed the sudden surge.
“I was careless.
I never expected her to actually use the inside lane.”
The next second her expression turned fierce, proof that she was giving everything she had.
“But this is as far as you go!
I am a Uma Musume who won three consecutive races in Central!
How could I possibly lose to a mud rabbit from Kasamatsu!”
===
Actually, Don Fortis’s jab was not entirely off the mark.
Because she had been running behind several other Uma Musumes, Oguri Cap’s racing silks and face were splattered with plenty of mud, making her look quite disheveled.
Even so, the powerful momentum of her surge from behind was intimidating enough that Don Fortis quickly refocused on the race.
As an Uma Musume who had transferred from Central, she refused to stumble here against someone from Kasamatsu.
Kasamatsu Tracen Academy had a history of more than fifty years, yet no Uma Musume from there had ever won a National Regional Exchange Graded Race.
They had also claimed very few of the lower-tier Tokai Regional Exchange Graded Races.
Even if the “mud rabbit” behind her managed to finish second, it would still be making history for Kasamatsu.
Although Don Fortis sharpened her focus, she did not try to move inward to block Oguri Cap’s acceleration lane.
In her experience, the inside lane at Monbetsu Racecourse was not suited for sprinting.
The mud was thick, and stepping on it would only slow her down.
Her own trainer thought the same at that moment.
“Just hold the best sprint line.
If Oguri Cap tries the inside, her finishing kick definitely won’t match Don Fortis’s.”
Yugi disagreed.
“After several days of continuous heavy rain, there is really not much difference between the inside and outside lanes at Monbetsu Racecourse.
Taking the inside actually saves steps.”
“One could say the home team fell for conventional thinking,” Tojo Hana added.
“Almost,” Yugi grinned.
“A trainer who doesn’t understand the weather, doesn’t know the track conditions, and can’t adjust their Uma Musume’s mindset is simply too limited.
At the very least they should be able to handle one of those three things, right?”
Tojo Hana, caught by the remark, twitched her mouth.
With two hundred meters left to the finish line, Oguri Cap had drawn level with Don Fortis.
For the first time outside the starting gates, the two Uma Musumes from different regions ran side by side.
Oguri Cap could see the fierce expression on the face of the race favorite beside her from the corner of her eye.
She knew her own face probably did not look much better right now, but there was nothing she could do about it.
No Uma Musume would relax her focus at such a decisive moment.
Every muscle screamed with effort, yet she no longer cared.
“I said I wanted to see my trainer’s smile as the ending to this summer!” She gritted her teeth.
Her stride quickened, and she pulled half a length ahead of Don Fortis.
But Don Fortis refused to give up.
“I came back to Monbetsu from Central because I wanted to build enough reputation in my hometown to represent this place and challenge Central!
How could I possibly lose to a mud rabbit from Kasamatsu today!”
She tensed every muscle, even willing to risk overload injury, and fought back with desperate courage.
Step by step she closed the gap with Oguri Cap once more.
“Oguri Cap has taken the lead over Don Fortis!
But Don Fortis has not given up!
She’s caught back up!
The two Uma Musumes are running neck and neck!
Third place has already fallen five lengths behind!” The live commentator stood up in excitement.
“It has come down to a final one-on-one duel!”
For the audience, the most thrilling moments in the closing stage of a race were either a solo runaway victory or exactly this kind of head-to-head battle.
If it came down to the wire at the finish line, it became even more exciting.
In the stands Yugi’s heart clenched tightly, as if he himself were on the track dueling Don Fortis.
“Oguri Cap…” He bit his lip.
He had done everything he could before the race.
Now, with only one hundred and fifty meters left, everything depended on Oguri Cap’s fighting spirit, tenacity, and ability.
“Uma Musume seven, human three…” Yugi recalled the lesson from Trainer Sagami Masayuki in the Dream World.
“It really is true.
I can only do my best with the three parts.
The rest must be left to Oguri Cap.”
“I believe in her.” He bit his lip harder, not even noticing that he had drawn blood.
“Come on, Oguri Cap.
Overcome the prejudices in the human heart.”
With one hundred and twenty meters left to the finish line, Oguri Cap and Don Fortis remained locked together.
Neither was willing to surrender the victory that was now so close.
Don Fortis wanted the capital to challenge Central.
Oguri Cap’s reasons were more complicated: her trainer’s smile, improving her mother’s living conditions, making sure her friend’s summer efforts were not wasted.
Yet at this moment she had pushed all those thoughts aside.
Now only one thing remained in the gray Uma Musume’s mind.
“I want to win!”
Oguri Cap glanced at Don Fortis on her left.
Even through the heavy rain, at such close range she could not clearly see her opponent’s expression.
Still, she was certain that her rival’s condition was not as strong as her own.
The next second, just as she refocused, she suddenly remembered something.
“I once had a dream where I was also sprinting side by side with an opponent on the track, and then…”
Oguri Cap recalled the voice she had heard in that dream.
“Use a direct duel…?”
No sooner had the thought crossed her mind than her speed suddenly surged by a significant margin.
In the blink of an eye she pulled a full length ahead of Don Fortis.
“What’s going on?!” Don Fortis stared in shock as Oguri Cap’s figure grew clearer in her vision.
“Am I really inferior to a Kasamatsu Uma Musume in explosive power?”
In that brief moment of distraction, Oguri Cap completely shook her off.
“Fifty meters to the finish line!
Oguri Cap takes the lead again!
Don Fortis on the outside is desperately trying to catch up.
Can she do it?!” The commentator frowned.
He had forgotten about local versus visiting Uma Musumes.
All he wanted now was to see the finish.
“She can’t catch up!” Relying on his professional instinct, he made the call.
“Oguri Cap’s speed is only getting faster!
The gray lightning is about to tear open the gates of victory at Monbetsu Racecourse in the pouring rain!”
This was not mere hype.
It was a sincere assessment.
The Monbetsu Racecourse commentator had already seen the future a few seconds ahead: Oguri Cap crossing the finish line first.
At the same time, Yugi, who shared the exact same thought as the commentator, broke into a brilliant smile.
His body finally relaxed.
200 Stones
And so on