Uma Musume Pretty Derby: From Getting Knocked Ten Meters Away [67]

The race had passed the opening stage and reached the first turn, faithfully narrated by the announcer’s voice.

“It was an intense start! Right after leaving the gates, the Uma Musume practically piled up together!”

“Most contestants targeted Unyielding True Steel and Noda Gold, placing immense pressure on them both!”

“Unyielding True Steel has broken free! She’s avoided the pack!”

“Noda Gold is surrounded! She’s currently stuck in the mid-pack!”

“As for Glory Calling, the third-favorite—”

“Wait! Susan Muse has claimed first position!”

“Currently in the lead is Susan Muse!”

“Entering the first turn, Susan Muse still maintains the lead!”

“Kitasan Black!”

“Kitasan Black is surging forward!”

“Susan Muse leads, with Kitasan Black right behind!”

“Is Kitasan Black going for the lead? No—Susan Muse is accelerating again!”

“One horse-length… two lengths… Susan Muse has opened up a three-length lead!”

“Susan Muse remains in front, with Kitasan Black second.”

The commentator quickly added:

“It seems she’s replicating her tactics from previous races.”

“Kitasan Black appears skilled at stalking early, then dictating the rhythm later. Looks like she’s chosen Susan Muse as her pacemaker.”

“Hopefully she’ll deliver another outstanding performance, just like before.”

As the commentary relayed the scene, the first 200 meters after gate opening saw fierce positional battles among the Uma Musume.

By the time they reached the first turn, the dust settled, leaving Susan Muse clearly ahead, roughly 7 or 8 meters in front of Kitasan Black in second place.

Behind them, over a dozen Uma Musume formed a tight, single-file line hugging the inner rail.

The spectators, thrilled by such intense early competition, erupted into cheers right from the start.

Yet, at the very front of the stands, Yasui Makoto’s expression remained far calmer than most of the crowd.

The early developments matched exactly what he and Kitasan Black had anticipated. She’d followed their strategy perfectly, avoiding unnecessary confrontations. At precisely the right moment entering the first turn, she accelerated smoothly, establishing her rhythm for the race.

All she had to do now was hold this rhythm…

Just as this thought crossed his mind, a thoughtful voice murmured next to him:

“Stalking…? Nah, Kita-chan’s clearly running her own race.”

Surprised, Yasui turned towards Special Week beside him, asking without thinking:

“Her own race?”

“Yeah. Isn’t that obvious at a glance?”

Special Week nodded naturally, an unusual seriousness replacing her usual carefree demeanor as she pointed toward the fast-moving line of racers.

“It’s true that the lead Uma Musume usually sets the pace. But if your own sense of rhythm is good enough, you don’t actually have to follow the one in front.”

“Feels like Kita-chan’s thinking something like…”

“You run your race, I’ll run mine.”

“Honestly, the whole pack behind Kita-chan is actually following her rhythm, not Susan Muse’s.”

“That’s pretty impressive, Kita-chan… She’s almost as good at this as Sei-chan.”

With a satisfied nod, Special Week suddenly turned to look at Yasui, her usual goofy grin returning as she rubbed her head sheepishly.

“Oh, but that’s just my random thinking, y’know? If I got it wrong, umm… Yasui-san won’t laugh at me, right? Hehe…”

Laugh? I’m still busy being amazed.

Yasui Makoto was genuinely astonished.

Unlike earlier races, this G2 Spring Stakes was of a significantly higher caliber, with vastly superior trainers and opponents.

Simply stalking as she’d done previously wouldn’t work here—each competitor had carefully planned and complex strategies. There was no way Kitasan could adapt instantly to all of them.

Take the initial struggle, for instance.

Yasui had clearly seen Mynah Major, from gate 2, immediately press toward Kitasan Black at the start, attempting to box her in.

It was clearly gate blocking, albeit completely legal, designed specifically to disrupt the opponent’s intended rhythm.

But Mynah Major was too inexperienced. Perhaps overly focused on Kitasan, or lacking a wider tactical perspective, she’d completely missed Susan Muse from gate 4, who was perfectly positioned.

Then, when Susan Muse burst ahead, Mynah Major faltered briefly.

That brief hesitation was precisely when Kitasan seized her opportunity to slip neatly into second position.

This was exactly what Yasui had emphasized repeatedly before the race—maximize your greatest strengths:

Rhythm and stamina.

Kitasan Black’s strongest racing style indeed lay in being a front-runner—particularly in employing escape tactics like ‘nige’ or even ‘oo-nige’ (large escape).

Yet, beyond positioning, escape styles also differed significantly in pacing.

Among well-known front-runners, Silence Suzuka and Mihono Bourbon were typical high-speed escape artists.

Their strategy hinged on a strong early burst to build a significant gap, adjusting mid-race pacing to conserve stamina, and maintaining flexibility to sustain the lead all the way.

Then there were explosive front-runners—like Sakura Bakushin O, Mejiro Palmer, Daitaku Helios, and Twin Turbo—who, frankly speaking, cared little about the pack behind them. As long as their stamina allowed, they’d simply run full tilt from start to finish.

However, neither of these aggressive styles was common. More typical were balanced front-runners like Katsuragi Ace, Ines Fujin, and Seiun Sky, who positioned themselves ahead primarily to control the race rhythm and retain enough stamina to resist late surges.

But Kitasan Black was different from all these.

In Yasui Makoto’s view, the escape style this dark-haired girl specialized in was just as rare as the explosive or large-escape types:

The “Slow Escape.”

Not focused on opening a huge gap; just staying ahead was enough.

Chase if you want—I’ll just speed up when you do.

Don’t chase, and I’ll maintain a leisurely lead, saving energy to accelerate at the perfect moment, sprinting all the way through the finish line.

That was the essence of the “slow escape.”

But this method had three key difficulties.

First, decision-making had to be lightning-fast—accurately gauging opponents’ speed, distance, remaining course length, and your own stamina from just the rhythm of hoofbeats behind you, then instantly deciding when to accelerate.

Second, impeccable rhythm management was critical—never losing stride even when pressured by rivals from behind.

Third, and most importantly, stamina had to be exceptional. Acceleration drained far more stamina than steady cruising—let alone multiple bursts—which made “slow escape” tactics extremely rare among Uma Musume.

As luck would have it, aside from decision-making needing improvement, Kitasan Black’s rhythm control and stamina already ranked among the best of her generation.

Yasui hadn’t explained all this fully yet, but Kitasan already grasped the fundamentals of the “slow escape.”

For this Spring Stakes, Yasui’s plan was precisely to have her thoroughly establish this racing style through practical experience. Her handling of the opening segment was part of that strategy.

Yet what surprised Yasui most was that Special Week had completely seen through his intention for Kitasan Black.

At a single glance, even.

But a moment later, his surprise dissolved into quiet acceptance.

—

This is a fan translation of 赛马娘：从被撞飞十米开始 by 百升飞上天 All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!