1!!!
The next moment, all the gates opened at once.
All sixteen Uma Musume burst out almost simultaneously!
What happened next left the hundreds of spectators in the stands gasping in astonishment. They stared as if they'd witnessed something impossible.
That white-haired girl who should've been forced into a Late-runner or Mid-runner style because her Outer Gate had put her at a disadvantage...
She'd burst out in front—and her momentum hadn't let up?
Her timing and acceleration were visibly better than those of every seasoned Uma Musume on the track!
Even the announcer sounded astonished!
The gates are open—and this is incredible!
The mysterious Dark Horse Platinum, famous for defeating Tracen Academy's renowned super rookie Daiwa Scarlet in her Debut Race just one week ago, is here!
And that's not all. A week ago, she had a terrible start and fell all the way to last place. Now she's the first racer out of the gate!
Has Platinum improved this much in just one week?
On the track, Platinum, starting from the Outer Gate, hadn't fallen behind at all!
In an instant, nearly every seasoned Uma Musume on the track was sweating bullets.
This...
"What kind of monster is she?!"
Elsewhere, in the student council office.
Symboli Rudolf stared at her phone, waiting for the account named Platinum to accept her friend request.
As she waited intently, she suddenly heard the door open from outside.
Before she could look up, Tokai Teio, fresh from training, spoke to her.
"President, aren't you going to watch Platinum's race today?"
Symboli Rudolf, who was waiting for Platinum to accept her friend request, froze.
"??"
"Huh? Didn't she just make her debut a week ago? She's already racing again?"
Had that Heavenly Horse gone crazy??
15. By Accident, I Was Forced Into a Big Escape
At the racetrack, in the stands.
"What a start! It's incredible."
A graceful purple-haired girl watched the front of the field by the outer rail with an expression of disbelief.
She was Mejiro McQueen, the undisputed Long-Distance King of her generation!
Over the century in which Uma Musume racing had flourished, a number of prestigious families dedicated to raising Uma Musume racers had emerged. The Mejiro family was the most famous of them.
The Mejiro family's prestige was now at its peak. They had produced a steady stream of talented Uma Musume, putting them on par with the Symboli Family, which had produced the Emperor, Symboli Rudolf.
And among such an elite family, the graceful girl named Mejiro McQueen was considered by the Mejiro family to be the greatest Long-Distance King in their history!
And rightly so.
Even Tokai Teio had recently been soundly defeated by Mejiro McQueen in the GI long-distance Spring Tenno Sho, cementing her reputation as the "Long-Distance King."
Yet even the powerful and elegant Mejiro McQueen had begun to feel a little unsettled not long after this GIII race started.
"Strange..."
Beside Mejiro McQueen stood a sister from her family, another excellent Uma Musume: Mejiro Dober.
Mejiro McQueen had actually invited Tokai Teio, too. But although Teio's injuries had improved, she'd chosen to focus on training and hurriedly recovering her form, so she hadn't come to watch.
Compared to the elegant Mejiro McQueen, Mejiro Dober was quieter, but surprise showed on her face as well.
"In her Debut Race... she had such a terrible start."
"Could she really have improved this much in a week?"
A good start was considered the essential foundation of any race.
If a racer got off to a bad start, she'd struggle to claim the advantageous inside lane or a position suited to her, giving her rivals a chance to widen the gap.
So a poor start put a racer at an immediate disadvantage. A particularly bad one could leave her three to five lengths behind.
Platinum's last race had clearly been one of those particularly bad starts. If she hadn't been so late out of the gate, and had raced as a Mid-runner rather than a Late-runner, she'd have won by an even greater margin! She might even have scored a decisive victory!
That was why most Uma Musume went out of their way to train their starts, not wanting to lose the race over something so small.
But still, could anyone really go from a "particularly bad start" to a "perfect start" in just one week?
That was... quite the turnaround.
"Could it be—"
The elegant McQueen sensed an unusual danger and began to ponder.
"Maybe she wasn't even taking her race against Scarlet seriously?"
Surely... not?
On the outer rail of the grass track!
Only one Silver-white Figure remained near the front.
The reason she had left the entire crowd speechless was that... she'd somehow drawn level with the Escape Horse racers who had the advantage of inner gates and could easily claim the inside lane. She was moving at an astonishing speed, steadily edging closer to the rail.
"Guh... Why was her start so fast this time?"
"And it wasn't just the start. She claimed the inside lane perfectly, too?"
"Is Platinum really a rookie who only made her debut a week ago?"
There were two or three other racers starting from the disadvantageous Outer Gate alongside Platinum, but none of them dared to maintain such a powerful burst.
That was because racers weren't allowed to cut across and obstruct those behind them. If they were caught obstructing another racer by crossing lanes, they could be demoted, fined, or even banned from racing.
So at the beginning of a race, they couldn't cut across in front of the other Uma Musume around them to reach the inside lane. They had to leave enough distance between themselves and the other racers.
That left them with only two choices.
Either they could do what Platinum had done: get a perfect start, lose no ground, and accelerate so astonishingly that they visibly pulled away from the surrounding racers. Once the gap was large enough that it wouldn't count as obstructing them, they could head for the inside lane.
Or they could drop all the way back, wait for a large group of Uma Musume to take the inside lane, and then move over from behind. But that would be a huge disadvantage for Mid-runners and Late-runners who weren't suited to racing from the middle or rear of the pack.
The first option was clearly better, but it was also much harder. Platinum's choice was bold and fearless. It took superb physical ability, nerves of steel, and a flawless start to pull it off!
Most Uma Musume had expected Platinum to start even worse than she had in her race against Daiwa Scarlet, and to remain near the back of the field by the outer rail for a while. Instead, she was shining at the front of the field, right in view of most of the racers!
In just a few seconds after the start, Platinum had already sent shockwaves through the crowd.
Even the announcer's voice, broadcast throughout the venue, faltered.
How could this be? It had only been a week since Platinum's last race, her Debut Race, yet now she'd made such a perfect start?!
In such a short time, she'd gone from being last out of the gate to beating even the seasoned racers off the line. What kind of terrifying rate of improvement was this?!
There was no doubt about it: the Silver-white Heavenly Horse had truly descended! She'd become even more perfect!
She was now running with the Leaders, behind only the two Escape Horse racers at the very inside of the track!
On the rushing grass track, Platinum had burst out of the Outer Gate and accelerated straight into the leading group!
The five or six Leader racers surrounding her were already sweating bullets, barely moments after leaving the gate.
They'd meant to teach this young, presumptuous so-called "Heavenly Horse" a lesson, but they hadn't expected...
This young rookie Uma Musume to be more perfect than all the seasoned racers?
What was more, as a fellow Leader, Platinum was a full pace faster than them.
The race wasn't even halfway done, and she already seemed to be pushing toward the very front.
Was Platinum planning to run as an Escape Horse and lead the race all the way to the end?!
Some of the Leader racers clenched their teeth, cold sweat pouring down their faces as the pressure hit them.
"What kind of terrifying training has she gone through?"
"Damn it! If she hadn't started late last time, we wouldn't have had a chance of beating her!"
"Don't panic. Platinum only rested for a week, and this is her first time tackling 2,000 meters. She's bound to lose speed later!"
"She's starting from the Outer Gate and still trying to lead the race?"
Some were stunned, some shouted "Damn it!" and others remained calm and collected.
And the Heavenly Horse herself, the one everyone was watching—
Beneath her apparently unruffled expression, she looked a little bewildered.
It's going this smoothly?
There was none of the grueling preparation, careful planning, or terrifying training that everyone imagined.
It was simply that, after trying the Late-runner style last time, Platinum had decided to try a different style in this race.
For the lazy Miss Heavenly Horse, Platinum, who didn't like going to work, the important thing was to find the easiest, simplest style among the available options.
So she chose the Leader style, and began her astonishing sprint!
As for why she'd gone from running as a Leader to running alongside the Escape Horse racers—
The reason was simple: Platinum didn't understand race pacing. She'd run too fast and accidentally started racing like an Escape Horse...
The Heavenly Horse—
—had begun her first Big Escape!
16. The Heavenly Horse's Style: Learning from Big Red and Route!
Inside the student council office.
Tokai Teio and Symboli Rudolf began talking.
"Huh? Didn't she just make her debut a week ago? She's already racing again?"
As Tokai Teio explained, Symboli Rudolf, the student council president, put down her phone and looked astonished.
Hadn't Platinum only made her debut a week ago? Shouldn't she be training hard for the Hopeful Stakes at the end of the year?
Or was Platinum not afraid of getting injured from Experienced Battles, and planning to "grow stronger through fighting"—using one race after another to make herself stronger?
"What kind of race is she entering? An OP-level one?"
"No, it's a graded GIII race!"
Tokai Teio answered in surprise.
If Platinum had waited a month or two before challenging a GIII race, that wouldn't have been surprising. After all, Platinum was already strong and talented enough to defeat Daiwa Scarlet.
But if she was doing it after only a week... that was another matter entirely!
It was the most extreme kind of Experienced Battle, one that pushed the body to its limits. Forget going all out—even managing to show most of her strength without getting injured would be impressive.
Before you continue