Seeing the confusion in the Satono Sisters' eyes, Anjing Zhen knew they didn't understand what he meant.
He smiled but didn't explain, then raised his binoculars again and focused on the black-haired girl from his team.
Escape, Early, Pace, and Late were the four main running styles in a race.
Escape, also known as front-running, meant seizing the lead right from the start and staying in first place from beginning to end, keeping the pace of the entire race under one's control.
Early meant staying close behind the leading horse girl, using the pace set by the runners ahead to adjust one's own condition, then overtaking them in the final stretch.
Pace runners stayed farther back, making it easier to let the runners in front block the wind and conserve stamina in their slipstream before making a move at the Final Turn.
Late runners started from the very back and began accelerating earlier than runners using other styles. They usually picked up speed at the third turn, though the strongest could even start in the middle of the race.
There were also more specific styles, such as Great Escape, Free-Style Early Lead, Free-Style Pace, and Great Chase.
Every running style had to be adjusted to suit both the horse girl and the circumstances of the race.
As a rule, most trainers settled on a horse girl's running style around the time of her Debut Race. Anjing Zhen had already figured out which two suited Kitasan Black best.
Great Escape and Escape.
After that came Free-Style Early Lead, which let her switch smoothly between Escape and Early.
That judgment was based both on everything he'd learned and considered over the years and on the experience his father had shared with him.
The same went for tactics.
A Debut Race wasn't especially high-pressure, making it ideal for testing out different possibilities.
Training could certainly serve the same purpose, but it was still different from a race. Conclusions drawn from actual competition were obviously more precise.
The races that followed would grow increasingly important. If they missed this chance, there wouldn't be another like it.
His father had also taught him a trick related to a horse girl's temperament.
Horse girls had a fierce competitive streak. When they first started racing, they couldn't help wanting to run ahead.
But falling behind was inevitable in any race. No horse girl could stay in first place every moment, and sometimes falling behind was part of the strategy.
Without enough experience, a horse girl who ran on instinct could easily panic if someone suddenly passed her.
The races immediately after a debut weren't too demanding, so they were a good chance to run farther back and build up valuable experience handling pressure.
Only veteran trainers had this kind of insight. His father had heard it from an older trainer, too.
Of course, there were risks.
Running near the back meant facing intentional or unintentional interference from the runners ahead when it was time to catch up.
Without real race experience, novice horse girls often didn't know how to handle it. At a crucial moment, they might fail to pick up speed and get boxed in, unable to break through.
Anjing Zhen wasn't worried.
He wouldn't have used Kitasan Black's Debut Race as a training exercise if he weren't confident he could pull it off.
That black-haired girl on his team was a late bloomer through and through.
The flip side of not being able to control her strength was that she didn't dare run at full power.
Her body hadn't yet developed enough to match her instincts. To avoid injuring herself with her own talent, she instinctively held back from pushing herself to the limit.
Most trainers, faced with this situation, would avoid having her run at full power.
Anjing Zhen did the same, but he'd come up with a more clever approach.
Have her sprint earlier, spreading her strength and explosive bursts across a longer distance.
That would not only spare her body the strain of an all-out effort, but also ensure that she kept accelerating throughout the latter part of the race, making her difficult to block.
This was a tactic chosen by many seasoned trainers and experienced horse girls, and it required a number of conditions.
The most important one, however, was something Kitasan Black had already begun to master.
That was rhythm.
For a month, the black-haired girl on his team had practiced Rhythm Training every day.
Now, when she ran, she carried a melody-like rhythm within her.
An opening, a verse, a chorus, an interlude, a climax, a fading final note.
The music played by a girl just starting out in her career was, of course, far from perfect.
But it was more than good enough for this little tune called a Debut Race.
Reviewing the whole plan and peering through his binoculars, he saw the sign marking the third turn flash past. The black-haired girl lowered her body in a familiar, subtle motion, and Anjing Zhen couldn't help the slight curve of his lips.
...The interlude was over. It was time for the climax.
Let them all see it, Little Kita.
Let them see just what kind of horse girl you are...
A horse girl like no other.
As the race drew closer to its final stretch, the commentator's voice grew more and more excited.
"Only 500 meters to the Finish Line, and Mickey Joy has taken the lead!
"Just as you'd expect from the crowd favorite!
"Cosmic Haven was just a step too slow and fell behind in the middle of the race.
"She hasn't fallen far behind, though—she's only half a length behind Mickey Joy.
"Running alongside her is Eden. Both horse girls are giving it their all to catch Mickey Joy!
"The three of them have a clear lead. The fourth-place runner is a full three lengths behind!
"There are 400 meters to go. It looks like the winner will be decided among these three!"
One Horse Length was a term specific to racing. Supposedly, it was the distance between the outstretched arms of the first statue of the Three Goddesses in the world—about 2.5 meters.
Half a length was a little over a meter. That wasn't much of a gap. The second- and third-place horse girls were right on the leader's heels, and it seemed like a little more effort might be enough to catch her.
The gap to the runners farther behind was much more obvious.
The stretch of more than seven meters looked like a chasm, as if it had shut the trailing runners out of contention.
The spectators erupted in the loudest cheers since the start of the race, and the commentator sounded just as thrilled.
"They've reached the straightaway in front of the stands. The three leaders are still locked in a fierce battle, while behind them..."
The commentator suddenly paused.
Then came a disbelieving cry.
"Kitasan Black!
"Kitasan Black is charging up!
"300 meters to the Finish Line!
"But! But!
"Kitasan Black is catching up!
"200 meters!
"She's passed Cosmic Haven and Eden!
"She's closing in on Mickey Joy!
"She's passed Mickey Joy!
"Kitasan Black is in the lead!
"Kitasan Black has taken the lead!
"Kitasan Black is now in first place!
"Can Mickey Joy overtake her?!
"100 meters!
"Mickey Joy is accelerating with everything she's got! Mickey Joy is accelerating with everything she's got!
"But!
"Kitasan Black is still in the lead!
"She's slowing down! Mickey Joy seems to be slowing down!
"But Kitasan Black is still sprinting!
"She's still sprinting after 1,700 meters!
"50 meters!
"She's across the line!
"One and a half lengths!
"She came from behind!
"She overtook them all in one burst!
"She's won the Debut Race by one and a half lengths!
"Fantastic!
"Absolutely fantastic!
"What an incredible comeback!
"Let's congratulate Kitasan Black!"
For a brief moment, when the crowd realized along with the commentator that Kitasan Black was charging up, the cheers died down.
It wasn't because they thought the race wasn't exciting.
Quite the opposite. After a moment of stunned silence at the unexpected turn of events, the crowd erupted into even more frenzied cheers.
After cheering wildly for a while, the crowd quieted down again for a moment. Then laughter, full of good humor, joined the cheers as they rang across Tokyo Racecourse.
After charging across the finish line and running almost another hundred meters, the black-haired girl who'd just won the race made a spectacular face-first dive, landing on the ground in a big, sprawling wooden cross shape.
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