The day before the race two weeks later, just as expected, the excellent song "Uchiage Hanabi" brought Kitasan Black plenty of new fans.
Not just plenty. On the third day after the Racing Account posted the song, it had gained her more than twenty thousand fans, pushing her past the 24,000 required for the Condition Race.
The numbers kept rising over the next few days, reaching the cap of 30,000 new fans in one go. Kitasan Black now had over 40,000 fans in total.
The black-haired girl was naturally overjoyed by such a huge increase.
If you saw her grinning foolishly at her phone and muttering to herself, there was no need to wonder why: she'd probably just seen her fan count go up or read a compliment.
Anjing Zhen, on the other hand, wasn't particularly surprised. He knew better than anyone how much buzz that song could generate.
If he had to say anything, it was that such a good song bringing in only 30,000 new fans felt like a bit of a waste.
But that thought only crossed his mind for a moment. Soon, he was focused on the plans for tomorrow's race.
That evening, in the living room of Anjing Zhen's single room.
Looking at the diagrams and notes on the whiteboard beside Anjing Zhen, Kitasan Black considered it for a moment.
"...So I'll be running a little closer to the front than I did in my Debut Race?"
Anjing Zhen nodded.
"That's right. I've assessed the situation, and the strategy we used last time won't work here. We need to adjust accordingly."
Pointing to the handwritten list on the left side of the whiteboard, he explained:
"Unless anyone withdraws, these are the names of your opponents tomorrow.
"Unlike the Debut Race, every one of them raced in a Debut Race last year.
"In other words, you're the only newcomer here who's raced this year.
"That means they started receiving professional guidance from their Trainers earlier, and some of them have top-tier Trainers."
He deliberately paused, quietly glancing at Kitasan Black's expression.
The girl bit her lower lip, her brows drawing together. Her hands, resting on her knees, unconsciously clenched. She was clearly nervous.
Anjing Zhen didn't offer any words of comfort.
A race wasn't child's play.
Quite the opposite. Every race was full of bright, lively girls, and from the outside, it could look as festive and carefree as an idol audition.
But at speeds of up to 60 kilometers per hour, the competition was every bit as intense and dangerous as any other sport.
A little tension could actually help in such a competitive race.
If handled well, the pressure that came with nervousness could help a horse girl perform even better than she did in training.
That was one reason Anjing Zhen had made a point of going through tomorrow's race in detail.
With that in mind, he continued:
"On top of that, your opponents have more racing experience.
"Only one of them has raced in just a Debut Race, like you—but she did that last year.
"On average, your opponents have run three races, and the most experienced among them has run six."
The black-haired girl was visibly more nervous now, so Anjing Zhen smoothly shifted the subject.
A little pressure was enough. Too much could do more harm than good.
"But you don't need to worry. They aren't stronger than you, though they aren't much weaker either. Otherwise, you wouldn't be in the same race.
"And you don't have to pay attention to every opponent. You wouldn't have the energy for that.
"Just keep an eye on these few."
As he spoke, Anjing Zhen circled several names with a whiteboard marker.
He'd just capped the marker and hadn't yet explained when he heard Kitasan Black murmur:
"...Sato no Takarazuka?"
Anjing Zhen glanced at "Sato no Takarazuka" on the board, then smiled at Kitasan Black.
"What is it? Do you know her? I thought you two were in different classes."
"Yeah, Takarazuka is in another class."
Kitasan Black nodded.
"But when I go out with Diamond-chan or visit Crown-chan, I often see her. Sometimes I run into her when I visit their houses, too.
"As for Takarazuka... I remember she's already run a lot of races, and she's done really well."
Anjing Zhen didn't disagree.
"Five races: one first-place finish, two second-place finishes, and two third-place finishes.
"Her first three races were all 1,800 meters in Sapporo. Then she ran 2,000 meters in Chukyo and Kyoto, and her results improved each time.
"Sato no Takarazuka is really good, especially when it comes to adaptability."
Then he shifted the subject.
"But let's not focus on her just yet. First, let's look at these two.
"Saint Martin and Touki.
"Saint Martin is the second most popular runner in this race, and the only horse girl besides you who's only run a Debut Race."
"Second most popular... She's amazing."
Kitasan Black leaned forward slightly, then bashfully scratched her head.
"I'm only ranked ninth in popularity..."
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Anjing Zhen offered no reassurance and acted as if he hadn't heard her. Pointing to the statistics he'd written down, he said:
"Niigata Racecourse, turf, 1,600 meters. Her finishing time was 1 minute 36.7 seconds, which works out to 17 meters per second.
"That's Saint Martin's Debut Race data.
"The most important part is her Final Burst Speed. Her Last Spurt was 33 seconds, which comes out to a speed of 18.18 meters per second.
"If she can perform at that level, she'll have no trouble competing in OP races and above.
"Similarly, Crusher Blaze, who's ranked first in popularity, had a Last Spurt speed of 17.9 in her last race. That's also an impressive Final Burst.
"What do you think, Little Kita?"
He looked at Kitasan Black.
She was still nervous, but thoughtfulness had clearly appeared in her red eyes.
"I remember Senior Yamato told me during our practice run that if I faced opponents with a strong Final Burst, I should work harder to maintain the speed I'd built up, and I should open up a bigger lead ahead of time.
"So you mean... I should use that tactic against them?"
Anjing Zhen couldn't help but admire his horse girl's quick understanding.
Kitasan Black wasn't as silly as she often claimed to be.
Quite the opposite: when it came to racing, she picked up many things as soon as they were explained.
For instance, she'd asked Daiwa Scarlet for advice on racing as an Escape Horse. Anjing Zhen had planned to remind her, but she'd thought of asking on her own—and remembered the advice, too.
Even more gratifyingly, she'd figured this out now.
And she'd hit upon exactly what Anjing Zhen had wanted to say.
"Exactly. That's one reason I want you to run closer to the front this time."
Anjing Zhen began writing more statistics on the whiteboard.
"Besides the opponents with strong Final Bursts, there are two others to watch.
"One is Touki. She's only ranked tenth in popularity, but I noticed that in her six previous races, four were 1,400 meters and one was 1,600 meters.
"These races tend to have a fast pace. I think there's a good chance she'll take the lead this time—or that she'll lead by accident out of habit.
"That's another reason I want you closer to the front."
"As I expected, this race will be much faster-paced than the last one.
"And one of your weaknesses is that you're slow to accelerate.
"If you fall too far behind, it'll be easy to misread the situation. If you're even a little slow to get going, you'll have no chance of winning."
With Anjing Zhen's subtle guidance, Kitasan Black's thoughts grew more and more focused.
"I see...
"So the key this time is to pinpoint when to accelerate even more accurately than last time. Then..."
She looked at Anjing Zhen expectantly.
"Trainer, you know when I should accelerate, right?"
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