As Oguri Cap pointed toward the track, on the racetrack—
Running in third place, Ribbon Keiko was like a red-and-white whirlwind.
She ran at full speed, every step striking with savage force, as though she meant to crush the track beneath her feet.
At the same time, her thoughts raced.
Before the race, all she had considered was how to engage Kitasan Black in a fierce battle for the lead position.
Just like on the final straight of the Saint Lite Kinen, or in the opening stages of races even earlier.
Her Trainer had agreed with that assessment.
They both knew that Kitasan Black was exceptionally capable at taking the lead. Without preparing themselves for a desperate fight, there was no way they could defeat such a powerful opponent.
She had long since engraved the race instructions into her mind.
Yet reality had turned out vastly different from what she had anticipated.
After the start, Red Solomon, who had drawn a favorable starting gate, shot out like lightning and seized the lead position first.
Then, Crowning Stone and Jitsuboku Ishi from the Grand Outer Lane threw caution to the wind and surged forward at the same time, snatching away the lead position almost in the blink of an eye.
Even now, the thunderous sound of their footsteps seemed to echo in her ears, making her eardrums itch and ache faintly.
At that moment, she had no time to pay attention to Kitasan Black.
There were quite a lot of escape horses in this Kikuka Sho—fully one-third of the field.
Beyond the inevitable contest in the opening stages, there was also the danger of getting trapped in the pack.
Unless someone made a great escape, the escape horses would not be able to create much of a gap in either distance