As Ichiryu Tsushi murmured to herself, Gold Ship rubbed her chin, tilted her head, and stared wide-eyed at the group that had just started on the track. Equally puzzled, she muttered, "Strange... that shouldn't be right. Little Kita... doesn't seem to use a running style like Great Escape very often?"
"Doesn't use it often?"
Ichiryu Tsushi echoed her, then pondered swiftly and frowned. "I know a little about Kitasan Black's races. The tactic she excels at... should be Slow Escape, right?"
"It is Slow Escape," Gold Ship nodded in confirmation.
"Little Kita's overall ability is absolutely G1-level, but plenty of opponents surpass her in acceleration and sustained bursts of speed.
"If she ran a standard Great Escape, she could easily fall into a speed disadvantage in the final stretch. Slow Escape keeps her from 'taking a walk,' while also making it easier to manage her stamina.
"So if she's using Great Escape... is she trying to suppress everyone from start to finish with her stamina advantage? But..."
As she voiced her final guess, concern crept into her tone.
"Leaving Maestro aside, Celebration and those other girls won't let you have it so easy either, Little Kita..."
Listening to Gold Ship's analysis, Ichiryu Tsushi nodded silently despite her confusion.
"Taking a walk" was a common piece of racing slang, referring to an Escape Horse slowing down in the final stretch due to insufficient stamina.
An Escape Horse needed to open up a sufficient lead during the early and middle stages. Their Cruising Speed during that time was far higher than that of other running styles, and their stamina consumption was correspondingly greater. Naturally, they had far less stamina left for the final stretch.
Generally speaking, because of that stamina disadvantage, an Escape Horse's speed in the final stretch would be roughly