One of Tokyo Racecourse's spectacular sights.
Over the 2,400-meter distance, the Great Zelkova Tree at the Final Bend blocked the view of part of the course, meaning that with barely ten seconds between them, the racing pack could present two completely different scenes.
Beyond the bend lay a Final Straight of over 500 meters, demanding a sustained long-distance charge.
A course nearing 2,000 meters had already drained a great deal of stamina. At that point, even slight obstruction from rivals ahead, slowing down, changing lanes, or accelerating again all came at a cost, making victory increasingly difficult.
Because of this, along that stretch beyond the Great Zelkova Tree, no matter what decisions they made, the Horse Girls almost always emerged in a spectacular line like this one.
If there was still an Escape Horse out front, the spectacle became several times more intense.
That was exactly the scene before them now.
Few among the spectators could remain calm. Like Gold Ship, most stared at the racing pack and gasped softly. Ichiryu Tsushi could not help crying out as well:
"So this race... is it purely a pursuit battle? A pursuit battle aimed at Kitasan Black..."
Unlike Gold Ship, Ichiryu Tsushi had heard Kitasan Black's name ever since last year's Classic Frontline began, and knew she was an exceptionally capable junior.
But she had only truly gotten to know her since this special training camp began.
Leaving aside the praise she had heard from Gold Ship and Nakayama Celebration, her own impression was that this junior was incredibly diligent and grounded—so diligent and grounded that it was almost frightening.
Her standard training workload was generally twenty percent greater than everyone else's. For many exercises, it was thirty percent more, while a few reached the outrageous figure of forty percent.
The intensity