The instant the starting gate opened, Kitasan Black shot forward like a streak of black lightning, violently tearing through the air.
In the blink of an eye, her legs moved like high-speed pistons. Every push against the ground unleashed astonishing power, propelling her body swiftly forward.
With her repeatedly honed gate-start technique, she precisely seized the best moment to break from the gate, brushing past the opponents in the adjacent stalls and claiming the leading position in an instant.
Cries of surprise immediately rose all around.
"F-fast... Is that Kitasan Black, Senior?"
"Watching the seniors race up close is this intimidating?"
"She's incredible! Just what you'd expect from Senior Kitasan!"
Amid the waves of praise, Satono Crown, seated at a table temporarily serving as the commentary booth, widened her eyes slightly.
Her mouth hung open.
It was not as though she had never raced against Kitasan Black, nor had she seen little of the latter's training.
For the sake of victory, whether with her Trainer or alone, she had watched hundreds, even thousands, of recordings over and over again.
But this was her first time watching a race as a commentator.
From this entirely new perspective, she suddenly felt something different.
Memories of running together since childhood suddenly surged forth, overlapping with the instant Kitasan Black overtook her opponents. At that moment, she not only saw everything she had experienced on the track, but also thought of the efforts she had repeatedly made, with her Trainer and on her own, in order to defeat this Childhood Sweetheart.
Yet, just like the Horse Girl chasing after her at this very moment, the more she analyzed and worked, the more unwillingly and admiringly she realized one thing:
The figure that had once run beside her had, at some point, seemingly become an