Seeing the confusion in the Satono Sisters' eyes, Yasui Makoto knew they had no idea what he meant.
He smiled but didn't explain, then raised his binoculars again and focused on the black-haired girl from his stable.
Escape, Lead, Chaser, and Closer—these were the four main running styles in a race.
Escape, also known as front-running, meant claiming the lead right from the start and holding first place all the way to the finish, keeping the pace of the entire race in one's own hands.
A Lead runner stayed close behind the front-runner, using the pace of the Uma Musume ahead to regulate her condition before overtaking her in the final stretch.
A Chaser ran farther back, where she could let the runners ahead shield her from the wind. By taking advantage of the low-pressure pocket, she could conserve stamina and start accelerating at the final turn.
A Closer ran at the very back and began accelerating earlier than runners in the other positions. She would usually pick up speed at the third turn, though a runner with greater stamina might even start in the middle of the race.
Beyond these were more specialized styles, such as Great Escape, Free-style Lead, Free-style Chaser, and Great Chase.
All running styles were the same in one respect: they had to be adjusted to suit the Uma Musume and the circumstances of the race.
As a rule, many Trainers settled on an Uma Musume's running style around the time of her Debut Race. Yasui Makoto had already determined the two styles best suited to Hokubu Genkoma.
Great Escape and Escape.
After that came Free-style Lead, which meant being able to switch smoothly between Escape and Lead.
His judgment was based both on years of study and reflection and on the experience his father had shared with him.
The same went for tactics.
A Debut Race wasn't too demanding, making it ideal for testing out different possibilities.
Training could also help confirm them, but it was ultimately different from a race. Conclusions drawn from actual competition were naturally more precise.
And as the later races grew more important, missing an opportunity meant there might not be another like it.
His father had also taught him a trick for managing an Uma Musume's temperament.
Uma Musume had a strong competitive drive. When they first started racing, they couldn't help wanting to run at the front.
But no matter the race, falling behind was inevitable. No Uma Musume could stay in first place every moment, and sometimes she even had to fall behind as a tactical move.
Without enough experience, an Uma Musume who simply followed her instincts could easily panic when someone suddenly passed her.
The first few races after a debut weren't especially demanding, so they were a good chance to run farther back and build up valuable experience handling pressure.
Only veteran Trainers with ample experience possessed this kind of insight. His father had learned it from a senior Trainer, too.
Of course, there were risks.
From farther back, an Uma Musume might encounter deliberate or inadvertent obstruction from the runners ahead when it was time to catch up.
Without real race experience, a novice Uma Musume often wouldn't know how to handle it. At the crucial moment, she might fail to pick up speed and get boxed in, unable to break through.
Yasui Makoto wasn't worried about any of that.
He'd dared to use Hokubu Genkoma's Debut Race for practice because he had confidence in his plan.
The black-haired girl in his care was a late-blooming Uma Musume through and through.
The other side of her inability to control her strength was that she didn't dare run at full power.
Her body hadn't yet developed enough to keep up with her natural instincts. To avoid being injured by her own talent, she unconsciously held back from using her full strength.
When most Trainers encountered this situation, they would avoid having their Uma Musume run at full power.
Yasui Makoto did the same, but he'd come up with a more ingenious approach.
Start sprinting early, spreading her strength and explosive power over a longer distance.
That would not only spare her the physical strain of going all out, but also ensure she kept accelerating throughout the rest of the race, making it very hard for anyone to stop her.
This was a tactic chosen by many seasoned Trainers and experienced Uma Musume, and it required a great many conditions to be met.
Yet Hokubu Genkoma had already begun to master the most important one.
Rhythm.
During the month of training, the black-haired girl in his care had practiced her rhythm every day.
Now, when she ran, she moved with a melody all her own.
An introduction, a verse, a chorus, an interlude, a climax, a coda.
The young girl had only just begun her career, so the melody she played was far from perfect.
But for this little tune called the Debut Race, it was enough.
Reviewing his entire plan, Yasui Makoto watched closely through his binoculars. When the sign marking the third turn flashed past and the black-haired girl lowered her stance in that familiar, subtle way, the corner of his mouth lifted.
...The interlude was over. It was time for the climax.
Let them all see, Xiao Bei.
Let them see just what kind of extraordinary Uma Musume you...
really were.
As the race drew closer to the Final Phase, the commentator's voice grew ever more excited.
"Five hundred meters to the finish! Mickey Joy has taken the lead!
"As expected of the crowd favorite!
"Cosmic Harbor has fallen just short, losing ground in the mid-race contest.
"But she hasn't fallen far behind—she's only half a Horse Length behind Mickey Joy.
"Eden is running alongside her. Both Uma Musume are doing their best to chase down Mickey Joy!
"The three leaders have a clear advantage. Fourth place is a full three Horse Lengths behind them!
"Four hundred meters to go! It looks like the winner will come from one of these three!"
A Horse Length was a racing term for distance. Supposedly, it was the span between the outstretched arms of the world's first statue of the Three Goddesses. In exact terms, it was 2.5 meters.
Half a Horse Length was a little over a meter. That really wasn't much of a gap. The Uma Musume in second and third were right on the leader's heels; it seemed like they could catch up if they just pushed a little harder.
The gap behind them was far more obvious.
The stretch of empty track—over seven meters—seemed like a chasm, shutting out any chance of the trailing runners winning.
The crowd erupted into its loudest cheers yet, and the commentator's voice was just as excited.
"They're on the straightaway directly in front of the stands! The three leaders are still battling it out at the front, while behind them..."
The commentator suddenly paused.
Then came a disbelieving cry.
"Hokubu Genkoma!
"Hokubu Genkoma is surging forward!
"Three hundred meters to the finish!
"But! But!
"Hokubu Genkoma is catching up!
"Two hundred meters!
"She's passed Cosmic Harbor and Eden!
"She's closing in on Mickey Joy!
"She's passed Mickey Joy!
"Hokubu Genkoma is in the lead!
"Hokubu Genkoma has taken over first place!
"Can Mickey Joy pass her again?!
"One hundred meters!
"Mickey Joy is accelerating with everything she's got! Mickey Joy is accelerating with everything she's got!
"But!
"Hokubu Genkoma is still in the lead!
"She's slowing down! Mickey Joy seems to be slowing down!
"But Hokubu Genkoma is still sprinting!
"She's still sprinting after a 1,700-meter race!
"Fifty meters!
"They're at the finish!
"One and a half Horse Lengths!
"She came from behind!
"She surged all the way into first place!
"She's won her Debut Race by one and a half Horse Lengths!
"Magnificent!
"Absolutely magnificent!
"What a magnificent comeback!
"Let's hear it for Hokubu Genkoma!"
For a brief moment, when the crowd realized along with the commentator that Hokubu Genkoma was charging forward, the cheers died down a little.
It wasn't because they thought the race was boring.
On the contrary, after their moment of stunned disbelief, the crowd's cheers grew even more frenzied.
After a while, the cheering briefly ebbed again, now mixed with good-natured laughter, before ringing out across Tokyo Racecourse.
After charging past the finish line and continuing for nearly another hundred meters, the black-haired girl who'd just won the race launched into a full-on tiger pounce and sprawled on the ground in a big wooden-character shape.
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