The Sunny Skies Above Fuchu

May 13, Fuchu Racecourse.

In past years, this race had drawn the strongest milers of the three-year-old generation. Today, only three runners had won graded stakes.

The race to decide the three-year-old mile champion: the 34th NHK Mile Cup.

Mejiro Hōso went off at odds of 1.1 to 1, effectively an odds-on favorite under the JRA's "PLUS10" system.

At the start, Red Sword's Edge broke from gate two and charged boldly toward the lead.

The New Zealand Cup winner intended to disrupt Baozuo's rhythm with a blistering runaway pace. In the saddle was Sakai, a jockey who had made a name for himself in recent years with front-runners.

The two horses drawn inside followed close behind without easing off, adopting the same aggressive strategy as Red Sword's Edge.

Behind them came the favorite, Baozuo.

Would the runaway horse who had beaten Ranpa prevail, or would it be the overwhelming odds-on favorite?

The racing fans greeted the contest with thunderous cheers, seemingly eager to find out.

Yet just after they passed the Furlong Marker marked "14," Yutaka Take used his masterful hands to settle his slightly agitated partner.

The showdown between the leader and the pursuer came in the final four hundred meters of the straight.

—They ran side by side for only an instant.

Baozuo drifted slightly wide but made it through the turn, then sprang forward with a devastating finishing kick.

The gap shrank visibly: six lengths, one length, a head, a neck, a nose.

Red Sword's Edge, already tiring, watched Baozuo disappear ahead as the pack swallowed him up.

"Mejiro Hōso takes the lead! Mejiro Hōso takes the lead! Number two, Dancing Sky Eagle, is still giving chase, but the gap is growing! One length, now two! Mejiro Hōso wins decisively!"

"A new sprint king looks down over