Nikator

"Ka Ying Rising on the outside is still battling Great Successor, and our home representative Ka Ying Rising still has the lead!"

As though answering the impassioned commentary over the speakers, another tremendous cheer erupted from the stands.

Was Ka Ying Rising still the better horse after all?

The instant that thought arose, the white hood seemed to embody an indomitable fighting spirit.

Responding to the reins in Yutaka Take's hands, the pitch-black shadow seemed poised to swallow everything—

Accelerating further, then further still.

The instant the horses on the inside and outside overlapped—

As though cleaving through the cold winds of year's end, the three-year-old thundered down Sha Tin's straight.

Yet the horse numbers for the first two finishers remained unlit on the results board.

Repeating It's all right, it's all right inwardly, I gripped the iron railing beside me and waited for the result.

Before long, when the big screen finally replayed the fierce struggle at the finish, the murmuring in the stands behind me swelled into an uproar.

"Who actually won?"

"I feel like the bigger Ka Ying Colt had his head a little farther in front."

"Could it have been a dead heat?"

Then, all those voices abruptly vanished.

At the bottom right of the results board, the race time that had been flashing at regular intervals finally settled.

"1:07.10"

As though the scene had shifted to a downtown library, the vast Sha Tin Racecourse suddenly fell utterly silent.

Then, like a proclamation, an Arabic numeral appeared at the very top of the results board—[1].

"In the end, Japan's representative has won this battle of sprint champions! Great Successor has taken revenge and claimed today's Longines Hong Kong Sprint!"

Liao Haoxian's voice trembled slightly as he announced the result over the speakers.

"Our congratulations to Great