"Gold Ship! Gold Ship has swung out from the inside!"
"The third turn is almost over, and Gorgeous Glory, out in front, is about to enter the final straight."
Apart from a few changes of lane in the second turn, little had changed through the third turn and the latter half of the race.
It was time to battle down the final straight.
Ideally, they would secure their position as soon as they came out of this turn; otherwise, the horses ahead could easily block every route forward.
If all else failed, the horses behind could only swing out wide.
"Masayoshi Ubaname and Norihiro Yokoyama have both started using their whips!"
"Gold Ship, currently in third, is making a move too!"
Gold Ship, who had been holding position all along, was clearly picking up speed, and Koichi began driving the horse forward.
But the jockey alongside reacted quickly too. He certainly had no intention of giving up that position.
The jockey on number five was a seasoned veteran as well.
Yoshitomi Shibata.
After a second's hesitation, Koichi urged Gold Ship to keep accelerating.
Since the other jockey would not yield the space alongside him, Koichi would accelerate, then cut out into that lane.
Gorgeous Glory up ahead had already begun accelerating anyway.
The gap between the leader and them opened up immediately.
Huff-!
Huff-!
At the signal, Gold Ship gradually picked up speed.
But the number five horse blocking the way did not have nearly as much stamina left.
That horse was clearly slower than the accelerating Gold Ship.
Gold Ship, who had also been in second, moved straight ahead of the other horse and blocked its path.
Since he would not yield, Koichi would not stand on ceremony.
The way ahead was wide open now. Everything would come down