"The final turn! The horses at the back are all starting to accelerate!"
"Shonan Mao leads!"
Huff-
Huff-!
As the horses behind accelerated, those up front naturally began picking up speed as well.
But Koichi really could not find an opening.
The number seven horse ahead had nothing left in the tank, but was still taking up space.
He ruled out the innermost lane outright.
The outside was packed with horses coming from behind.
So Koichi could only search for an opening among the horses fanning out ahead.
He was boxed in.
Out wide, meanwhile, Christophe Lemaire easily secured an outside lane and began using his whip to accelerate.
He had a great position and a clear path ahead.
The top three favorites were all trapped on the inside.
That was the advantage of racing off the pace on the outside.
Yuichi Fukunaga was naturally searching for a way through as well.
Numbers seven, three, and six ahead had completely blocked the inside lanes.
There was no hope of getting out wide, either.
What frustrated him most was that the horses ahead could not pick up speed, leaving Life Is Fun nowhere to unleash a final kick.
He suspected Gentildonna, following behind, was having the same problem.
Sasaki was probably thinking exactly what he was right now.
Koichi did not dare shift positions rashly, either.
He really was facing an iron wall now.
There had been one opening, but the number three horse, Softly Spoken, quickly closed it off.
And in the saddle was none other than Yutaka Take's younger brother.
Koshiro Take naturally knew that his only chance of winning was to block Yuichi Fukunaga and Koichi Sasaki behind him.
Both the fillies they were riding had extremely powerful final kicks.
"Number three, Softly Spoken, takes the lead!"
"Life