Huh?!
Yutaka Take, who was also near the back, noticed Golden Masterpiece beginning to accelerate.
Their positions had been quite close, and both had been waiting for an opening. He simply had not expected Koichi to make the first move.
Was it because of the gap the front-runners had opened up?
But he, too, felt that things were going a little too smoothly for the front-runners.
Time to push forward.
Yutaka Take, who had been biding his time, made his move as well.
Snort-
Snort-!
Triumph Ballet began moving with Golden Masterpiece.
Because of the hood, Triumph Ballet could not tell which racehorse was alongside.
With two runaway front-runners up ahead, the field had become very strung out. Coming straight up from behind would not require much maneuvering.
Golden Masterpiece, however, was clearly off form.
The long distance already covered had also worn down Golden Masterpiece's patience considerably, but at the command to accelerate, Golden Masterpiece still began to sprint.
Move a little earlier!
Koichi's urging did produce some results.
But compared with their previous races, this clearly felt like their worst performance. Even the Kikuka Sho had not been like this.
The choices Yutaka Take and Koichi made left the jockeys behind them wavering.
Should we accelerate with them?
As far as they were concerned, competing with these two racehorses in a final kick was impossible. And now that the pair had moved early, once they broke away, there would be no stopping them.
Snort-!
Snort-!
Golden Masterpiece could also feel stamina draining rapidly.
The earlier poor condition made it difficult to recapture that old feeling.
"They've passed the third sweeping turn, and Thunderbolt Steed is far out in front! Is this going to be a runaway victory?!"
"What a huge gap! That must be seven or eight lengths-this