Entry, warm-up, loading into the stalls.
The preliminary steps went quite smoothly.
But the horses certainly had little idea what they were supposed to do next.
Epiphaneia, for instance, was looking around at that very moment.
Naturally, none of the horses racing today were familiar to Epiphaneia. At most, they had crossed paths a few times.
Kenichi Ikezoe also stroked Epiphaneia's mane.
Next came the crucial moment. All their hard work over this period would be put to the test over the next 1,800 meters.
They had chosen this distance based on previous training data and pedigree.
Simply put, starting with 1,800 meters was certainly a solid choice.
If it proved too long, they could gradually shorten the distance. If there was still plenty left in the tank, they could move straight into middle-distance races.
The gates opened!
As the starting stalls opened, fourteen horses surged out.
As newcomers racing for the first time, most of the horses were slow away, and their jockeys could only urge them forward to get them to pick up a little speed.
With years of experience behind him, Kenichi Ikezoe naturally knew this was perfectly normal. Horses new to racing had no idea how to fight for position.
Many horses were not even particularly responsive to their jockeys' instructions. They simply picked a horse they liked the look of and followed along.
Hrrrh-
Hrrrh-
Epiphaneia accelerated quickly and smoothly secured a good pressing position.
But soon, two horses charged up on the outside and took the lead.
Front-running was a fairly good choice in a Newcomer Race.
In their first race, the horses simply charged ahead without thinking. Once they became familiar with the job, they would naturally have more racing styles to choose from.
That also meant many Newcomer Races were run at