Gazing at the speed monitor, Yasui Makoto's eyes filled with approval.
It was not only recognition of Almond Eye's tenacious fighting spirit. It was also because he had seen the limitless potential hidden within her.
Although Almond Eye was still far behind Kitasan Black at this moment, that refusal to yield in the face of difficulty, that drive to push forward with everything she had, was precisely the quality an outstanding Umamusume needed.
As long as she was guided and trained properly, Almond Eye would surely shine brilliantly on the racecourse in the future.
On the track, Kitasan Black, with her wealth of experience and keen perception, clearly sensed Almond Eye's relentless pursuit from behind.
Every time she turned an ear back to listen, she could catch Almond Eye's increasingly rapid, yet firm and powerful, footsteps.
Every time she swept her peripheral vision behind her, she could see Almond Eye's figure—still behind, yet always full of fighting spirit, refusing to back down.
In her heart, Kitasan Black could not help quietly praising her.
I never thought Almond-chan would already have this kind of incredible grit before she's even stepped onto the Twinkle Series stage...
Then as her senpai, I absolutely can't lose to that kind of momentum either!
As she made that quiet resolve, she also remembered when she had first entered training. Faced with so many powerful opponents, she had not been able to stop herself from shrinking back a little.
Even if she had eventually built up enough confidence through day after day of effort, the fact remained that she had once backed down.
To her, there was nothing embarrassing about admitting that.
But Almond Eye had been able to show this much refusal to lose from the very beginning. That was truly rare.
Over the past year of training and racing, Kitasan Black had gradually come to understand something.
In the world of Umamusume, talent was certainly important, but an unyielding spirit was often the key that determined how high one could ultimately climb.
Almond Eye's performance right now had already let her glimpse a rising new star.
As for Almond Eye herself, her heart was full of frustration.
Looking at Kitasan Black's back ahead of her, so far out of reach and yet so painfully clear, she felt as if a raging fire were burning in her chest. The flames scorched her heart, leaving her unable to calm down for even a moment.
I'm running with everything I have too. So why...? Why am I still this far behind?
She kept questioning herself in her heart. Every breath carried that frustration with it, transforming into even fiercer power beneath her feet.
She swore to herself that today, no matter what, she would close the gap between herself and Kitasan Black as much as possible. Even if it was only by a little, she would make her senpai see her determination and her progress.
No, not close the gap...
She would beat her senpai!
She would definitely overtake her!
While Almond Eye charged forward with no thought for anything else, the partner run unknowingly passed the halfway mark.
And at that moment, it happened to be time for Kitasan Black to adjust her pace according to the set strategy.
Her originally fierce speed slowed slightly, and her rhythm became steadier.
It was a normal tactical adjustment, but in Almond Eye's eyes, it became the perfect chance to catch up.
The gap between Almond Eye and Kitasan Black was actually shrinking.
The discovery made Almond Eye's delight show plainly on her face, and her eyes sparkled with surprise and excitement.
The fighting spirit inside her was instantly ignited to its peak. Without thinking, she quickened her steps once more.
The ground beneath her feet seemed to tremble faintly under the force of her desperate running. Her mind was fixed on one thing alone: using this chance to overtake Kitasan Black completely.
However, "She's going to lose speed" flashed through Kitasan Black and Yasui Makoto's minds at almost the same time.
An Umamusume's speed might far surpass a human's, but her stamina was by no means endless.
Stamina was limited, and so was the race distance. How to distribute stamina properly was the core key that every Umamusume and trainer had to master with precision.
During a run, speed, the amount of leg power spent, and stamina consumption were tightly connected and rose in proportion to one another.
That meant that once an advantageous position within the limits of one's available running capacity had been secured, blindly accelerating further was by no means a wise move.
Unless the positions in the race changed drastically, accelerating rashly would cause stamina consumption to rise exponentially.
If that acceleration lasted too long, then never mind whether victory was possible—whether one could even finish the race smoothly would become a major problem.
Under normal circumstances, maintaining a slower speed in a suitable position was what allowed enough stamina to be saved before the final straight, so that at the crucial moment, one could give everything and release the last of their speed and strength.
But because Almond Eye had fallen behind at the start, she had been chasing at full power from the very beginning.
Now, even after entering the ideal phase to ease off, she was still desperately accelerating.
At this rate, even if Kitasan Black intentionally let her overtake, Almond Eye would inevitably suffer a severe loss of speed in the final 200 to 300 meters because her stamina could not hold out.
Thinking of that, Yasui Makoto could not help giving a helpless smile.
He knew Kitasan Black's temperament inside and out. Even if her competitiveness was not so intense as to border on extreme, like Almond Eye's, he knew she absolutely would not let the latter overtake her so easily.
After all, every Umamusume had her own pride. No one would willingly be passed by an opponent.
Especially an Umamusume like Kitasan Black, who excelled at front-running tactics. She had an inborn attachment to being out in front.
More importantly, with Kitasan Black's ability, even if she used Runaway tactics all the way to the end over a distance of 1,800 meters, it was not as though her stamina would necessarily be completely drained.
She had enough confidence and ability to maintain her lead in this partner run and protect the advantage that belonged to her.
Just as Yasui Makoto and Kitasan Black had predicted, before they had even finished the final corner, Almond Eye's physical performance was already showing clear signs of losing speed.
Her steps were no longer as light and powerful as before. Each footfall had grown heavy and slow, as if her legs had been filled with lead.
The rhythm of her arm swing had also been completely disrupted. Her arms moved mechanically at her sides, not only failing to help her run, but actually consuming extra stamina because of their lack of coordination.
Her breathing turned rapid and chaotic. Her heavy gasps were clearly audible on the empty track, as if every breath was a struggle to draw the last remaining oxygen from the air.
Her chest rose and fell violently. Her clothes were soaked through with sweat, clinging tightly to her body and outlining her exhausted form.
And all of this had happened when Kitasan Black had not even used her usual tactic of a long mid-race acceleration.
She had won the 3,000-meter Kikuka Sho. She was fully capable of considering an acceleration not long after the opening stages.
But if she did that, it would move beyond the normal controlled lead Yasui Makoto had asked for. In substance, it would already belong to the realm of an aggressive early lead or even Runaway tactics.
And now, facing Almond Eye as her stamina gradually failed, Kitasan Black did not accelerate at full power. Yet as Almond Eye's loss of speed worsened, the distance she had worked so hard to close began visibly widening again.
Watching it all, Yasui Makoto nodded slightly.
The current situation was not unexpected. And with the entrance exam's mock race as their goal, none of these problems would be difficult to handle.
But just as he was thinking about how to build a more effective training plan around Almond Eye's issues from here on, he caught sight of the situation as they came out of the corner from the edge of his vision, and something stirred in his mind.
A little over ten seconds later, he glanced swiftly at the speed-monitor data displayed on his phone, then looked back to the track.
Another fifteen or sixteen seconds passed, and then nearly another twenty. Each time, he looked at the data in turn.
A moment later.
"Seriously...?"
The corner of his mouth twitching unconsciously, he smiled again and murmured to himself, "Are kids with a final spurt... always this headstrong?"
---
T/N: heh its almond chan of course
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