"Eh?! Eh?! Eh?! Eh?! Eh?! Eh?!!"
Upon hearing Sakura Baimu's words, a chorus of exclamations erupted in the TCB activity room.
The loudest shout, of course, came from Mejiro McQueen's opponent—Tokai Teio.
Tokai Teio's eyes widened in astonishment as she stared at Mejiro McQueen, who, while inwardly thrilled by the gasps of her teammates, maintained a calm, hair-flipping gesture.
"Does that mean McQueen is about to become like the President?! I can't accept this!!!"
Tokai Teio clutched her face, completely unable to accept this reality.
Then, her eyes narrowed, and she turned to look at Sakura Baimu.
"Trainer-san! I want to sign up for the Autumn Tenno Sho too! I made a deal with McQueen on the first day of school; I gave her my spot in the Spring Tenno Sho, so I'm going to participate in the Autumn Tenno Sho!"
"What do you mean you gave it to me? Teio, even if you went, you wouldn't win." Mejiro McQueen was also surprised.
"I don't care, I'm going to participate in the Autumn Tenno Sho!!" Tokai Teio shouted.
"Alright, Teio will participate in the Autumn Tenno Sho too," Sakura Baimu spoke, adding Tokai Teio's name to the schedule with a pen.
"Even if you win the Autumn Tenno Sho, Teio, you won't have seven titles yet," Mejiro McQueen casually reminded her. "Teio, you only have four titles so far."
"Hmph! I'll catch up soon! I'm going to become a seven-title Umamusume like the president!" Tokai Teio retorted, somewhat unconvinced.
"After the Autumn Tenno Sho, it's the Japan Cup. Teio was last year's Japan Cup champion, so McQueen, you absolutely must do your best to win it too."
"The Japan Cup— Golden Crown Eagle will be participating…"
Smart Falcon suddenly looked flustered, and the faces of the other Umamusumes in the room who heard her words also turned somewhat grim.
"So, McQueen, you'll be training with the goal of defeating the Golden Crown Eagle," Sakura Baimu said. "I've already devised a strategy for you to defeat the Golden Crown Eagle; you can all listen to it."
Sakura Baimu handed a stack of printed materials to the surprised Mejiro McQueen.
Then she placed a map of the Tokyo Racecourse in the center of the whiteboard and pointed at the track with her pointer.
"The Golden Crown Eagle is good at following Pace Chaser Umamusumes. Her acceleration in the mid-to-late stages is very powerful, so McQueen, you must establish an early lead to minimize the impact of her momentum."
As she spoke, Sakura Baimu pointed with her pointer to the heart-stopping steep climb, the final corner, and about 400 meters from the finish line.
"You have three positions where you can create an advantage: leading in the opening, a critical moment in the mid-game, and acceleration in the final corner."
"Golden Crown Eagle has two acceleration phases; when she accelerates depends on the distance you create while leading. As for the area, if you're fast enough, you can force her to open her area around the third corner, which is the best outcome…"
When Sakura Baimu first explained the tactics, the TCB members listened casually.
But as Sakura Baimu continued speaking, gradually, the Umamusumes in the room put away their casual expressions and began to take it seriously.
Sakura Baimu explained the opening, mid-game, steep climbs, final corner, and final straight in great detail, and divided the normal race into three categories based on the distance Mejiro McQueen created.
Each category involved a completely different tactic.
The TCB Umamusumes hadn't initially expected Sakura Baimu to be particularly detailed, given that Golden Crown Eagle was an American Umamusume and the Japan Cup was being held in Japan.
Her only record in the 2400-meter race at Tracen Academy was once—yesterday afternoon's race against McQueen.
Therefore, Sakura Baimu shouldn't have been able to provide such a detailed analysis of Golden Crown Eagle.
However, as they listened to Sakura Baimu speak for over half an hour without stopping, the expressions on the Umamusumes' faces gradually shifted from casual to serious, and then to grave.
After Sakura Baimu finished speaking, the Umamusumes in the activity room were all staring at her with wide eyes and expressions of horror.
At that moment, they realized something was wrong.
Sakura Baimu's knowledge of the Golden Crown Eagle was far from merely detailed.
It was thorough.
Sakura Baimu even analyzed the vast differences between Golden Crown Eagle and Mejiro McQueen, along with the corresponding psychological activities, with remarkable clarity.
According to several Umamusumes at TCB...
To use an inappropriate analogy...
It was as if Sakura Baimu had personally fought several rounds against the Golden Crown Eagle!
This was utterly bizarre!
"Alright, that's all. Do you have any questions?"
Sakura Baimu picked up her cup, brought it to her lips, asked the question, then put the cup back on the table, feigning a drink.
Her main focus was actually on Mejiro McQueen.
Her fighting against the Golden Crown Eagle was actually secondary.
The most crucial thing was to thoroughly understand Golden Crown Eagle's personality and running style.
Then, a strategy could be developed for Mejiro McQueen's Japan Cup run in November.
Otherwise, wouldn't it be more effective for her to lead from start to finish on the first night, forcing Golden Crown Eagle to go all out and still not catch up, then finish with a huge margin?
The problem was that Sakura Baimu directly crushing Golden Crown Eagle wouldn't be very meaningful, hence the need to deliberately lose.
She used herself to simulate the Japan Cup situation for Mejiro McQueen.
Of course, Sakura Baimu did much more for Mejiro McQueen than that.
She simulated Mejiro McQueen's leading style, racing against Golden Crown Eagle while also carefully observing Golden Crown Eagle's running style.
While not an exact replica, Sakura Baimu was confident she could mimic 70–80% of Golden Crown Eagle's performance from last night.
If Mejiro McQueen's progress was truly slow, a mock run before the Japan Cup would be acceptable.
However, if Sakura Baimu were really going to do a mock run for Mejiro McQueen, she would have to look so different that even her own mother wouldn't recognize her.
"Phew~ A certain older sister is really dedicated; it's a pity that a certain fat uma still hasn't recognized her."
Sakura Baimu sighed inwardly, feeling like the most dedicated trainer in the world.
She looked at her teammates and noticed their stunned expressions.
"Trainer-san? You… you're secretly keeping another Umamusume?" Mejiro McQueen asked suspiciously.
Sakura Baimu: "???"