Chapter 101.
Stepping down from the presentation stage, Mejiro Dober wore a heavy, contemplative expression that immediately caught Mejiro McQueen's eye.
Though they were fierce rivals on the turf, they were fundamentally sisters of the Mejiro house. McQueen approached her gracefully, her voice laced with genuine concern.
"Dober, is something weighing on your mind?"
"No." Dober shook her head, snapping out of her trance. "I was just thinking—the cheers I received out there were truly overwhelming. But compared to the ovation Teio will command here next month, it might pale in comparison. My feelings are just a bit tangled."
"Teio..."
McQueen's expression grew equally complex at the mention of her friend and rival. Before the Takarazuka Kinen, the racing world collectively believed Mejiro McQueen and Tokai Teio stood on perfectly equal footing, a belief McQueen held fiercely in her own heart.
But after her crushing defeat at the Takarazuka Kinen, followed by Teio's unprecedented, consecutive conquests of the Epsom Derby and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, even the most stubborn loyalists could no longer claim they were on the same echelon. The staggering gap left McQueen battling her own shadows.
"I will be facing Teio on this exact turf next month." McQueen said, looking up toward the vast, clear Tokyo sky. "So, I intend to challenge her again, armed with a victory from today."
"I absolutely need to win this race as well." Dober replied, her fists clenching tightly at her sides. "So I have no intention of surrendering it to you, McQueen."
"For you and me, victory is not a gift to be handed out." McQueen smiled softly, meeting her junior's intense gaze. "Let us both give everything we have, leaving no room for regret."
Dober proactively extended her hand.
"Yes. Let's run a race we won't be ashamed of. Let's make Grandmother proud."
McQueen chuckled, firmly shaking her hand.
"It is rather amusing hearing that from you, Dober. I can only imagine what Ryan and Palmer would say if they heard you."
After all, within the labyrinth of the Mejiro family politics, it was Ryan and Palmer who most fiercely revered their grandmother—not Dober, whose current ties to the main house were largely nominal.
Mejiro Bright, Mejiro Palmer, and Mejiro Ryan soon gravitated toward Dober after concluding their own presentation walks.
Shuta An had already made Dober's motivations explicitly clear during the press conferences, and every Uma Musume in the field carried the weight of those words.
"Didn't you mention this would be your retirement race, Senior Bright?" Dober asked, looking at the elegant, perpetually smiling Uma Musume. "Are you absolutely certain?"
"I have danced on the Twinkle Series stage for several years now. Among the girls from my Classic generation, I am likely the very last one standing. It is time for this senior to gracefully step aside and make way for the new era." Bright chuckled, a serene acceptance in her eyes. "I debuted so much earlier than you, Dober. Retiring in the same year already feels quite thick-skinned of me."
"But you still have so many people fiercely supporting you!"
Dober protested, gesturing toward the grandstands where pockets of Bright's loyal fans were proudly waving their banners and cheering goods.
"Even the most brilliant play must eventually have its curtain call. Besides, I was never a truly transcendent Uma Musume." Bright smiled, waving her hand dismissively. "Regardless, for the sake of today being my final run in the Twinkle Series, I hope you, Dober—"
"Will give it your absolute all."
Dober didn't even blink. Knowing Bright's character, she had anticipated the exact phrase before the senior even finished her sentence.
"I will."
Dober promised solemnly.
Standing off to the side, Mejiro Palmer just wanted to roll her eyes at the dramatic family moment.
Daitaku Helios wasn't in the field today, but Twin Turbo—that utterly unhinged runaway idiot—was.
For a pace-setter like Palmer, managing the vanguard today was going to be an absolute nightmare. Watching Dober radiate such terrifying, serious intensity only cemented Palmer's dread.
This is going to be a brutal afternoon, she groaned internally.
At precisely 3:35 PM, the seventeen Uma Musumes began their methodical procession into the starting gates.
Assigned to Gate 1, Mejiro Dober was the very first to step into the steel enclosure.
However, instead of immediately locking into her starting stance, she took advantage of the extra time, leisurely turning her head to scan the loading sequence of her rivals down the line.
Twin Turbo was literally bouncing as she hopped into her gate, requiring zero urging from the track staff. She practically vibrated with manic, explosive energy.
Mejiro Palmer cast wary, calculating glances at Turbo as she loaded. It was a logical precaution; Palmer knew she would be staring at Turbo's back for a significant portion of the race, so gauging her immediate condition was vital.
Mejiro Ryan stood like a statue, quiet and stoic, radiating a focused aura that completely ignored the surrounding chaos.
Mejiro Bright paused, staring motionless at her gate for a long moment, prompting a staff member to gently ask if she needed assistance. With a soft smile, she explained she was simply committing the feeling to memory, gently patted the steel frame, and glided smoothly inside.
Nice Nature, conversely, darted anxious glances at Mejiro Ryan every few seconds. Positioned right next to each other, Ryan's opening maneuver would heavily dictate Nature's own tactical rollout. Naturally, Nature prayed Ryan would stick to a trailing strategy, which would save Nature the exhausting effort of fighting her for early vanguard positioning.
Everyone is bracing for the storm in their own way.
Dober thought. Satisfied, she withdrew her gaze, squaring her shoulders and locking her eyes dead ahead, fully immersing herself in her pre-start routine.
Up in the VIP grandstand, Shuta An observed Dober through his binoculars, a deep wave of satisfaction washing over him.
She looks incredibly sharp. High energy, but not over-stimulated, and her gate entry was flawlessly balanced.
The young man evaluated silently.
Across the stadium, Trainer Minamisaka gripped the balcony railing, his knuckles white.
Turbo's energy is redlining in the best way possible. Necha looks grounded, and Dictus' focus is absolute. I haven't botched a single pre-race adjustment. Perfect!
In the Team Spica suite, Nishizaki Ryu watched Mejiro McQueen load into the final, outermost gate, his expression unreadable.
"She looks a little stiff." Special Week noted anxiously. "McQueen-san's shoulders seem really tense."
"It's because she's going head-to-head with Senior Dober—" Daiwa Scarlet bit her lip, her voice heavy with mounting dread. "The media loves to claim that Triple Tiara runners are inherently inferior to the Classic Triple Crown generation, but Senior Dober isn't just an ordinary Triple Tiara Uma Musume."
Scarlet's anxiety spiraled as she listed the accolades.
"An undefeated Triple Tiara. Countless overseas G1 conquests. She only lost the Arima Kinen to Senior Special Week and Senior Grass Wonder by a microscopic margin, and she literally left the European elite in the dust her last time out! Senior McQueen just suffered a brutal loss to Teio, and now she has to face her—"
"We're going to win!" Gold Ship suddenly bellowed, violently interrupting Scarlet's spiral. "McQueen is going to win! You just have to believe in her, damn it!"
But deep down, even Nishizaki Ryu struggled to share Gold Ship's booming confidence.
—
"ALL SEVENTEEN UMA MUSUMES HAVE SAFELY LOADED INTO THE STARTING GATES!"
The live commentator's voice boomed through the stadium speakers, the hype reaching critical mass.
"WILL A BRILLIANT NEW STAR IGNITE ON THIS TURF TODAY?!"
"CAN THE REIGNING QUEEN OF THE SPRING TENNO SHO FINALLY LAY HER BITTER AUTUMN REGRETS TO REST?!"
"WILL THE BELOVED VETERAN SECURE A FLAWLESS, FAIRYTALE ENDING TO HER CAREER?!"
"CAN THE PERENNIAL RUNNER-UP FINALLY SEIZE HER OWN LEADING-ROLE SCRIPT?!"
"WILL THE RUNAWAY PHANTOM COMPLETELY DECIMATE THE FIELD AND RESURRECT THE GLORY DAYS OF SILENCE SUZUKA?!"
"CAN THE PROUD DAUGHTER OF THE MEJIRO FAMILY FINALLY TOUCH THE ABSOLUTE PINNACLE SHE HAS DREAMED OF?!"
"AND CAN THE UNDEFEATED TRIPLE TIARA CONQUEROR FULFILL HER VOW TO THE WORLD?!"
"MEJIRO MCQUEEN IS LOCKED IN, AND THE RACE IS IMMINENT! LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WITNESS THE ULTIMATE BATTLE FOR THE TURF MIDDLE-DISTANCE CROWN!"
As the commentator's voice crescendoed, the atmosphere inside the Tokyo Racecourse ignited into a roaring inferno. Seventeen Uma Musumes braced against the steel.
Click!
The sharp, synchronized crack of the gates opening echoed like a gunshot. A wall of turf exploded backward as all seventeen runners violently surged onto the track.
Twin Turbo launched like a ballistic missile. By the time the pack hit the immediate first bend, the manic runner had already ripped open a massive, three-length lead over the second-place Mejiro Palmer.
"You have to admit, Twin Turbo's raw, explosive acceleration off the block is genuinely terrifying."
Shuta An noted from the suite.
"But her psychological profile dictates she can only run a suicidal runaway tactic." he continued, turning to Admire Vega. "A hyper-extreme strategy like that is brilliant when used as a surprise weapon once or twice. But when it becomes your only move, it becomes easily readable, and ultimately, highly exploitable."
"I would never run a runaway tactic."
Admire Vega replied flatly.
"I'm not worried about you suddenly pulling a Twin Turbo, Ayabe." Shuta An chuckled, his eyes snapping back to the massive monitors. "I'm simply analyzing the board."
"Actually, I think a hyper-aggressive runaway tactic might be fun to try out occasionally."
Kurofune blinked, leaning forward with sudden interest.
"Kurofune—" Shuta An hesitated, rubbing his chin before nodding slowly. "Executing a true Great Escape on American dirt would be brutally difficult given the surface resistance, but trying it out on domestic dirt here in Japan? It actually wouldn't hurt to experiment."
"I am definitely trying it the first chance I get."
Kurofune grinned, watching Twin Turbo's rapidly shrinking figure with palpable excitement. She was already visualizing herself burying a field of dirt runners under a cloud of dust.
Down on the turf, Mejiro Dober watched Twin Turbo violently separate from the vanguard, noting Mejiro Palmer struggling to keep contact.
Is Palmer planning to mutually self-destruct in a double-runaway dogfight? Just like she did with Daitaku Helios?
Dober narrowed her eyes.
But as they swept through the bend, Palmer visibly throttled down her acceleration. Dober instantly calculated the shift. Palmer had absolutely zero intention of engaging in a suicidal pacing war with Twin Turbo.
Which means Palmer is going to anchor the vanguard and control the true pace of the race...
The tactical reality crystallized in Dober's mind.
Understanding this, Dober refused to get complacent. While Palmer's controlled tempo would be significantly slower than Turbo's kamikaze sprint, Dober knew she couldn't afford to completely ignore the runaway leader. If Palmer set an overly lethargic pace and allowed Turbo to build an insurmountable, mathematical lead, Dober risked running out of track to run her down on the final straight.
If I miscalculate the gap, I'll go down in history as the most famous stepping stone of Twin Turbo's career.
Dober grimaced. She resolved to dual-track her focus, constantly balancing her own rhythm against both Palmer's anchor pace and Turbo's expanding lead. She couldn't let Turbo get too far, but she couldn't let Palmer lull her into a false sense of security either.
Meanwhile, sweeping in from the outermost lane, Mejiro McQueen refused to overcomplicate her strategy. Unlike Dober, who was juggling the dual threat, the two-time Spring Tenno Sho champion committed to a singular, ruthless plan: slot in exactly two lengths behind Mejiro Palmer, and slowly crush the vanguard setter with her overwhelming stamina.
McQueen had completely written Twin Turbo off.
In her mind, the erratic runaway would inevitably burn out her reserves and hit a wall. To McQueen, the only actual pace-setter on the track was Mejiro Palmer.
Trailing the vanguard, Nice Nature caught sight of McQueen's hyper-aggressive, decisive push from the outside and hesitated. Nature knew her own race-reading instincts weren't on par with the elite runner even geniuses, and she was already comfortable running a Senko tactic.
Should I just shamelessly copy McQueen's homework?
Nature thought. Trusting the champion's judgment, she seamlessly tucked into McQueen's slipstream, steadily advancing her own position.
"Turbo is going to leave everyone so, so much farther behind this time!"
Rarely entering a G1 as a genuine fan-favorite, and heavily over-stimulated by the prestige of a Tenran Keiba, Twin Turbo was running purely on adrenaline and unhinged joy.
"I want every single pair of eyes in this stadium glued to me!"
Turbo pumped her legs with terrifying ferocity, aggressively expanding the violent gap between herself and Mejiro Palmer.
Palmer had briefly considered a slight acceleration to keep Turbo's lead from reaching critical mass, but seeing the manic state the Canopus runner was in, she decisively aborted the thought.
This psycho is running a 2000-meter Grade 1 like it's a 1000-meter local sprint! We haven't even hit the backstretch and she's already accelerating like she sees the finish line! I absolutely cannot follow that!
Palmer groaned internally. Adopting McQueen's mindset, Palmer wrote Twin Turbo off as a lost cause, settling firmly into her own, sustainable rhythm.
As the field roared into the long straight opposite the grandstands, Kurofune relayed the initial split times from the monitor.
"First 400 meters... 13.1, then 11.5."
"Turbo is only pulling further ahead from here. She's going to string together a continuous sequence of 10-second splits." Shuta An murmured, his tone laced with clinical caution. "The nominal pace for the first 1000 meters is likely going to hover right around a blistering 58 seconds."
"Yes, but the true pace of the pack is still being dictated entirely by Senior Palmer."
Admire Vega noted accurately.
"Dober is hovering comfortably in fifth place. She's actively settling into a sustainable cruising rhythm right behind the vanguard." Shuta An analyzed, a small, proud smile touching his lips. "She is executing the pre-race tactical script flawlessly."
In the broadcast booth, the live commentator, having barely recovered his breath from the explosive start, stared at the unfolding track dynamic in awe.
"TWIN TURBO HAS COMPLETELY ABANDONED THE FIELD! SHE HAS ALREADY CARVED OUT A STAGGERING LEAD OF NEARLY TEN LENGTHS! AND THE SECOND-PLACE MEJIRO PALMER DOESN'T SEEM PANICKED IN THE SLIGHTEST, CALMLY ANCHORING THE MAIN PACK TO HER OWN PREFERRED TEMPO. BEHIND HER, NOT A SINGLE UMA MUSUME HAS BROKEN RANK TO CHASE THE RUNAWAY LEADER!"
"IT HONESTLY LOOKS LIKE TWIN TURBO IS RUNNING IN A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT DIMENSION FROM THE REST OF HER OPPONENTS!"
The guest commentator added, his voice tinged with disbelief.