Chapter 41: Ninety Percent Chance of Winning? That's Theirs.
One week later, in front of the simulation track.
"Today's the day of the race."
Stardust Mirage and Mihono Bourbon walked side-by-side into the simulation track. Today, they both wore brand-new tracksuits and running shoes, and their spirits were high.
To avoid affecting today's race, Toyama Hikaru had halved their training load yesterday.
"The audience is quite large."
Toyama Hikaru walked behind the two, smiling as she looked toward the spectator stands of the simulation track.
Although this was inside the academy and not open to the general public, the academy itself was like a small city, home to a vast number of staff and Uma Musume. Today's spectators came from among them.
"Because this race is interesting, that's why."
Ryu Nishizaki happened to walk up behind them, also smiling as he chimed in:
"Featuring the heir personally named by the monster runner Oguri Cap at her retirement ceremony: [Oguri Cap II] Stardust Mirage."
"[Mile Race King] Taiki Shuttle; [Shadow-Roll Monster] Narita Brian, who possesses the potential to challenge the Triple Crown; [Amazoness] Hishi Amazon, protégé of the Student Council Vice President, the [Empress]... These are all figures that generate buzz. Everyone wants to see how you all perform."
After saying this, seeing Tosan Hikari's scornful look, Ryu Nishizaki could only smile apologetically and continue:
"Alright, and there are McQueen and Gold Ship from my team. It's a shame Teio is only doing rehab exercises and hot spring therapy now, so she isn't participating to avoid any accidents."
"But I'm here today too!"
Tokai Teio suddenly popped her head out from behind Ryu Nishizaki, waving energetically at Stardust Mirage, her two small ears on top of her head flickering and swaying nonstop:
"Today, I, Teio, am here to cheer for McQueen and Gold Ship! You take care of yourself, Stardust!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Teio looked at Stardust Mirage's face, seemed to remember something, and suddenly blushed.
She quickly ducked back behind Trainer Nishizaki, hiding herself completely.
But just as Trainer Nishizaki said, every opponent participating today was formidable, all champions who had won numerous G1-level races in the past.
For example, Taiki Shuttle is still considered the number one ruler of mile-distance tracks; Narita Brian even secured the Classic Triple Crown; Hishi Amazon was once a rival who competed fiercely with Narita Brian; add to that the unpredictably fluctuating Gold Ship, and Mejiro McQueen, who could challenge Teio...
"Ah, Stardust, why are you shaking all over!?"
Tokai Teio popped her head out again, looking in surprise at her friend.
At this moment, Stardust Mirage's entire body was trembling slightly, as if afraid of the upcoming race...
"This isn't trembling from fear, little Teio."
Toyama Hikaru smiled and patted Tokai Teio's head, then looked at the Uma Musume under her care beside her, her eyes filled with satisfaction:
"Since Stardust Mirage is called the [Oguri Cap II], isn't it only natural for her to react like this?"
"Let's go, Stardust Mirage, Mihono Bourbon. Together... let's take the championship from those guys!"
Stardust Mirage didn't reply, only her eyes burning with fervor as she began walking toward the track.
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"This time, we need to make them see the absolute gap in strength."
The dark-skinned sporty girl, Hishi Amazon, was checking the horseshoes on her running shoes in the rest area.
In a previous simulation race, she had lost to Stardust Mirage due to her own weakness on short-distance tracks, so she already viewed her with a certain degree of wariness.
Now with this chance for revenge, Amazon wanted nothing more than to completely crush her, which is why she said to her two teammates:
"Let's settle this in the final 200m. This time, we'll win by more than 3 lengths!"
"Final 200m?"
The tall Taiki Shuttle looked puzzled. She put on the number bib on her chest, carefully adjusting its position, which had been distorted by being pressed against her figure, then said with a bright smile:
"200m is too short. I'll start accelerating from 600m out and overtake the leader!"
"What about you, Brian? What do you think?" Seeing her teammate so confident, Amazon nodded and turned to the third member.
However, Narita Brian was sitting in a corner, eyes tightly shut, lips moving slightly but no sound coming out.
"What's this, meditating?"
Amazon gave up on disturbing her and began seriously preparing for the upcoming race.
But Narita Brian wasn't meditating at all. She couldn't get the scenes from the horror movie she watched yesterday out of her head.
Damn Zenno and Rudolf, tricking me into watching a horror film together!
It's fine, it was all just acting...
There's no way a chainsaw-wielding woman would suddenly appear from the track. I need to calm down, I need to calm down...
Not far from these three, the two members of Team Spica, Gold Ship and Mejiro McQueen, were receiving final instructions from their trainer:
"Listen up. This short-distance race isn't your specialty, but that doesn't mean your chances are any worse."
Facing the two Uma Musume under his care, Ryu Nishizaki also shed his lazy attitude, seriously outlining the tactics:
"The most important part of a short-distance race is the latter half. You can conserve some energy in the early stages and initiate your sprint earlier in the second half of the race, building up speed first."
"So it's another come-from-behind strategy, huh." Gold Ship stared intently at the Rubik's Cube in her hands, answering casually.
"You choose the chase-and-run tactic. Anyway, let them break the wind for you in the early stages. The key to winning this race lies in the final three furlongs—McQueen, Gold Ship, do you understand?"
"Understood, Trainer." Mejiro McQueen responded gracefully with a slight nod.
Gold Ship also nodded, the speed at which she twisted the Rubik's Cube in her hands growing faster.
"Finally, let's all cheer together."
After saying this, Ryu Nishizaki extended his right hand first.
The other team members who had come to cheer from behind—Tokai Teio, Special Week, Daiwa Scarlet, and Vodka—all stepped forward, placing their right hands on the trainer's hand, along with Mejiro McQueen and Gold Ship, who were about to compete.
The seven exchanged glances, then simultaneously took a deep breath and shouted:
"Team Spica—Victory is assured..."
"Team Draco—Certain kill!!!!!"
Behind them, Toyama Hikaru, with no semblance of ladylike demeanor, suddenly roared in support alongside her two team members, their voices directly drowning out the commotion on their side.
This made Trainer Ryu Nishizaki involuntarily slap his forehead, utterly helpless at this classmate's attempt to intimidate his own horse girls with such a method.
[This representative match at Central Tracen, which decides the exchange team spots for France, is about to begin! Please, all competitors, proceed to the starting gates in an orderly manner!!!]
The sound of the broadcast began echoing across the venue, hosted by students from Tracen Academy's race commentary department.
"I wonder which side will win, Team Spica or Team Rigil?"
In the spectator stands, the "Empress" of the student council, Air Grove, looked toward the competitors entering the gates and said, "In any case, we absolutely cannot let Toyama Hikaru's team win. Otherwise, who knows how much trouble this trainer will cause for the French team."
"Air Grove, you're worrying too much. The competitors from the other two teams are all veterans who have been running for at least a year. Facing Stardust Mirage and Mihono Bourbon, they have at least a 90% chance of winning."
Symboli Rudolf crossed her arms and commented.
She was actually trying hard to control herself, not to keep staring at Tokai Teio in the rest area, and could only distract herself by observing the competitors on the field.
"Only 90%?" Air Grove turned to the "Emperor" who had made the comment with a surprised expression. "Do those two horse girls still have a chance to win?!"
"If I hadn't seen the detailed data on Stardust Mirage, I might have thought the same as you."
Symboli Rudolf looked at the brown-haired horse girl on the field, recalling the data and training footage she had reviewed, and continued:
"But Stardust Mirage... that remaining 10% chance of winning, I place on her growth potential."
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Note: I'm new to translating so please be kind and tell me any mistakes you all find, I will try to release a chapter a day but don't expect much
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