Uma Musume: Become a Legendary Trainer

Chapter 392: A Game That Could Collapse at Any Time
Mejiro Takamine simply didn't consider this game from the perspective that Luduo mentioned.

But after all, she had the experience of winning the Oaks Championship and running the 2400-meter race in Tokyo, so she reacted quickly.

"I see. Generally speaking, great escape and great pursuit are rare forms of running."

She frowned and thought, “Because these two types of running are very demanding for both the horse girls and the events.

“But this competition happens to have horse girls with this kind of characteristics, and their level is top-notch in the world.

"By the way, even without mentioning Saratani and Axel that you just mentioned.

“Katsuragi and Maruzen, like Sarathani, are also known worldwide for their ability to lead.

"Chiming, like Axel, is a typical horse girl who chases after others.

"so……"

She looked at the Luduo symbol hesitantly.

"Well, so, from the very beginning, this game was destined to easily become an extreme game."

Lu Duo knew what his friend was going to say, and nodded directly, "Not only what we just mentioned, but in fact, in this race, there are only a few horse racing girls who are used to the two kingly running methods of leading and trailing.

“With horse girls who like extreme running styles at the front and back, it’s clear where the race is headed.

"Or it's easy for the escaped horse to disrupt the rhythm.

“Or it’s easy for the chasing horse to break the rhythm.

“Whether it will collapse or not, it will happen in an instant.

“Whether or not one can adapt depends on one’s own strength and adaptability.

"As for the one who can maintain the advantage the most after the collapse..." Luduo nodded, "It can only be the horse girl who has always controlled the rhythm of the game in her own hands."

"In that case," Mejiro Takamine was silent for a moment as he watched the team speeding through the bend on the track, "then your suggestion is very reasonable.

“In a race where the rhythm can be easily taken away by a running horse or a chasing horse, it is not a good choice to fall into a bad position.

“Unless, the horse girl who does this has absolute confidence.

“But in this match, I’m afraid no player can do that, so it’s best to compete with the opponent for rhythm.

“So, let Katsuragi and the others use their best running method, which is just right for dealing with this situation.

"This randomly selected team was able to react to this delicate situation in such a short time. You are worthy of it, Luduo."

After giving the compliment, Mejiro Takamine subconsciously turned his head to look at the person beside him.

Then, she was surprised to see Luduo symbolically shook his head slightly.

"Actually, I wasn't the first to understand this."

"It's not you...?"

Mejiro Takamine was stunned, "Who else could it be... Could it be Kitahara?"

Subconsciously, she thought of this name.

"Well, you guessed it right."

Looking at the arena, Lu Duo nodded and said, “I didn’t expect that he could come up with all these in such a short time.

“When I first heard this conclusion, it took me a while to understand.

"But now thinking back, he should have followed his previous habit and drawn such a conclusion based on some data and experience before the game.

“But only he himself knows the details.

"Now... we can only wait for this game to end. I hope the hints I gave them before the game can remind them..."

Finally, the Ludo symbol murmured to himself.

As the two horse racing girls in the broadcasting room analyzed the situation of the game in a low and hurried voice, on the field, the signs that Luduo's symbol had described gradually appeared.

The team has passed the bend on the right side of the field and is gradually stepping into the straight line facing the main stand.

Obviously, there was a long gap between the first horse girl who rushed out of the second bend and the last one. After seeing the first horse girl, my attention was focused on the team in front for a while before I noticed that the last horse girl entered the straight line.

The audience was suddenly in an uproar when they felt the gap, but it was not the time to decide the winner yet. Besides the uproar, there were more shouts of cheering.

This change is particularly evident in the commentary.

"Attention! The line is getting longer and longer now."

As if she realized that she was too excited before and failed to perform the task of live commentary well, Akikawa Yayoi seemed much calmer at this moment.

“The first one to come out of the corner… is currently Sharatani, but Maruzenski and Katsuragi Ace are not far behind.

“The three were almost side by side entering the straight line on the opposite side of the main stand.

“Shine seems to have lost ground in the lead race on the curve and is now in the lead group.

“The gap between the front team and the rear is huge, still more than ten horse lengths.

“This is not a good situation for the horse girls chasing behind. I hope the horse girls behind have a corresponding countermeasure.”

After Akikawa Yayoi's serious explanation, Lifar also made timely comments.

“So far, this competition has a lot more fleeing and chasing horse girls than most competitions, and the pace of the competition is also very different.

“The leading team’s tempo competition has continued from the early stages to the middle stages. Currently, the three leading horse girls are still fighting for the lead, which is a considerable test of their physical strength.

“The horse girls chasing from behind are also very dangerous. It takes a long distance to catch up. Even though the Tokyo track has a long final straight, the timing and position of the pursuit need to be chosen carefully.

“We are still some distance away from the winning corner. I hope all the horse girls will seize the upcoming races well… Wait!”

Both Akikawa Yayoi's live commentary and Lifar's comments became much smoother as the teams entered the slower-changing midfield line.

But just when things had calmed down for a while, Lifar suddenly raised his voice.

“Slowing down?!

“Saratany and Katsuragi Ace…two players slowed down?!
“What on earth is this…?!”

"No! It's not slowing down!"

Just like the team's early rush at the beginning of the game, Akikawa Yayoi, who had just settled down, also rushed to grab the microphone and interrupted Lifar.

“It’s Maruzenski who’s still speeding up!
“When the race reached the opposite straight line, the leading escape horses finally decided the winner!

“Maruzenski is leading at the moment!

"Saratan and Katsuragi Ace haven't slowed down, and the distance between them and the team behind them hasn't shortened, so...

“It’s Maruzenski who’s still accelerating!
"Are you going to turn the release into a great escape, Maruzenski?!"

Akikawa Yayoi's commentary was indeed not very professional, as he asked and answered his own questions as well as asked questions to the players on the field.

But such emotional commentary obviously suits the tastes of the audience more.

The growing gap between the horse racing girls in the racing team, especially the red figure standing out from the front and becoming increasingly far ahead, was like an increasingly large dose of adrenaline, hitting every spectator.

Let them cheer louder and louder as if they were running on the field.

On the track, every horse girl, consciously or unconsciously, feels the burst of power that is constantly heating up and obviously flowing out of her body from the inside out.

At the front, Sharatani, who had been leading previously, felt it most strongly.

She had experienced similar situations in this match. The most recent match was when she faced the undefeated Yongwu in the Yesen derby.

It may even be a more tense situation than the current one.

Although there were not as many opponents fighting after the race started as there are now, there were still three or four.

On the 2423-meter track, she fought with her opponents for the lead for more than half of the race.

Then, she won the leading position and gradually widened the gap.

It was with this distance that she resisted Yongwu's terrifying pursuit after Tatnam Corner and won the Epsom Derby.

The situation at this moment is exactly the same as that moment, but there are also differences.

What is similar is that there are also a lot of fleeing horses, and they also fight for a long time to get the lead after leaving the gate.

The difference is that every contestant is a powerful horse girl known in the past, and some are even stronger than those in the Yesen derby.

It's not just that these opponents have won championships that are no less than the Yesen Derby and many other competitions, but also because these opponents have rich experience and strength that has been tested on the field for a long time.

Their strength and wins and losses can only be analyzed by looking at past competitions.

But there is no way to know what kind of game will emerge after putting them together.

Another difference and unknown is that the Japanese horse girl who had just surpassed him seemed to have taken his place in the Epsom Derby.

But she wants to win, and it's very "dangerous."

This "danger" does not mean that any accidents will occur during the event, but it is an extension of the situation of "misjudgment".

As an experienced horse girl who is good at leading, Sharatani is well aware that the feelings of horse girls outside the competition and during the competition are completely different.

It is not difficult for a horse racing girl with sufficient knowledge and experience to make calm analysis and judgment outside of the race.

For example, in this competition, even if we don’t know in advance which horse girls will officially leave, we can still make some predictions about the event based on the range of the list.

The conclusions reached by all the horse racing girls who participated in such predictions were similar.

But when you are part of the competition, a lot of things are different.

Sometimes, even the most powerful and experienced horse girl can misjudge situations.

The most common ones are speed, time and distance.

This is also a crucial point in the game.

At a speed of 60 kilometers per hour, the line of sight and other perceptual references are completely different from daily ones.

As far as vision is concerned, everything you see is changing so rapidly that it is a little blurry.

Sometimes, the distance signs placed at the edge of the runway may not be clearly visible, because when you pass by, you will be left behind in the blink of an eye.

The only clear thing is often the opponent whose speed is not fundamentally different from yours.

In this case, if you don't have a certain talent or insufficient relevant training, it is easy to misjudge.

For example, you may only notice that your opponent is chasing you very fiercely, or that he seems very far away from you and you can never catch up with him, thus ignoring the fact that the overall speed may be much faster or slower than you feel.

Along with these misjudgments, problems will arise in controlling physical strength and rhythm.

No horse girl can avoid this kind of misjudgment, and it is more likely to happen the closer the level of the opponent is to her own and the higher the level of competition.

Therefore, in their daily training, horse racing ladies have regular “countdown exercises”.

That is, without relying on any external timing tools, just rely on your own sense of time to practice judging how much time has passed.

This practice is often done to the second.

Similar exercises include distance, speed exercises, etc.

It is natural that the runaway horse racing ladies in this international exchange cup have not experienced this kind of practice.

But the horse girl in front seems...

Ignore this practice?
After staring at the back of the person in front of him for a moment, Saratani pursed his lips.

Then he tilted his eyes slightly to the side and glanced at the horse girl next to him.

Almost the next second, the horse girl next to him looked back, probably noticing his glance.

Not only did he look back, he also quickly grinned, revealing a row of neat white teeth and a brilliant smile.

Not only did he show a bright smile, he also gave a thumbs up.

"..."

Not knowing what to say for a moment, Saratani withdrew his gaze, stared straight ahead again, and fell silent.

Through the information collected before the game and the analysis of the game, she knew that the horse girl standing next to her was the Katsuragi Ace from Japan.

The strength... should be considered very strong.

I have the impression that I have heard of her before when I was communicating with the student’s horse racing girl.

The general statement is that she "unexpectedly" defeated two Japanese triple crown horse girls and won the Japan Cup as a Japanese horse girl.

That was also the first time that a Japanese horse girl won the Japan Cup.

Other than that there is no other information worth noting.

But now it seems that the opponent's leading level is very good.

At this level of competition, the intensity of the game, the tension of nerves, and the resulting "misjudgments" are difficult to avoid even with daily practice.

This kind of misjudgment in particular often comes from escaped horses that lead the rhythm in most cases, and chasing horses that disrupt the original rhythm in the middle and late stages of the game. There were particularly many escaped horses and chasing horses in this game, which needs to be emphasized even more.

The last Japan Cup was won by the chasing horse, which also reinforced the necessity of this key.

As a leading horse girl herself, Saratani is of course well aware of this.

I also know that in this race, there are a lot of escaping horses and chasing horses, and they are all unusually strong.

That was why she chose to take the lead at the start and entangled with the escaped horses for so long.

only……

Can't speed up any more.

Leading is not about gaining a temporary lead, but for the overall situation and for victory.

If you accelerate recklessly and always stay ahead, you do have a chance of winning by escaping or getting the lead, but in most cases you will use up your energy in advance and end up not even making the top five.

so……

Staring straight ahead and glancing quickly to the side, Saratani became puzzled.

That horse racing girl...

That’s right, his name is Maruzenski…

In previous races, he was always the leader and a runaway horse...

Why is there such a big problem with her rhythm in this game... ?
Or……

She wants to use the same strategy as Katsuragi Ace did in the Japan Cup and mislead the other horse girls to misjudge the overall speed...?
If that was the case, she had made a wrong calculation.

(End of this chapter)