Chapter 68. Nobody Wanted Part 3
When User Friendly entered the final straight, she had pulled ahead of Tokai Teio by 6 body lengths.
By this point, Opera House and White Muzzle also guessed what User Friendly had just done, and they too began to prepare for their sprint.
However, Tokai Teio was different.
While White Muzzle and Opera House hugged the rail to save ground, she did not follow her two opponents' actions to cut to the inside. Instead, she maintained her original four-wide position, even showing an inclination to drift further to the outside.
Noticing Tokai Teio's actions, Commander in Chief, who was eyeing her from behind, chose to cut to the inside, creating space between them, intending to accelerate and overtake Tokai Teio directly once they entered the final straight.
"I didn't expect her to actively give me an accelerating path. Is Tokai Teio's stamina not enough? As expected, the turf at Ascot Racecourse is still too difficult for her, isn't it?"
Commander in Chief was pleased with herself. As a two-time Derby Uma Musume who had conquered Epsom and Curragh Racecourses, Commander in Chief found dealing with this kind of turf easy and enjoyable.
"Tokai Teio is moving to the outside, and it seems her opponents haven't realized what she's going to do."
Mejiro Dober, as an eavesdropper at the pre-race tactics meeting, looked at her lover with a beaming smile.
"Although User Friendly's actions in the middle were a bit unexpected, it looks like the race is still unfolding exactly as Ann anticipated."
"Now it's up to Tokai Teio to handle the final straight. As long as she can unleash her normal level of final burst, victory will surely be hers."
Shuta remained calm. He didn't want to pop the champagne early before crossing the finish line.
—
In the Sadalsuud Team's clubroom, Mayano Top Gun pumped her clenched fists.
"Teio, go! It's time to take off now!"
"Teio-senpai's footsteps are very steady; it looks like stamina consumption isn't a big problem."
Rice Shower showed a relieved expression.
Admire Vega and Kurofune said nothing, just quietly watched the broadcast.
Although the juniors of the Sadalsuud Team didn't come to England, everyone's hearts were with Teio.
Tokai Teio herself knew this.
As she turned out of the final bend, using centrifugal force, the Undefeated Triple Crown Uma Musume took several steps towards the outside, the extra ground she covered causing her to lose two body lengths to Opera House just from this turn.
"TOKAI TEIO SEEMS TO BE HAVING STAMINA PROBLEMS!"
The live commentator shouted.
The spectators, however, did not wail—although Tokai Teio was the pre-race favorite, she was not the home favorite. While they respected her ability, if asked who they wanted to win, the live audience would certainly lean towards Opera House and White Muzzle, who belonged to Europe.
—
In the Sadalsuud Team's clubroom, Mayano Top Gun wailed upon seeing Tokai Teio drift wide to the outside.
"How could this happen! Is Teio having problems?!"
The observant Admire Vega spoke up to deny it.
"Teio-senpai isn't showing any signs of panic; it should be intentional."
"Intentionally wasting ground?!" Rice Shower's eyes widened. "Teio-senpai's thinking is too wild; it's really hard to understand what she's thinking!"
"Why would she do that?"
Admire Vega also didn't quite understand.
Tokai Teio successfully moved to the side of the track closest to the stands, and the shouts of the spectators clearly entered her ears.
Her English wasn't very proficient, so for a moment, she really couldn't understand what the spectators were shouting.
So Tokai Teio's attention quickly returned.
"Only 500 meters left until the finish line. Now is the time for me to go all out!"
Tokai Teio stepped onto the legendary "Golden Highway" and immediately experienced the difference from other parts of the Racecourse.
"It's so dry here!"
If the "Golden Highway" Tokai Teio was running on was genuinely good ground, then where Opera House and the others were running was heavy ground.
"Wasting a little bit of legwork for such good turf is a huge gain!"
Tokai Teio was incredibly excited, and her speed of concentration became astonishingly fast.
Soon, she once again touched the "wall" that she had once shattered.
Unlike last time, Tokai Teio, who had already unleashed her "Zone" once, did it again with ease.
"Even if User Friendly you escape to the ends of the earth, I will still surpass you all to show you!"
Teio lowered her center of gravity, and her speed suddenly increased by a notch.
—
On the big screen, Tokai Teio, who was originally two lengths behind Opera House, closed the gap in just a few strides, then continued without stopping to overtake Opera House.
If one ignored Tokai Teio and only looked at Opera House and User Friendly, it would be clear that Opera House was rapidly closing the gap that User Friendly had opened.
But if Tokai Teio's figure was brought into view, anyone would be incredibly surprised to find that compared to Tokai Teio in her sprint state, Opera House's every move now seemed like slow motion.
"What is this?"
Stoute's eyes widened, and he thought of something.
"Sule, what did you do in Dubai?!"
"What—" Sir Suers gasped. "Can a Zone be unleashed at Ascot Racecourse? This is something even Indian Skimmer never achieved!"
Indian Skimmer was a Uma Musume Sir Suers trained a few years ago. She graduated from the Twinkle Series two years ago, with five G1 wins in her career, her most notable being a four-length dominant victory in the British Champion Stakes.
But even Indian Skimmer, who received extremely high praise, never unleashed a "Zone" once during her Twinkle Series career.
Seeing Tokai Teio, who could easily unleash her "Zone." Sir Suers realized that everyone had previously underestimated Shuta An and this Undefeated Triple Crown Uma Musume from Japan.
With 400 meters left to the finish line, Tokai Teio reached the front of the pack. In other words, Tokai Teio used 100 meters of legwork to devour all the advantages that User Friendly had built up over nearly 2000 meters of the Racecourse.
"TOKAI TEIO IN THE LEAD! OPERA HOUSE AND WHITE MUZZLE HAVE ALSO OVERTAKEN USER FRIENDLY AND ARE CHASING AFTER TOKAI TEIO!"
The live commentator shouted loudly.
But despite being called a chase, after dozens of meters, everyone could see that the distance between Opera House and Tokai Teio was growing wider and wider. It was less of a "chase" and more like Tokai Teio was leaving Opera House and White Muzzle behind.
"Damn it! Who is the host after all?!"
Opera House stared fixedly at Tokai Teio's gradually shrinking back, complaining inwardly.
"Can I really not catch up?!"
She was very unwilling.
—
Tokai Teio didn't know what her opponents behind her were thinking, nor did she care to think about it.
She just looked at the approaching finish line, vigorously pumping her legs.
From the Green Channel broadcast, the loud shouts of the live commentator next door could be clearly heard.
"TOKAI TEIO IS STILL ACCELERATING! IS THAT NIGHT IN DUBAI GOING TO BE REPLAYED AT ASCOT? TOKAI TEIO'S STRIDE SHOWS NO SIGNS OF WEAKENING! EVEN AT ASCOT, ACROSS VAST OCEANS, THE UNDEFEATED TRIPLE CROWN IS STILL DEMONSTRATING HER STRENGTH, NOT DISAPPOINTING HER FANS!"
The Green Channel commentator also tried to raise his volume at this point.
"TEIO! KEEP GOING! LEAVE THEM ALL BEHIND!"
Mayano Top Gun stood up from the sofa.
"So strong!"
Admire Vega blurted out her thoughts, staring at the TV screen.
Rice Shower grabbed Kurofune's wrist, shaking it vigorously.
"Teio-senpai, hold on!"
Kurofune bit her lip tightly, staring at the screen and silently cheering for her Undefeated Triple Crown senior.
And in the VIP area by the stands, Shuta An released Mejiro Dober's hand, gripping the railing with both hands, watching Tokai Teio gradually charging towards them, and roared loudly.
"NOW IS THE TIME FOR TEIO TO ACHIEVE GREATNESS! HOLD ON!"
Teio, vaguely hearing her lover's voice, felt a hidden surge of energy spread through her body. She wished she could fully unleash all of this remaining stamina through her legs.
"THE FINAL 100 METERS! TOKAI TEIO! OPERA HOUSE CAN'T STOP HER! WHITE MUZZLE CAN'T STOP HER! THE MONARCH FROM JAPAN IS UNSTOPPABLE!"
"TOKAI TEIO! SHE TORE THROUGH ALL HER OPPONENTS FROM THE SIDE CLOSEST TO THE STANDS! IT'S LIKE SHE'S TRAINING ALONE! EASILY DEFEATING ALL THE LOCAL UMA MUSUME!"
As the words fell, Tokai Teio stirred up a gust of wind in front of Shuta An, then swept past the finish line.
"TOKAI TEIO CROSSES THE LINE! NOBODY WANTED! NOBODY STOPPED! NOBODY COPIED!"