The gates opened, and the Umamusumes surged forward.
"Dia-chan's start this time was pretty good, unlike Kita-chan's last one," Sakura Baimu commented.
"Haha… haha."
Kitasan Black, her gaze fixed on Satono Diamond, chuckled awkwardly at Sakura Baimu's words.
Her start in her last debut race had been a bit slow.
"Kita-chan, don't keep staring at Dia-chan. Pay attention to the track," Sakura Baimu reminded her. "Dia-chan's debut race is exactly the same as the Shuka Sho in your last Triple Tiara."
"Oh, I see. Thank you, Trainer-san." Kitasan Black nodded gratefully to Sakura Baimu.
"In the lead is Danon Alauda, followed closely by Lord Lauder."
Lord Lauder and Danon Alauda were the third and fourth most popular Umamusumes in this race, respectively.
Both seemed to be using a front-running style to create distance between themselves and the others.
"Next is Satono Diamond, in third place."
"Leukerbad is in eighth place, quite far back."
"So Leukerbad is a closer, huh?" Mejiro McQueen remarked, staring at the dark-haired Leukerbad.
"Dia-chan really listened to her trainer and chose a pace," Tokai Teio nodded while watching Satono Diamond on the track. "Looks like we won't see the same situation as before, where Kita-chan led the pack and carried everyone."
"Hehehe~" Kitasan Black scratched her cheek, still feeling a surge of excitement when thinking about the last race.
She had completely ignored the Umamusumes behind her, simply listening to the commentator report the widening gaps, finding it incredibly thrilling.
"Danon Alauda is leading, with Lord Lauder close behind, less than one Length behind her."
"But there's about a two-Length gap between Lord Lauder and Satono Diamond. Satono Diamond seems to be moving very fast. Is she being influenced by Danon Alauda, who's leading ahead?"
"This is a 2000-Meter middle-distance course. If an Umamusume who surges too early while near the front, she might run out of stamina in the final stages."
"We're almost at Turn 1."
"For the Kyoto turf 2000-Meter race, it seems the innermost position is more advantageous, right? Dia-chan is in sixth place on the outside. Falco sees this has only a 9% winning rate."
Smart Falcon searched for the winning percentages of positions on the Kyoto 2000-Meter turf on her phone, her face full of worry.
"9%? That low?" Kitasan Black was startled upon hearing this.
"The inside advantage mainly applies to a front-running Umamusume. Athough on the inside, Leukerbad used a Closer strat, so she doesn't gain much advantage."
Mejiro McQueen explained before Sakura Baimu could speak. No one present knew Kyoto Racecourse better than she did; the recent Spring Tenno Sho had been held there.
"McQueen is right. Although the first turn of the 2000-Meter track comes early and seems to favor the inside, it's actually easy to overtake from that position. For Dia-chan's Surger, the outside can be advantageous."
Sakura Baimu added, then reached out and turned off Smart Falcon's phone screen.
"Also, GG, don't look at those meaningless statistics. They only increase your anxiety and are useless. This is just a debut. The track's impact is negligible. The most important factor is your own ability."
Sakura Baimu ignored Smart Falcon who had grown sullen again because of her words and looked at Kitasan Black.
"And Kita-chan, don't think a 9% win rate is low. That refers to the win percentage across all positions. The highest win rate is only 11.4%."
"Oh, I see. That startled me." Kitasan Black patted her chest in relief.
In another section of the stands, Satono Diamond's father frowned slightly after hearing the commentators' remarks.
"How can Dia-chan be running so fast in a pace style? Didn't her trainer teach her not to be influenced by the front-runners in the early stages?"
Satono Diamond's father panicked when he saw her keeping close to the two leaders, clearly matching their pace.
"Those two front-runners can't maintain their speed for long. If Dia-chan follows them now, she'll run out of stamina before the final stretch! This is a 2000-Meter race!"
The logic was simple, but there was a saying: those involved were often blinded by their circumstances.
Once the Umamusumes were on the track and immersed themselves in the intense atmosphere, they might not be able to make rational judgments.
If this happened even in a high-stakes G1 race, it was even more common in a debut race.
"Satono Diamond is covering more distance on the outside around the corner than on the inside. I'm a little worried she might run out of stamina later."
"Meanwhile, Leukerbad is currently in seventh place, running at a relaxed pace and looking very comfortable."
As the commentators spoke, Satono Diamond's father felt another chill.
Corners were naturally shorter on the inside. Satono Diamond was on the outside and matching the Front Runner's pace, which greatly increased the possibility of her running out of stamina toward the end.
As one of the closers, her later acceleration would definitely not be as strong as that of a closer.
If Satono Diamond could not accelerate significantly due to stamina issues, she might very well be overtaken by Leukerbad.
"Dia-chan is so smart. How could she not realize that? Her trainer must have forgotten to remind her…"
It was only the first corner, yet Satono Diamond's father's hopes of victory had already been largely shaken, deepening his resentment toward Sakura Baimu.
The commentator's criticism of Satono Diamond's racing style in front of so many people, along with the praise for Leukerbad, sounded extremely grating to him.
In most people's eyes, Satono Diamond's actions at the beginning of the race were largely flawed.
Of course, this group did not include the TCB team members or their trainer, Sakura Baimu.
Sakura Baimu chuckled softly at the commentator's remarks but said nothing.
The inside lane was shorter, but the centripetal force was greater.
In terms of stamina expenditure, it was hard to say whether the inside lane consumed less stamina than the outside.
It depended on the sharpness of the bend.
Last time, Kitasan Black had simply led the pack at her normal pace, yet many thought she was deliberately using a Runaway tactic to shake off the others.
At the time, many had also believed she would quickly run out of stamina.
This time, Satono Diamond was closely following the two Front Runners. Again, people believed her pace had been picked up by them.
"Oh well, they probably didn't expect the skill gap between these undebuted Umamusumes to be so large."