Leukerbad had been accelerating since entering the third turn, while Satono Diamond maintained the pace she had initially been "carried" along by the two Front Runner Umamusumes.
Logically, after Leukerbad started accelerating, the distance between her and Satono Diamond should have been closing.
How could it be that she couldn't close the gap at all?
Leukerbad was both alarmed and confused, completely unable to comprehend the situation.
"Danon Alauda's slowdown is getting worse... Ah! She's been overtaken by Satono Diamond!"
"Now Lord Lauder is the Front Runner, but she's also slowing down, and it looks like she can't maintain her advantage."
Satono Diamond wasn't accelerating, but she wasn't slowing down either. Due to the slowdown of the two Front Runner Umamusumes, she was rapidly closing the gap with Lord Lauder in first place.
"As expected! Lord Lauder, the Front Runner, couldn't maintain her speed and was overtaken by Satono Diamond! Satono Diamond is now in first place!"
"That's amazing! Satono Diamond didn't even accelerate at all, yet she still secured first place."
Normally, for an Umamusume to overtake a Front Runner Umamusume, it is either because the Front Runner Umamusume lost speed, allowing the other Umamusume to accelerate and overtake her...
Or the leading Umamusume might accelerate directly at the end of the race to overtake the Front Runner Umamusume.
In either case, the Umamusume running ahead needs to accelerate.
"Since Satono Diamond was consistently keeping pace with the Front Runner Umamusume, when the Front Runner Umamusume lost speed, she naturally fell behind Satono Diamond."
The commentator also found the situation somewhat unbelievable; such a thing is extremely rare.
"Danon Alauda and Lord Lauder's loss of speed was quite severe; they've already been overtaken by Leukerbad!"
"Satono Diamond is currently in first place, and Leukerbad is in second!"
"Satono Diamond's speed hasn't changed much, while Leukerbad has been accelerating, but there's still about five Lengths behind Satono Diamond... wait, what?"
The commentator paused mid-sentence, stunned.
Wasn't Satono Diamond just five Lengths behind Leukerbad?
How had Leukerbad accelerated for so long, yet there was still a five-Length gap between them?
Did Satono Diamond accelerate too?
The commentator's words contained a contradiction, and many viewers began to realize something was amiss.
The same confusion arose in the minds of many viewers; some didn't understand what was happening.
Satono Diamond's father's initial rage subsided considerably after hearing the commentator's stunned silence.
"What's going on...?"
A strange atmosphere suddenly filled the arena.
Everyone noticed that Satono Diamond's pace had been picked up by the Front Runner Umamusumes, yet she hadn't accelerated.
Then they noticed Leukerbad accelerate from tenth to fourth.
Furthermore, the two Front Runner Umamusumes, exhausted before the final straight, lost speed and dropped to third or fourth.
Satono Diamond's speed didn't show any visible increase or decrease.
Leukerbad, who should have closed the gap with Satono Diamond, maintained a strange five-Length distance.
Why?
On the TCB side, Tokai Teio and Mejiro McQueen, the two strongest current Umamusumes, naturally understood the situation and weren't overly surprised.
Mejiro McQueen didn't pay much attention to Satono Diamond's side but kept glancing toward Satono Diamond's parents' side.
She witnessed Satono Diamond's father's furious outburst when the commentator announced that Leukerbad had moved up to fourth place, his impulsive act of pounding on the railing.
She also saw him speaking angrily to Satono Diamond's mother.
Mejiro McQueen observed everything he said.
Although she couldn't hear what he was saying, she knew without asking that he was venting his anger and resentment toward Sakura Baimu to Satono Diamond's mother.
While Mejiro McQueen wasn't exactly known for her good temper, she rarely got angry.
However, witnessing Satono Diamond's father's misunderstanding of Sakura Baimu caused her to feel a rare surge of anger toward him.
"How stupid! The results aren't even out yet, and he's already making wild guesses and slandering people."
Mejiro McQueen thought with displeasure, but seeing Satono Diamond's father suddenly freeze in shock at the bizarre scene on the arena made her feel a little better.
Of course, in her mind, Satono Diamond's father was already on the list of those she absolutely hated.
Mejiro McQueen stopped looking at Satono Diamond's father and turned back, meeting Sakura Baimu's azure eyes.
Mejiro McQueen was startled. "W-what are you doing?"
"Look what you're looking at," Sakura Baimu chuckled.
"I was just checking out Satono Diamond's father's reaction. I, I wasn't concerned about you!" Mejiro McQueen explained somewhat flusteredly.
"I didn't say you were concerned about me either." Sakura Baimu couldn't suppress a smile, finding the tsundere Mejiro McQueen utterly adorable.
She stopped looking at Mejiro McQueen, whose face had suddenly turned slightly red, and instead turned with a smile to the brown-haired figure in the center of the arena, muttering to herself.
"Shouldn't someone have figured out Dia-chan's strategy by now?"
Sakura Baimu had barely finished speaking when she heard the commentator's voice, noticeably louder than before.
"I know, it's a Pace Runaway! Satono Diamond is using a chaser Runaway strategy!"
"It wasn't that she was caught up in the pace of the Front Runner Umamusumes; it was that she used her own speed to force the Front Runner Umamusumes to speed up, causing them to lose speed prematurely!"
"It wasn't that Satono Diamond was running at the Front Runner's speed; it was that she forced the Front Runners to run at her own pace! That's why Leukerbad couldn't close the gap with Satono Diamond!"
These words caused an uproar.
The confusion in the audience vanished instantly, and they all looked at Satono Diamond, who maintained her own pace, a gentle smile playing on her exquisitely beautiful face.