"Bravo!!"
Satono Diamond's father roared with excitement as his daughter crossed the finish line.
This excitement wasn't solely due to her victory; it also included the joy of defeating the Leuker Clan and the thrill of seeing a true G1 Umamusume in her.
Satono Diamond's father had waited far too long for this moment. The Satono Clan, which had never produced a G1 Umamusume, finally saw hope.
No, it wasn't just hope.
Satono Diamond's performance in the debut race far, far surpassed that of her contemporaries in Umamusume.
A G1 victory was no longer out of reach; it was within grasp.
Satono Diamond's father applauded along with the surrounding crowd, his eyes fixed on his daughter, who was shining brightly in the arena.
Finally, Satono Diamond's father saw her raise her head and look toward the stands.
However, he noticed that after crossing the finish line, his daughter looked up not in his direction, but toward TCB trainer Sakura Baimu and her teammates.
--
Sakura Baimu, along with her teammates, offered genuine smiles and applause to Satono Diamond, who was looking over.
Her teammates, while pleased with Satono Diamond's performance, weren't overly surprised.
Only Smart Falcon, who had only recently joined TCB, remained astonished.
After understanding Satono Diamond's strategy, this trembling Umamusume's expression grew increasingly surprised, until Satono Diamond crossed the finish line by a large margin, leaving Smart Falcon completely astonished.
"Dia-chan… Dia-chan is so cool too~♪! Pace Runaway! Falco has never seen a running style like this before; it's amazing!"
Smart Falcon couldn't hide her excitement after seeing the exceptionally skilled front position Umamusume. She exclaimed and stomped her little feet, clearly thrilled.
"Falco wants Dia-chan and Kita-chan to join the Fugitive SISTERS~♪… Ouch! That hurts!"
Before Smart Falcon could finish speaking, she was tapped on the head. The twin-tailed trembling Umamusume then puffed out her cheeks and glared at the culprit behind her, Sakura Baimu.
"GG, it's fine if you're an idol yourself, but don't try to trick Kita-chan and Dia-chan into doing idol activities!"
Sakura Baimu said, tapping Smart Falcon on the head again.
"Also, Teiō was talking to McQueen for ages about how Pace Runaway is a Pace strategy, not a Front Runner strategy. What did you hear? With your results, you should quit your idol group and improve your performance first!"
Smart Falcon was initially quite annoyed by the tap on the head, but after hearing Sakura Baimu's slightly scolding words, she immediately deflated.
Then, upon hearing that Sakura Baimu wanted her to quit Fugitive SISTERS, her cute little face immediately filled with panic.
"No, no, Falco is the leader of Fugitive SISTERS. I can't quit! Falco will study hard when I get back~"
"Okay." Sakura Baimu, seeing Smart Falcon's flustered expression, agreed. "But if you fail your courses again, don't bother with idol activities."
After saying that, Sakura Baimu looked away after seeing Smart Falcon nodding repeatedly in agreement.
"A new record!"
"Satono Diamond has broken the Kyoto 2000 Meter Debut record, improving the time by 3.09 seconds!"
The commentator's voice came from the speakers, immediately eliciting a chorus of gasps.
This way of breaking the record was simply too domineering.
Audiences were used to seeing Umamusume break records by fractions of a second, but rarely had they seen one break it by several seconds.
"Didn't the Tokyo Debut just a couple of days ago see an Umamusume break the record by 2.65 seconds? How come the Kyoto record has been broken so quickly?!" one spectator said to his friend.
"Who knows? I feel this year's rookies are incredibly strong! Who knows, this year's rookies might be the strongest in years! They're all so incredibly talented!" another person said.
"A rookie Umamusume with such formidable strength would probably be highly sought after by all the teams, right? Do you think it's possible that Satono Diamond is on the same team as the one who broke the record in Tokyo?"
"No... that's impossible! A team would be lucky to get one Umamusume of that level, let alone one every week for two weeks in a row. You're dreaming!" The person looked at their friend with a strange expression, wondering if an Umamusume had kicked them in the head.
Now, no one was discussing the so-called "50,000-person popularity showdown" between the Satono Clan and the Leuker Clan anymore.
Because it was pointless. The skill gap between the two families' Umamusumes this year was too great; they weren't even on the same level, making the discussion meaningless.
"Ah~~~, Dia-chan broke the record by more than 3 seconds..."
Kitasan Black stared wide-eyed at the new record displayed on the scoreboard, feeling happy for Satono Diamond but also somewhat disappointed.
After all, while she and Satono Diamond were childhood friends, they were also rivals, just like Tokai Teio and Mejiro McQueen.
"After all, Dia-chan's matches are longer than Kita-chan's. Besides, your matches are different, so what's there to be sad about?"
Sakura Baimu ruffled Kitasan Black's hair, offering a comforting smile.
Mejiro McQueen secretly glanced at Sakura Baimu's gesture of stroking Kitasan Black's head, then suddenly felt someone bump into her, her whole body jolting violently in surprise.
"Hey, McQueen, what are you looking at~?"
Tokai Teio appeared beside Mejiro McQueen at some point, making a comical expression and teasing her in a strange tone.
"N-nothing!" Mejiro McQueen quickly averted her gaze.
"Could it be that you're jealous after seeing Trainer comfort Kita-chan?"
Tokai Teio peeked over from the other side, a mischievous grin on her face as she observed Mejiro McQueen's expression.
"I remember when you first joined the team, Trainer was really nice to you, McQueen, and even wanted to pat your head. But you kept refusing, and eventually, Trainer really stopped. What, are you regretting it now?"
"H-How could that be! Teiō, stop joking! How could I regret something like this! I'm not a child anymore. Besides, even when I was a kid, I wouldn't let a stranger do something like that!"
Mejiro McQueen's face flushed with embarrassment at Tokai Teio's words. She quickly pulled out her phone to change the subject.
"Oh... right, I need to book my Shinkansen tickets back to Tokyo tonight. There won't be any seats left if it gets any later."
"Eh? Didn't Trainer-san say she was going to ride in Dia-chan's car?"
"Forget it, I don't want to see Dia-chan's father again. I get furious just looking at him. If Trainer-san wants to save money, I'll pay for everyone's trip back. She doesn't need to pay."
"As expected, McQueen gets angry at people who treat Trainer-san badly McQueen, you really care about Trainer-san" Tokai Teio covered her mouth and chuckled.
Mejiro McQueen's rapid finger swiping on the screen froze instantly, her delicate face flushing crimson. She hurriedly explained,
"How... how could that be! She should be grateful she looks like Sakura-neechan; otherwise, she wouldn't have had the chance to benefit from it!"
"Ah, yes, yes, McQueen, you're absolutely right."
Feeling immense pleasure at her successful teasing, Teio glanced at the stubbornly defiant McQueen and stopped teasing her. Instead, she tapped her chin and whispered.
"Indeed, I don't really like Dia-chan's father either."