Chapter 24. Oka Sho: Moving Past and Beyond Part 2
As they approached the final straight, Sabuno Hana Park began to show clear signs of losing speed. Super Dress and Kyoei March, while still contesting each other, moved past her almost at the same time.
"That's as far as she goes." Kitahara let out a long breath and shook his head. "I really overestimated things. From here on, I'll just have Sabuno Hana Park focus on short-distance turf races in the Twinkle Series."
"Short distance, huh…" Fujimasa March narrowed her eyes slightly. "Then if she wants to accumulate enough honors, she definitely can't stay only in domestic races."
"I've already prepared for that," Kitahara replied with a faint smile as he turned back. "I talked it over with Ann-san beforehand. He plans to take Silence Suzuka to Australia for a long overseas campaign in the latter half of the year—and I'll be bringing Sabuno Hana Park along as well."
Fujimasa March understood immediately.
"With Taiki Shuttle in her final year, avoiding a direct clash isn't anything to be ashamed of. After all, with her result she's destined to enter the Hall of Fame, just like Oguri Cap."
"So the only option left is to go abroad," Kitahara continued. "In any case, I already agreed with Sabuno Hana Park before the race that no matter the result today, our next target will be the Aoi Stakes. So if she realizes she's running out of stamina, I just hope she prioritizes her health."
"That's only natural," Fujimasa March nodded in agreement.
—
While the two of them were talking, Mejiro Dober had already begun preparing to accelerate.
"I really dislike this kind of track," she muttered under her breath. "Good thing I'm on the outside. If I were on the inside, my face would probably be covered in mud by now."
Even as she thought that, the rhythm of her strides didn't falter in the slightest. The moment she exited the final bend, she immediately exerted herself, her speed rising in an instant as she overtook She's Princess.
She's Princess was visibly startled.
"I knew Mejiro Dober was behind me but she can unleash that kind of burst at this pace?!"
Her thoughts raced as she tried to comprehend what she had just seen.
"No adjustment? No buildup? Did she just switch into full sprint the moment she hit the straight? What is that—does she have catapults on her legs?!"
Behind them, Hornet Pierce had been tracking Mejiro Dober closely the entire time, witnessing everything firsthand.
"She drifted outward on the turn, I thought she couldn't handle the centrifugal force," she muttered. "So she was already preparing to accelerate back then?"
Her eyes sharpened.
"Then I can't fall behind either. She's already opened a path—I won't waste it."
—
With 400 meters remaining, Super Dress finally began to lose ground to Kyoei March.
"She's stubborn!" Kyoei March gritted her teeth slightly. "She stuck with me for over a thousand meters and only now I can shake her off!"
She had anticipated that SuperDress would run aggressively, but she had never expected such relentless pressure from start to sprint.
"I need to accelerate now! Good thing I held back a bit earlier. If I'd burned everything fighting her, I'd be the one fading right now—and I'd end up as a stepping stone for Mejiro Dober."
Thinking that, she felt a brief sense of relief. Although the race had unfolded differently from what her Trainer had envisioned, Kyoei March herself remained composed.
"No problem… even if things didn't go as planned, it doesn't matter."
In the stands, her Trainer clenched her fist tightly.
In her original plan, once Kyoei March secured the lead, she would maintain a fast pace of around 59 seconds for the first 1000 meters, widening the gap and simply holding on through the final stretch. Given Kyoei March's experience on dirt tracks, she had been confident she could handle the poor conditions today.
"Mejiro Dober has never raced on a heavy track before."
That, in her eyes, was Mejiro Dober's weakness—her Achilles' heel.
And she wasn't the only one who thought so. Many experienced spectators in the stands shared the same belief: this rain-soaked race favored Kyoei March.
—
As for Shuta An, while he acknowledged that the heavy track was indeed unfavorable for Mejiro Dober, he did not see it as purely negative.
"This is a chance to test her adaptability in advance," he thought. "If she can't handle it, then there's no point even considering Europe. But if she wins—"
His gaze sharpened slightly.
"then winning the Japanese Oaks again would put the Yorkshire Oaks within reach."
—
On the track, Mejiro Dober's acceleration was clearly stronger than Kyoei March's—but there was no trace of excitement in her expression. Instead—
A faint, uneasy premonition lingered in her mind.
"If it's only this level of acceleration…"
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"I might not catch her."
Super Dress had pressured Kyoei March relentlessly, and Sabuno Hana Park had dragged the race into an extreme pace. Yet even so, the overall tempo still aligned with the kind of race Kyoei March had envisioned.
At the moment they entered the final straight, the gap between them remained—
Nearly ten lengths.
On a track so heavy that even maintaining footing was difficult, closing that distance was no easy task.
—
From the VIP box, Shuta An noticed it immediately.
His brows furrowed.
"Should I have let her take a more forward position?"
He clicked his tongue softly.
"I underestimated Kyoei March's adaptability to heavy track—I didn't expect her to still have this kind of resilience after being pressured like that."
His hands tightened slightly against the railing.
"Dober… go."
There was nothing else he could do now.
He hadn't used any external support—no adjustments, no intervention. All he could do was stand there and watch, cheering silently for the Uma Musume he had trained with his own hands.
Even though—
She would never be able to hear him.
—
And yet—
Almost immediately after those words left his lips—
Shuta An's eyes widened in shock.
"Mejiro Dober! Mejiro Dober accelerates again—what speed! She's completely pulling away from the pack!" the commentator exclaimed in disbelief. "What is this?!"
Time rewound a few seconds—to the moment Mejiro Dober realized she might not be able to catch up to Kyoei March.
An emotion named anxiety quietly welled up in her chest.
Before the race, everyone had called this Oka Sho a head-to-head duel between the two of them. And in her own mind, Mejiro Dober had simulated the final straight of Hanshin Racecourse countless times. In every one of those imagined scenarios, there had only ever been one outcome—
She would catch up.
She would overtake.
She would win.
Never—not even once—had she considered the possibility that she wouldn't be able to reach her.
"How can I not catch up!?"
Rain-soaked bangs clung to her forehead, blurring her vision. Ahead of her, Kyoei March's silhouette seemed almost unreal—wavering, distant, as though it might dissolve at any moment.
But Mejiro Dober knew—
That wasn't an illusion.
It was reality.
If she couldn't close the distance before the finish line— if all she could do was watch that retreating back— if she couldn't become faster—not just a little faster, but enough to surpass everything—
To catch up to her sister Ramune's legacy.
To stand at the pinnacle of the Mejiro Family's history.
To meet the expectations of her fans.
"And to become the Trainer's first Triple Tiara Uma Musume—"
Then everything—Would shatter here.
This wasn't a game.
There were no warning signals.
No chance to reload.
Even if the Three Goddesses were kind, they would never grant someone the luxury of starting over.
The stage of the Classics only came once in a lifetime.
Miss it—and all that remained would be regret, carved permanently into one's heart.
Mejiro Dober understood that better than anyone.
And yet—
At this moment, her thoughts drifted.
She, who loved reading shōjo manga and playing otome games, suddenly felt as though she had stepped into one herself. As if she were the heroine, cornered at a dead end—one without a solution.
If she failed here—there would be no "perfect ending."
"What should I do—?"
Her breathing tightened.
"What can I still do—?"
Her thoughts raced, turning inward.
"Dober— think carefully. What do you still have left?"
What weapon—
Had she not yet used?
—
In the next instant, something surfaced.
A memory.
A conversation.
Something she had nearly forgotten.
It was after the Hakodate Nisai Stakes, when Shuta An had suddenly asked her a strange question—
Had she experienced anything unusual in the final stretch?
At the time, Mejiro Dober had answered honestly.
"When I made my final burst, everything felt normal at first—but in the last few dozen meters, it suddenly felt like there was a wall in front of me. When I chased it, it moved further away—no—it's more like it kept moving away, and I kept chasing it."
She still remembered clearly—
The expression Shuta An had shown when he heard that.
But more than that—
She remembered the feeling itself.
Because that hadn't been the first time she had experienced it. The first time had been when she was rushing a deadline for Comic Market. Yet after that, in several official races, that sensation never appeared again.
She had wanted to ask Trainer about it.
But before she could, she had gone to someone else.
Oguri Cap.
To her surprise, the usually airheaded senior had explained everything in detail—what that feeling meant, and how to respond to it.
"Zone."
And now—
"This is the moment to use it."
Her thoughts sharpened.
Following Oguri Cap's guidance, Mejiro Dober focused her entire being, lowering her center of gravity, driving her legs forward with unwavering intent.
One step.
Two steps.
Then—
On the next step—
Her pupils contracted slightly.
It was there.
That shimmering "wall," which had not appeared for so long, stood once again before her.
But this time—
She was ready. Without hesitation, she adjusted her state—
And charged straight into it.
—
This time, it did not retreat.
It did not slip away.
It shattered.
—
There was no pain.
No resistance.
No stumble.
Instead—
The moment she broke through, her entire body felt lighter. Her speed surged forward in an instant—yet her stamina did not drop.
On the contrary—it felt as though everything she had consumed over the past thousand meters had been restored.
"So this is what Oguri-senpai meant…"
Her voice was almost breathless.
"'Zone'"
Her gaze locked forward. Then there was only one thing left to do.
"Catch her."
"I will not lose here!"
—
Ahead, Kyoei March felt it immediately.
A pressure—
So Sudden. Overwhelming.
"What—?!"
Her eyes widened slightly.
"I had a ten-length gap—how is she still putting pressure on me from that far?!"
It made no sense.
Her experience had never prepared her for this.
In both races and image training, her strongest opponent had always been Sabuno Hana Park—a front-runner who had once faltered at the start.
But Mejiro Dober—
She sparred daily with G1-level Uma Musume like Silence Suzuka, and had already faced powerful mile specialists like Seeking the Pearl.
These experiences—was not on the same level.
Kyoei March didn't dare look back.
But she didn't need to.
The sound of footsteps behind her—
Was getting closer.
And closer.
"Damn it!"
She gritted her teeth, forcing her legs to move faster. If she could just hold on— Just a little longer— Maybe Mejiro Dober would run out of stamina first—
—
But only a few seconds later—
That hope shattered.
"Mejiro Dober has caught up! They're side by side—she's overtaken her!" the commentator roared, unable to contain his shock. "Mejiro Dober's final burst has torn through the rain over Hanshin Racecourse!"
In the stands, Kyoei March's Trainer bit down on her lip, completely stunned.
"How…? How can she accelerate in three stages like that…?"
No one had an answer.
—
On the other side—
Shuta An's eyes widened as well.
"DOBER!"
Even he hadn't expected such a sudden reversal.
"GO!"
His voice rose instinctively.
"Push forward! Don't leave any chance behind!"
—
And in the next instant—
The Mejiro Family's young lady crossed the finish line.
"Mejiro Dober crosses the line!" the commentator shouted. "With her three-stages acceleration, Mejiro Dober firmly said "The Classic stage welcomes no new heroine today!"