...
The school festival plan was temporarily finalized, but there was no rush.
In the mid-to-late March, Twin Turbo welcomed a G2 race, the 1800-meter Nakayama Kinen.
...
Before entering the gate, Twin Turbo clenched her fists and cheered herself on in her heart:
"Twin Turbo, do your best!"
"I still have to defeat Teio, I can't fall behind her too much!"
The radiant figure on the Satsuki Sho was her most distinct goal.
...
The gates opened, and Twin Turbo instantly shot out.
However, only she herself knew that this seemingly perfect start hid a subtle hesitation deep in her heart.
This time, Twin Turbo still adopted the front-running policy.
In the middle stage, Twin Turbo always maintained a six-horse-length distance from the second place. This distance was an invisible barrier separating her from the pursuers behind.
But when it came to the final sprint stage, she gradually lost speed.
The horse group from behind surged forward like a tide. One, two, three... those opponents who had once been left far behind by her now successively overtook her.
The moment she crossed the finish line, a huge sense of loss surged into Twin Turbo's heart. She slowly stopped her steps, supported her knees with both hands, and panted heavily.
After recovering for a moment, Twin Turbo looked up at the results displayed on the big screen, "Fourth place..."
The result seemed not bad, and after running this time, although she was tired, she did not collapse from exhaustion like before, indicating that her stamina and physical fitness had indeed improved a lot.
But when the scene of Tokai Teio winning the Satsuki Sho replayed in Twin Turbo's mind, in comparison, she suddenly felt her ranking was a bit glaring.
It clearly told her that having only speed was not enough, and having only determination was also not enough.
"But what exactly am I lacking?" Twin Turbo clenched her claws, and the eyes of the "little fighter" were now filled with great confusion.
Before today's race, she had already participated in ten races large and small.
But among these ten races, the only result she could show off was a first place in a G3 race, and nothing else besides that.
If she couldn't even defeat the opponents in front of her, how could she talk about challenging the clearly stronger Teio?
...
The winner's stage was left for the top three, and the fourth-place Twin Turbo could only leave the field desolately.
The night color gradually thickened, and the clamor during the race seemed like a distant dream.
Lucian's car was already waiting outside the venue. Twin Turbo opened the car door and silently sat in the passenger seat.
The car steadily drove away from the racecourse, the city's neon lights rapidly receding outside the window, pulling out strips of soft and gorgeous silk ribbons.
The car interior was very quiet. Twin Turbo did not, as usual, noisily review the race, or complain about which turn she didn't run well, and had no interest in discussing what to eat for dinner.
She just leaned against the window, supported her head, and somewhat melancholically looked at the fleeting night scenery outside the window.
Lucian was driving, and after observing Twin Turbo's abnormality through the rearview mirror, he knew she had something on her mind.
You have to know, normally this little shark was very lively. Even if there were only Lucian and her two people in the car, she could make the atmosphere lively—— her existence itself was a beam of sunlight that could dispel all the dullness.
But even the brightest light has times of dimming, for example right now.
"Turbo, today's progress is already very big, at least the ranking is very high front isn't it?" Lucian said gently.
"Trainer, I know... but it's still not enough, still lacking a lot." Twin Turbo's voice carried a trace of incomprehension and fatigue.
Her long ears also drooped a bit, appearing especially dejected. "I clearly ran to the very front, but at the end, my body still somewhat didn't obey."
Lucian understood her feelings. Watching figure after figure flash past before her eyes, that sense of powerlessness was more suffocating than any failure, right?
"Shall we review the race right after finishing dinner?"
"Mm!"
...
The official video replay definitely wouldn't be released this quickly, fortunately Lucian had the habit of recording during the races.
Because he previously had the idea of making memoirs for the horse girls, and had persisted until now.
During dinner, both of them ate a bit absent-mindedly. After finishing the meal, they immediately began reviewing today's race at the dining table.
After watching the video once, Lucian directly pointed out Twin Turbo's problem, "At the very beginning, Turbo, did you hesitate?"
Twin Turbo widened her eyes, a flash of surprise, not expecting that Lucian could actually see it, "How does Trainer know?"
"I can't even remember how many times I've watched your starts during training, how could I not know?" Lucian asked with a smile.
He tapped the tablet with the capacitive pen, "Tell me, what were you thinking at that moment?"
"Because.... last time Trainer mentioned that Daitaku Helios classmate, I thought whether I should also change the policy a bit, not rush to the very front from the beginning, so..."
"So in that case, it's still Trainer's fault then?"
"It was to begin with!" Twin Turbo seemed to have found an outlet for venting, immediately crossed her arms, puffed up her cheeks, and the silent face finally recovered its past spoiledness.
"Then you temporarily changing the policy right at the beginning on the racecourse isn't disrupting your own formation?" Lucian asked back again.
If it was in the mid-to-late stage of the race, it was indeed necessary to timely adjust the policy according to the rapidly changing race conditions on the track.
But this was just starting, how could there be so many thoughts?
Being retort like this by Lucian, Twin Turbo immediately became tongue-tied and couldn't speak.
"Alright alright. Then I'll tell Twin Turbo now, from now on, in all races suitable for you, you only follow one running style—— 'Big Escape'. Escape all the way to the end, never look back." Lucian's words were firm and resolute, said very absolutely.
"Why?"
"Because..." Lucian's fingertip slid across the tablet, bringing up several sets of data, "Twin Turbo's body type is smaller than other horse girls, and her strength is relatively insufficient, making it hard to seize a suitable position. Moreover, once surrounded by other horse girls, you are like a little grass clamped among rocks, even if you have great strength you can't exert it."
During training, Lucian had tested the 1000-meter time for Silence Suzuka and Twin Turbo.
Back then Silence Suzuka's 1000-meter speed before the Tenno Sho Autumn was 57.4 seconds, now it had reached 55.3 seconds.
While Twin Turbo was 57.9 seconds.
So Twin Turbo's first 1000 meters of the race course was still quite considerable, but the subsequent stamina was completely crushed by Silence Suzuka.
"Am I making sense, Twin Turbo, do you understand?" Lucian patted Twin Turbo's head, "As for you, just escape all the way to the end, treat all the opponents behind as air. In your eyes, you only need the empty track ahead with no one, and the flag at the finish."
"Understood." Twin Turbo nodded, these shortcomings, she herself could actually realize some, "Trainer, I still have one question."
"You say it."
"Trainer, do I really have a chance to surpass Teio?" Twin Turbo looked into Lucian's eyes, word by word, asking extremely seriously.
Lucian was slightly stunned.
...