The gate sprang open, then Umamusumes rushed out one after another.
"Chijoy had a very good start."
"Oh dear, Kitasan Black seems to be a bit slow at the start."
Kitasan Black reacted a little slower, starting later than Chijoy and Pebble Garden.
"Ah! Kita-chan!" Satono Diamond exclaimed in surprise when she saw Kitasan Black having trouble starting.
"Oh, there's nothing to worry about. It's just the beginning. There are still 1800 meters ahead." Sakura Baimu put her hand on Satono Diamond's shoulder and comforted her.
"You two haven't raced against other Umamusumes yet, so naturally you don't know how strong you are now."
Many viewers who were still looking forward to Kitasan Black let out a sigh of despair upon seeing this scene, feeling their hearts sink.
"Haha, there's really nothing to worry about."
When Chijoy heard the commentator say that Kitasan Black had a late start, she immediately chuckled to herself.
Despite the high profile, she didn't take the other Umamusumes in the debut battle to heart. In Chijoy's view, this was just the first step in her glorious competition career. There was no possibility of failure.
"The umamusume in the third-place ranking already lost from the start, so all I need to watch out for now is Pebble..."
Chijoy's thought had just begun when it was abruptly interrupted by a chorus of exclamations from the audience.
"What happened...?"
Just as Chijoy's doubts arose, a dark shadow suddenly darted past her.
It was Kitasan Black who made a mistake at the start.
"What speed! Kitasan Black quickly made up for her late start, overtaking Pebble Garden and Chijoy to take first place!"
"It seems we need to adopt a leading approach..."
The commentator, Misato Akasaka, watching Kitasan Black instantly overtake the second-place runner by more than five lengths, swallowed the rest of her words and instead shouted in an incredibly shocked tone:
"Not just leading, but a massive lead, an explosive lead! Kitasan Black actually used an explosive lead in the Singaporean race!"
The audience that were initially disappointed by Kitasan Black's poor start couldn't help but gasp in amazement when they saw that Kitasan Black had adopted such an exciting super lead strategy.
"Oh dear, is it influence from Silent Suzuka? This running style demands a great deal of stamina from the Umamusume; it's easy to exhaust yourself in the final stages due to excessive stamina expenditure in the early stages."
Commentator Junko Hosoe was also slightly surprised by the way Kitasan Black was leading the race.
"Idiot! Let's see how long you can hold out."
Chijoy was immediately dissatisfied when she saw that the attention that had been on her was suddenly stolen by Kitasan Black's lead.
Looking at Kitasan Black ahead of her whose gap with her was widening from her, she steeled her resolve and quickened her pace.
"She'll definitely run out of energy soon. Even Silent Suzuka probably couldn't keep up with this kind of lead. That'll be my chance to counterattack," Chijoy thought to herself.
Somewhere in the stands, the trembling Umamusume who had been leaning over the railing with her elbows suddenly looked surprised when she saw Kitasan Black leading the pack.
She straightened up abruptly, her orange eyes sparkling with a strange light, her gaze fixed on Kitasan Black, who was leading the race.
"Kitasan Black... huh? Isn't she from our academy too?" Smart Falcon muttered to herself.
Kitasan Black quickly rounded the first bend and merged into a familiar, slightly downhill straight.
Ahead lies the 1.4 meter steep slope, which has become incredibly familiar to every member of the TCB during this period.
"Kitasan Black is still in the lead right now. The steep climb after the straight will be the first test for all Umamusumes participating in the new race."
Most Umamusume riders slow down on this steep slope.
"Kitasan Black has reached the steep slope, and she doesn't seem to be slowing down... She's starting to run uphill!"
"As expected, Kitasan Black lost some speed, but the drop wasn't significant!"
The commentator was quite surprised. Given Kitasan Black's speed, climbing a steep slope should have put a lot of pressure on her heart, and her speed should have dropped sharply.
However, Kitasan Black did not show any obvious signs of slowing down, and there was no pain on her face.
"It's the 'small stride' technique," Kitasan Black explained. She changed her stride when going uphill, reducing the stress on her heart and the speed she lost.
"Her familiarity with the track and the smoothness of her running style transitions make it impossible to believe she's just a rookie Umamusume who hasn't even debuted yet."
Commentator Junko Hosoe made an unusually extra comment, which shows just how much of a shock Kitasan Black had to her.
"What kind of challenge is this? It's such a low hill, not even half the height of the hill at the Kyoto stadium, yet you guys are making such a big deal out of it." Chijoy spat out a disdainful spit when she heard the commentators' and audience's expressions of shock at Kitasan Black.
She maintained her current pace and took a step up the steep slope.
But in the next moment, Chijoy's smile and confident expression froze instantly.
Her heart felt an unprecedented pressure, as if two giant hands were squeezing her heart tightly.
"What... what's going on? It didn't feel this bad during practice before..."
Chijoy felt a little short of breath at that moment, and she was filled with confusion as to why this steep slope was putting so much pressure on her.
In one of the stands, Sakura Baimu witnessed the popular Chijoy struggling on the steep slope. She chuckle.
"She was clearly being led astray by Kita-chan's super-front focused strategy. She hadn't even practiced climbing hills, yet she dared not slow down at all in front of this steep slope. Tsk tsk."
"She looks like she's in a lot of pain," Satono Diamond said in a low voice, staring at Chijoy's face, which was slightly distorted.
"She was lucky; thankfully it was the Tokyo Racecourse. If it were the steep slope of the Hanshin Racecourse which is 2 meters high, the pressure on her heart might have prevented her from finishing the race," Sakura Baimu said.
"Chijoy's speed has noticeably decreased; is it true that steep slopes are still quite difficult for her?"
"They've overtaken Chijoy! Pebble Garden has passed Chijoy on this slope and is now in second place!"