Inside Niigata Racecourse, the cheers were deafening, and the applause continued unabated.
More than five seconds after Smart Falcon crossed the finish line, Starlight Helios and the other Umamusumes finally crossed.
However, by this time, no one was paying attention to these top-ranked Umamusumes anymore.
All eyes at Niigata Racecourse were now focused on Smart Falcon, standing in the center of the arena and waving her hands to the surrounding crowd with a charming smile.
Smart Falcon crossed the finish line more than five seconds ahead of the heavily favored Starlight Helios—a terrifyingly large margin.
Of course, Smart Falcon did more than just that.
After the cheers and applause for Smart Falcon gradually subsided, people began to notice the information displayed on the scoreboard.
[New Record]
Instantly, exclamations erupted again.
"A record broken! A new record!"
"Smart Falcon broke the Leopard Stakes record by a full 3.45 seconds!"
"Broke the record set three years ago by Apple Candy from the US!"
Others break records by fractions of a second.
Smart Falcon was even more absurd, breaking records by several seconds.
Of course, the main reason was that there were simply too few outstanding Dirt Umamusumes in Japan.
And Smart Falcon's adaptability to Dirt was terrifying.
Only Sakura Baimu knew that, currently, among all the Umamusumes at Tracen Academy, probably no one's Dirt adaptability could surpass Smart Falcon's.
Mainly because what happened today was truly astonishing.
Smart Falcon delivered a massive lead on Dirt, comparable to Silent Suzuka's, and created an even more terrifying gap, making it even more astonishing than Silent Suzuka.
Just when everyone was wondering when Smart Falcon would run out of steam and lose speed,
Smart Falcon proved them wrong.
Not only did she not lose speed, but she maintained her pace for the entire race.
It wasn't at the third corner that she ran out of steam.
Nor was it at the final corner.
She didn't even slow down on the final straight.
She truly and relentlessly pulled away throughout the entire race.
The countless Dirt enthusiasts present, after cheering for Smart Falcon, immediately pulled out their phones to search for information about her.
And what they found was even more surprising.
They discovered that
this was only the third Dirt race Smart Falcon had participated in to date.
The first was Smart Falcon's debut race.
The second was the OP-level Seaside Stakes held in Hakodate a month ago.
The third was this Leopard Stakes held in Niigata Prefecture.
"This Smart Falcon didn't have any particularly impressive records before switching to Dirt races. But after switching, she's had two huge victories! That's incredible!"
"And that's not all! Look at her last Seaside Stakes race; second place went to Satono Crown! That's the prestigious Satono Clan's Umamusume, and she's back from America! So this Smart Falcon has beaten an Umamusume from America before!"
"Amazing! Umamusumes from America, or Umamusumes who have returned from America, used to dominate major Dirt races. This Smart Falcon has beaten Umamusumes from America twice! That's terrifying!"
The audience buzzed with excitement, their faces filled with surprise and delight.
Their joy wasn't just because they'd discovered another formidable rising star in Dirt racing.
Even more surprising was the emergence of a Dirt Umamusume with such terrifying speed from within Japan.
This time, this dark horse in the Dirt category had absolutely no connection to foreign countries.
She was a truly homegrown Japanese Umamusume!
More than half of the audience was instantly captivated by Smart Falcon.
The remaining audience members, after researching Smart Falcon's information and record, also fell in love with her because she was a Japanese Umamusume whose strength was comparable to that of American Umamusumes.
In addition, Smart Falcon was incredibly cute, and every gesture she made exuded an aura of endearment.
"This Umamusume is so cute I'm going to be a fan"
"I've decided, I'm a fan of hers starting today!"
Such exclamations echoed throughout the stands of Niigata Racecourse.
Meanwhile, Smart Falcon, the center of attention and the focus of countless gazes, was running toward Sakura Baimu.
Her two chestnut-brown ponytails bobbed merrily up and down with each step.
"Trainer-san?! Trainer-san?! Falco really won?! You didn't lie to Falco?! Falco won her first major race?! Falco broke the record?!"
Smart Falcon excitedly ran to the front of Sakura Baimu's section, her face beaming with excitement as she shared the good news.
Many people watched as Smart Falcon danced and gesticulated wildly while reporting the joyful news to her trainer, finding her utterly adorable.
Then everyone saw—
Smart Falcon, with her sweet and adorable appearance that could almost evoke everyone's protective instincts, was actually hit on the head several times by her trainer through the railing.
"How many times have I told you? I told you that you can't lose! You can't lose! Why were you so scared?! And you're late again! Kita-chan doesn't even start late anymore, so why do you still have trouble with your starts?!"
Under the stunned gazes of countless spectators, Sakura Baimu tapped Smart Falcon's head with each reprimand.
Smart Falcon didn't dare dodge, only holding her head in her hands, feeling the slight pain in her forehead while letting out a soft "whimper."
Many people were stirred by Sakura Baimu's seemingly stern actions, which evoked a strong protective instinct in them.
Even though, as outsiders, they couldn't very well interfere with a trainer disciplining her own Umamusume, they could still cast angry glances at Sakura Baimu.
At the same time, Wakō Dōjin, the second most popular runner in the race, who had shown utter disdain for Smart Falcon before the start and completely disbelieved everything she said, only managed third place.
The pace of this race was much faster than she had anticipated.
She firmly believed that it was Smart Falcon's presence that prevented her from defeating Starlight Helios.
After her heart rate gradually calmed down, Wakō Dōjin finally had time to glance at Smart Falcon.
When she saw Sakura Baimu, who was tapping Smart Falcon on the forehead, and how intimate the two seemed, she suddenly froze on the spot.