Japan's entire Uma Musume racing community went insane.
Or rather, the URA had completely descended into madness.
Of course, that happened the day after the race ended.
Immediately after the Yasuda Kinen concluded, Gotham Song—unsurprisingly skipping out on the Winner's Concert as usual—became the focus not just of Japan, but of the entire Uma Musume world.
There was no other reason—she'd simply put on too big of a show.
When she'd appeared before the race holding Secretariat's iconic staff, everyone assumed it was merely a prop. But who could've imagined such a dramatic scene unfolding as she pulled it from the ground near the finish?
And her speed—wasn't that simply absurd?
The Yasuda Kinen was only 1,600 meters. When Gotham Song finally started accelerating, Fine Motion and Manhattan Cafe were already nearly through the final turn, and even Twin Turbo had begun her final straight.
Yet what happened next?
Could an ordinary Uma Musume truly reach such terrifying speeds?
She began her sprint far behind, yet somehow managed to overtake Fine Motion at nearly double the pace—and still kept accelerating?!
Are American Uma Musume all monsters?!
Almost immediately, speculation exploded:
Secretariat sending Gotham Song to Japan must have been intentional, right?
A conspiracy theory?
Those who didn't suspect a conspiracy were the real conspiracists!
Meanwhile, foreign fans—especially those in Europe and America—were celebrating even more wildly. After all, it wasn't their races being completely blown out, and Gotham Song's audacity was extremely satisfying to watch.
One sharp-eyed commenter summed it up perfectly:
"This is clearly divine punishment from the Goddess of Runaways herself, Twilight Song, for not properly respecting her legacy!"
Regarding Gotham Song's perceived disrespect toward her opponents—particularly her casually slowing down to retrieve Secretariat's scepter mid-race—well…
How to put this?
If you dared to do something like that with only a 10-horse-length lead, you'd certainly be reviled as arrogant.
But—but…!
When you do it, then stroll casually across the finish line, and still lead by over 100 horse-lengths…
You call that disrespectful?
Frankly, it was already respectful enough she hadn't turned around to watch her rivals struggle forward!
It wasn't a simple gap; it was a gulf so massive, no one could even think in terms of ordinary respect or disrespect anymore.
Gotham Song disrespecting her opponents?
Wasn't this more like a fully-leveled character accidentally massacring a beginner's village?
Besides, there was another key detail here:
Second place was none other than Gotham Song's cousin—someone everybody knew—Manhattan Cafe herself.
When Manhattan Cafe took Gotham Song's wrist and led her gently into the racers' corridor right in front of everyone, the claims of disrespect instantly lost all traction.
If Cafe herself didn't mind, why should anyone else?
"Hehehe, we cousin-lovers sure ate well today!"
Fans and idols formed a closed loop. Given the immense skill disparity, it was already minor, and this affectionate little moment completely silenced whatever faint voices of protest remained.
Interestingly enough, there was another noteworthy outcome of this race:
Manhattan Cafe's reputation suffered no damage whatsoever.
Indeed, after fans explained that Manhattan Cafe—a horse girl utterly unsuited to short-distance races—had joined the Yasuda Kinen purely to race alongside her cousin, public opinion instantly turned overwhelmingly favorable. She even received a sudden surge of popularity overseas, thanks entirely to Gotham Song's influence.
Finally, there was one more seemingly minor point:
Twin Turbo, who ultimately finished in eighth place, saw the second-largest jump in popularity after Gotham Song.
In fact, her rise was even more dramatic than Manhattan Cafe's—she instantly became the most beloved runaway-style Uma Musume of the moment.
Indeed, fans always loved reckless frontrunners, especially the adorably foolish Twin Turbo, who'd stubbornly kept running even as her stamina faded completely, capturing many hearts along the way.
The top-rated comment on her fan blog put it best:
"Not everyone can become Twilight Song, but every runaway Uma Musume carries forward her legacy and spark. Each of them might someday become a legend or carry on a part of that epic."
Simply put, Twin Turbo's reckless sprinting had absolutely won over the fans' hearts!
But all that was just a prelude to the main event.
After seeing off Secretariat—who boarded her plane that very night—with Manhattan Cafe, Gotham Song returned to her dormitory and enjoyed a luxuriously deep sleep.
How nice it was to just relax after a big race, Gotham Song thought lazily. Unlike the days of Twilight Song, when I had to catch overnight flights across the Pacific for the Satsuki Sho right after finishing Gotham Stakes…
She idled in bed like a salted fish until 3 p.m. the next afternoon, finally waking up and picking up her phone—only to be flooded with notifications.
Literally flooded.
Honestly, Gotham Song found this bizarre. She'd disabled notifications for most apps, leaving just a handful on, yet her phone was still buzzing nonstop.
A particular news alert immediately caught her eye:
[International Promotion/Demotion Mechanism Activated?! Secretariat's Plan All Along!]
This headline, naturally, came from a panicked Japanese media outlet.
[Secretariat's Divine Wrath! Justice at Last—URA Facing Judgment?!]
—That headline was from American news.
[Carrot cake is delicious! Pre-order now for your idols and fellow fans!]
Um…that one was from the Twilight Song Fan Club and Runaway Uma Musume Appreciation Society.
Her phone was buzzing nonstop, the notifications basically divided into three categories:
America popping champagne, Japan furiously grilling Secretariat, and Uma Musume fans…just doing their usual stuff.
Hmm…how should I put it?
Gotham Song casually tapped open the comments beneath the Japanese news article. Predictably, the top-liked comment was patiently explaining what exactly this "International Promotion-Demotion Mechanism" was.
That straightforward explanation immediately sparked explosive outrage, especially combined with conspiracy theories circulating since yesterday, accusing Secretariat of deliberately sending Gotham Song to sabotage Japan's push toward international racing.
Suddenly, all the Japanese Uma Musume fanatics simultaneously realized one thing:
That bastard Secretariat—is she actually trying to wreck our path to international recognition through this unknown Uma Musume?!
How dare she! How dare she?!
Baka! Baka!!
Gotham Song even saw a commenter angrily questioning why she had been allowed into Japanese races without any restrictions.
Hmm…why indeed?
Maybe because I'm not Japanese but an Uma Musume from overseas?
Reading this, Gotham Song nearly burst out laughing.
What exactly was the Japanese race-entry system right now?
A Japanese Uma Musume who trained overseas before returning home would face strict restrictions, whereas a completely foreign Uma Musume arriving from abroad was granted special treatment—
Heh.
She recalled the URA staff's smile when they'd seen her nationality upon signing up for the Yasuda Kinen and almost couldn't suppress her giggles.
Hey, you guys were the ones who said it was fine! I didn't break any rules!
Clearly, plenty of commenters had also realized this after reading the explanations. In their fury, these fanatics proceeded to launch a massive assault on the URA's official account.
Oh, and countless foreigners gleefully joined in, delighted to fan the flames.
The official URA social media accounts quickly devolved into chaotic internet battlegrounds filled with trolls and spectators alike.
Sound familiar?
The URA desperately needed a distraction to divert this tsunami of outrage—
But how could they have ever predicted something like this would happen?!
Usually, the international promotion-demotion mechanism was extremely hard to trigger. Even meeting the baseline of a 100-horse-length lead wouldn't necessarily provoke a response—
After all, hadn't Twilight Song routinely crushed opponents by 100 lengths during her "international expeditions"? Yet the international mechanism had never activated then!
Plus, how could this rule review process happen so quickly?
Secretariat had only just landed in New York at 8 AM today!
Yet by 1 PM, the international racing authorities had already approved the review and begun negotiations?!
URA was completely dumbfounded.
International bureaucracies weren't usually this efficient! Typically, you'd expect at least a week of dragging things out, if not more!
And why hadn't Japan—about to face serious consequences as the affected country—been given any advance notice or warnings?
It was obvious: this was a coordinated international effort to undermine Japanese racing ambitions.
Or rather, the international community clearly had been waiting eagerly for this exact chance, initiating the process the day after Gotham Song's overwhelming victory.
At this point, the dream of internationalizing the Yasuda Kinen—
—was utterly dead.
But wait, something still felt off…
Gotham Song had skipped the Japanese Triple Crown entirely, choosing Yasuda Kinen for her first Classic?
This wasn't right. Something was very, very wrong.
URA officials carefully reviewed her registered races—and nearly died laughing from disbelief.
How to explain this?
Takarazuka Kinen, Sprint Stakes, Kikuka Sho, Japan Cup…
Confused?
Well, translate it clearly and it became obvious:
Yasuda Kinen, meaningless filler race, Yasuda Kinen, Yasuda Kinen (final edition).
Now it was clear, right?
Once it clicked, what reaction was left to them?
URA suddenly felt the whole world had gone insane—or perhaps they themselves had gone mad. But since the Earth was still spinning, clearly everyone had gone mad together.
So, was Gotham Song's true purpose in Japan exactly what the internet claimed—to completely sabotage Japan's Uma Musume international ambitions?
Croak.
But why?
What could they do now? Obviously, apologize. They definitely needed to apologize, right? Clearly, they'd done something wrong to invoke Secretariat's wrath!
But…what exactly had they done wrong?
After a nerve-wracking brainstorming session, the URA realized the root of everything:
Could it possibly be related to Secretariat's last visit—the incident involving a certain legendary Uma Musume?
Twilight Song. A legend who once intended to proudly represent Japan, yet whose honor was stripped away domestically through trivial internet flame wars and hateful rhetoric, ultimately taken abroad by Secretariat herself—now belonging to the whole world, but never again to Japan.
Haha…we're finished. Now we can't even apologize properly.
How could they possibly phrase that apology?
Ahem. Dear citizens, we're terribly sorry for our years of humiliating the legendary Twilight Song. We sincerely suggest and advise recognizing her achievements and historical importance. Let's acknowledge past mistakes and move toward the international stage together with a fresh start, perhaps wrapping it neatly with some sushi?!
Could you even imagine the volcanic outrage Japanese netizens would unleash if URA published such an apology?
Three Goddesses above, these worthless officials first feasted on Twilight Song's legacy, then let us get humiliated internationally defending them. Now, in a critical moment, they dare backstab us, claiming righteousness?!
If we can't do anything about Secretariat, we can certainly drag you useless fossils down instead!
URA OUT! URA MUST RESIGN NOW!
The current URA executives felt indescribably bitter. This was entirely the old URA's doing, yet they were the ones forced to swallow the bitter fruit.
And trying to morally blackmail Secretariat by raising concerns about Uma Musume's livelihoods?
Completely unrealistic. After all, what had been damaged was only Japan's international ambitions.
Domestic races would remain completely unaffected.
What—were they seriously considering cutting domestic prize money and making life difficult for Japanese Uma Musume?
Oh, that would just attract more than Secretariat's wrath.
Wouldn't that be even worse?
The URA held a grim meeting that afternoon in a dimly lit conference room. They exchanged blank stares, yet found no useful answers, just elderly eyes glaring helplessly at elderly eyes without a word.
Who knows how long that oppressive silence lasted until someone finally slammed a fist on the table, standing abruptly.
"I refuse to believe we have no options left! Secretariat might have planned this—but does that mean we admit defeat? After all, when it comes to Twilight Song, all of Japan's advantages are still with us!"
The dark clouds over the conference room seemed to lift slightly as the URA officials realized something crucial:
Wasn't the international demotion triggered only when someone completely dominated a race?
All they had to do was ensure Gotham Song didn't win again!
"Hey, are we panicking over one single mile-race champion? It was just the Yasuda Kinen! Maybe she's specialized in short distances! If she still has that ridiculous speed and range at longer distances, who does she think she is—Twilight Song reborn?"
"If Twilight Song herself crawled out of her grave today, even she'd have to concede defeat to us!"
"Secretariat dares challenge Japan's international ambitions?"
"Well then, let's see how well her prized champion runs when we put an end to Gotham Song's victories!"
"Who's Gotham Song anyway? We'll crush her winning streak right here!"