The taste of that carrot cake lingered on my palate for days and it seems it will stay with me for a while longer.
As you might expect, time flew by, and the debut race arrived.
I had come to Veliefendi Racecourse to see how this 1600-meter turf track race would unfold and whether all my efforts would pay off. Before the day's races, umamusumes would show themselves in the paddock.
"I am your announcer Atilla and the umamusume will begin to show themselves for the first race of the day."
I knew this race would be Grand Ekinoks and I was curious about her rivals as well.
"Now the first umamusume is making herself known. Number 1 is Grand Ekinoks."
I have to admit I didn't expect to see her so soon since I didn't know her number. The curtains opened and Grand Ekinoks stood there, tense and waiting. It was perfectly natural for her to be excited since this would be her first race.
As with races all over the world, only in G1-level races do Umamusume wear distinctive racewears. This is her debut, so even if Grand Ekinoks couldn't wear her usual fancy gear, she began walking with a red hood at least.
Her steps didn't project a definitive image of herself but not doing anything at all was better.
After greeting the spectators with a wave, she began stepping backward away from the paddock, when I noticed her foot catch. She didn't fall but it was obvious the crowd wouldn't see her as a favorite.
"And now it's time for Number 2, Lyka."
So I started to watch her rivals. They certainly gave a stronger impression than Grand Ekinoks. At that moment, a familiar name reached my ear.
"Then meet the next umamusume, Number 4 Cannon."
The announcer clearly knows how to create an atmosphere, because he quickly introduced the outright favorite umamusume for this race. I was meeting Cannon, Grand Ekinoks's friend from her dorm room, for the first time.
This umamusume had long, straight brownish-red hair and blue eyes. She appeared taller than Grand Ekinoks, with thicker limbs.
As Cannon, this Umamusume seemed very confident that she would win this race while introducing herself in the paddock.
In fact, having a potential rival for Grand Ekinoks is a good thing. Competition brings development, and I knew Grand Ekinoks would face many strong Umamusume throughout her racing life.
So I continued to watch the rest of the Umamusume introduce themselves in the paddock.
"And finally, Number 9, Lavie En Rose is coming."
As the last umamusume began to walk, I stood up and headed toward the area designated for competitors. Of course, not everyone can enter here. After showing the security a trainer's badge, I headed toward the room where Grand Ekinoks stays.
Soon I found her room, entered, and found her looking quite tense.
"What are you looking at?!"
That tension also showed in her words. Three days ago, when I was baking carrot cake at home, it wasn't like this. It felt as if she carried two different personalities inside her.
"I was just wishing you good luck."
"Good luck? Are you not going to give me any tactics?"
"In debut races, tactics aren't really used. So this isn't going to help you. All I can say is: run as you want to run."
"Run as I want to run..."
She seemed to be in a pensive mood. I hope my words help calm her at least a little. I wonder what this race's result will be?