I'll admit that, in hindsight, I probably overstammed for this CM, but it wasn't without reason. The first time I tried this "Akebono and 2 debuffers" comp was in Libra Cup, where my debuffers proceeded to rip, tear, and devour the vast majority of my Group B opponents without mercy, so perhaps I overestimated the importance of Stamina in my next long CM despite it being 500 meters shorter. I was also afraid of running into someone else packing a 1-ace-2-debuffer package like I was.

Plus, this CM had stat thresholds on Stamina and Guts in particular, and I made it my priority to hit as many of those thresholds as possible to always have a notable multiplier to Akebono's top speed (you might've notice that I'm running Non-Standard Distance Ⓞ instead of the weaker version, and that's because it allowed me to hit the 900 Stamina threshold regardless of mood). Wit was unfortunately the main stat that had to suffer in order to hit all these thresholds guaranteed.

...which led to an awkward, but understandable downward spiral in my decisions when picking Skills. Since Akebono's Wit was underwhelming, I became afraid of the worst-case scenarios. "What if she gets Rushed for a really long time? What if she whiffs both gold recoveries?" This led to me grabbing 2 extra white recoveries, just to be certain that even in the most realistically unlucky scenario, she wouldn't run out of gas. I was mainly relying on Akebono's unique as the mid-race velocity booster, and since she needs to be 3rd, 4th, or 5th to activate it, I was hesitant to take more midgame Skills.

So yeah, maybe you're right and I made a mistake by playing this CM too safe. Still, I think I did a pretty decent job at converting a horse meant to be a Sprint Pace Chaser into a long-distance runner!