front runner; front-running horse
In horse racing, a horse that takes the lead early and tries to maintain it to the finish.
That front runner has been leading from the start.
In today's race, the front runner held on to win.
Standard kanji spelling for this horse-racing term.
Variant spelling; less common than 逃げ馬.
Compound of 逃げ (nige, 'escaping, running away') + 馬 (uma, 'horse'). The term is specific to horse racing.