autumn breeze ~

AFTERSHOCK & SILLENIA & TDI LIVE THIS LIE

This workout was big; this workout meant the competitive fires would burn freely among the SOPS staff. It would be a race, only lasting a half mile, where each woman fought for their place. Henna would be on Shock; Krystal would be on Sill; and Amber would be on Falsehood. Each women loved their horse and each was out to beat the others. Rarely did they have a workout where each of them rode; rarer still did they have a race where all of them were against each other. But the Autumn Cup Grade Five Dirt had worked out for everybody.

This meant war.

The chestnut three year old whinnied at Henna as she walked towards him. Grinning shyly at the groom holding her affectionate horse and receiving a head butt from said colt, she vaulted into the saddle and set out for the dirt track. She looked to her right, looked to her left, and then looked up at the sky. It was nearing four thirty; they were making good time, and hopefully they would be out of here by the time the main flock of racegoers arrived at six for regular morning workouts. Amber had wanted to avoid that attention; she had wanted her horses to work out similar to how they would at home. Henna saw the bay filly Sillenia on her right, the gray colt Falsehood on her left. She saw their riders in the saddle, and knew what her goal today was. As the oldest, Shock could not lose. She would not let her front running, affectionate little colt lose.

Sillenia pulled impatiently on Krystal's reins, obviously complaining about the slow pace. Well, you're headstrong as ever. Dang it Silencio I commented, blaming her sire for Sill's hard-to-handle personality. By Grand Silence and out of Tamaraq, she was sibling to good horses and parented by even better horses, such as Hail To Prince, Wabi Sabi and The Osakan Prince through her dam and Night Goddess and Worldbreaker through her sire, as well as the upcoming two year olds for next year Silent Fury out of Rising Fury and Dawn Of Silence out of Ebony Gold Lady. She had a strong blood legacy; maybe the strength of her blood was what pushed her to do so ridiculously strong in will? Either way, Krystal knew that she held a cannon primed to shoot in her hands. Sill was the horse nobody noticed until it was too late.

As Amber mounted up on Falsehood, the Definite Glory son excitedly began to trot forward. Luckily Amber was an experienced rider, or else she would have fallen out of the saddle. As it was, she brought Falsehood back to a halt, placed her feet in the stirrups and then asked the enthusiastic gray colt to trot, teaching him a lesson about listening. Falsehood went on, thoroughly cowed, but still got to lead the way onto the dirt track. On touching a hoof to the track, once again the colt attempted to accelerate, but Amber skillfully held the colt back. On her right side, she saw Sill and Shock coming up, side by side, and she looked over to exchange small smiles with her staff members. She as well as everyone else could feel the competition flooding its way into their silence. No one talked, as they could feel their desire and the desire of those around them. The desire to win had made this workout into a war, and now they were in the war zone.

Without speaking, the three riders accelerated to a canter, still side by side. All three knew what to do; gallop at the half mile pole. Henna absentmindedly stroked Aftershock's neck, and the colt nickered happily. However, his mind reverted to work as he once again realized there were two others galloping with him, and he fell silent. Sillenia, on the other hoof, was acting completely imperious. She pulled at the reins impatiently, wanting to faster, and hardly taking no for an answer. Her head bowed as she pulled against Krystal's unrelenting reins. Her eagerness was contagious; Falsehood began to enthusiastically pull at the reins too. The only horse who remained impervious to the competition was Aftershock, and even he would be feeling it soon.

Shock was a front runner; so was Falsehood. The two would probably challenge each other in the early stages of the race, while Sill bided her time and waited for the perfect moment to come at them. Hopefully, Falsehood wouldn't be so juvenile as to run away recklessly with his lead. Hopefully he wouldn't cave in to the pressure Shock would put on him. Shock had experience, and had tempered his front running desire slightly. He wouldn't be as woefully stupid as Falsehood could be. He knew when too fast a pace meant too fast a pace. Nearing the end, Sill would make her bid for the lead, and the two colts would be severely challenged. However, this would expose them to the likely conditions of the race they were running. It was all good; they would be prepared.

They reached the half mile pole. Sillenia, feeling the reins loosen, at first leaped forward, and then leaped back as she realized she was racing the two colts. She held back, eyes calculating, waiting for Krystal's signal, or her own. Meanwhile, Falsehood had sprung ahead, his hooves flying as he entered his fast cruising speed. Shock was right alongside him, giving him a half length lead to pressure him while still remaining at a good speed. Henna smirked from her position on Shock; her chestnut was just too intelligent. Krystal smiled; everything was going perfectly for Sill. Amber herself was smiling as well; they were underestimating her and Falsehood. She would show them in the end.

As the three rocketed around the turn, Sill received her signal and made her move. She made up one length, then two, pulling up alongside Aftershock. Shock responded to Krystal, and together the two went after Falsehood. Amber asked Falsehood for some speed just in time, as her two competitors bore down on her. Falsehood responded, his legs flying. Sill struggled to pick up the pace fast enough; she raced longer distances than this, and her strategy did not work at this distance. Shock, meanwhile, was gaining ground, and was soon neck and neck with Falsehood. With one furlong left to go, Shock pulled to a half length in front. Falsehood finished a half length in front of Sill, who was obviously upset with the shortness of the race.

Sill attempted to keep running, but Krystal was too good, and gradually managed to get the filly to decelerate to a trot. Don't worry girl, you'll get them at ten furlongs she whispered to her filly. That's one of your favorite distances, after all. Sill didn't respond, instead trotting with her head held high imperiously, acting as though she didn't lose. Amber and Falsehood pulled up alongside. That went well she commented. Krystal nodded, tight lipped. She would be working against Amber again for the next two, much to her annoyance. She had been racing Amber all day.

Henna pulled up alongside on her own mount, looking ecstatic. She patted the colt, who responded with affectionate snorts. Looking up at her two superiors, she said Well, time for your next run. I'll take care of these three. Amber and Krystal nodded wordlessly, and their minds began to focus on the next workout ahead.

RADIANCE & SILENT WINGS & MOONDANCE

Amber tapped her boot impatiently. It was five thirty; other people would be arriving at the track at six. Yet where were those pesky grooms she had hired to supposedly speed up this process? Missing, that was where. But what in the name of the sun could be taking them so long? Onya and Ario were easy to handle, now that they were five and some of the blood of youth had burned out of them. What kind of excuse would those idiots give her? Amber couldn't wait to hear it.

Henna was sitting on the fence, looking out into the morning air. She was a bit more patient that Amber was right now, as she wasn't riding this time around. She was riding Mona in the final workout of the day. However, even she knew that it was taking too long for those grooms to get the horses ready. She shot a look of concern at Amber, who had just started to pace along the walkway, constantly checking her watch and muttering about the press. Krystal, in the meantime, was getting ready to go to the stable and drag her mare out herself. She was tired of waiting; she had more riding to do, and then a long rest was due, where she would probably visit Classy and tell him how well his foals were coming along. She just had to get these crappy workouts done soon.

At quarter to six Krystal made for the stable, with Amber following close behind. They were stopped, though, when they saw three grooms leading three horses towards them. The fury of a lioness must have sprung into Amber's eyes, because the head groom approached with a hopefully calming expression on his face. There was an....issue. Impressario and On To The Spotlight are fine, but these three were becoming troublesome. We had no choice but to take them out he attempted to apologize. Amber scowled at the groom before taking the reins of Radiance. Krystal grabbed Mona's reins with an equally stony expression. Henna saw Silent Wings being led out onto the track and approached, a question in her face. Don't ask muttered Krystal, obviously still annoyed. Curious but knowing better, Henna nodded and took the reins of her mount with a quiet, apologetic smile at the groom, who looked not only frightened by Amber's attitude but also by the predatory aura of Henna's mare.

The three women were shortly in the saddle and up on the dirt track. Amber stroked Radiance's shiny neck, thinking about race strategy. Radi would, as usual, be a closer. She would focus on his acceleration during this half mile workout. Henna aboard Dara was also thinking of her strategy. Dara was a front runner; she liked to sprint right to the front and stay there. However, with closers like Radiance in the race, and with a full ten furlongs to run, Henna would have to tame Dara to a better pace. She decided to focus on saving the mare's energy today. As for Mona, Krystal was relieved that her filly wasn't facing Radi or Dara, but hopefully easier competition. The three year old filly had won the Kentucky Oaks, but no race since then. She was overdue for some recognition. Mona was a stalker; she settled in behind the leaders and then made her move. Krystal decided to focus on keeping Mona in a position where she could challenge without being boxed in. For this workout, she would try her best to keep up with the grade one racehorses that they worked with.

Worldlessly, the three horses entered a canter, and worked up to the point that each was alongside the other. The three horse line smoothly cantered around the turn. Dara flew emotionlessly, her mind on the work. Mona attempted to show off, but no one was interested. Radi impatiently tried to go faster, to no avail. Each and every horse, however, was just waiting for the signal to run. When it came, things happened very quickly. Each woman dropped into a crouch, loosening the rein. As expected, Dara shot right to the lead, her strides eating up the dirt track. Mona took position about a half length off of her, already looking a bit overwhelmed as Radiance appeared just two lengths behind her, in her peripheral vision.

The workout went quickly; soon, all three horses were swinging into the stretch. Without being asked, Dara increased her speed. She was experienced; she knew what entering the stretch meant. Radiance, on the other hand, was reluctant to begin closing in, and after some prodding accelerated violently to challenge Dara for the lead. Overwhelmed, Mona just attempted to keep up, her hooves flying as fast as they could as she got sandwiched in between her two competitors.

In the end, it was Dara who came out on top, proudly holding on to her lead. Radiance finished a confused second by a neck, wondering if he had really been asked to run such a short distance. Mona finished third by a length, a little out of breath and lathered with sweat. It had been a hard run for the filly, but nothing more than a workout for her older competitors. All three girls exchanged smiles before leaving the dirt track, each happy with her individual mount.

But now the real competition was set to begin; Onya versus Ario. And it was six am, so people were beginning to show up. What a show the two five year olds would put on for the crowd.