dawn of a new year

Looking at her breeding, you would think this filly would be a miler-router. Not at all.. she's a sprinter through and through. Riding her is like riding a rocket. I rose and fell in time to her trot, keeping to the outside of the track to avoid fast workers. She arched her neck impressively, dancing a little for those who watched. With her first race in a matter of days, this was her final gallop workout. urging her on into canter, I began to think about the race.

She was entered in the Shortstride Maiden Dirt. It was a six furlong race, perfect for her. She'd drawn gate four in a previously five horse field. The entrant who had drawn gate one had been scratched, so gate one was vacant. In gate two would be Lynara's Kingdom, a two year old filly out of Star Thoroughbred's own mare Sophie Might. Gate three would hold This Means War, a two year old colt half to True Fire. gate five would hold a two year old colt by the name of Wannabe Hero.

As we approached the three furlong pole, I took hold of a chunk of the filly's mane. Upon recieving my cue, Dusty burst forward and accelerated rapidly. She reached full speed within moments, and raced down the stretch, almost blurring my peripheral vision. I continued to urge her on, until we flashed by the finish. She was ready for her first race.

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Good morning, honey. Stella greeted her second mount of the morning with a big smile. GG was a real sweetheart, and Stella loved her to bits. The chestnut filly nickered softly, her bright dark eyes shining with health and happiness. After giving Stella a little nuzzle, she turned to check out the goings on of the track around her. James legged Stella up, and instructed her to take the filly for a good warmup, then a three furlong gallop.

The pair set off at a trot. Stella's eye strayed to check out other two year olds working around them. Some of them were obviously less physically mature than others. Some were obviously not as far along in their training. Some were badly behaved, and some were just behaving 'badly' because they were nervous. GG trotted by each, also checking them out, her ears and eyes turned to the other horses, showing her interest in learning. She was obviously an intelligent young horse, proportionally more intelligent than some.

After more than a lap of trotting, and a few furlongs of cantering, Stella finally sent the filly flying into gallop. GG stretched out her legs joyfully, gaining speed with each stride. Stella knew how the filly looked when she ran, and could imagine the 'oohs' and 'aahs' coming from the onlookers of the morning workouts as GG raced by. She was certainly a looker.

Stella's mind turned to the race, in which they would be up against several other fillies. Of course, it was hard to judge competition you didn't know. Stella couldn't be sure of their chances, as anything could happen in a race full of two year old thoroughbreds. She could, however, be sure that GG would do her best on the day.

Urging the filly faster, and faster, they flew by the finish. GG's trainer whooped from the stand, and the pair knew they'd been fast. Maybe they'd even broken a record? As GG slowed up, another young horse flashed by, apparently out of control. He narrowly missed collision with GG, and Stella heard the rider yell 'Sorry!'. She nudged GG off the track quickly before they did get involved in an accident or something. Woo hoo! James called, giving Stella the thumbs up. She's ready to win! That she was. they were definitely ready for their first race.

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Crazy as every one of her siblings. Probably as crazy as her dam and her sire put together. Man, the pair were one dangerous combination. Stalker's Fury looked at me, her eyes rolling a little. She side stepped away from her handler, who usually handled stallions. I let out a sigh, but climbed aboard with enthusiasm. She had speed, she had stamina, and she loved to win. I just had to try and keep some level of control over her, and then we would be an amazing winning team. If she could learn to work with me rather than against me. I knew from experience, that Rising Fury's fillies were crazier than her colts. Furious Passion had more sense than any of the others, and while Silent Fury was also quite intelligent, he was also more likely to cause me fatal injury.

With that thought, I shrugged and moved on. Death and career ending injuries were an unfortunate part of racing, on both horse and human parts. Stalker burst forward into a bone jarring, trotting race worthy trot. Tightening the reins, I managed to slow her down slightly. She tossed her head in annoyance, but agreed. I kept an eye on other horses working around us. If someone galloped by too close, Stalker would be off chasing them, and I'd either be on the ground or hanging on for dear life while trying to stop the unstoppable.

After a considerable time trotting, and a quick canter, we finally broke into gallop. Stalker launched her considerable mass forward, taking powerful, ground eating, velocity increasing strides. I allowed her to go as fast as she wanted as we raced down the straight. She galloped her top speed for about two furlongs, then without anyone to compete against, slowed up past the finish on her own accord. I smiled to myself, steering her off the track. This crazy beast and I were going to rock the world.

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Soldier and his half brother Warrior were alot alike. They were practically twins, especially considering their breeding - both were sired by Akuma Battlecry, and their dams were twin mares Euphoria and Lusitania. Soldier tossed his head playfully as I mounted up, walking forward briskly. Getting my stirrups, I sent him into trot onto the dirt track.

We were due to run Soldier's first start in the January Maiden Dirt, a field of ten. With older horses in the mix, needless to say it would be a tough race. But Warrior had won his first start against older horses last weekend, so there was no reason why Soldier couldn't do the same.

In gate one would be a three year old colt named Prince Arthur. Gate two would hold a 2 year old colt whom we had bred and sold, named Lucky Silver. Gate three was a late scratching. Three year old filly Erin Shore would break from gate four. Two year old filly Imma Zombie would break from gate five. 2 year old colt El Diablo would be breaking from gate six. gate seven would hold three year old filly Enchantress. Two year old colt Instant Success would break from gate eight. gate nine would hold two year old filly Karnevil. Two year old filly Eternal Phantom would break from gate ten, and Lusitania's Soldier was unfortunately the lucky breaker from gate eleven.

Despite the crappy gate position, I had faith we'd run a good race. The race started on a straight anyway, so we had time to get closer to the rail and get our position behind the leaders. The colt cantered along nicely, with a bit of a bounce. The three furlong pole loomed. I urged him to gallop, steering him closer to the rail. The colt burst forward, digging in deep into the dirt and striking out powerfully. He stretched his whole body to take each step, eating up the dirt so effortlessly. I urged him faster, and felt him give it his all. We flashed by the finish in what felt like record time. I knew we were going to do well on raceday.

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Hey dude Blaze greeted Fire, giving him a good scratch while he listened to his instructions for the workout. The young stallion snorted, nosing Blaze's pockets and sniffing out a piece of carrot, which Blaze was quick to rescue before it ended up in the horse's mouth. Not yet, after we run. Minutes later, we were beginning our warm up on the dirt.

True Fire's two year old season hadn't been bad. He hadn't had alot of chances to run, because he'd been slightly too immature physically. He wouldn't have been able to handle the stress of racing and would have most likely been injured. Better safe than sorry, and now he was ready for a fantastic season as a three year old. With only three starts, and two second places in those, I was sure he was about to break his maiden. Particularly because we were up against two year olds in our first race of the season, including Star Thoroughbreds' own Euphoria's Warrior.

After a considerable time trotting and cantering, I sent the young stallion flying into gallop. He gained speed rapidly, stretching out his body and legs completely. I remembered back to this time last year, when the colt could barely keep his balance around a turn at a gallop. Now times had changed. This would be our year. Fire was still gaining speed as we flashed by the finish, and although tempted, I didn't let him continue. I slowed the colt down gradually, bringing him to a slow gallop, canter, then eventually trot. We left the track proudly, a grin on my face and a spring in his step. Fire was ready to win.

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We were getting used to each other. I'd been appointed to be Strike A Pose's rider this year, and although she hadn't been happy about it, she was starting to accept it. I'd been visiting her stall randomly with treats, to try and become friends with the filly. I'd even given her a bit of carrot or apple after some of our rides, and she was finally beginning to seem to like me. Girls could be like that, just pretend they like you then go out with some other guy. At least Posie couldn't do that to me. Not that I was interested in dating the horse or anything.

I rose and fell in time to her trot, all the way around an entire lap of the turf track. Thinking about her performance last year, I was determined to win our first race together. Her season last year hadn't been bad, but it hadn't been great either. She'd come away with 12 starts, 2 wins, 4 seconds and 2 thirds. Not stellar, she could do better. I pressed her on into canter, and was tempted to drop into the saddle to sit to the delightful rocking motion, but instead I held my standing position, allowing my knees to bend to absorb the movement. Our first race of the season was a pretty big field. Nine other horses. luckily we'd drawn the first gate. We were in perfect position to get a good position throughout the race.

The race was grade five, seven furlongs on turf. So we were up against horses of the same level, which was a good thing. Posie wouldn't be outclassed here; hopefully she'd do some outclassing of her own. Finally I cued her to gallop. She broke forward, hugging the rail as we flew around the turn and leveled into the stretch. Then she really began to drive. She was full of beans at the moment, after having two weeks of pretty much pasture rest, like the other horses. I urged her on, thoroughly enjoying the feel of the wind, and the feel of powerful horse beneath me. Not as powerful as a colt of course, but she was decent.

We passed the finish at what was probably her top speed without a competitor. I affectionately rubbed her neck as she dropped down through the paces on my cue. Awesome job, Posie. I think we're going to do well this weekend. I meant it, and I definitely looked forward to racing the filly for the first time.

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Ryan ears pricked and his head shot up as he spotted me, letting out a whinny. He was on his toes again finally, after the disappointing fourth place finish at the Breeder's Cup. After having some time off, he'd bounced back and had filled out in all the right places, ready for his three year old season. I recieved a leg up from his handler, then we set off onto the dirt. To say I was determined with bring Euphorion to glory was a major understatement. But that was exactly what I wanted.

We began our warmup with the usual trotting. My mind drifted as my eyes strayed to other horses. I noticed two year olds especially, wondered if I would be facing any of them on my own babies this weekend. Euphorion's race was the last race of the day. He was up against seven other horses, including colts he'd both beaten and been beaten by. There were fillies in the field too, same deal with them. There was also some older horses, who could be wild cards. I didn't know alot about them, just knew that they were four or older and were still in G4 and G5. Not exactly a stellar bunch, but it didn't mean they wouldn't haul their butts on race day.

Pressing Euphorion into canter, I remembered who he was. The first colt to be born of purely HOF bloodlines. In short, he had spectacular breeding. Euphorion's mother was Euphoria. Euphoria's parents were Bank On Silver and True Enough. Euphorion's father was Merry Bay King. Merry Bay King was notorious for producing amazing offpsring. Each of Bank On Silver's offspring had reached grade one. Except for her youngest, filly Silverianna, who has Euphorion's age. To say we expected great things from the colt was another huge understatement.

Finally, we moved into gallop. I was delighted to feel the sheer power in each of my colt's strides. To feel and hear the wind rushing past was awesome. Trust me, you can never get used to this. It's even better when you're galloping ahead of several other horses, about to win a race. I imagined that we were doing just that, and a big smile spread across my face as Euphorion and I flew by the finish. We would be winning very soon. I could feel it.

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