phantom fire

DASHING IN THE FIRELIGHT AND HENNA TURATH
ETERNAL PHANTOM AND KRYSTAL YHATE

PHANTIE'S WORKOUT FOR MARCH MAIDEN DIRT

The time had finally come; after weeks of intense looking and sharing with Fiery Touch, the mighty Eternal Phantom was ready for her first start. With a legacy as rich as hers, Krystal expected everything good from her first start. The odds of them winning were not good - after all, the field consisted of ten other horses right now, and they had experience - but Krystal wanted Phantie to race so she would get the experience to match them. Goodness knows Krystal had worked through the filly's hissy fits and tough times in order to turn her into a trainable racehorse. Now, the black two year old moved with a princess-like aura, expecting top treatment and treating the ones around her as though they didn't matter. Her eyes looked disdainfully at the world and seemed to claim her supremacy. Now that she was dancing on the dirt track, little else appeared to matter to her. She was completely focused on what she was doing and was very attentive to the light bay mare that walked at her side.

Dashing In The Firelight had been having an interesting year. She had come second in her first start and fourth in her latest. She was three wins away from grade three and Henna was reluctant to give her anything less than a top notch workout with a top notch horse. In fact, she had even requested the presence of Impressario several times, as she knew as well as anyone the black stallion's prowess on the dirt. Amber was hesitant, though; she had other things to do, and wasn't sure if she really wanted to help Henna that badly when, in her opinion, Fire was doing great by herself. But Henna was still insisting. Right now, there was a sore spot between Henna and Amber, one Krystal was constantly attempting to smooth over. This workout between Krystal and Henna would hopefully satisfy Henna's urges for a good run and Krystal's urges for a good preparatory workout.

Fire was full of it today; her spirit was not dimmed by her recent defeats. Prancing, she appeared to take no notice of Phantie's dark, competitive glares, which was just fine with Krystal. When she wanted to, Phantie could seriously rile up another horse, and that just led to discord. When circumstances turned bad like that, Phantie needed to race. Krystal had learned this the hard way. Fire's ignorance of competition was unusual, though; she seemed to be too focused on movement and the dirt under her hooves to truly notice Phantie's attempts at antagonizing her. Perhaps a faster pace would get the spirit flowing? Krystal nudged Phantie into a canter, and Fire followed with a sudden spark of competition. Now, the bold light bay mare met Phantie's glare with one of her own. Henna and Krystal exchanged glances. It was on.

Their canter eventually turned into a gallop, and then into a sprint, not even of the women's conscious volitions; it just turned into the sprinting race. Fire was usually a closer, but Phantie appeared to inspire some sort of competitive spark within her that she was only too willing to let flow. Phantie, on the other hand, had burst into the lead and for all intents and purposes made as though to stay there. She had identified Fire as a threat and wanted to leave her in the dust. Silently, Henna coaxed her older mare up alongside and then past Phantie. Phantie reacted as Krystal expected her; like a horse related to Rising Fury, which she was not, she burst into an even faster pace. She was going to run either herself or Fire into the ground before giving up.

The race was quick; Phantie was not giving up, though Fire clearly had the edge. Soon, the light bay mare was pulling ahead of her usual nemesis. Though Phantie tried her hardest, she lacked the development Fire boasted. Fire won by three lengths over Phantie. The end result? A Phantie looking for nothing but the win in her initial start.