Instant Paradise (Alexia)

It was a busy time for the staff of Silver Stride Stables, with the recent affiliation meaning an increased workload that the majority of the staff did not understand. Many had questioned the trainer, Matthias, as to why he had taken the affiliation and he had brushed each and every one of them off. The reasons behind his decision was none of their business unless he intended to make it so and he was glad that the jockeys at least understood this. Today, the ball would officially start moving and he had scheduled in a work with Instant Success, of Kacey Hill Stables, and their very own Paradise Island. The rivalry between the two juveniles was well known both within the stables and in the tabloids. In fact the pair, along with the filly Eternal Phantom, had been compared to one of the famed Hall Of Fame rivalry between True Enough, Merry Bay King and Bank On Silver in a recent Gallop article. He walked down to the track with his brother, handling the beautiful bay filly on which the jockey, Tanya was mounted and he could sense an argument brewing, again. But he didn't want to get into it today, this was not the time nor the place for his brother's foolish dreams. Instead, he gave a warning glance and walked up into the stands while his brother led the filly out onto the track. He took a seat next to Jacey and offered her a smile. "Hey you, ready to get this show on the road?" he asked her.

Sonja was certainly in good health and spirits, her head head held high as she moved beside the blonde-haired handler. It was clear to see the filly's mood by her ground manners. The fact that she was behaving and not kicking up a storm showed that she was in a good mood, meaning that she was much easier to handle. Her conformation was good as she moved over, and seeing the chestnut colt on the track she seemed to freeze for a moment, her tail snapping against her rump. Everything always changed when these two came together, it was as if they had marked each other as targets and the contest was on. Tanya grinned over at Alice, with whom she got on well, and patted the filly's dark neck. "So is he! It's been great to see Isa performing so well for you, and now we will get to workout together a lot more." she commented, glancing up at the two trainers. It had not gone unnoticed how closely Matthias had chosen to sit to the other trainer, and although she was not one to jump to conclusions she had her suspicions that more was going on than was being said.
In the stands, Matthias couldn't help but smile while he was with the beautiful woman at his side. "You'll be ok, we can deal with this." he told her softly, keeping his voice low. "We all can. Now how about we get those two horses started?" he said, turning his gaze to the jockeys.
Raising his voice a little, he spoke to them. "Today you're going to run eight furongs on the dirt. I know it's a bit short for Isa, but it will do both horses food to stretch their legs and they'll run hard because of the competition between them. This is not about clocking the best time, but about making sure these two are in the best shape they can be. Ok?" Tanya nodded, looking over to see Alice's response.

Matthias understood what Jacey was saying, their relationship was not public knowledge and for now at least they were intending to keep it that way. He didn't want to expose Jacey to too much press coverage, especially in her condition, and it would certainly raise some eyebrows if the news was to come out so soon after Jacey's pregnancy had been officially announced. Plus, he was quite a private individual, he was not sure he liked the idea of the whole world knowing his business, and while he was happy to consent to interviews regarding his profession his private life was a different matter. He nodded knowingly, and watched in horror as Jacey toppled forwards. He rose to his own feet quickly, staring in horror, and fought thee urge to take her in his arms protectively. The last thing he wanted right now was to make too much fuss, to make it obvious what was going on between them and yet at the same time he wanted to fuss over her, to make sure she was ok and look after her. The internal battle was intense and in the end he decided to let her help herself. She wasn't incapable of such. "Are you sure you are ok?" he asked, his tone serious. For now the workout didn't matter even half as much as she did. Her and the precious unborn baby which grew within her. But as she said she was ok he calmed, sitting back in his seat. This could be harder than he had initially anticipated.
On the track, Tanya nodded at Alice. "Of course. So Matthias didn't mention if we were using the starting gates, and they are out so what do you think. Want to make this a real race?" she called after Alice, pushing Sonja into a trot behind the colt.

As his heart settled in his chest, Matthias watched the jockeys ride off into the distance. Sure that they could not see, he put his arm around her shoulders and sighed slightly. "You know, I can handle the paperwork. You don't need to pressure yourself into doing too much. Everything is going to be fine and the baby... The baby will be beautiful." It was hard to believe that their relationship had moved so far in such a short period of time. They had gone from being complete strangers to expecting a baby in less than a year. He was sure his parents would not approve, he hadn't even told them yet. Hell, he hadn't even told his brother yet, the the annoyance worked for him... Saw him on a daily basis. It wasn't that Matthias was ashamed, he was far from it, but he felt that things needed to be timed right, and now was definitely not the right time.
Tanya was excited for the workout, as her and Alice moved towards the gates she could feel that excitement flowing through her. The energy which arose when riding against the filly's rivals was like no other, and she was sure that the two horses would become ever more competitive now that they would be training together regularly. They would become ever more dangerous to their competition, and they were already some of the best two year olds on the track. As they reached the gates Tanya smiled to herself slightly. She would have an easy time here, the filly woul gate with ease, but Alice would have much more fun with Isa who was known to have an issue with the gate. Oh yes, the two horses were very different and yet in some ways they were very alike.

Holding her to him he nodded to her words, his eyes settled on her. She was so beautiful, so perfect, and somehow he had been lucky enough to end up with her. Blessed. Slowly, he turned his gaze to the track, to the jockeys as they rode toward the gates and the horses who had been performing so well together. The colt and the filly were already successful, and they would continue to improve. He had no doubts about that. The two year olds were growing well and seemed to become more and more competitive. "Don't you worry, they will do us proud." he told her in a soft voice, stroking her hair, watching the processes going on with the horses which had now arrived at the gates.

Tanya urged the bay filly beneath her forwards as a handler took the rein and started to lead them into the gates. Her head rose, ears perked forwards and while for a second it was uncertain whether she would cause a fuss she walked into the stall calmly enough, knowing that beyond those gates was a race. The race between Sonja and Isa was sure to be an exciting thing, and while this was only a practice today and they would not face each other in a real race again as two year olds, they would face each other as three year olds. There was no doubt in that matter.

The shutters closed behind them and soon Isa was also gated. The race was on. The bell sounded, the gates opened and Sonja broke quickly onto the dirt. Let's do this.