Post by S u N f r O s t ~ on May 6, 2013 20:09:45 GMT -5
VENTURA AND AMBER BLACK
WORKOUT FOR THE ACORN STAKES
The moment Amber had conceived of since the birth of Ventura was finally upon them. The moment for Ven to seek the Triple Tiara title as her lineage induced her to. The daughter of Impressario and Rising Fury was not only bred for this - she desired it too. She had staved off challenges all year and run an excellent prep campaign for the Acorn Stakes. Now they would run against Tears of an Angel and Dysphoria in pursuit of the Tiara. The eight furlong race was perfectly in Ven's preferences, and Ven was coming off of an easy win in the Kentucky Oaks. She was on form and more than on par to win this, if the cards just played right. They hadn't been played right lately - in fact, so many results had ended in failure lately that Amber had been disheartened. But Ven could begin to turn this around by taking this win and exceeding the expectations Amber had set for her.
Powerful and lithe, the black filly prowled forward as though she owned the world. Her eyes were arrogant as they gazed around the track, and her stride was gracefully loping. She attracted eyes just by the way she carried herself. The daughter of Impressario had her father's arrogance, but there was Rising Fury there too, reflected in the tempered passion in her eyes as she looked out onto the dirt and longed to set herself loose in full flight. Amber settled quietly onto her back, letting the filly do her own thing as they accustomed to the busy surroundings of the dirt track. The track was soft beneath their hooves and Ven's sank right in. She was staking her claim.
Tears of an Angel was a powerful filly who had rocked during her juvenile season. Her current season was still good but not as ridiculously good as last year. She was fast, but she was no distance runner. She was a pure sprinter. Not that that meant they would underestimate her in any way, but they'd have to watch the fractions and pace carefully to be able to outrun her. Dysphoria from Star Thoroughbreds was the surprise entry who was a distance runner and was in with a chance. They had not raced against her very much this season, but the daughter of Euphoria and Axel Rhose was bred for this distance and surface and was definitely a contender.
So with these two challenges to overcome, Amber Black set about working Ven for the Acorn. She eased out the reins and Ven easily jogged off, then cantered, loping along and well within her own power. Her desire to run surged as Amber released more and more rein, accelerating the filly to workout speed. Bounding along, Ven covered ground quickly while still being efficient. Amber guided her around the other working horses on the track. Ven breezed past them in a pure show of class, her ears pricked and willing to go faster.
They curved into the straight and Amber flicked the reins. Ven roared forward, her speed swallowing up the dirt. She flew for a half mile at above race pace, sprinting along with so much power in each stride that it was inspiring. Amber hoped that they were putting on a show. She wanted to affirm that the strength of SOPS was not lacking, not now and not ever. And as they coasted to the end of the workout and she pulled up Ven, who was barely trying, Amber grinned. They had plenty of kick left for the Acorn and time would tell if the race would be theirs.
