Pushing The Limits

[Deleted]

Dark Charmer & Jacob Donovan
Aztareal & Alexia Harshing

Of the two-year-old colts at Silver Stride Stables, two of them preferred dirt tracks. Dark Charmer, otherwise just known as Dark, and Aztareal otherwise known as Aztec. When they had decided who would ride horses at the stable they had taken into account the distance and track preferences of all the horses and tried their best to avoid overlaps. This was for a number of reasons, the two most prominant being that then there horses could race against each other with there regular jockeys and it meant that horses with similar distance and track preferences could workout together. After all, it helped to sharpen their competitive edges before a race.

Jacob and Alexia walked out of the office together, laughing at some joke or another than Matt had come out with. There rides were already tacked up and ready to go and they had arranged for Matt to come down to gate the horses and watch how things went. It certainly helped to have someone else watching from the lines, to point out what you have done wrong or could be improved and the competition between the jockeys kept them hot for the races which they would be entering.

Things were never quiet at the stables, despite only being small, as the horses recieved a great del of care and attention. Certainly, they were worked out as much as the stable could manage in order to keep them in top form, and when they were entering bigger races they were matched to another in order to train them to the best of their ability.

Today, that match up was going to be interesting. Charmer had more experience and was a grade higher than Aztareal, but Aztareal had been raced more in recent months and had known his jockey for a while longer. Certainly, each horse had his strengths and weaknesses but it had yet to show which one would win. Certanly, the three had decided they would not like to second guess it and so it would be decided on the track.

As they walked toward the track the differences in temperament were obvious. Aztec almost seemed to bounce next to Alexia with his springy, energetic step while Dark walked more calmly beside Jacob, watching the chestnut colt with a vague interest. No doubt he was analysing the colt and the threat he might pose, he seemed to do that with everyone and everything. His brown eyes held a thoughtful gaze and he certainly didn't seem impressed by the excited colt.

Boxing was easy and so the race between them began. Aztareal led with Dark Charmer at his rump for most of the 8 furlong run but in the last few furlongs things heated up as dark pushed his way forward. For a long time the two were neck and neck, fighting with each other to win. Spirit was pitched against spirit, heart against heart, but in the end Dark won by a nose. It hadn't been a bad try by Aztareal but he had lacked experience overall. Still, he would soon improve and when he did things were certain to become even more exciting.