On With The Storm

[Deleted]

Aztareal & Alexia Harshing
Shot Of Mocha & Jacob Donovan

November. It meant the year was coming a close and was oneof the final chances for horses to break their maidens. The final chance for horses which were not sprinters. After all, the maiden races in December were short and really aimed at those who had all speed and little stamina. So the races in November were bound to be teaming with those who could not run short distances and had yet to break their maidens. For Silver Stride stables it meant that three horses would be taking to the track - one on the turf and two on the dirt. Of those, one had a lot of experience above the others.

Aztareal had raced three times and had not failed to perform in any of those. Consistantly placing in the top three it was hoped that November would be his month. To see him take the win and move to Grade Five status would be a wonderful thing for all those who had worked with him, especially Alexia who hada special place in her heart for the chestnut colt. After all, of all the horses at the stable he had been with her the longest and he would always be hers. After all, he was a charm unto himself.

Of course, being a dirt horse Aztareal was not to be alone in his race. In fact, the colt was to be joined by a filly under the name of Shot Of Mocha. She'd only ran one previous race andhadn't performed too well, but there was still hope for her and it had not been expected for her to great following a late debut. But it was expected she would improve with experience and it would do both horses good to train alongside another.

As they walked down toward the track beside their respective jockeys, Ellie was energetic. Like always, it seemed the filly had a little too much energy and not enough activity to use it on. But it didn't matter what they did with her, she never calmed down and it could make handling her a nightmare. Certainly she was never still, and trying to get her to be still was like trying to get the wind to stop blowing or the sun to stop shining - it just wasn't going to happen. She tossed her head, trotting onwards with the track in her sight, almost pulling her small jockey along.

Aztec was also energetic, but he had always been easy to handle. His pace was quick, his stride long, but he walked beside Alexia with his ears perked and his eyes shining. His tassel flicked as he moved onwards, knowing where he was destined for and knowing that he would soon be doing exactly what he loved. He almost seemed to look at the exciteable filly in contempt but of course he understood, the urge to keep moving could be difficult to overcome and it was only through the patience of Alexia that he had learnt to do it.

During mounting the difference between the two was obvious. While Alexia swung with ease into the saddle of her eager companion and pushed him to trot for the gate Jacob was having more trouble as Ellie kept moving, refusing to stand still and allow the jockey to mount which led to him almost falling over several times before he found his place in the saddle and smirked at Alexia, one of his best friends. They both knew what Ellie was like, and they also knew Jacob loved the challenge which she posed.

Gating was the next stage. Aztec gated like a pro, calmly moving into the pen and tossing his head as the doors were closed behind him, knowing he would have to wait for the other tobe put into her box. She wasn't overly difficult to gate either, though she did shy a little it only took a little to push her in - even if she wasn't happy once she was in there. She fidgetted and threw her head and stamped her hooves in protest to the enclosed area and when the gates finally did open her start was a lot slower than that of her training partner.

Of course, that was what was expected for Aztec was a pack horse while Ellie was a closer. She settled a length behind him, matching his average pace down the first straight and starting to speed up just before the corner. She was soon gaining on the chestnut colt and was almost level with him as they came into the straight. Both jockeys cracked their crops, pushing their horses onwards and a great battle ensued as eye contact was made. Experienced Aztareal found himself urged on by this and pushed even harder but Ellie was unable to match his speed and so passed the post in second.