three's a crowd (closed)

[archibald]

broadway, chicago blues, destined for glory

The three horses stood impatiently in the starting gate, all of them fidgeting and snorting loudly as they waited for the gates to open, for their jockeys to let them fly. They knew that when the bells rung, it was time to go, and all they wanted was out of the small, cramped stalls that they were in, and to be let out onto the long stretch of turf in front of them, where they were able to run, run like they were born and bred to do. The only thing that was stopping them from fulfilling that need were the padded metal gates in front and behind them, enclosing them in the starting gates.

And finally, that sound came, the loud shrilling sound of the starting bell rang clear across the track, in their ears, filling them with anticipation and excitement. And then the doors flew open, and there was nothing holding them back, the people on their backs urging them to go forward, to start running. And they responded willingly. Broadway broke clean first, the sound of the bell and the gates opening spooking her slightly, and all she wanted to do was get away from the noise that she disliked so much. Destiny and Jack broke cleanly as well, a stride behind the black filly, but nothing that would put them too far behind her.

They stayed in that positioning for most of their run, a sprint of around eight furlongs, at least until their riders urged them all to go faster, right when they hit the backstretch. Broadway had been leading for most of the run, and had started running out of energy reserves a little sooner than the old filly and the colt on the field, dropping back to third near the finish line. Destiny put on a spurt of extra speed at the last second, snatching the lead from Jack just before they had hit the finish line. Then their riders were pulling them up, slowing them down, and the adrenaline from the run flushed through their veins, and they didn’t want to let up for a while. None of them cared who had won, all they wanted to do was run.