let it rock

[S u N f r O s t ~]

FLASHY WINGS AND HENNA TURATH
FIRE DANCER AND KRYSTAL YHATE

FLASH'S WORKOUT FOR THE WOOD MEMORIAL STAKES

The time to let it all out was here. The expression Henna Turath wore on her face had been adapted for riding the colt below her. Her eyes did not twinkle; they glared, a beacon of challenge to any before them. What her colt had in quiet pridefulness, Henna had in quiet, intense body language. Her every movement was an invitation to a challenge, to a race, and it also spoke of the confidence that comes from riding a good horse. Flashy Wings indeed was a good horse. Henna's hopes hinged on getting her colt to win the Triple Crown. As a grade two, with ten victories in seventeen races, the colt was rising. He was the top contender, and his record stood out. Henna's quest was to prove that the talent Flash had shown as a juvenile was still present and going strong. She wanted to prove that Flash wasn't one of those fast two year olds that burned out in their three year old season. She wanted to prove the greatness that was blossoming beneath her.

And alongside this great colt strode a filly that looked almost exactly like him. She was striking, with a beautiful blood bay coat that matched his shade of bay to a startling degree. The only difference, though, was in the aura surrounding her. Where Flash was proud and strong, Fire Dancer was arrogant and acted like royalty. Her head was jerked up high like a colt's, and her eyes held an absolute glare of challenge that mimicked Henna's expression to a tee. It was really quite interesting to look at this filly and know that she only carried two victories to her name out of sixteen or so starts. However, Krystal's consistent hard work with the filly was beginning to pay off. She had won two starts ago and had just come third in the Alabama Stakes. She was showing some talent, though Henna knew that she would have to work even harder to earn the filly's spot in the Triple Tiara contender list. But for today, they would be working with Flash, who had the Wood Memorial in two days.

Their workout today would mimic the race strategy to come. Flash was the type of horse that liked to break and secure a position just behind the leaders. To make sure this strategy would be effective for the Wood Memorial, Henna had done her homework and come up with the race strategies and strengths of the horses entered. Dark Charmer, in gate one, was a closer. He would break and settle to the back of the field. His strength would be his camouflaging abilities; the rest of the field would have written him off, and then he would come charging up for the lead and surprise them all. The next horse along, Gold Fox, would break at an average speed and apparently liked to hang around on the outside of the pack until the time came to run. To Henna, this meant that he had the potential to block them off from swinging out and bearing down on the leaders on the outside. They would have to watch out for that.

Quintessential was Gelli Aur's other entry, and she was a closer. Thus, it was safe to conclude that she would hang around with Dark Charmer and then make a break for the lead when he did. They would be working together there, and would form a wall of horse. Henna would have to avoid that wall and make sure she was in front of it - getting around it would cost precious seconds. And then they were on to the Star Thoroughbreds duo. Sunset Crusade had blossomed this year. He had run consistently and was shaping up to be a nice horse. He was the front runner in the field. Henna liked this fact; it meant that she and Flash would get to have the speed required for their stalking race strategy. However, the colt didn't run out of gas after a mile like most front runners, so they would have to make sure he was feeling a bit tired when they finally came up on him. Euphorion was the last entry in the field. He, like Flash, was a preceder, and would be breaking on their outside. Henna would ideally like to make sure Euphorion didn't box them in, with the others on their outside. Thus, she was having Flash be smart about his positions. Though the way she saw it, Sunset Crusade would have an easy lead, with her and Euphorion a length or so back, and the other horses forming a pack in back of them. If they timed their move correctly, they would be golden.

So for this mock workout, they would be doing six furlongs. For the first two, Flash would be leading, with Fire following, both running at their racing style speeds. Then, at the third furlong, Fire would start to drift up, and Flash would increase his speed slightly as a response. In the final third, the two horses would completely let it out and duke it for the lead. This workout would strongly mimic Henna's strategy for the Wood Memorial, and Henna was confident in its success.

Warm up did not take long; after five minutes, the horses were ready to go. The jockeys glanced at each other, and then got their horses going into a gallop. Flash took off, putting two lengths between him and Fire, before settling back and just gliding. Fire was nonplussed about having the colt ahead of her; in fact, she seemed to enjoy being able to see her prey and plan her moves based on this sight. Her eyes glinted with the hunter's promise to his prey; she would catch up and get this race. The pace remained consistent as planned. Flash was having a blast with no horse ahead of them; he was pulling slightly at the reins, desiring to feel some more speed. Henna patiently waited for the first third to pass before letting him have it. She made it seem like a reaction to Fire's sudden encroachment on the three lengths of distance between them; she had floated up until she was only a length off in a matter of seconds. Flash was only too happy to leave her behind again.

Fire continued to put this slight pressure on Flash, and when the time came the two horses uncorked the speed and poured it on. The final third was here; it was finally time to duel. Flash roared into a sudden speed, finding freedom of movement and loving it. Fire found speed too, and quicker than she had a month earlier she was bearing down on Flash with the intent to kill. Henna was surprised by their appearance; it had happened quicker than she had anticipated. This gave Fire a sudden edge, and the filly managed to put a neck in front of them before Flash finally responded. Flash reached with his legs and found a new gear. He quickly made back up the challenge, and surpassed the filly's speed. But Fire was also fighting back; the mighty will of her sire Native Flame was showing through his daughter. In a whirl of speed, she just about managed to make Krystal gasp quietly before they blurred past the wire a length in front of champion Flashy Wings.

Henna's expression was stony as she pulled Flash up. Her pride was hurt; she had underestimated Fire Dancer and paid dearly for it. But Krystal's expression was ecstatic. Fire was improving. They stood a chance of seriously contending in the Triple Tiara if this rate of improvement kept up. Henna, don't be so hard on yourself. You learned something today, yes? This won't happen again she reassured Henna. Henna only looked at Krystal stonily, but eventually she nodded her acceptance. Yes, they had learned something. She and Flash would take this new knowledge and let it rock in the Wood Memorial. They could not afford defeat on this long, arduous road to the Triple Crown.