Post by S u N f r O s t ~ on Mar 31, 2012 19:29:25 GMT -5
AXIS MUNDAE AND AMBER BLACK
PEGASUS WINGS AND HENNA TURATH
AXIA'S WORKOUT FOR THE STAR FESTIVAL
The winner of over half of his races stood only at fifteen hands. He shifted and moved like a juvenile colt, but the black thoroughbred was actually five years old. He was the most energetic horse in the stable. Voted Best Sprinter last year, he had narrowly missed out on being crowned Racehorse of the Year. His record was exemplary, and the small black stallion was living up to his reputation once again this year. With one win and one second, he was lightly raced, due to the lack of sprints for top class runners like him. There were no grade one sprinters out there, it seemed, aside from Pegasus Wings. Truly, they were the top sprinters at the track right now, waiting for the younger generation of speed to catch up to them. Their workout today would involve prepping one of the younger generation, a black three year old filly, for a potential win in the prestigious Star Festival against the best sprinters that were grade three and lower.
The said filly was Axis Mundae. The burly black had been mistaken for a colt on several occasions to her unusual musculature and her strong personality. She certainly behaved like a colt, challenging ceaselessly and never being afraid to show that she was the boss. She was bold - in fact, bold would be the best way to describe Axia. She never backed from a challenge. Even if that challenge came from the reigning champion sprinter who had been racing for double the amount of time she had. Axia had been working hard this year to prove herself. Despite this, she had just come fourth in the Girls Festival, and this just wouldn't do for the Star Festival. No. They had to win this one. Pegasus Wings had laid claim to the Star Festival during his three year old season. By Festival time next year, he was too high of a grade to be eligible. Axia would be the horse racing for him. She was so similar to him, in color, but in personality, Axia was much more intense. It was like comparing dark chocolate to milk chocolate. Axia was the dark chocolate, and Asus was the innocent milk chocolate.
The Star Festival field was relatively small. There were only four other horses entered. Gate one held Seattle Sun of Silver Stride Stables, and this four year old colt had actually come second to Pegasus Wings in the Breeders Cup Turf Sprint last year. He was having an excellent season thus far, with no placings out of the top three and his last start being a win in the Boys Festival. He would the stalker of the race. Gate two held another Silver Stride horse, Beltane, only this filly was Axia's full blooded sister. When the two clashed, it was always an interesting race, and Henna was curious to see how Axia would fare against her. She had done better in the Girls Festival, placing second, and was a front runner. Gate three held the first Gelli Aur entrant White Chocolate. The four year old mare was a star this year and had just won the Girls Festival. She was a skilled mid packer. Entrant number two of Gelli Aur was in gate four - Rainy Day, the four year old palomino who had placed just behind Axia in the Girls Festival. She would be in the middle of the pack as well. Gate five held Unbridled Mystery, the last entrant from Gelli Aur. She would be the speed of the race, being the lone front runner in the field.
Axia was the only closer. Well, the only wanna-be closer. Axia ran a variable running style. She was usually a closer, but she could run any position with ease. It depended on the situation as Amber read it. And in the Star Festival case, Henna was pretty sure Amber would be going with Axia as a closer. And speaking of Amber, she was here at last. Henna looked up from where she was sitting in the saddle of her hyper black thoroughbred, nodding a greeting. Amber nodded back, and Henna took this time to observe her boss's face. It was sharp and calculating, the jockey look Amber got at the beginning of a race. And even though Henna knew she was aboard the better horse right now, she still felt slightly nervous about actually facing Amber and her colt-like filly.
Amber got straight down to business. With a glance at Asus to check and see if he was in top condition - which he appeared to be, judging by the restless shifting of his head - Amber turned Axia and got going straight into a trot. Henna followed, barely managing to keep Asus with the larger black filly who was two years younger than him and utterly ignoring the hyperactive stallion at her side. Warm up quickly; in no time, the pair were cantering, and then they were ready to go. With a glance at each other, Henna and Amber let out the reins, and the two thoroughbreds were off and racing. Asus instantly assumed the lead, gleefully stretching out his legs and eating up the turf. He opened up a lot of lengths on Axia, who had assumed her preferred closing position.
Their race was set to be six furlongs, the exact distance of the Star Festival. Amber carefully held Axia in as they coasted along. With ten lengths separating them from the speedy Asus, Amber only hoped that she was rating Axia correctly and that her filly had the speed to make up the ground. When a furlong had passed by, and the gap continued to widen, Amber got Axia going a bit faster, not liking the absolutely huge gap between them and victory. Henna perched on Asus, unconcerned, as the stallion burned some truly amazing fractions. She knew that Asus had the talent and stamina to hold this speed up and definitely wasn't going to stop him from doing what he wanted to.
When half the race had passed, Amber was content to realize that the gap had stopped widening. Asus seemed to be living up his current speed and had gotten complete domination out of his mind. Right now, he was realizing that he was setting some suicidal fractions, so instead decided to maintain the pace until he could experience the burn later on. Amber smirked aboard her filly. They were still fresh and had a lot to burn. She kneaded her hands once along the filly's black neck, and then they were off to narrow the distance between them. Axia moved quickly, sensing the race was coming to a close. One knead from Amber was her reminded to think about sprinting, and it was all she needed. Off she went, and her eyes were trained on the tail of her single competitor.
Quickly, the final turn was among them, and Amber had Axia going right at the rail. They were sprinting now, trying to beat the drive of Asus that they knew would come in the stretch. If they could just be remotely close before that happened, they wouldn't be left in the dust. The race had turned into a game of pursuit, and Amber and Axia were working on the win. The distance was rapidly disappearing between the two horses, yet Henna still sat, unconcerned, aboard her stallion. This basically happened every race; Asus seemed to be running away with it, they would wait for every horse in the field to catch up to them in the stretch, and then put them away with one final spurt of speed that just kept on giving. Henna wondered if Axia would be put away like the rest, or if she would actually pose a surprising challenge to Asus. She couldn't wait to find out.
She did not have to wait long. They entered the stretch, and Henna became aware that Axia and Amber were just behind them. Grinning, Henna released her horse, and Asus absolutely ate up the turf as he flew forward from underneath her hands. Henna caught a mere glimpse of Axia on the right corner of her vision before they had left the three year old filly in the dust. Aboard Axia, Amber had given free reign and was kneading the filly's neck urgently. Axia was digging in and giving it all she had. She was sick of staring at the tail of her new rival. Slowly, they began to make progress, but at the point where they might have actually begun to pose a challenge the race was over, and the wire behind them.
Slightly frustrated with their loss, Amber pulled Axia up. At least they were ready for the Star Festival. Losing to Asus was expected, anyway. Yet Amber couldn't help the vow of vengeance she made to herself. Sometime, at the end of the year perhaps, they would face Asus and win.
