Post by S u N f r O s t ~ on Mar 31, 2012 19:32:19 GMT -5
WILD KISS AND AMBER BLACK
SILLENIA AND KRYSTAL YHATE
KISS'S WORKOUT FOR THE BELMONT TURF CLASSIC
Kiss was a consistent trier. So far in the Turf Triple Crown, they had brought home a fourth place finish in the Kentucky Open and a second place improvement in the Preakness Champion Stakes. Now they were facing the Belmont Turf Classic, and Amber was excited. True, the field had excellent horses, including the Preakness Champion Stakes winner, but Amber could care less. The longer the distance got, the better Kiss ran. She loved endurance routes. The twelve furlong turf trek that was facing her in the final leg would make her thrilled, and it suited her closing style. Kiss was not without talent. Last year, she had capped off her season with a win the Breeders Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. This season, she had managed to win the Unicorn Horn Fillies before beginning a strict Turf Triple Crown campaign. This was the final leg. She had run in all three of them, but she was still strong. Hard racing was built into an SOPS schedule, and conditioning was a huge part of workouts. Thus, Amber knew that Kiss wouldn't be tired on race day. She wanted to fire up the competitive juices of the flirtatious filly, however, and she had found the perfect horse to do so.
Sillenia was built strongly, with a well groomed bay coat that showed off her muscles. She moved with an unmistakably headstrong air down the turf track, rider Krystal Yhate holding her in with the skill of one who has done so many times. They were merely cantering, but with every stride the four year old mare threatened to break out into a gallop. Sillenia was an excellent grade two racehorse. Though she ran on both surfaces with ease, Krystal had the sneaking suspicion that she preferred the turf. Sill had won the Kentucky Open and the Breeders Cup Filly and Mare Turf last year. She would serve as the teacher to Kiss today, guiding her hooves along the right path. Amber had ambitions to send Kiss to the same Breeders Cup race as Sill had won last year, and that would only happen with strict campaigning. And she would work hard with Kiss in order to do so. Even if that meant putting up with Krystal and Sill.
Kiss, who had been cantering a bit farther up the track from Sill, was pulled up slightly to execute a wide circle. As Amber got her going against the rail again, Sill materialized on their outside. Krystal gave a curt nod to Amber and ran her eyes over Kiss's form. The filly was built like a filly; she was petite, but she looked like a stunner. She had a blood bay coat similar to Flash's, and the look in her eyes as she appraised her competition was nothing short of challenging. Sillenia, too, looked at the filly, but she snorted in disdain. Sillenia was the opposite of Kiss. She was built like a colt, and acted like one, too. To prove it, the mare had won the Breeders Cup Juvenile Turf as a two year old, against a solid field of colts, and Krystal hardly ever let the victory live down. Amber had learned to ignore her after hearing of it for a year. She wanted Kiss to accomplish the same things.
The canter of the two horses was lively. The competitive fires were already burning. Krystal waited for Amber's instructions, which she shortly received. We're going to canter until the last quarter, and then gallop it out, slowly. Kiss has a mile and a half to run, and I want her ready. Krystal nodded, holding Sill in as the mare attempted to make another run for it. Thus the canter continued, and the pace gradually increased as both thoroughbreds pushed each other for more. It was a losing battle to keep them at a slower pace, and their riders knew it. They just barely managed to restrain them until the last quarter pole, when they released the reins and dropped into crouches over their horses' withers.
The result was sudden and explosive. Sill reacted the fastest, most experienced with closer acceleration. She was gone in a flash. Kiss, who had been pressuring the reins quite a bit less than Sill in the first place, was quickly off in hot pursuit. For half a furlong Sill was clearly running faster than Kiss, but Amber had her hands going up and down Kiss's neck, and by the end of one furlong and the beginning of the stretch they were matching the pace set by Sillenia. Halfway down the stretch, they were gaining, and Amber was urging Kiss hard. Aboard Sillenia, Krystal thought she had the race in the bag. She let the smirk grow on her face as they approached the wire in front, but the expression soon slid off to be replaced by shock as a petite bay filly raced past on their outside and just barely stole the win.
What was supposed to be a simple gallop had turned into much more than that, but neither rider cared. The look of shock on Krystal's face was poorly masked when Amber turned Kiss back around. Amber's face was split in a wide, gleeful grin. Didn't see us coming, did you? That's how it's going to be in the Belmont Turf Classic! she called to Krystal. Still smirking, she trotted Kiss off of the turf track, leaving Krystal behind. Krystal was still shocked. If Amber and Kiss could pull that thing they had just done off on race day...surely the race would be theirs, or near theirs. Krystal did not doubt it.
