Post by Snowflake on May 10, 2012 1:59:13 GMT -5
EUPHORIA'S WARRIOR WORKS FOR TURN UP THE HEAT STAKES WITH LUSITANIA'S SOLDIER
Warrior was severely pissed off after losing so badly in the Lucky Day Futurity. He'd been aggressive, both in workouts and when being handled, which wasn't like him. His half brother Lusitania's Soldier hadn't run in the race because it was a little short for him, but the colt was picking up on Warrior's mood and was acting up too. He hadn't raced since May, because there were limited races he was eligible for and suited to.
The colts warmed up at a trot, separately. Sarah turned Warrior through some figure eights and circles, while further up the track, Marissa did the same with Soldier. After ten minutes, they rejoined and moved on into canter. So, the field is pretty small so far. Your chances of winning are pretty good. Marissa said, firmly preventing her colt from nipping his brother. Sarah didn't respond for a minute. Well, it might be a small field but the competition's fierce. Instant Success has been working hard, and Forbidden To Fly is awesome, of course. It was bittersweet, going up against a colt sired by one of her stallions. She wanted to beat him, and yet she wanted to see him win.
They continued to canter on in silence for a bit. Their colts started a few times, when other horses raced past just metres from them, but were generally well behaved. Sarah worried about what races to enter their nine G3+ horses in. It was difficult when there were so many - no other stable had this problem. Marissa obsessed over planning for Sunset Crusade reaching G1. He had eleven wins at this point, and needed two more to reach the top. She also fantasised about winning the Breeder's Cup Classic with him.
After a lap of cantering, the colts simultaneous burst forward into gallop. They were doing a four furlong breeze in preparation for the Turn Up The Heat Stakes, which was still five days away. They'd gallop again before now, a final time two days before the big race. Euphoria's Warrior once again exhibited aggression that he didn't normally have, and pinned back his ears, baring his teeth at his brother. Soldier backed off slightly, and widened the horizontal distance between himself and the other thoroughbred.
Sarah shot Marissa a look of surprise. If the look on Warrior's face could scare even his closest friend, then maybe he'd scare the other colts in the race. Warrior began to pull away, but as the turn ended and the home stretch straightened out before them, Soldier began to move up on the outside. Warrior began to turn on some ferocious speed, and held off his brother until the end. Sarah was ecstatic. If he ran like that in the Turn Up The Heat Stakes, how could he lose? He was ready for this.
