two's company -- CAV

[archibald]

Angie downed the last mouthful of her coffee, throwing the now empty takeaway cup into a nearby bin before starting to make her way back down to the track. She’d had a break between rides and Eli, another one of Close’s jockeys, had come in to work after she had and brought her, and pretty much everyone else there, coffee, which she was rather grateful for, she was used to getting up early every morning but some days it was just that little bit harder to wake up. Luckily she only had one more ride for the day, unless they needed her on someone else, so she’d be possibly able to go home and nap for a few hours afterwards.

She could see Ash and Jason with Xal already waiting for them at the mounting yard, the trainer holding the mare while the groom, who was coincidentally his brother, was adjusting her saddle, worried for a moment that she was running late but a quick glance to her watch just told her that the other pair were early, thankfully. She approached them, her usual cheeky grin spreading across her face, putting her helmet back on and buckling it securely underneath her chin.

“Morning boys,” she greeted them, to which Jason just raised a hand to wave behind himself at her, too busy sorting Xal out to come up with much more, nor did she really expect it either, he wasn’t much of a talker to begin with.

“Hey Ange. Ready to go?” Ash asked, and she just nodded, moving forward when Jason moved away from the mare’s side, letting him give her a leg up into the saddle, sorting out her reins and stirrups, waiting for Ash to give her the day’s instructions.

[Cavallo]

<sub>Nick Landing sat astride a massive black bay stallion. Nick's ten year old stallion was a sight to behold. Like a dancer who knows all the steps, Admiral's Revenge moved on the track with all the wisdom and experience of a master.

Nick clucked to his charge and off they went at a light canter around the track. Even though Nick had an extremely busy schedule he always without fail found time to ride this black legend, and his own personal baby.

The track was clear and empty, the way Nick liked to work the stallion. It made things less stressful. Today though he had run a little bit late and was keeping a wary eye open for other horses and people.

Reve was nothing like his sire, War Admiral...War Admiral would as soon trample a person as he would flick his tail. While Reve wasn't a horse that you just walked up too, he at least didn't lunge out at people and cold race alongside other horses... Nick grimaced as he thought about Bucephalus back at the barn...that stallion was just flat out mean...and un-raceable because of it.

In the middle of their warm-up Nick suddenly heard another horse and trio of people.... Nick saw a bay filly being tacked up and as they drew near Nick couldn't help, but slow Reve down...

This filly looked oddly familiar...Suddenly he realized that he had stopped his 17.3hh stallion in front of this random crew of people.
He must look like an idiot.

Uh...sorry. I didn't mean to be awkward and stare... He chuckled as he continued on, It's just that this filly looks oddly familiar...What's her name?

He didn't mean at all to be pushy, but now his brain was tickled and he hoped they wouldn't mind his asking.

Admiral's Revenge eyed the small filly. He fairly towered over her mere 15.3 hh...</sub>

[archibald]

Buying Xal had definitely paid off for Close... the filly had done remarkably well since they had bought her, despite having a few lapses in performance but they never tried to put too many high expectations on any of the horses, anything could happen in racing really and they couldn’t guarantee they would get fantastic performances every single time. Mitch had bought her because Beth had basically told him to... and the Welsh woman usually got her way, and she was usually right anyway so he didn’t have much reason to complain about it. And she had definitely been right about Xalbadora.

None of them really noticed the other horse and rider approaching just yet... Ash was too busy telling Angie what she needed to do for the day, Jason off to one side looking a little lost in his own thoughts, since he didn’t really have anything else to do until she brought Xal back in after her workout, and Angie was listening to the trainer talk to her, while still adjusting herself a little while she had the chance to, before she had to go out. It wasn’t until Xal herself moved her head to look at the stallion, nickering a little at him, that they really noticed.

“No worries,” Ash answered, of course, answers short and sweet as always, he never really was much of a talker unless he had to. He turned his attention back to Xal, and Angie just rolled her eyes a little at him, turning her head to look over at the other rider from her position perched on the mare’s back.

“Hey,” she responded, tone of her voice friendly, not exactly being one of those jockeys who were so competitive that they wouldn’t associate with others on the track... there was no point really. And he seemed friendly enough so far. “Her name’s Xalbadora,” she answered herself, when he asked what the horse’s name was, Ash probably would have left it up to her to do most of the talking anyway.

[Cavallo]

<sub>Recognition flickered in his eyes instantly as soon as the young lady spoke her name.

Nick's face visibly lit up...he couldn't believe it after all of these years! He knew that he had originally sold this little filly to Riverwood...he was interested to see who these people were and how she ended up here....and even moreso how she was doing on the racetrack.

I can't believe it! Xalbadora?? She's so grown...and looks like a serious racer! He felt like a giddy school boy and then suddenly realized he was looking extremely ridiculous. He had better start explaining himself.

I'm sorry for my over-enthusiasm...It's just that I bred this filly from my own personal stock! Her sire and dam are both still with us too!

He paused and then began to officially introduce himself, The name's Nick Landing! Pleasure to meet... His words trailed off as he looked to each person, hoping to discover who now owned the good lined MHS filly.

Reve flicked an ear at Xal's nicker, but made no sound or other moves...he was like a black granite statue...simply waiting for Nick to finish up what he considered meaningless chatter...

I'm truly curious now to hear how you all came about this filly and also how she's doing on the tracks...</sub>

[archibald]

Angie personally didn’t know much about the filly’s history before she had arrived at Close... that sort of thing she usually left to the trainers, or whoever bought them in the first place, since her job was really to get to know the horse now and ride them, and she generally knew a bit more about the horses bred at Close itself than she knew about the others. But she could tell, by the expression on the man’s face, that he knew Xal, and of course, it made her curious to know a little more about the bay Thoroughbred.

“She certainly is,” she agreed, when he mentioned how well she looked now. She had certainly grown into herself a lot since they had bought her and she had first started riding her, and she had definitely noticed the changes.

She just grinned at him, understanding how he felt... she’d probably be the same way if she had seen one of her dad’s horses that she had known since they were born that they had sold on again. “Angie Eastman... and these two are Ash and Jason Sharpe,” she introduced herself, and indicated at the other two men with her with their respective names, both of them nodding to him, obviously content with letting Angie take the lead on this one. “We’re from Close Racing,” she added, as an afterthought, since the stable name was probably more likely to ring a bell than their personal names were.

“We picked her up near the start of last year, and since then she’s managed to progress to G3 level races,” she replied, reaching down to pat Xal’s neck. She had seemed to have hit a bit of a slow patch after a period of running extremely well, but that didn’t really worry any of them. She’d done them proud anyway, and they certainly weren’t going to let her go because of it.