Post by S u N f r O s t ~ on Jun 26, 2012 22:59:40 GMT -5
WILD KISS AND AMBER BLACK
BREEDERS CUP FILLY AND MARE TURF WORKOUT
The biggest field in the Breeders Cup was the eight horse one in the Filly and Mare Turf. This annoyed Amber Black greatly. She had to get Sillenia to place in the top three, and she wanted Wild Kiss to be up there too. How could they do that in such a large field? What a feat. But she didn't want to pay for a dinner that could prove expensive if Nick decided to take full advantage of this bet of theirs. She had to do well, and so did Krystal. But enough of the bet. She had a horse to ride and a race to win. Grinning, she finished untangling the last knot in Kiss's tail, ran a brush one last time over her already perfectly clean bay coat and then grabbed her tack. She tacked the thoroughbred up quickly, with the experience of one who had done it many times. Kiss snorted excitedly as the saddle was placed on her back and pawed the ground. She had been very eager to run as of late and Amber didn't want to disappoint her.
She led the filly out into the early morning, greeting Krystal who was just coming back in with Fire Dancer. She briefly inquired about how the final prep had been for Fire before continuing on her way. Henna hadn't been sighted at the barn yet, but rumor had it that she had been there very early this morning and planned to work the rest of her mounts tomorrow. Nodding, she led Kiss to the mounting block and vaulted onto the filly's back. She grabbed the reins, checked her seat and the feel of the tack and then walked Kiss onto the dirt track, over it and then finally onto her favorite surface, the turf. As she did so Amber noticed just how busy the track was and wondered how Fire had behaved. No doubt imperiously, as the three year old usually did. Shaking her head, Amber refocused. Kiss was whinnying at almost every horse that went by. The majority ignored her, but a particularly jumpy two year old whinnied back and nearly unseated her rider in a sudden attempt to come over and say hi. Amber quickly guided Kiss away. The filly was a winner in social skills for sure.
The turf track was a lot less crowded. Amber was pleased at this - less distractions for her three year old. They warmed up, trotting and cantering, and Amber thought of the field. Terror Smile the wonder filly was in gate one. Being a front runner was risky over a distance of ten furlongs, but the mare had pulled it off in the past and was going in as the crowd favorite. Alluring Assault - the enemy! - was in gate two. She was a closer, and though she hadn't won a race this year she was talented. Sillenia needed to beat her at all costs. Wild Kiss was also a closer. Sillenia was a closer. Flawed Princess, in gate six, was an interesting entry from Silver Stride Stables who might not be up to this level of competition. She was a preceder. Strike A Pose was also a preceder, and she had had a lot more success than usual this year. Ignacia was yet another closer, and Amber didn't know how the filly would do. And she couldn't forget Destined For Glory, the other closer.
Amber knew Kiss could defeat the majority of this field. Though they had only won one race this year, they had placed second in a lot of races of note, including the Preakness Champion Stakes and the Belmont Turf Classic. They had class and some experience in the big leagues. Yet this race was playing out very interestingly. Terror Smile would take the lead right from the start. Flawed Princess and Strike A Pose would take the spots behind. Everybody else would be behind them, probably really off the leaders and holding a private race of their own. How would this affect the results? Well, the more fiery and competitive horses who were hot headed on the track would probably end up running near the preceders, and the preceders could even opt for a front runner position, trying Terror Smile. Amber knew one thing - it would take a freaking talented monster horse to wire this field, and she had no idea how Terror Smile was going to do it. The closers would come in a final rush of horses and legs. How best to play that? Make a move earlier or later?
Amber got Kiss into a canter and thought about the filly's personality. Kiss put her all into everything she did. Even now she was being attentive, not wanting to disappoint. She was a good predictor of the moves of the horses around her and had never gotten boxed in in a race. So this implied that she would be okay in a closing rush. Her type of closing was gradual. She didn't suddenly turn it on and work to make up all of the ground. She did it in increments. So Amber decided that throughout the race they would just gradually accelerate, hopefully at a higher rate. With three furlongs left to go she wanted to be up near the preceders, where she could gauge their speed and the remaining gas in Terror Smiles's tank.
Time to gallop. She asked and received. Kiss extended and went for it. They veered to the inside and continued to run, gradually gaining speed as time went on. They were to go for no more than a mile maybe. The race itself was ten furlongs, and going for any longer could end up jeopardizing their chances of success. Kiss had the crowd control skills down and she had the talent. She just needed to be in the right condition. So one mile later, when they had accelerated to nearly the peak of the three year old's speed, Amber eased her up and cantered her easily through a cool down. The filly was sweating but seemed loose and ready to go. Amber felt confident in their chances of putting in a good run in the Breeders Cup.
