dinner

[S u N f r O s t ~]

SILLENIA AND KRYSTAL YHATE
BREEDERS CUP FILLY AND MARE TURF WORKOUT

Krystal was feeling terrified. Amber's wrath had been mighty when she had finally returned to the barn, to find Krystal essentially hiding in Sillenia's stall while the mare contentedly chewed some post workout hay. It had been a lot of "Nick Landing was flirting with you!" and "Asking for help from the enemy!". Krystal had attempted to remain solemn through it all but couldn't help laughing near the end of "I am not buying him a steak dinner!". Then Amber had been mad, and it had not been pretty. Krystal thought she would have the mental scars for the rest of her life. An angry Amber was to be avoided and feared. No wonder Nick and Allure had made a run for it at that hilarious workout. Speaking of which, today was Sillenia's official workout for the Filly and Mare Turf. They were defending their title as well as going for a third Breeders Cup win. This was serious stuff. But most importantly...

Alluring Assault had to place out of the top three, while Sillenia placed in the top three, or else Amber would have to buy Nick dinner and would probably kill Krystal over it.

But as Krystal led her prized mare out onto the turf track, it was with a feeling of seriousness. They had a race to win, a title to defend, a challenging field to defeat. Sillenia was the highest grade in the field, the only grade one. The rest were grade threes. That didn't mean that they didn't have talent, though Sillenia had proven just how far her talent went. They'd won the Little Miss Innocent Memorial Stakes over the best on the turf. They had placed third in the Tropical Rainforest Invitational. None of the other horses entered, aside from Terror Smile, had run that race. And Terror Smile had that reputation. She didn't lose to the same horse twice.

Time to prove what the press touted about that as incorrect. Sillenia would be the first.

The field was full of solid closers. Krystal mounted up and began to warm up. It was empty right now, with only a couple horses working, and breathing misted the air. That was convenient - Krystal would be able to tell where the other horses were as she warmed Sillenia up and became preoccupied with race analysis. So she kept a careful eye out, trailing her fingers down Sillenia's neck every now and then. There were a lot of closers in the race, Sillenia being one of them. The pace would be up to Terror Smile, though two preceders would be harrying her the entire race. If she could wire this field...that would be an impressive feat. But was it likely? Krystal didn't think that it was, but the other mare had only just begun her career and could have some talent she didn't know about or hadn't seen yet. Nodding, she refocused on her own strategy. Sillenia was the type of closer that just...appeared. There was a little bit of gradual acceleration, but not much. They just raced up like crazy in hopes of stealing the win.

So that would be exactly what they would do. The race was ten furlongs long. If the pace was light, they would move with half a mile left to go to a place at the head of the pack and then release with two furlongs left to go. If the pace was fast, then the closer pack was likely to be a lot farther back; thus, she would have Sill making her full on bid with half a mile left. She wanted to make sure Sill had every opportunity to make this work. And if on the way there was an opportunity to box Allure in they would have to use it. To not do that would be to attract the wrath of Amber if she noticed. Krystal just hoped that Nick didn't think too badly of her if that did happen - racing was a business, after all, and she would have to do what was necessary.

The thoughts of curses and other assorted and unpleasant things assailed Krystal as she began to gallop Sillenia. The mare needed little monitoring - it was like she galloped and trained herself. What if Amber bought Nick dinner? She would get over yelling at Krystal eventually, but Krystal was competitive, too. She wanted to beat Nick at this bet. It was a matter of stable pride! And then there was Terror Smile. That reputation of hers! Never losing to the same horse twice! It wasn't as though she had been raced a whole lot, though. Didn't that mean Sillenia could be the first to break this curse, this reputation? Did they have the capacity to do this great feat? The press would be disappointed, but Amber would be over the moon, and Krystal would be, too. Sillenia was the next Turf Queen of the stable. Her time and reign was coming.

Krystal spied Amber timing them at the rail and suppressed a sigh. Amber was taking way too much interest in this whole bet and Sill's personal training. This competition was a bit much for the overly competitive stable owner. But maybe that was what it took to run a stable like SOPS...Krystal finished off Sill's easy gallop and began to canter her. She didn't want anything fast from Sill. The filly was raced a lot and usually spent workouts being a bit lazy. She did her fast work on the track, and she was definitely a fast mare. They had been working hard and had been out and about a lot lately. Krystal just hoped that their efforts were enough against the likes of this eight horse field, the largest in the Breeders Cup right now.

She pulled Sill up completely and evaluated her. She was a bit sweaty, but calm. She was loose and felt great. There was energy stored within her, too. All in all, they were ready to go. Dinner or not, here they came!