She's An Angel

[alicekcrose]

Tears Of An Angel Works For The Windchime Cup
^{To whoever reads: She was initially entered in the Goodwill Sprint - please don't penalize due to the detail about contenders.}

Lucy aced her first race with agility, and style, beating her twin brother Sanguis by a nose in a thrilling photo finish. This time, she would be facing an older horse, as well as a colt her own age – by the name of Mastermind. Mastermind was a colt out of El Sol Del Mar and by Speed Demon, he’s a half-brother to third place runner in the Golden Start Stakes, Speed Rush. Though there were so many relations, with a good workout, we could beat these two. The older horse she would be facing was Gamble On Peace, a three year old chestnut sprinter. Gambler is high strung, moody and cranky, but once on the track he is a breeze. Gambler is spunky too, often acting up in the paddock and saddling area before a race. Once his feet hit the dirt he is calm and cool as a cucumber. Most the time he is everyone’s favorite horse because he can act like a giant teddy bear but most the time no one likes to get near him for the simple fact that he likes to bite, whereas Mastermind takes after his sire in that he strongly dislikes treats of any kind. Pats and strokes are more to his taste than a tasty apple treat. He is a stalker at heart because he finds it more fun toying with the competition rather than leading from start to finish. However, if the field is small he wouldn't mind the lead either, whereas Lucy is a very willing individual. She has a heart of solid gold and wouldn't harm a fly, unlike her aggressive mother. She is a blunt but very straight forward risk-taker, who will plunge into any task her jockey asks her. Lucy is the kind of horse that will try anything new, she will respond to everything and anything with quick, effective decisions. Her intelligence gets her quite far on the track. She is very responsive and quick-witted - in most cases she can't take no for an answer.

On the track, Lucy is focused, stern, and stays that all the way through the race. She likes to break fast and relax behind the leaders. She doesn't have the dominant vibe of a traditional front runner, so if she does end up going for the lead, she would either go too fast, or go too slow, which is why she likes to relax behind the front runners. She isn't the traditional mare, she won't launch for you, or get all 'overprotective' like her mother was, she will relax, and go with the flow. Lucy is a stalker. She likes to stalk the leader, stay at her pace and leapt at the home stretch. She likes to build momentum, and tends to gain a lot of potential from staying at her pace and letting the front runners run on. Today, I would be taking her six furlongs over the dirt. Alice would be watching with a careful eye on how the filly performed – if she kept her perfect record against the three year old, or if she would be beaten. Lucy looked around the stable block, pricking her ears. She let out a loud whinny as I came to lead her out the stall. Alice had already tacked her up for me, and I was very excited to be working with such a good sprinter. Today, we were focusing on speed, pace, and agility – we were going to get some speed out of her, and kick some butt. Gambler had yet to be seen on the track… he hadn’t been since the start of November, in his workout for the Gallop to the Gallows Stakes.

Alice offered me a leg up and I walked her on to the track after taking her out of her stall. She walked with her energetic bounce in her step, tossing her head and snorting with energy. Stopping to look around, she flared her nostrils up, and I walked her forward again. After she warmed up in a walk, I pushed her into a trot, the spring air brushing past me. She tossed her mane and nickered lightly to me as I continued to keep her at a lively trot. She lifted her knees high and flicked her toes, before breaking into a steady lope along the back stretch near the mile pole. Standing in my stirrups, I began to crouch down. She felt me do this and began to pick up her speed. She broke into a gallop, and began to run along the dirt. Pricking her ears, I pushed her. We flew past the six furlong pole and the workout begun. I urged her on effortlessly. She sprinted with a great deal of power round the bend, past the four furlong post and changed her lead. I showed her the crop and she picked up the speed even more. Flying out of the bend, my crop rose and fell onto the filly’s rump. She powered along the surface, excelling rapidly along the dirt. She continued to gallop with power and she came to the line… flying under the line, there was a burst of relief. The filly didn’t want to pull up, but she did, pricking her ears and coming back to a trot, then a walk. I patted the small filly’s neck. Good girl, Lucy, I said to her, walking back over to Alice, who’s eagle eye was set firmly on us. Well, well, well, another smashing workout from the twin. She said, smiling and walking on to the track. She handed me the timer. Wow… 1:05:02… I said out loud. She nodded. Suddenly, Jacey walked out of the barn, in tears and clutching her bump in pain. Alice…. I’m bleeding… She said. We both instantly panicked. Ivana, stay here, I’m going to get Jacey to the hospital… you make sure everything is okay here. Ring Matthias for me. I nodded, panicking slightly, my chest rising and falling. I dismounted and watched as Alice and Jacey got into the car. The salty tears began to stream rapidly down my face. I wiped them away with my wool glove, and sighed. Please be okay Jacey and Amira. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialled Matt’s number. It went to voice mail. Matt, it’s Ivana. Jacey’s gone to the hospital… she’s bleeding. Get there now. I hung up, and I sighed, stroking Lucy’s neck. She knew something was wrong and she nuzzled me gently. I began to well up again but I bit my lip, holding the tears in.

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