Post by alicekcrose on Jul 12, 2012 16:40:20 GMT -5
Ivana and Lucy work for the Unicorn Horn Juvenile Sprint
We’d finished in the money in the Windchime Cup. Though the field was a field we weren’t ready to take on, I think we did well for third. Our next race was the Unicorn Horn Juvenile Dirt Sprint, yet another face-off between twins Sanguis and Angelus. Sanguis was in Gate One today. We’d beaten him before, and I was fairly certain we could beat him again. Sanguis is a colt with whom you must walk on egg shells. While he is perfectly capable of being gentle, he is just as capable of being a violent little thing and he is not afraid to get aggressive. His moods are unpredictable and so he should be evaluated before being approached. He is easily read through his body language. This colt is quite dominant to other horses, especially other colts, and can be very show-offish around them. In the parade ring, it is not uncommon for his head to be held high with his ears slicked across his skull. Oddly, however, he will behave very well in hand around them - almost as if he feels that good ground manners make him superior. Very little scares this colt. He could be described as fearless, and is most certainly competitive. However, he dislikes affection and will become very stand-offish if smothered. Being like Lucy, he was dual surfaced, well rested, and ready to take on the challenge, but he wouldn’t go down without a fight. As a closer, Sanguis will gate relatively well, although there are occasionally issues with him fighting entering the contraption, and remains calm once the shutters are closed behind him. Calm, he will wait for the gates to open but can get quite impatient while waiting for this to happen. Once the gates do open, he breaks quite slowly and will settle in at the back of the group. Sometimes on the track, Sanguis can become quite headstrong and will try to move up the field too early, which can be troublesome given the fact that he is not too easy to handle. However, it is possible for an experienced jockey to hold him back until they decide that it is time to make a move. In the stretch, Sanguis is a true power-house. Being quite a large and muscular colt he has a long stride and a great deal of speed at his disposal. He will close heavily, usually going wide of the pack and a good jockey will use the competition he passes to fuel his competitive nature.
In Gate Two, there was Mastermind, a colt with a lot of potential, and the true vibe of a miler. Being Speed Demon x El Sol Del Mar, the potential was high, and he would be the major threat to Angelus. The delicate legged colt 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. On the track, Mastermind is pretty calm and he certainly helps balance out the neurotic nervousness that Indian Darling possesses. He doesn't mind letting her lean on him at all, but once they get running, Ripley has to be careful to keep Mastermind from running to close to his stable friend. The colt had sure taken after his mother at the start, mimicking her attitude and her gestures constantly. They had similar body features except for the star on the colt's head, a mark of his father, Hall of Famer Speed Demon. Being the product of a hall of fame combination, you would expect nothing less of the colt than pure and unconcealed brilliance. This colt is straight out speed. Both his parents were renowned for their unworldly speed. El Sol del Mar ran horses off their feet from sprint distances to classic distances. Speed Demon burned horses into the ground in his sprint races. El Sol del Mar won the Everyday Hero Memorial Stakes, the Breeder's Cup Classic, The Natural Memorial Stakes, the Belmont Stakes, the Red Wine Stakes, the Sunny Days Stakes, the Mermaid Cup, the Girls Festival, the Preakness Stakes and the Autumn Cup. She also placed in the Kentucky Derby the Lil Girlie Stakes, and the Mythical Derby. Mastermind's sire, Speed Demon won the Boys Festival two years in a row, the Star Festival, the Starshine Sprint, two runnings of the Buttercup Sprint, the Unicorn Horn Sprint, the Flying Colours Memorial Stakes and the Breeder's Cup Sprint. As a stalker, he will track the leaders, so Angelus and Mastermind would be linked together throughout most of the race.
In Gate Three, there was Poesian Wings, the Dreamvalley Stables bay colt from unknown lines. Poesian is sweet young colt, despite being a youngster he is well mannered and wouldn’t bite or kick. He can be a little green around large coward of horses and jumpy around noise, but when experience on the track comes, these would vanish. While training Poesian likes to show off a little, allowing a sneaky rear if allowed to come, with firm hold of the reins and he settles down right away and carry on with his business. Poesian loves to run, and shows this ambition when he is out of the paddock, and often encourage the other yearlings to join in his games of tag and other playful games, one thing for sure this young colt never runs out of energy, and would gallop around the pasture until the sun set down across the mountain. Poesian is strange young colt, he have already shown his enjoyment in running from the paddock. He has the tendencies to kick some dirt away while in the gate with his left foreleg, showing he means business and wouldn’t back away. Once the gates open, he breaks fast and keeps himself settled along the middle of the pack, and on the outside to avoid being boxed in, he doesn’t care with the stuff being thrown into his face, showing his bravery and bold heart to continue on. When the final stretch comes, he makes his move along the outside to challenge for the lead, not given up until he pass the finish line. He races in mid pack, which would make Mastermind the key signifier for the lead, despite the fact he’s a stalker. 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. As mentioned in her personality, she doesn't have the dominant vibe of her father to set the pace of the race as she'd move too quickly or too slowly. Lucy is over responsive so uses the leaders to shadow the pace, which is why it would be easier and better for Mastermind to lead. The filly looked around and Ivana kept her at a walk. She snorted, pricking her ears and walking forward energetically. After a few steps of walk, she broke into a trot, and Lucy tossed her mane around. It began to blow energetically in the wind. At the seven furlong pole, she let Lucy break into a canter. She stood in her stirrups, ready for the start of the five furlong workout. They continued to lope along the backside, until the six furlong pole where Ivana crouched down and began to push the filly forward. An extreme burst of speed and the filly began to fly towards a five furlong workout. They flew past the five furlong pole, the dirt beneath them flying behind them with each energetic stride. The filly continued to power over the dirt, flying through the first furlong in just under ten seconds. This filly was a true sprinter. She pricked her ears and ran like the wind. Entering the turn, she energetically changed her lead and sprinted rapidly into the home turn. Picking up speed, Ivana pushed her on even more. Her stride lengthened and she began to run for home. The crop rose and fell onto the filly’s rump, and Ivana stretched her arm out as far as it would go. They sprinted under the wire and all tension turned into relief. She stroked the filly’s neck and brought her back to a walk. Turning, she walked back to Alice. Alice grinned, and stroked the filly’s nose. Fifty one seconds flat. She said. Ivana threw her arms round the filly. So, we’re ready for the Juvenile Sprint then, Lucy! Lucy nickered and Ivana hopped off, feeling in her pocket for the treats she had found earlier. She took the polo out and Lucy chomped away at it. Good girl.