Post by Dante on Aug 29, 2012 12:49:08 GMT -5
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GOLDEN GHOST
workout with
TOBIAS LANCASTER
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"Mr. Fancypants". That was what the grooms had been dubbing him since day one. He was colorful and showoffish, and he loved the limelight. Mr. Fancypants, as Golden Ghost was sometimes nicknamed, not only liked the limelight, but this far had been proving himself a competent racehorse. He was going to have two races in the coming two weeks. The first one was the Wannabefamous Dirt Stakes, and the second was the stable face off grade five dirt. This was going to help prepare for them both.
Tobias hopped up on the just-over-15 hand colt, and noted Skylar had already gone to the bench. The trainer had recently been to the doctor about his legs, so Tobias couldn't blame him if he wanted a sit down. They knew the drill, anyways. They would do the full run, to get the best grip on what was going on.
In either race they were prepping for, Ghost was going to go by the same tactics. Close hard, and close last. They'd move up after all the closers, after trailing well behind, and take what they could get - hopefully a win. Ghost had acceleration like few horses Tobas rode, but what made him special was that he was thoroughly average outside of the gate. However, he could pick it up and run like he just broke out of the gate, which allowed him to close strong.
Getting into that infamous, aforementioned gate was a bit of a challenge, but nothing downright impossible. The colt was small as far as thoroughbreds went, so there was ample room work with. Not so much laterally as in front of them - Ghost was nothing if not a bit square in build - and behind, however.
The palomino sabino colt seemed to lurch back, and then the gates opened, and Tobias zoomed in. Everything happened in the blink of an eye, but the strategist supreme saw it as though it were in slow motion. It had been years of training himself to notice everything at once, and while he was by no means perfect, he liked to think he could get a grasp of things.
Golden Ghost broke well enough, and they were off. Compared to a frontrunner, Ghost moved at a crawl. Tobias knew that they would, somewhat literally, eat everyone else's dirt in the first three furlongs or so, when everyone was bunched up in a knot. Thankfully, neither horse nor jockey seemed to mind the in-race spray. They'd move right in, next to the rail, which didn't help initial visibility. But Ghost trusted Tobias, and Ghost was a stayer. As positions settled, so would the dirt. In a sprint, it would have been terrible!
Tobias let Ghost hang back, keeping him in hand and in complete control. There was no room for fancypants antics at the back early on in the race. They couldn't far too far behind, even by their standards, or they'd lose, and it was up to Tobias to gauge that. He didn't need Ghost making his life difficult, and so he gave no option for that. The colt needed to learn, and Tobias was by no means going to hold back on that. He'd won his first ever start, meaning he could run; but it wasn't all just in the running and the competing. It was also a large part schooling and strategy.
The curve came in at six furlongs, three furlongs from the end of this mock race. Three furlongs would be when preceders started to move, and a fair amount of the midrunners. Some of the closers, too. Everything started to happen around the last three furlongs, give or take a bit. But not Ghost. Golden Ghost would move last of all for the lead. What Tobias did do, however, was bring him off the rail, aiming him for a clear and easy shot when they did move. It wasn't so much inside or outside at this point with things, it was having a clear shot. Closing this late only gave them one chance. A grand, unexpected chance, but one was still just one. He could feel Ghost's hooves hitting the ground soundly and springing back up with enthusiasm, eager. Just a little further....just a bit...
Tobias hated closing last sometimes. The suspense was absolutely killer on his nerves.
Now! There was just one furlong left. When things were wearing out for everyone else, Ghost motored. He could move like a sprinter in short bursts, and Tobias wildly applied the stick. Faster, faster, faster....it was an adrenaline rush, to be sure, as Ghost pinned his ears in concentration and seemed to fly forwards, like a fresh, just-out-of-the-gate horse. One furlong meant every stride counted, so Tobias kept him on a straight, and hopefully horse free line to the finish.
They crossed the wire at the breakneck pace, but slowed down quickly as Ghost decided he now wanted to prance and dance, and where was the press, he wanted his photo taken! Tobias had to laugh at the antics, even if they were terrible ground manners in action. After all, ground manners could be taught. Personality couldn't be.-----------------------
WORKOUT STATS
words| 860
workout surface| Dirt
distance| 9 furlongs
horse| Golden Ghost
jockey| Tobias Lancaster
type| closed workout (do not reply)
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