Ice Cold Challenge

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Italian Ice and Alexia Harshing
Preparation for the Magic Millions Fillies Dirt

Italian Ice had made a good start to her career, there was no denying that. She had raced four times, always placing in the top three, even when she had raced against a large field of older horses in the Spring Cup. All of her races had been major races, and she had handled them without any problems which was more than some horses could say. But she had been bred for major races, her lines were those of numerous competitive horses and her sire had been a triple crown champion. Still, it was the time and training that had been put into her that had brought her potential through and that was all the work of Silver Stride Stables and the team.

There had been many questions as to when Italian Ice would return to the track once more, having claimed The Wire Finish Cup Juvenile Dirt in her last start in March Week Two. Some eyebrows had raised when she had not been at the Stable Face Off, after all she had handled a similar level of competition in the Spring Cup, but they had their eyes on a different prize, a race which took place only one week after the face off, and they wanted her to be well rested for it.

The Magic Millions Fillies Dirt field was looking like a true mine field, but Alexia and Icee would not be backing down from the competition and were in fact looking forwards to it. It was rare that these major, two year old series came along and when they did it was a real chance to prove your horse against their peers. Icee was, in Alexia's opinion, one of the better two year old fillies and definitely stood a chance at taking the victory. Of course, nothing was set in stone but it was always exciting to see how the juveniles compared to others and coming off of a major win, the filly definitely had the confidence to perform at the top of her game.

The field stood at four entrants, all of which were from separate stables and while it was not the largest field it would certainly be an exciting one. Icee had certainly faced larger fields as well as those of a similar size, and seemed to be at ease no matter how many horses were on the field. For Alexia, however, the real thrill was in exactly who they would face come race day. She had been eyeing the field for several days, and felt that the race was going to be one of the most competitive juvenile fields yet this year. Icee was slotted to start in gate one, a draw which certainly suited her and her jockey but unlike her jockey she would not have knowledge of her competition.

In gate two, next to Icee, was one of the main sources of competition in this race. Sizzling Dawn, of Stride Of Perfection Stables, had mainly raced at The Wire but was definitely making a name for herself. She had raced seven times, never placing outside of the top three, and had claimed second in the March Juvenile Face Off in her only start at the Green Horse Fields track in March Week 4 - two weeks before the Magic Millions. Clearly, Stride Of Perfection Stables had wanted to give her some experience on the track before entering her in a major race there. The Magic Millions would be her first major racing series, but she certainly was not to be overlooked. Sizzling Dawn was a front runner, and would be vying for the lead early in the race.

Gate three was set to hold Indian Darling of Witch Creek Stables. The filly had nice breeding, being by Native Flame and out of Strike The Win and had proven herself to be quite a strong racehorse. The filly had ran in six starts, two of which had been at the Green Horse Fields track, and placed outside of the top three twice - one of which had been at the GHF track. Her last race had been in March Week 4, when she had placed fifth over at The Wire. She had not raced in any major races yet, but that did not mean she would not be able to handle it. As a mid pack horse, she would run toward the back of the group, although ahead of any closers.

The final entrant, from Star Thoroughbreds, was Stalker's Glory - a filly who had been performing well on the dirt and had broken her maiden in the Stable Face Off the previous week. She was the most recently raced horse and, as a result, was most likely more tired than the others however all of her six races had been on the Green Horse Fields track, two of them had been major races of which she had won and in the other she had placed fifth in a race that had been claimed by Italian Ice. The filly was a closer, and would bring up the rear of the race.

All in all, the field came together nicely with Sizzling Dawn as a front runner, Italian Ice who would run as a preceder, Indian Darling as a pack horse and Stalker's Glory bringing up the rear. One horse for each position, and a lot of talent to go with it. No one horse would have an outright advantage due to heavy population in one area of the field. On that, at least, every horse was at equal standing and it would make things all the more exciting for both the jockeys and the crowd.

Following almost a month of rest, the black filly was clearly in good form and well rested. She was a picture of health, just what you wanted to see in an up and coming race horse, and her strong purposeful movements seemed to have a slight bounce in them. But she was too arrogant to show much more than that, and she certainly wasn't about to when she already had heads turning to watch her walk through the yard beside her handler.

Of course, the handler meant nothing to her. He was just another worker, and she his queen. Like the grooms, he saw to her needs and things were never the other way around. At least this was what the black filly seemed to believe, given the fact that she threw a strop whenever she was not being treated like something special. It was hard not to show some admiration for her though - she was beautiful, with impressive lines and what was so far a strong record. Of course people stopped to stare, she was getting quite the rep on the track.

It did not take long for Icee to be brought down to the dirt track, and Alexia was already there waiting having just watched Jacob on Blue Me Away. As she saw Lucas arriving with the filly she moved down out of the stands and greeted the filly. She was the one human that the filly had bothered to bond with, and she was quite possessive over her. It was the reason Alexia had not hugged her boyfriend when he returned, and would not be able to until Icee was safely back in her stable.

Having greeted the mare, Alexia mounted. It was all business, no fuss, and the workout planned was short. Three furlongs on the dirt without the gates, to stretch her legs and prepare her to give her all come race day. But Alexia would not be going easy on the filly, because of her long rest her high energy levels had been noted and they did not want to send her into the race hot. It was because of this that she would be driving the filly from start to finish, testing her speed and courage at the same time.

Lucas led them to the three furlong point and brought the filly to a halt. Casually, he lay his hand on Alexia's thigh and smiled at her. "Go get them." he told her and then he walked away, a smile on his face. He knew what Alexia and Icee were like, this field was nothing but a challenge to them and challenge was what they did best. Those two were likely to be highly focussed and determined on race day, and they really were a force to be reckoned with when they joined forces like that.

Alexia pushed the filly forwards and they were off, the black filly breaking quickly into a strong gallop. Her stride was long, her head held high as she moved off from where she had stood and there was a certainty in her movements that few two year olds possessed but which she had known from her very first start. As she moved forwards, Alexia could tell this was going to be good. She could feel every move the filly made beneath her, and the focus was intense. All Alexia could really concentrate on was the track before her, and the filly was part of the reason for that for her own attention was unwavering.

Several strides after they had started, Alexia started to drive the black power-house forwards and the filly reacted eagerly. The fire inside of her, which had been left untended while she rested, was truly burning and she seemed to throw herself forwards as Alexia urged her. Even the jockey was surprised, and could not help but laugh at how eager she was, and knew that if she was this eager come race day the competition had better watch out because Icee was going to be giving 120 percent! It boded well, but Alexia knew not to get too confident. After all, the competition was fierce and nothing was a given on the track.

Alexia continued to drive as they came into the second furlong, biting down on her lip. This was hard work, and even with the filly giving her all she could not stop trying. If she stopped putting the effort in Icee would think the work was over, and there were still two furlongs remaining. Still, they were sure to be making a good time with this workout and she could not wait to see the time, which Matthias was recording from in the stands. The distance was closing quickly, which of course was expected, and very soon they had only one furlong to go.

Alexia cracked the crop against the filly's rump and continued her run with the filly. The pace was incredible, the horse and jockey working together as one as they made their way to the post. Icee's stride lengthened, he head lowering as she really began to push now. Alexia could feel her heart beating in her throat, and all the work was definitely making her warm but she did not falter. They flew past the post, and she brought Icee back down to a walk slowly, warming her down. She then rode the filly to the barrier and slipped from her back, looking to Matthias.

"Perfect." he told her.