Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2012 5:33:43 GMT -5
There were certain horses which went down in history and were never forgotten. The legends of the track who lived on forever. These were the horses that thousands tuned in just to watch race, the ones whos stories became an inspiration. These horses were not forgotten when they left the track but remained in the hearts and minds of people for years afterwards. They were the horses that people told their children and their grandchildren stories about. You know the ones, When I was young I went to see this horse at this track... Sometimes, just sometimes, films were made about them many years later to tell the story in a new way - through pictures. Horses like Seabiscuit and Secretariat. Green Horse Fields had their own legends, and one of those was Bank On Silver.
Bank On Silver had been an incredibly powerful mare on the dirt, and no one was really sure exactly where she had come from. She had been sourced by Star Thoroughbreds, back then known as Green Horse Stables, as a two year old and proved herself to be a true powerhouse, winning her first three starts. Over the years, Bank On Silver won a great number of prestigious races including the Filly Cup and Zodiac Stakes as well as placing in many more - including the Breeder's Cup Classic. At four years old Bank On Silver received the Best Older Mare and Racehorse Of The Year awards before being retired.
Bank On Silver was the first horse inducted into the Green Horse Fields Hall Of Fame, but her legacy did not end their as Bank On Silver went on to become a successful broodmare. All of Bank On Silver's foals made it to Grade One with successful careers and two of them - Euphoria and Impressario - went on to be inducted into the Hall Of Fame themselves. Bank On Silver's final foal, Silverianna, is still racing today. Like many horses inducted into the Hall Of Fame, Bank On Silver was remembered every year with a race named in her honour. The race ran over twelve furlongs on the dirt.
This year, Silver Stride Stables had decided to send their up and coming three year old, Instant Success, to the race. He, like Bank On Silver, had been sourced from unknown lines and had already rose to the heights of grade two. As a two year old the colt had only ran on the dirt but had now shown himself to be quite adept on the turf as well. Still, his background had been as a predominantly dirt racer and it seemed like the right thing to do, sending him to honour the great Bank On Silver.
The chestnut colt was ready to go, but he would not have an easy time in this race. The other three entrants in the race were powerful, talented, and ready to give their best in the race. Jacob, Isa's jockey, had glanced over the entrants earlier that day and knew that they would need to be well prepared to face that competition. As he walked down to the track he went over everything he knew about each of the entrants in his head once more.
Gate One was set to hold Fire Dancer, a four year old mare from Stride Of Perfection Stables. She had a strong record with thirty-six starts, twenty-eight of which had been in the top three. On the track, Fire Dancer preferred to run with the pack. She had made a good start to her season with two wins, two places and two races where she had been outside of the top three. By all accounts, she appeared to be in good form and so would be quite the threat come race day.
Gate Two would hold Lady Ophelia of Prison Hill Stables, a four year old mare who had recently broken into Grade Four. Her last three races, all of which had been in February, had resulted in wins so she was on a roll and would have the confidence because of it. She rode under the female jockey, Erin Trubell, who was known for both her aggressive mannerisms and for being incredibly tall for a jockey. The mare was the least experienced on the field, but was not to be underestimated. Lady Ophelia was a front runner, so would be the pace setter come race day.
Gate Three would hold Euphoria's Warrior - a grandson of Bank On Silver. He was a powerful three year old, and him and Isa had a history. They had raced many times, and the outcome changed from race to race, but it had been a while since they had faced one another. Warrior was the clear favourite going into the race, but him and Isa had not faced each other since the Breeder's Cup Juvenile Dirt when Isa outed Warrior, placing second while the other placed fourth. Still, by all accounts Warrior had definitely improved since then. Warrior would, like Isa, run as a closer.
The trick to this race was going to be saving enough stamina for the stretch while not falling too far behind Lady Ophelia. In fact, Jacob had already decided to just treat this as he would any other race and not stress over the face-off that was sure to occur between Isa and Warrior. If he started stressing over that then he would not be as focussed on the things that he needed to focus on. All in all, though, he felt Isa had a fair chance of performing well.
Two furlongs on the dirt, that was what him and Matthias had decided the workout for the race would be. Two furlong of hard pushing, but still two furlongs. On Jacob's request, Matthias had agreed to let the work be done without gates which would cause the colt less stress an which all in all would be better for everyone.
The highly strung chestnut colt was stubborn, and it showed today. He had been causing problems all morning by refusing to do what was asked of him by the various staff but it was only on the walk down the the track that he had really started to play up. He had seen Paradise Island, a filly who was often his workout partner, on her way back up to the yard following her own workout and had started to throw his weight around. Of course, this was not uncommon with Isa who seemed to become all the more competitive around certain horses - Sonja was one of those horses.
Due to the colt's behaviour, it had taken Mia and Jack ten minutes longer to get him to the track than it should have and even then the colt was still being somewhat stubborn. Jacob sighed, walking over to the colt and placing a hand on his velveteen nose. "Now, now. No need for that." he told the colt. Audits swivelled to listen to the jockey's words and Isa seemed to calm down. Matthias, in the stands, chuckled to himself. Jacob had always had a touch with troublesome horses, but no one was really sure what it was he did with them. He had even been considering asking Jacob to drop the jockey game and join him as a trainer because of it.
Once the colt seemed fully settled, Jacob pulled himself into the saddle and patted the colt's muscular neck. "There we go, Isa. Ready for a run?" If there was one thing this colt loved it was racing and as Mia led the horse onto the track she grinned up at the jockey. "Do us proud, Jake." He nodded, kept his eyes on the dirt ahead of him, and when they reached the two furlong point the jockey stood in his stirrups. "Lets get him ready to try and claim win five for this year." he sounded confident, but he knew this would be a monster of a race.
Mia let go of the colt's rein and Isa moved forwards. His pace was not instantly quick, it took him a few moments to find his stride, but once he did they were away. Jacob started to drive the closer, much as he would in the final few furlongs of a race and the colt, who was now sure of his stride, responded well as he picked up the speed. The acceleration was incredible, but of course that was expected in a closer and as they moved across the dirt the jockey couldn't help but grin a little - the colt was really on fire this year, and it was showing in this workout. Having placed second to Infinite Warcry twice Jacob had been a little worried, but Isa had pushed all of that behind them with their win over at The Wire in week four. A win that they were coming into this race off of.
The first furlong closed just as the colt's speed was starting to level off at an incredible pace. But Jacob was still driving the colt who was giving his all as they moved onwards. The noise was incredible - the wind in Jacob's ears was howling and, under that, the constant beat of hooves against the dirt. Half a furlong remaining and they were still fighting, the colt showing no signs of slowing. It was only a few strides now, and they would be past the post. As they did, Jacob felt good. This race was on.
Bank On Silver had been an incredibly powerful mare on the dirt, and no one was really sure exactly where she had come from. She had been sourced by Star Thoroughbreds, back then known as Green Horse Stables, as a two year old and proved herself to be a true powerhouse, winning her first three starts. Over the years, Bank On Silver won a great number of prestigious races including the Filly Cup and Zodiac Stakes as well as placing in many more - including the Breeder's Cup Classic. At four years old Bank On Silver received the Best Older Mare and Racehorse Of The Year awards before being retired.
Bank On Silver was the first horse inducted into the Green Horse Fields Hall Of Fame, but her legacy did not end their as Bank On Silver went on to become a successful broodmare. All of Bank On Silver's foals made it to Grade One with successful careers and two of them - Euphoria and Impressario - went on to be inducted into the Hall Of Fame themselves. Bank On Silver's final foal, Silverianna, is still racing today. Like many horses inducted into the Hall Of Fame, Bank On Silver was remembered every year with a race named in her honour. The race ran over twelve furlongs on the dirt.
This year, Silver Stride Stables had decided to send their up and coming three year old, Instant Success, to the race. He, like Bank On Silver, had been sourced from unknown lines and had already rose to the heights of grade two. As a two year old the colt had only ran on the dirt but had now shown himself to be quite adept on the turf as well. Still, his background had been as a predominantly dirt racer and it seemed like the right thing to do, sending him to honour the great Bank On Silver.
The chestnut colt was ready to go, but he would not have an easy time in this race. The other three entrants in the race were powerful, talented, and ready to give their best in the race. Jacob, Isa's jockey, had glanced over the entrants earlier that day and knew that they would need to be well prepared to face that competition. As he walked down to the track he went over everything he knew about each of the entrants in his head once more.
Gate One was set to hold Fire Dancer, a four year old mare from Stride Of Perfection Stables. She had a strong record with thirty-six starts, twenty-eight of which had been in the top three. On the track, Fire Dancer preferred to run with the pack. She had made a good start to her season with two wins, two places and two races where she had been outside of the top three. By all accounts, she appeared to be in good form and so would be quite the threat come race day.
Gate Two would hold Lady Ophelia of Prison Hill Stables, a four year old mare who had recently broken into Grade Four. Her last three races, all of which had been in February, had resulted in wins so she was on a roll and would have the confidence because of it. She rode under the female jockey, Erin Trubell, who was known for both her aggressive mannerisms and for being incredibly tall for a jockey. The mare was the least experienced on the field, but was not to be underestimated. Lady Ophelia was a front runner, so would be the pace setter come race day.
Gate Three would hold Euphoria's Warrior - a grandson of Bank On Silver. He was a powerful three year old, and him and Isa had a history. They had raced many times, and the outcome changed from race to race, but it had been a while since they had faced one another. Warrior was the clear favourite going into the race, but him and Isa had not faced each other since the Breeder's Cup Juvenile Dirt when Isa outed Warrior, placing second while the other placed fourth. Still, by all accounts Warrior had definitely improved since then. Warrior would, like Isa, run as a closer.
The trick to this race was going to be saving enough stamina for the stretch while not falling too far behind Lady Ophelia. In fact, Jacob had already decided to just treat this as he would any other race and not stress over the face-off that was sure to occur between Isa and Warrior. If he started stressing over that then he would not be as focussed on the things that he needed to focus on. All in all, though, he felt Isa had a fair chance of performing well.
Two furlongs on the dirt, that was what him and Matthias had decided the workout for the race would be. Two furlong of hard pushing, but still two furlongs. On Jacob's request, Matthias had agreed to let the work be done without gates which would cause the colt less stress an which all in all would be better for everyone.
The highly strung chestnut colt was stubborn, and it showed today. He had been causing problems all morning by refusing to do what was asked of him by the various staff but it was only on the walk down the the track that he had really started to play up. He had seen Paradise Island, a filly who was often his workout partner, on her way back up to the yard following her own workout and had started to throw his weight around. Of course, this was not uncommon with Isa who seemed to become all the more competitive around certain horses - Sonja was one of those horses.
Due to the colt's behaviour, it had taken Mia and Jack ten minutes longer to get him to the track than it should have and even then the colt was still being somewhat stubborn. Jacob sighed, walking over to the colt and placing a hand on his velveteen nose. "Now, now. No need for that." he told the colt. Audits swivelled to listen to the jockey's words and Isa seemed to calm down. Matthias, in the stands, chuckled to himself. Jacob had always had a touch with troublesome horses, but no one was really sure what it was he did with them. He had even been considering asking Jacob to drop the jockey game and join him as a trainer because of it.
Once the colt seemed fully settled, Jacob pulled himself into the saddle and patted the colt's muscular neck. "There we go, Isa. Ready for a run?" If there was one thing this colt loved it was racing and as Mia led the horse onto the track she grinned up at the jockey. "Do us proud, Jake." He nodded, kept his eyes on the dirt ahead of him, and when they reached the two furlong point the jockey stood in his stirrups. "Lets get him ready to try and claim win five for this year." he sounded confident, but he knew this would be a monster of a race.
Mia let go of the colt's rein and Isa moved forwards. His pace was not instantly quick, it took him a few moments to find his stride, but once he did they were away. Jacob started to drive the closer, much as he would in the final few furlongs of a race and the colt, who was now sure of his stride, responded well as he picked up the speed. The acceleration was incredible, but of course that was expected in a closer and as they moved across the dirt the jockey couldn't help but grin a little - the colt was really on fire this year, and it was showing in this workout. Having placed second to Infinite Warcry twice Jacob had been a little worried, but Isa had pushed all of that behind them with their win over at The Wire in week four. A win that they were coming into this race off of.
The first furlong closed just as the colt's speed was starting to level off at an incredible pace. But Jacob was still driving the colt who was giving his all as they moved onwards. The noise was incredible - the wind in Jacob's ears was howling and, under that, the constant beat of hooves against the dirt. Half a furlong remaining and they were still fighting, the colt showing no signs of slowing. It was only a few strides now, and they would be past the post. As they did, Jacob felt good. This race was on.