Post by S u N f r O s t ~ on Oct 4, 2013 16:51:19 GMT -5
VENTURA AND AMBER BLACK
AQUATIC ADDICTION AND VALENCIA ANDREWS
IMPRESSIONABLE AND KRYSTAL YHATE
Amber Black was grinning deviously as she left her office and padded down the barn aisle. She had just finished finalizing her Breeders Cup entries for the year and had even begun to work on next year's rendition of entries. And she was too excited to speak, for today she would be working out some of her promising yearlings with her older horses. SOPS had a distinct yearling training style that was honestly a bit of a secret to other barns. One of the most well known things about SOPS horses is that they came into their juvenile seasons as classy youngsters and went throughout the remainder of their careers as classy. Four whole years of classiness, if they ran through everything Amber usually put them through. Rarely flagging, always tough. And how did Amber do it? By training them well in advance of their first starts. They started training earlier but were a lot more progressive. They didn't lump everything on their yearlings in two months. It took about six to eight, depending on the yearling. And now, it was time to ditch galloping yearlings with yearlings and give them a true edge. They would now gallop alongside Amber's older racehorses. A touch of seniority to compound with their inherited class.
Fifteen minutes later Amber had mounted atop Ventura and was setting out for the dirt track of Green Horse Fields. Ventura moved like a coiled predator beneath her. She flaunted power with her every stride and there was nothing less than arrogance in the three year old's gaze. She had been running well lately and her loss to Ashes To Ashes in the Metis hadn't hindered her in the least. Her black coat gleamed with health. Amber felt as though they were on the road to bigger and better things. With a confirmed start in the Breeders Cup Filly and Mare Sprint and her last prep for the Breeders Cup coming up in the Caracortado Stakes, Ven felt sharp and ready to go. And she felt ready to extend that edge to a couple other horses too. Such as Aquatic Addiction. The quiet but confident bay three year old was a bit of an underrated sprinter in his division. Somehow, though, the colt was commanding twelve wins to his name and a start in the Breeders Cup Sprint if everything went his way. His last start before the BC was in the undercard I Know It Derby, but it would be enough to get Theo happy for the final race of his three year old season. Valencia grinned as she guided Thoe down the dirt track. He moved like a dream and had been showing a lot more competitive fire ever since she had become his rider. Some of her snarky attitude had rubbed off on the quiet and well behaved colt and made him a bit more fiery. A job well done was all Valencia had to say.
But now the real star of the show arrived. The horse that Amber had meticulously bred in conjunction with Intrepid Racing and Star Thoroughbreds. The filly she hoped would win the Triple Crown - Impressionable. Empress, as she had been affectionately nicknamed by the staff, was a surefire match for Krystal Yhate. The cold but proud filly had required the senior staff member's touch to be most effective in yearling training. Even now as she stepped hoof for the first time on the Green Horse Fields track, Empress was unflappable. Newly conditioned muscles gleamed beneath the filly's perfect chestnut coat. She looked strong and more than sure of herself. Her arrogance made her gait float over the loamy dirt, almost as though she was flying. Krystal sat on the princess-like filly and felt like she was on a dressage horse. She grinned. Empress wasn't all pretty looks. She could run fast too and now she could prove it.
The pretty chestnut was soon alongside Ventura and Aquatic Addiction. The two three year olds took careful notice of her, for here was a new competitor. Empress barely noticed them. Her attention was solely on herself. This definitely ruffled Ven's feathers. The powerful black filly's eyes flared with fury and Amber quickly jerked the reins to the side, backing the filly off before things got nasty. Ventura snorted, threw a single furious buck and then resettled, her eyes rolling. Theo, on the other hand, merely took note of Empress and didn't react. He was far too calm of a horse for that, and his growing confidence in his own abilities induced a sense of peace and non-worry over him. Valencia smirked. Theo had definitely grown up a lot in the past couple of months. Nobody would have expected this colt to dead-heat with Mastermind as he had in the Speedway Stakes, and Mastermind had won the King's Bishop by a nose next time out. That was impressive.
Ventura took the lead as the threesome made its way down the stretch. Empress strutted at the trot, her strides slow and showy, but at the same time the yearling was very much aware. She did not let Ven get more than a half length in front of her. Krystal could already feel the pressure Empress was applying to Ventura, and no doubt Ven could too, being a stalker herself. She grinned. Already her filly had a tactical mind. Ventura's ears pinned and the filly took off into a canter-gallop. Amber eased the filly down to a controllable canter as Theo and Empress rejoined them. Cold fury vibrated through Ventura, and Amber realized that Empress had the very common ability of pissing Ventura off. She grinned and let Ventura into the gallop. Theo followed without missing a beat, and Empress impressively stretched out in pursuit of them. Her eyes blazed with calculation as she tracked the older horse into the turn, her body curving around gracefully as she did so and changing leads right on cue. That was a skill SOPS horses learned quickly because it was so important.
Two furlongs passed, then another two. With four furlongs down Empress wasn't flagging, showing some of the stamina she had inherited and what had been conditioned into her. She glided like a princess and Krystal liked what she was feeling. The other two horses were similarly good. As six furlongs came to a close, the threesome let their horses out into a sprint. Ventura was the fastest on the uptake, and Theo was right with her. The older horses blazed away right on cue, leaving a furious Empress in their wake. Empress snorted and responded as Krystal shook the reins at her, her inexperience showing through. Now they had to play catch up. Empress stretched out and Krystal smiled as the speed picked up. They weren't going to be left behind. Two lengths off, now a length and the other two horses were working hard as well. Empress had talent. Krystal looked forward to harnessing it.
Theo took the lead with a thundering closing stride in the stretch. The bay had developed a mean kick. Ventura accelerates sharply to catch back up. Nose to nose, the two horses battled it down to the wire, almost not noticing as Empress slipped up on their outside. Empress was merely a half length off of those two, and she was working hard. Krystal grinned as they passed under the wire and slowed the yearling down. Her conditioning was showing through. Empress snorted and breathed mightily, but there was a trace of smugness in her features. She may have lost, but not by much, and Empress had taken the spotlight for a bit in the process. Krystal watched as Valencia and Amber shut down their mounts past the wire. They had both looked great and now it was time to prove that their greatness would carry into the races.
