Post by Cruisey on Mar 2, 2014 18:14:38 GMT -5
RED HERRING & JOHNNY GARNER
INDIAN DARLING & SAMMIE PICKETT
Another big race was coming up, and Firestone Racing wanted all of their horses to do well. All the points mattered in these races, and Carter had no doubt Firestone could make their way to the top of the standings, despite being fairly new. Today’s workout had Carter watching the newcomers, Red Herring and Indian Darling. Darla hadn't raced since February, and Carter was hoping she still had the fire in her belly from before when she was with Intrepid Racing. They were hoping for a top 3 placing with both Red Herring and Indian Darling, and Carter certainly didn't want them to be near the bottom. They were up against similar but tough competition, Hokum and Silver Secret.
Sammie stroked the bay's neck carefully, she gently whispered to the mare in order to try and calm her down. Every time before a race or even training, Carter noticed that the mare seemed rather tensed. Indian Darling sure had some leftover fire in her belly, and the fight that Red Herring was putting up didn't help her case either. Both horses were being on guard, ears flicking back and forth. Red lashed out with Johnny on top of him, kicking out to the side where Darla was walking. Both horses squealed with rage. This was going to be an interesting workout, Carter thought to himself, and an even more interesting race. With both going head to head with each other, there was no way to predict the outcome.
Looking over to Carter, Sammie nodded and he released his hold on the mare and with that, she lead the horse out onto the track so they could do a good work out, just half a mile today. They agreed on using the gate today and time both horses for the official race seeing that they hadn't been timed for a good while. Walking her onto the track, Sammie guided the filly over to the rail and started trotting beside Red in order to warm up the mare so she would be ready.
While they were peacefully trotting down the rail, Darla’s' ears laid flat against her head before stopping and backing up a little, shaking her head at the blazing red stallion. Sammie pressed her weight down in the saddle as an attempt to get the bay mare to just stop and ignore the stallion, which failed. Having both angry horses on the track was a challenge.
Moving the horses into a canter, both jockeys decided it was best to just head down to the gates so they could time and workout properly. Cantering for a few minutes, Sammie slowed down the mare so they could get her into the gate. Darla slowly walked towards the big gates before stopping a meter or so away from it, flicking her ears back and forth as she just stared at it. Clicking her tongue, Sammie tried to get her moving again and gently pressing her heels into the bay, she started to move into the gate, Johnny and Red following suit.
The gate closed behind her and both thoroughbreds just stood still, staying calm as the jockeys got into position. A minute or two passed before suddenly the gate opened and both horses leaped out, with only one thing on their mind. Darla moved out of the gate slower than Sammie would have liked, Red galloping away in front. But she knew that the bay mare would move quicker after this upcoming bound. All she could hope for was when it was race day, that they would be able to do at least some good.
