Post by S u N f r O s t ~ on Apr 21, 2014 10:07:47 GMT -5
ROYAL CADENZA AND VALENCIA ANDREWS
CALL OF THE WILD AND KRYSTAL YHATE
ATHENA'S DESIRES AND HENNA TURATH
CALL'S WORKOUT FOR THE KENTUCKY OPEN
ATHENA'S WORKOUT FOR THE FOLLOW THE HOOFPRINTS TURF SPRINT
Amber Black leaned against the white railing of the track that she knew so well and pondered her options for the future. Her green eyes were sharp as she swept her gaze over the turf, admiring the sleek forms of the thoroughbreds galloping by. She was feeling somewhat restless herself. An overdose of work had left her somewhat off her game, but now she was back in action. She had worked hard to get to where she was now and she wasn't going to lose just because of a lot more work than she had anticipated. Triple season was here, and first up was the Turf Triple Crown. Her favorite. The series she had never managed to capture. Her throat closed at the memory of how Bella Luna had taken it last year. This year Witch Creek were sending another strong filly representative in The Devil's Hourglass. It had been a predictable entry. Not so predictable was the other filly entry, Dare To Impress. The daughter of Impressario had proven her capabilities lay over the turf and was on a two-race win streak going into this, having won the Derby Stakes and Oaks Stakes from seemingly out of nowhere.
Amber smirked. Her boy had turned into quite the stud. And this race would prove to be very exciting. On the outside, Dare To Impress would likely pull the surprise favorite in this race. She had the current season record and was truly on a streak. Amber knew very well just how talented Impressario fillies were. She could easily see this filly stealing the show - if they let her. The Devil's Hourglass was a different story. She had been seemingly off her game for the entirety of the season minus the American Derby. Her performances had been good, but she hadn't won. Most recently, she had lost to Imp in the Oaks Stakes. However, Call had beaten Imp in the Prince Cup a little over a month ago. The toss up between these horses was truly strong and interesting. It would come down to tactics. Imp was a mid-packer who picked others off. Hourglass was a variable runner. Call was a closer. The race could easily be determined by how Hourglass played the game.
Her gaze alighted now on the bay son of Foolish Lad and Wild Flower now making his way towards her. Call had inherited the good nature of his sire and the cunning talent of his dam. His bloodlines were phenomenal. Amber had known how to work with Wild Flower foals, having ridden all of them to grade one, but something within Call had required Krystal's hand - perhaps his docile nature. Amber's green eyes snapped up to meet Krystal Yhate's. Her right-hand looked calm as she walked their Turf Triple Crown candidate over. Call looked pristine and his jockey looked cool as a cucumber - not overly confident, but not despairing either. Their chances in the Open were good. Not good enough to go off as anything else but third choice in the field, but good enough to surprise. Call had developed beautifully into a winner in the Prince Cup a month and a half ago before placing second in the Derby Stakes. Now he was coming into the Kentucky Open off of a one month break filled with solid workouts. He was better rested than both of his competitors, and his rest showed in his gleaming coat and muscle tone.
Call attracted admiring eyes as he tracked his way to Amber. Any SOPS horse in the Turf Triple Crown attracted attention due to their record in the series - they had just never won it. Call was a solidly campaigned colt and the Open could be his time to shine. Amber greeted Krystal with a smile. Now just to wait for our workout partners! Krystal nodded, a light smile touching her face as she veered away and settled over Call's withers, warming the three year old up. Call was responsive as ever - he loved his workouts and never disobeyed his rider. He was so sweet-natured that people wondered how he was even a racehorse. Call harbored a racehorse's spirit - he just wasn't nasty about it. Amber jerked out of her contemplations when a whinny announced the arrival of another horse. She smiled warmly as Valencia Andrews appeared, hair tied back and eyes burning as she trotted Royal Cadenza right into Amber's personal space.
Royal Cadenza was in his last season of racing and was one win from grade one. He had developed into a stakes quality animal over the course of the past eight months with SOPS - he had even won the King Cup! Most recently he had placed third in the Little Miss Innocent Memorial Stakes, but his performances this year had been rock solid. His racing schedule consisted of a steady build up with a planned appearance in the Breeders Cup Mile at the end of the season. By the arrogant tilt of Valencia's head, it was clear the competition might never see them coming. Caden was a gorgeous animal who reflected the arrogance of his rider. Impatience lighted Valencia's face as Amber batted Caden's nose out of her own face and smiled up at her, nodding towards Krystal and Call. Valencia left without a word to warm up - she was intently focused on Caden now, treasuring every ride right to the end.
Henna Turath was the last to show up. As the almost self-assigned sprinting jockey of SOPS, today she rode the almost most sprinter-like horse of the stock - Athena's Desires, daughter of her beloved Pegasus Wings and of Amber's deadly miler/sprinter mare Deadly Desires. Athena's bloodlines were beyond good, and her innate talent showed on the track. She had won numerous huge turf sprints at both tracks and only looked to get better. Henna was one with this filly for sure - all she needed was speed in order to get along with such a horse. Athena was all hellfire speed - and that was exactly what Call might need more of in his race. Amber gestured towards her other two riders and Henna smiled cheerily before sending out the dark and dangerous Athena for her warm up. The three riders knew what to do; now they joined each other, linking up and sending their horses out to the rail after five minutes of trotting and cantering. They were ready to go.
The three horses snapped to attention even more so as they were guided along the rail. Now the real workout was going to begin. Their riders cued the gallop and instantly Athena's Desires swept straight to the lead, short legs motoring her forward effortlessly. The black filly was sleek and speedy indeed. Caden moved to take up a stalking position one length off, but found himself slightly discomfited by the speed and moved off an extra length. Valencia sat chilly on his back, counting the furlongs and charging up the machine that was her stallion in full flight. They could win this if they bided their time. Meanwhile, Call backed right off of both horses and attempted to drop four lengths between himself and Call. Krystal shook her head and asked for more, lightly guiding Call up to be one length off of Caden. He would sit closer to the pace today because with a small field in the Open he could not afford to be far off.
Call snorted but settled, his legs moving quicker at an earlier stage in the game. Caden was comfortable with the horse just off his outside, drifting out slightly to force Call farther out to make up run more. Valencia snorted at the trick and patted her stallion's neck was pride. Meanwhile, Athena had taken the sheer inside and was just blazing away as was her custom, eyes glaring and daring the others to challenge her. They didn't, not until furlong six when suddenly Caden went and Krystal was pleased to find Call automatically responsive. The bay colt was aggressive now as he went after Caden and Athena, hunting back from the outside. He swept off the final turn and unfurled his turn of foot that left Caden slightly staggered. He came up on Athena's outside and swarmed the juvenile filly, charging away. Caden also came up now, and Athena latched onto his slipstream as they headed for the stretch, now battling to catch up to Call.
The rest paid off - Call won by a length at the wire, with Caden a head in front of the determined and now deadly enraged Athena. Krystal was smiling as she stopped the workout, Call breathing evenly beneath her. The racing world might not know what was coming on race day with this one! She exchanged smiles with her fellow jockeys as they rode out two furlongs at the gallop. Call felt limber and ready, Caden was speedy and determined and Athena was deadly with this loss. They were all ready to answer the call to the winners' circle.
