Post by creativecause on May 4, 2014 11:57:39 GMT -5
On the Map
Honorary and Lime Light
Alex and Jessie trotted their horses toward the starting gate on Green Horse fields dirt track in the hazy morning fog. The two may not have been well known, but both jockey’s were determined to change that, they wanted to put their horses on the map of Green Horse Fields greatest. Honor chomped anxiously on the bit, lifting her legs superfluously with every step. The filly hadn't ran since the last week of March and it seemed like that was far too long, she was about ready to leap out of her skin with excitement. Her dappled tall, leggy dappled gray form pranced in place, just as they were about to load into the gate to start their work.
Lime and Jessie were a different story, the pair trotted almost lazily to the gate. Each stride Lime dragged his hooves. He happily snorted; pleasantly excited to finally be back.
Honorary loaded into the gate without issues, and Alex grabbed a lock of her mane and let out a sigh. It was common knowledge that Lime refused to get into the gate. Steve had worked with him a little since his last start, but he still had his moments. Today, was one of them.
He turned sideways, and stopped several feet from the gate. Although he was very lazy, he did offer a small buck.
“Come on boy!” Jessie urged the colt, stopping him right in front of the gate. The two sat there for a few seconds, Jessie whispering calming words to the little Chestnut colt. The colt then moved into the gate, with little issues. “There you go Lima Bean.. Not so bad is it?” Jessie had given the colt the nickname Lima Bean.
Silence fell over the gate, as the two horses tensed for the gates to burst open. They didn't have to wait long, the gates flew open and the horses lunged forward.
Honor rushed out of the gate like a bursting dam, and was easily ahead of Lime in the first few strides. She pushed and fought against the bit with every stride, the filly was just so happy to get back to work.
“Easy, easy,” Alex cooed to the grey filly, her ears flicked back in response.
Soon enough Lime had caught up to Honor and the two fell into perfectly synchronized strides. They barreled around the tack like a train.
Jessie let Lime have his head, and the horse ran along easily. Jessie was a young apprentice jockey, at age 17 he had a lot going for him. Steve gave him the mount on Lime after his 6th place finish in his last race with hopes that Lime would bond with a rider and perhaps perform better than he had been. The two had spent a lot of time around each other in the past month and Lime really had taken a liking to Jessie. He was determined to give Lime the best career possible.
Alex was a ripe 20 years old, although he had a bit more experience with horse racing when he came to Green Horse Fields. Steve had put him on My Kingdom Come, and liked the fit, so he also put him on the promising 3 year old filly named Daddy’s Overdraft. Her first start after a three month layoff was a little rocky, but he rode her to victory in the G4 Florist the following week. He was now one of Grayson Meadows regular jockey’s. Steve figured Honorary would take a liking to Alex; he was experienced enough to handle her out of control, over energetic attitude. The two made a great fit, and Alex was hoping to get Honor some wins.
As they approached the final turn, Lime started to extend his stride, and soon had a nose on Honor. However, that lead didn't last for long. Alex clicked to Honor and shaked the reins, giving her hand ride down the stretch. The fillies response was instant, she exploded from the top of the lane. She flew right past Lime, who had about a length lead on Honor. Alex let out a whoop as the filly continued to accelerate. She was one fast mare, and had what it took to be great. She could do nothing but improve from here, the more experience the better.
Jessie tapped Lime on the shoulder and the chestnut chased after the dappled gray filly, he was no more than a half a length behind her when the two flew past the wire. He snorted in disappointment, the filly had gotten the better of him yet again. Come race day he wanted nothing more than to even the score though.
It didn't matter who won today though, they were both more than ready to come back and run their race.