Crossing Sanity; We Can Do Better

[Brave]

Criss Cross’s workout for Wannabeastar Turf Stakes
Saving Sanity’s workout for Wannabeastar Dirt Stakes

It was early evening by the time a familiar blue and white truck made it’s way to the track, pulling a trailer contented to follow behind it obediently for once. A busy day for most of Blue Cross Estates was finally coming to a close, but for Alexander Descartes, Stanley Newton and Jaimie Sandler, it was far from over. The trio sat dispersed throughout the spacious truck, with Descartes driving with Stanley in the passenger seat, and Jaimie stuffed into the back with all of the workout equipment. At first the young girl had protested profusely, but the two older men had laughed it off. “Well, I would sit in the back with all the stuff, J, but I’m afraid I just wouldn’t fit,” Stanley had explained to her, amused but not at all unkind as Jaimie groaned under the use of her new nickname. Eventually the young girl had scrabbled into the backseat, but still complained every once in a while that something was sticking her in the side, much to the mirth of the two men riding upfront.

Eventually they came to the track, and the young nineteen year old girl wasted no time in springing herself from the claustrophobic backseat, ready to dish out just how uncomfortable the ride had been to Stanley and Descartes when the black Volvo belonging to the Myers pulled up beside them, and she immediately feel silent. Stanley noticed nearly right away, much to her irritation, and only helped in aiding to his snickering as he shoved her with his shoulder, bumping her as he moved by her to grab his helmet from the backseat, “Oh boy. Better watch yourself J, here come the bosses to watch you ride their darling girl. Best not to mess it up,” The head jockey had teased, and she had merely shoved him out of the way with a huff and reached for her own helmet, “ Shut up Stanley. The Myers don’t put me off,” She had said immediately. Stanley had simply rolled his eyes, because they both knew they intimidated her and nothing was going to change the fact. Almost immediately, she cast her eyes downward, “I just want to prove myself to them,” She had said, and Stanley had simply pressed his lips together and appraised her with a different light in his eyes. “You will. I mean, you were taught by the best, after all,” He stated boldly, smirking a bit as she simply rolled her eyes, “If you want something badly enough, you’ll do it,” He had eventually stated, and that was simply the end of that.

For a moment the two jockeys watched simplistically as two grooms unloaded their filly pair, the palomino coat of Sanity escaping the trailer first before she was quickly followed by the white coat of Cross, and they probably would have continued on watching had Descartes not called out to them and called them over to where he stood, speaking comfortably with both of the Myers. Stanley left for Descartes side immediately, pausing only for a short moment to nod his head to Jaimie before he set off to join the distanced trio. Jaimie managed to linger a moment more, fighting the lump that grew in her throat, before she eventually nodded to herself and set off after Stanley, eventually coming to join the assembly. She stood quietly for as long as she could, pretending to listen as Descartes rapidly fired off racing statistics and odds and consistencies of the listed horses that would compete against Sanity and Cross. She still watched the horses as Descartes went on, noting with affection how calm the two fillies were together. There was a much gentler air about them when Agorion was removed from the equation, the aggressive colt brought a dominance that the fillies did not like to match. Apart from the high strung colt, they simply stood amiably as the grooms fixed them with their saddles and bridles, and then relaxed, allowing their grooms to stroke them as they waited to be led out onto the track. Jaimie was so enraptured in the two fillies that she failed to noticed speech had even been made in her direction until Stanley nudged her and she snapped to attention, her eyes focusing in front of her to see that Roasline Myers had spoken and now expected an answer. Internally, Jaimie cringed, “Uh, what?” She spoke almost stupidly, staring at them in confusion, and she wanted to kick herself for how incapable she came off as. To her relief, the Myers girl simply smiled, “I asked if you thought you were ready to handle Criss Cross?” Rosaline responded, and this time the young girl allowed them a simple smile and the incline of her head, “Why don’t I show you instead?” She had questioned, and just as easily the Myers had nodded and Descartes was firing off more instructions on how he wanted the pair to run against each other, and then Jaimie was being hoisted on top of Criss Cross and being led out onto the track.

What she loved about Criss Cross was how she could feel the filly waking up under her. As the track came closer and closer, and white thoroughbred seemingly came to life, her muscles twitching awake as her gait became lighter and her strides longer, and as Jaimie observed the filly, she noted that she held her head a bit higher and her ears a little straighter as the prospect of running neared. By the time they actually neared the starting line, she was practically dancing on her feet. To her side, Jaimie noted a calmer awakening in Sanity, one built on a firmer foundation than that of Cross’s. The white filly’s enthusiasm was one built of fire and hard to keep fueled, but the palomino’s was consistent and long lived, once she was in the zone you simply couldn’t tear her out of it.

As they finally approached the starting line, Jaimie reined Cross back in, the young filly a bit to eager to go and pulling experimentally, wanting to move on instead of come to a halt. Jaimie only struggled for a moment, her hand reaching out to sooth across white mane, before Cross eventually settled into place beside Sanity, who stood eerily still, as if made from stone. As both jockeys came to the line they turned to look at each other, and from there immediately assumed position and glanced to Descartes, who stood fixated with stopwatch in hand. After about a moment of silence Descartes raised his hand and let it fall, and just like that all though of the Myers and racing and proving herself left Jaimie’s mind as the speed took over all prominent thought.

She did as Descartes had asked, pushing Cross hard and ahead of Sanity, allowing the palomino to settle in behind where she felt most comfortable. From there, she simply pushed the snow colored filly into gear and enjoyed the ride as Criss Cross collected herself and shot forward, coming undone like the coils of a spring. The idea had been to push Sanity harder so she would want to do better, because while placing low had been expected when it came to their maiden races, placing sixth was just unacceptable. Stanley had said it best himself, she had gotten lazy coming around the far turn and just gave him nothing to work with as the other horses had surged onwards. She hadn’t been challenged, and that was one of the main reasons Cross and Sanity were working together alone. The palomino responded well to the white filly, and Cross didn’t seem to mind being used as a juicer for Sanity because she was so comfortable pushing the pace all the time. It was a combination that worked in their favor.

They rounded the first turn and she switched the filly’s lead as Sanity attempted to close the gap between them, causing Cross to surge forwards in a burst of speed as she widened her stride, reaching a bit farther and pushing Sanity harder if she wanted to keep up. The palomino filly rose to the challenge and flew forwards to match her original position as they came upon the second turn. Suddenly, Jaimie felt brave. She could feel the filly’s breath pulsing beneath her in a timed rhythm and it was more collected than Jaimie had ever deserved. In that moment, she felt like she understood the filly. Criss Cross was designed to run- she was an organism built on the fundamentals of speed- and more than ever she was ready to run right now. Without a second thought, Jaimie opened her up.

The filly took off like a rocket at the release, her entire body unraveling as she threw her body out in giant, galloping strides, tearing up the track as they made their way down the straightaway. Behind them, caught off guard, Sanity feel behind slowly- at first, only a length, but then faster to three and then four lengths- and Jaimie spared them no passing glance. For all intents and purposes, this was a race, and she was on the fastest front runner there was. Beneath her, as if agreeing with the thought, Cross’s ears tipped ever so slightly forwards.

For a moment Jaimie was content not to push the filly any harder, as her only competition had faded out, but then just as suddenly as they had disappeared Sanity was pushing forward into her peripheral vision, and as they rounded the far turn into the final stretch, Jaimie knew that it would be time for Cross’s final reserves of speed. Sanity was a strong middle field horse that relied on others to push the race along for her. In the absence of other horses challenging the lead, she had had to make due by herself, and Jaimie would have thought her to be exhausted as a result. Instead, the palomino was rapidly gaining on them with all intents of passing them by. Jaimie wasn’t about to let that happen, her future as an actual jockey or not depended on this moment here and whether or not the Myers liked the way she handled their white princess. Yet she knew that pushing Cross at the far turn would be too soon, she had been pulling a fast pace the entire lap around, and her final burst would only carry them the final 300 meters if that. No, pushing her to open up now would mean her falling short during the most influential leg of the race, they would just have to hold their position and hope that Sanity was too tired to overtake them until they were ready to meet the challenge.

Wait. The word bounced around Jaimie’s head as Sanity neared them, coming up to run just a half length behind. As a result, Cross grew nervous at the gain, and tried to pull away prematurely. Jaimie worked to hold her back and keep her pace, refusing to let the filly change her lead and accelerate.

Wait. Her mind spoke again as they rounded the far turn and Sanity gained yet another inch, her body thrusting forward to the point where she was running by Cross’s flank, and the white filly was just about wild in her determination to escape the path of the palomino that her motives changed, and she went from wanting to run to wanting to fight the hold Jaimie had on her. Suddenly, they were starting to slow down and Sanity was up beside them, challenging her for the lead as they raced down the final stretch neck and neck.

Now. Her entire body screamed as she let Cross loose and opened her up, preparing herself for the jolt that was sure to follow as the white filly gathered herself together and took off, as if she had suddenly been gifted wings to aid in her flight. Together they left behind Sanity and Stanley and raced their way down the stretch, finally soaring their way to victory as the crossed the start line first. As they gradually slowed down and Cross relaxed from the taxing run, Jaimie chanced a glance over at the Myers. They were smiling, and as Jaimie turned her head to glance at Descartes and saw his thumbs up, something within her heart grew. Everything was going to be okay. She had done it. She was here to stay.