Post by Brave on Jun 24, 2014 20:27:52 GMT -5
Flashpoint’s workout for BOY’S PARTY*
Agorion’s workout for Debutant Maiden
Madeline Walker was higher than the stars at the moment. Only weeks ago had she raced Apollo Bear to his win in the Summer Turf Cup, securing Blue Cross Estate with their first Horse Of The Year race win. As a result, she had been a regarded hero, and in as selfless a way as she could admit, she had absolutely loved it. Now, as Flashpoint geared up towards the sprinter triple crown, she was hoping that her luck would rub off. She hadn’t had the chance to get to know the colt as well as she did Apollo Bear, and the Flash Limit’s colt had only been under BCE management for a few weeks. He was the result of one of the many horses to come from the sudden Valkyrie Stables retirement, and as such the possibly biggest campaign of his career had been unstably thrust into Madeline’s hands. More than anything she wanted to help him to the championship level, but she had only been in the racing game for little less than a year, and had never dealt in as big races as the ones she was being asked to tackle. Simply, she was scared.
As a result, she had jumped at the chance to work Flashpoint with Agorion, as it meant riding with Stanley Newton, her withstanding mentor and friend who hadn’t let her down yet, and she didn’t expect him to start anytime soon. Ever since starting at the estate, she had gone to him with her problems and he had solved them every time. She trusted his judgment completely, and held nothing within her but gratitude towards him. Now, within a week from Flashpoint’s BOY’S PARTY race at Green Horse Fields, she would be more grateful than ever.
She arrived at the track earlier than needed or intended, and spent a good fifteen minutes walking about uncertainly until finally the familiar black sedan belonging to Stanley rolled up beside her own. She felt lighter immediately as she sprung over to the car, smiling warmly in greeting as Stanley stepped from the car, helmet in hand and cell phone in the other, and extended a similar acknowledgement. He spoke another few words to his phone before flipped it shut and shrugging his shoulders, “They’re going to be a little late. Agorion gave them trouble loading onto the trailer, they should be here soon though,” He stated, and she simply nodded before they found themselves sitting on the parking posts, awkwardly waiting for the arrival of their mounts.
Stanley broke the silence first, congratulating her once again on her success with Apollo Bear, and she had simply smiled and shrugged, returning the praise onto him and his showing of National Treasure. “Ah, she should have been worked a bit closer to race day. Would have had the energy to hand it to her competition. I guess there’s always next time, though,” He had said, and she had nodded rather thoughtfully, holding her tongue before thinking better of it. “Why is it, if you don’t mind me asking, that all those horses you ride… they’re not exactly the stables top stock, you know? And you’re the head jockey. It doesn’t make sense to me,” She had stated, hesitantly at first but then with more confidence as Stanley simply smiled at her. “Feeling bold, Walker?” He had joked, laughing when she blushed, “ You want the reason I don’t ride Paradise Island and Apollo Bear and Predator and Barely Legal and Prideful Limits? They’re not the ones that need the extra help. It’s really as simple as that,” He had said and she had nodded, leaving the topic alone.
They sat quietly some more before he finally asked her about how she planned to prepare for the Boy’s Party race, and she had visibly exhaled her relief at his question. “Honestly? I don’t know what I’m going to do. I’m terrified of losing,” She had stated immediately, and had then turned confused as Stanley had shaken his head. “Nope, that’s not going to do, Walker. You’re going to need to find a new one to ride on,” He had claimed, and she had blinked at him curiously for a moment. “A new what?” She had questioned, and just barely caught his response when he sprung to his feet as the familiar blue trailer of Blue Cross Estates pulled into the dirt parking lot, “A new emotion,” He had told her.
They were out on the track warming up before Madeline understood what he meant, and even once she did she didn’t know how to just reach inside of herself and find something else to go off of. Throughout her entire life, fear had always been a rather powerful motivator. In it’s absence she didn’t really know what to fall back upon. From the trackside Descartes called them back, and she obediently turned Flashpoint and jogged him beside Agorion as they returned up the stretch to start their workout. Chancing being told off, she glanced over at Stanley. “How?” She asked simply, and her words startled him a bit as he jolted and glanced over before offering her a slight shrug. “Feel it, want it and do it,” He had stated, and then they had been off.
She hadn’t know what to do with herself the first three furloughs, nor the next two, nor the next two, but as they finally approached their last couple, she suddenly understood. She could feel it, feel it in the power of Flashpoint’s strides, in the fierce aggression of Agorion’s pace, and she understood. She understood the sheen of sweat on the dark bay’s neck, the rapid dilation of his nostrils and the rhythms of his expanding sides. It was a high that only speed could bring, one that only a king would know, and she let it spill into her through the pounding of hooves and the tangles of mane, and before she truly knew what was happening they were over the finish line and they were over it first. From behind her, as they slowed, she heard Stanley call out to her with a smile “I think you found it, Walker.” Madeline had smiled back. She thought so too.