Post by S u N f r O s t ~ on Aug 12, 2014 19:09:07 GMT -5
FORBIDDEN TO FLY AND HENNA TURATH
ETERNAL PHANTOM AND KRYSTAL YHATE
SWEET INFERNO AND VALENCIA ANDREWS
VENTURA AND AMBER BLACK
There was a staredown going on, and it was completely one sided. On one side, there was Eternal Phantom, Sweet Inferno and Ventura. The three black mares were glaring at each other, and occasionally shot a glare at the fourth member of the party. Forbidden To Fly, on the other hand, was completely immune to this glaring contest. He whinnied happily, stretching out his legs and practically bouncing in place much like a young yearling. Henna Turath felt the affection wash out of her and into her little gray energizer bunny. Fly was perhaps the last Forbidden To Fly foal she would ever ride, but hopefully not the last descendant of the bloodline she clicked so well with. And now the proud gray stallion was an undisputed champion. He was perhaps the only horse still in training who was not only able to stay with the great Mastermind, but beat him too. And beat him he had! Fly was nearly unbeaten at six furlongs, but he was more than proven at longer distances too. After all, he had won the Breeders Cup Juvenile at nine furlongs! And the horse was over halfway through his final season of racing...Henna smiled fondly at the thought of the foals her champion would sire, and gave him a good petting. Fly nickered fondly, happily, attracting once more the glares of the other three.
Perhaps no glare was fiercer than Ventura's. The black mare had become an absolute hellion on and off the track, and with this transformation Amber Black had seen that the mare, as brilliant as she was, was still developing. So a five year old season was awarded to the mare, especially once she revealed her ability to hit six furlongs during a race. Now Ventura was their filly and mare sprinter, and proud of the title. She would graduate to take Fly's place next season. After having a great early season with wins mainly in the undercards, Ventura had graduated to a pure Horse of the Year sprinter campaign. The mare loved racing, but she loved winning even more. Three straight third places behind Mastermind and Forbidden To Fly had upset the mare into pure rage. She was deadly now, vibrating with power and purpose that could not be mistaken. The mare was out to kill.
Eternal Phantom and Sweet Inferno exchanged glares that were scarily similar. Both were related through Night Stalker, who was Phantie's sire and Sweetie's grandsire on her dam side. Phantie snorted, the glare in her eyes not lessening as Sweetie eventually broke the stare to lock in with Ventura. Phantie regarded herself as a queen and perhaps rightly so, at least over the dirt classic distances. The mare was fantastic and perhaps running as well as the season that had won her Horse of the Year. She was every inch a champion, full of class, a racehorse through and through. As for Sweet Inferno...the marathoner mare was lean and mean. Despite her class at the marathon distance, Sweetie had in fact hit her stride more at eleven furlongs. Should she prove incapable of exercising her same marathon class at the end of Year Fourteen, retirement could be imminent for the mare. Valencia was determined to save her from that fate. Sweetie was one of the most surprisingly classy horses out of her age group, second only to Sizzling Dawn. And with the lean musculature and efficient stride, it wasn't hard to see Sweetie as the racehorse she was.
Amber Black finally began the workout. She turned Ventura and in moments they were off and running. Ventura immediately took the lead, exercising the Rising Fury in her as she displayed her dam's front running tendencies. Phantie stretched out alongside her and hunkered down, able to stay with the sprinter mare's high cruising speed with ease. She wasn't a top class mare for nothing, and neither was Ven. The two were joined by Sweetie. The marathon mare was a marathoner, a really rare type among those of her class. And she was not going to be left behind. She had more stamina perhaps than either one of these competitors. And a length behind them, Henna engaged the hard-to-focus Fly. The kicked up dirt flying back in his face focused the stallion, and now he was able to run competitively. Few things changed for the first half mile, clicked off in a blazing forty four and three fifths. Or at least, blazing for the classically inclined Phantie and Sweetie. Those two backed off slightly, letting Ven have the lead. The Impressario daughter flew forward as though she had wings, a freight train down the backstretch.
They clipped off the three quarters in just under one oh nine. Ven was flying like she had during the Breeders Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, ready to roll away to win by the eight she had then. But she would not be alone. The workout was getting into the later stages, and the stamina imbued in each horse was starting to show through. No horse was flagging - in fact, both Phantie and Sweetie were getting faster and narrowing the gap, and Fly was following. They hunted down Ven, prepared to swarm the four year old on the final turn. But as they hit it, it was as though Ven received some sort of signal. The black mare took off as though she was standing still. Her sudden move caught Sweetie off guard. The black mare reeled, taking a few strides to regain her acceleration. But Phantie was not affected. The mare's class showed through as she smoothly rolled to Ven's side and challenged for the lead, then claimed it in one sweeping move at the top of the stretch. Phantie galloped away and Ven was put to a drive. Sweetie regained control and strode forward, the fury of her bloodline in her eyes.
But perhaps it was all for nought, for one horse simply incomparable in speed was Forbidden To Fly. The gray stallion was given the signal and released all of his pent up speed. He flew to the lead. He passed Sweetie as though she was standing still, and passed Phantie and Ven with seemingly only a little bit of effort. He burst forward, but he was to be joined by two mares who had been around the block a couple of times as well and were Breeders Cup winners in their own right. Fly was not alone as he bolted under the wire. He had three black shadows alongside him, for Sweetie had found her speed at last and flung herself forward to finish evenly with her stablemates. Exhilaration pounded through everybody's veins. After a phenomenal workout like this, it was impossible not to imagine that something amazing lay in future starts for each of these horses.
