Post by Kenren on Mar 17, 2015 21:14:44 GMT -5
Van Guard & Halexia Suhail
Shenanigans & Tigris Greenfire
Shenanigans & Tigris Greenfire
It wasn't often that the stars aligned and Cole scheduled siblings to work together. They didn't have many siblings pairs to begin with, and often the timing just wasn't right - but today they were all in for a bit of a treat, and the Thanks For The Memories foals Van Guard and Shenanigans were taking to the track together.
Oddly enough, the stallion was the more level-headed of the two. Grade one as of the beginning of the year and slowly working his way to HOTY level, Van was definitely a success story for the farm. Native Flame was a very successful sire, as well as being the son of Valkyrie's newer acquisition and up-and-coming foundation mare Native Harlot. It wasn't common to purchase a horse and then later acquire the ancestor, but it all seemed fairly fitting. The colt had been very good throughout his career, but never 'great' - something his jockey, Halexia, was striving to fix. It would likely be a long, tough road, but she was going to take him to the top.
His half-sister, Shenanigans, had taken quite a different road thus far over her career. She was eccentric, unpredictable - taken from her sire, who was too volatile to run more than a handful of times in his career. Though less consistent than her older sibling, she'd been doggedly campaigned throughout her juvenile season and it had paid off. She'd had a three-win streak at the end of the year, culminating in a resounding victory in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. Having proven herself against the girls, taking a turf triple tiara prep race, Shanna was then turned to competition against the boys - she'd taken a second in the Southwest Stakes, not too shabby at all. One thing was making itself very clear with each race she ran - it wasn't the Triple Crown or Turf Triple Crown in this filly's future. She was excellent over both surfaces, so it would be negligence not to send her after the Canadian Triple Crown later in the year. For certain, she was a little more successful than her grade one sibling at the same point in his career - only time would tell who would end up on top.
Not that it mattered, in the end. Both horses were favorites of the staff, in terms of pure talent. Tigris was up on Shanna and Hal on Van as they warmed up together in a follow-the-leader fashion, with Tigris keeping the generally eager filly to the back. It wouldn't last forever, but it seemed to be keeping her interested for the moment. She was a hard horse to work at the track, given that she wouldn't handle the restraint of a pony and yet was easily excited by horses running past her - and if she really decided to give chase, there wouldn't be much Tigris could do except hold on and plead with her better nature. They warmed up quickly, given that, going the opposite direction of the working horses on the outside of the track. Minske watched at the rail, more more critically interested than he normally was. He and Tigris had trained the black filly together, and he was always calculating new ways to get the best performance from her. She was so complicated, so enigmatic... but they almost had the filly down to a science, mixed with a bit of art on Tigris' part. She could be cataclysmicly good if given a proper chance.
The horses finished warming up, circled around to face the proper direction, and the two of them practically leaped into action. After some surging strides to get up to speed, Van eased about two lengths behind Shanna on the rail, letting the filly have plenty of room up front. They were going four lengths, and for the first two the filly was completely on her own, though Tigris could tell she sensed Van's competitive aura behind her. He knew he could feel Hal's. He knew the moment Hal shook Van up, and all it took was a nudge to Shanna for her to react to her own instincts. With her impressive stamina, the distance was nothing - it was holding off the tidal wave that was Van Guard that was the challenge. Van creeped up on Shanna slowly but surely with every stride, and with about a half furlong to go the two horses were neck and neck. Minske found himself leaning forward - he knew it was different from a real race, but it was still exciting. They passed their endpoint on the backstretch, so it was nearly impossible to tell who was actually in front from his position, but he thought it was Van - the mature stallion had pushed his way in front, though Shanna had held her ground for a long time. For a three-year-old filly to put up that much fight, under only light urging, against a distinguished stallion like Van Guard... well, the future was bright. He had no doubt she'd romp against the boys sooner than later.
Oddly enough, the stallion was the more level-headed of the two. Grade one as of the beginning of the year and slowly working his way to HOTY level, Van was definitely a success story for the farm. Native Flame was a very successful sire, as well as being the son of Valkyrie's newer acquisition and up-and-coming foundation mare Native Harlot. It wasn't common to purchase a horse and then later acquire the ancestor, but it all seemed fairly fitting. The colt had been very good throughout his career, but never 'great' - something his jockey, Halexia, was striving to fix. It would likely be a long, tough road, but she was going to take him to the top.
His half-sister, Shenanigans, had taken quite a different road thus far over her career. She was eccentric, unpredictable - taken from her sire, who was too volatile to run more than a handful of times in his career. Though less consistent than her older sibling, she'd been doggedly campaigned throughout her juvenile season and it had paid off. She'd had a three-win streak at the end of the year, culminating in a resounding victory in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. Having proven herself against the girls, taking a turf triple tiara prep race, Shanna was then turned to competition against the boys - she'd taken a second in the Southwest Stakes, not too shabby at all. One thing was making itself very clear with each race she ran - it wasn't the Triple Crown or Turf Triple Crown in this filly's future. She was excellent over both surfaces, so it would be negligence not to send her after the Canadian Triple Crown later in the year. For certain, she was a little more successful than her grade one sibling at the same point in his career - only time would tell who would end up on top.
Not that it mattered, in the end. Both horses were favorites of the staff, in terms of pure talent. Tigris was up on Shanna and Hal on Van as they warmed up together in a follow-the-leader fashion, with Tigris keeping the generally eager filly to the back. It wouldn't last forever, but it seemed to be keeping her interested for the moment. She was a hard horse to work at the track, given that she wouldn't handle the restraint of a pony and yet was easily excited by horses running past her - and if she really decided to give chase, there wouldn't be much Tigris could do except hold on and plead with her better nature. They warmed up quickly, given that, going the opposite direction of the working horses on the outside of the track. Minske watched at the rail, more more critically interested than he normally was. He and Tigris had trained the black filly together, and he was always calculating new ways to get the best performance from her. She was so complicated, so enigmatic... but they almost had the filly down to a science, mixed with a bit of art on Tigris' part. She could be cataclysmicly good if given a proper chance.
The horses finished warming up, circled around to face the proper direction, and the two of them practically leaped into action. After some surging strides to get up to speed, Van eased about two lengths behind Shanna on the rail, letting the filly have plenty of room up front. They were going four lengths, and for the first two the filly was completely on her own, though Tigris could tell she sensed Van's competitive aura behind her. He knew he could feel Hal's. He knew the moment Hal shook Van up, and all it took was a nudge to Shanna for her to react to her own instincts. With her impressive stamina, the distance was nothing - it was holding off the tidal wave that was Van Guard that was the challenge. Van creeped up on Shanna slowly but surely with every stride, and with about a half furlong to go the two horses were neck and neck. Minske found himself leaning forward - he knew it was different from a real race, but it was still exciting. They passed their endpoint on the backstretch, so it was nearly impossible to tell who was actually in front from his position, but he thought it was Van - the mature stallion had pushed his way in front, though Shanna had held her ground for a long time. For a three-year-old filly to put up that much fight, under only light urging, against a distinguished stallion like Van Guard... well, the future was bright. He had no doubt she'd romp against the boys sooner than later.