alpheratz

[S u N f r O s t ~]

alpheratz, belonging to the andromeda constellation
Breeders Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf - Cyclonaria & Valencia Andrews
Breeders Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint - Melodious & Henna Turath
Breeders Cup Juvenile Turf - Melusine & Krystal Yhate

Her horse was bent on a warpath; anybody stupid enough to get in her way was going to get trampled. Valencia Andrews grinned maniacally as Cyclonaria breathed fire down her neck and waited for the barn door to open. The gorgeous daughter of Sand Storm and Mystical Sunrise was nursing a serious vendetta after losing last time out. Losses never sat well with the dueling filly. Luckily for her, she would have plenty of horses to rip apart - err, race - in the Breeders Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. And a finer horse there never was for such a conquest. Valencia got excited every time she rode this chestnut filly. She felt excitement aboard every horse she rode, but Cy stimulated a whole new sense of excited. This was a filly she could achieve anything on. The grade three juvenile made an imposing figure as she strode to the track. Reporters took one look and got out of the way with looks akin to awe on their faces. Valencia hoped they were scared of her filly; it was all she could do to avoid running the press over herself.

They were early, but shortly followed out by Henna Turath and her newest sprinting prodigy. Valencia snorted as the other juvenile appeared. Henna’s face was relaxed into a gentle smile even as the petite gray filly exploded with high-strung energy and threw a half-buck of excitement. No horse seemed to so innocently love racing as Melodious did. She was just such a happy young horse. Henna was a sucker for the fast, energetic ones. Pegasus Wings had fit the category of crazy and he had been like Henna’s soul-horse, aside from his half-brother Forbidden To Fly of course. Melodious appeared on her way to such a title. She didn’t have the Forbidden Wings connection to Henna, but she had the spirit and the heart. And she was monstrously good at what she did; seven Horse of the Year victories on the season was nothing to sniff at. She was strong going into the Juvenile Turf Sprint.

The final horse to arrive at the track was Melusine. Krystal Yhate still looked windblown from the first workout, but nothing could exhaust her enough to make her not want to ride this one-of-a-kind filly. This was Sillenia’s first foal, and her daughter to boot, and she was a spitting image of her well-loved dam. Her headstrong nature, hot-blooded will and tactical intelligence were all eerie reminders of what it had been like to ride Sill. Krystal loved Sina and Sina loved Krystal; they were a match made in heaven. And just like her dam, Sina was going to start in the Breeders Cup Juvenile Turf. Sillenia had won it as a two year old; perhaps her daughter would do the same. SOPS certainly had a great record in this race. Sina had a light record, but the last horse they had sent into the race with a light record was Infinite Warcry and he had won. Sina had raced solely in Horse of the Year competition all season; she was practically engineered to compete well and Krystal intended to let to demonstrate their talent and will to win on race day.

Unlike the last trio, this one could actually work effectively together. Their dominant attitudes would not get in the way. Cyclonaria eyed Melusine and immediately picked her horse to dominate; Sina was actually a typical choice for the regular workmates. Mel simply snorted a friendly greeting to the two other mares and settled at the outside, Henna’s barely contained smile of excitement all the status update Amber Black needed from the rail. Mel roiled with energy; her race last week had tuned her up and she was ready for more. Sina simply covered ground impressively, headstrong determination apparent in her gaze and very much on the muscle. And Cyclonaria was demonstrating the same attitude as always - a gladiator charging into the arena with weapons bared and ready.

The three juveniles made a single line, spreading out in the backstretch coming off the turn and accelerating acutely to gallop. Melodious took the lead, lithe gray form like a sports car humming along with comfortable ease. Sina settled right behind, in no rush at all, enjoying her run and happily ignoring the aggressively vibrating Cy at her side. Cyclonaria did not like being ignored; Valencia smirked as her filly settled, simply waiting for the moment to draw Sina’s attention back to her. Cy was a diva. She hated being ignored. Amber smirked as she watched the future of her turf division, sans her own colt Altercation, travel down the track. They moved impressively and were certainly making statements. They raced the first quarter in twenty four and made it look easy.

The final quarter of the run was a bit more speedy. Cy moved up on Sina, and Sina finally reacted, stretching out to keep with the chestnut. Cy could have whinnied in excitement; here was the competitor she was seeking! And all the while, Mel kept on the lead, steadily growing faster as she felt the encroaching presences behind her. But by the time the attention of the two in back became focused on getting to where she was, the half mile run was over and the trio were galloping out. Mel was happy, calm and focused. She was in top form and absolutely ready to roll. Sina and Cy gave good accounts of themselves in the gallop out, coasting with barely any effort. It was exactly the type of light workout Amber wanted to see. Their times had been muted due to her preference for lighter work this time around, yet despite that they had shone like stars to her. They were ready for race day.