you may be grade three, but you don't scare me.

The beautiful bay filly stepped on to the dirt with steadyness and power. She pricked her ears tall, and pawed effortlessly at the floor. Having a new jockey was like, buying a new dog... well, not exactly like that, but it was something new. It was the transition to being under a new jockey which would be an overwhelming change. Today was going to be tricky, though there was possibly one horse we could beat. We'd had a break since her last race, and it was time to prepare for the Triple Tiara. Soon, Winnie would be racing in the Alabama Stakes. The field consisted of only two horses at the moment, but it was likely that Paradise Island of Silver Stride Stables would possibly enter and take the win... then again, the idea with Winnie was to race her against Sonja. That's what I'd wanted with Winnie, but I knew if we did lose, it’d be a big let down for the stables. We'd have to go and claim the Triple Tiara to comfort ourselves, wouldn't we?

In Gate One, there was Paradise Island of Silver Stride Stables. The filly was our major threat, and currently, only threat. It looked to me that there was also going to be Fiery Touch or maybe even Midnight Thriller entered in the race. I was praying and hoping that the more experienced filly who raced more during her two-year-old season would slip up, just so we could take the victory. This year, she had won the Jasperie Derby, then placed second behind Eternal Phantom in the Unicorn Horn Juvenile Fillies. To say the least, this was a big blow to the start of the fillies three-year-old campaign. 1 win out of two starts, whereas we had more, we had 4 wins out of five starts. This was all preparation for the Triple Tiara. We wanted her to muscle up over the winter, and let’s just say, it definitely worked. I don’t doubt that Sonja would probably win the first match between both fillies, but needless to say, Winnie had worked pretty dang hard to get where she was.

Winnie pranced and leapt about beside the pony horse. She snorted and pawed at the dirt. I laughed and stroked her neck. Easy girl. I said to her, muttering softly. The filly would load quickly and easily. Winnie will break from the gate quickly, but drop back to just behind the leaders, settling in around third or fourth, depending on the amount of horses in the race. If she is the only horse that likes to race at the front, she will happily take the lead but only by a length or two and she won’t set a furious pace. She can travel with just about all paces. She can race quickly, or slowly, depending on the ground. If it’s sloppy, she prefers to go slightly slower than if it’s dry and fast. This is what she did in her other races... her one loss this year was against Akita Rose Colt, Canjun Moon. She was so close to the winning, it was unbelievable. If she'd made her move a tiny bit earlier, she would've won that race... I stroked the fillies neck and calmed her down. She tried to pull away from the handler. Excuse me, Winnie! I said, bringing her back next to the pony horse.

We came to the gate. A handler tried to lead us in, and she walked straight in, being an obedient filly. The gate at the five furlong pole wasn't new, she'd already worked from the gate before, and I knew she could do it again. I awaited the start of the race. She stood patiently, her ears perked, ready to break and win this race. The bell rang, and she shot forward quickly. Winnie was an odd filly, she really stretched her legs out when she ran, something I wasn't used to, but it made her gallop really comfy and easy to get with. She continued to gallop as she entered the turn and I crouched down and began to niggle at her. Winnie pricked her ears and stayed toward the rail. I imagined the field ahead of us, getting closer and closer with each stride. I continued to work her, pushing her more and more. We slowly began to weave between the imaginary field. I stretched my arm out as far as it would go, and my crop fell on the fillies rump as she began to pull away from the 'field' of horses. We flew under the wire and I relaxed, standing in my stirrups and letting her cool down and come back down the paces. Good girl, I said, patting her neck. She was a joy to ride.