Follow The Hoofprints

Jacey
Beth
Ivana
Evie

The 'Follow the Hoofprints' series had approached thick and fast that year, it was almost like time had flown by... the year was well under way and it wouldn't be long now before the Breeders' Cup and Youth Series would come round. Jacey and Matthias had looked through the list of races and entrants and picked the perfect race for all of the three horses that would be racing in the race. The races had been selected for all three of the entrants and today would be the day that Jacey would talk to the jockeys about their final decisions.

Sitting patiently in the barn, Beth, Eve and Ivana sighed. They were somewhat scared and nervous about why the race selection had been done this way, but it would benefit them. Jacey walked into the barn, head held high with the race list in her hands. Okay girls, me and Matthias did the list yesterday for the horses. We start with Majestic Hero... He will be going to the Turf Mile, as expected because the classic is too far for him at this moment in time... he's against Fly By Darkness and Alucard, so with a good workout, he could do well."

[/color] Beth nodded and smiled. She would be riding him for this workout.

"Right... who's next... Ah, Trouble. Our speed demon little sprinter..."[/color] Jacey said, smiling, looking towards Ivana. "Oh lovely! I'm excited now."[/color] Ivana said, grinning. "Okay darling, we've entered Trouble in the Dirt Sprint, against Flashpoint and Mighty News. He can win this if you put your mind to it. He's got a lot of spirit and will go far... really far." A grin came across Ivana's face. She was so pleased that it was that race and nothing else.

"Okay Eve, you've got the hardest race but you've got the most experience horse, even though she's only won once. Demi is going against Paranormal Hunter and Demonic Desires in the Turf Sprint. I was considering swapping, but then I thought that she could do with a little bit of pressure I think."[/color] Eve sighed and stood up, smiling. "We both know she's strong enough, it's just luck on the day. She has been doing alright lately, as we know from the show she took in the Magic Millions last month."[/color] Jacey smiled. "That's the spirit."[/color]

Beth groomed Jester whilst thinking through the runners in the Turf Mile. Jester had been drawn in the second gate, alongside both horses. In Gate One was Stride Of Perfections filly, Fly By Darkness. She was a strong filly that had experience running at The Wire's track, but that shouldn't affect Jester's performance in all honesty. The girl herself had one win, one place, two shows and a fourth. She would race in mid-pack, so behind Jester. She raced over a mile to eleven furlongs over both surfaces, lucky for some.

Starting in Gate Three was the Witch Creek Racing colt, Alucard. This colt wowed in his previous start, winning the Akita Rose Stakes. He has two wins, two places, a show and a fourth. The colt raced over sprint/mile distances over both surfaces, leaving Jester at an advantage being the only true turf runner in the race that didn't race over the dirt. Alucard was a preceder, but beth had decided that in the race, Jester would lead. Jester had three wins, three places and a show to his name. Being the leader of the race wouldn't put him at a disadvantage as it wouldn't affect his performance at all, he would still race as normal.

Ivana placed the saddle onto Troubles back after grooming him. She thought through the entrants to the race, and grinned. She hadn't said it out loud to anyone as of yet because she knew it would be good fun. The colt could run over both surfaces and today he was up against Mighty News. He had raced against Flashpoint before and won in the Magic Millions Turf Sprint, so it was a case of round two. These two would be life long rivals, you could just tell. Trouble had two wins and four places to his name, and he was raced against Mighty News and also won. After a great prospect season, he went on to become fairly well known. He had been rested since the Magic Millions in preperation for this. He was going to lead from wire to wire hopefully. It was a stalker heavy field, which meant the pace would be furious.

Eve groomed Demi down and sighed. She was upset that they had gone for that race especially against two big name horses that were making a spectacle. It just meant that Demi would get another third, even though she tried. It seemed she always had off days of race days, but she was hoping to build her back up slowly but surely. She only had one win to her name, whereas the other two had three wins and full consistency. It was upsetting for Eve but she was hoping that she could make a big change.

Paranormal Hunter was an amazing filly, who won the Stride Of Perfection Handicap two weeks ago, and placed second in the Magic Millions Turf Sprint. She was amazing, and practically unbeatable at the moment. But Demonic Desires was the one to watch. With three wins to his name and four places, he was the big name. Paranormal Hunter had beaten him last time out and these two were long term rivals, but where would Demi slot in?

All three jockeys mounted up and walked onto the track after tacking their mounts up. It would be a spectacle of a workout, but turned out Jacey had other plans. "Okay, we're all going to work on the turf today,"[/color] she said, swooping her hair down her back. "Beth, you and Jester can go first, Eve second, then Ivana. You're going to go eight furlongs... six furlongs breezing, then let them loose in the stretch. Same goes for you two, keep a big gap though of about two furlongs each before going." The girls nodded. Beth set off on Jester after some warm up laps. They breezed past the mile pole in a steady canter and as they came into the backstretch, she wound him up and niggled him on a bit to pick up the pace.

The breeze pace was set thick and fast. "Good boy Jester..." She said, talking to the colt and calming him down. He was pretty on it already today and it appeared nothing would calm him down but he didn't yank or take hold of the bit and run. He kept it a good pace and as he came into the home stretch, Beth let him loose. "Come on boy, let's do this!"[/color] She pushed him on and really began to let him run and they flew under the wire.

Eve followed on Demi. The filly cantered quickly along the backstretch and round the bend. She changed her lead and as they entered the lane, she pushed the filly into a flat out gallop. Her ears pricked and she flew quickly into and down the stretch. Eve bit her lip and grumbled as she sprinted quicker and quicker. She wasn't used to the filly but it was a change. She was known as a pace presser so it was good that she had speed. She flew down the stretch and under the wire. "Good girl Demi."[/color] She said.

Ivana followed on Trouble then, and the colt was running like a bullet fired from a gun. She began pushing him as they went round the bend and as they came into the home stretch, she let him run. He extended his gallop even more and covered the turf with each and every huge bounding stride. She pushed him out more and more and let him run on even more. Under the wire, Ivana punched the air. She came back to Jacey who had the workout results. "Considering Jester is a miler and not a sprinter, he did great to get 9 4/5 for his workout. Demi also got 9 4/5 for the final furlong, and Trouble wowed us all with 9 2/5 seconds flat. These horses just get faster and faster." They were ready for the FTH series.[/blockquote][/blockquote]