Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2012 2:44:22 GMT -5
Jacey? It’s Megs. Yeah, I'm going to breeze Winnie again, she needs it... yeah... okay... meet me down on the track in five... no, not our track, I'm going to the public track. Yeah, okay, see you in five. Bye! That phone call seemed to last forever. It was a long time, I'm telling you that. Winnie's been great lately. She had a good run two weeks back, so I'm proud of her. She's my girl, but you already knew that.
My aim is to get Winnie to Grade Three before the Triple Tiara. I'd love her to be the next Grade Three three year old. At the moment, Paradise Island was the most competent one. She needs two more wins under her belt to get to grade Two, whereas I needed two wins to get to Grade Three. Winnie nibbled at my pocket as I lead her out the stable. She knew I had polo's in there. Winnie was sixteen hands. She was average height, but she had power. A lot of power. She had fantastic closing speed. I knew she would race well, though she was a stalker, she could make her pounce whenever.
Winnie's races, now that she was a higher grade, would be a breeze. She continued to sniff the polo's. Hey, not now. Later... if you work well! I said to her. I stroked her neck and ran the stirrups down. I reached my foot up and bounced on. Winnie stood very still not moving, as my seven stone lightweight body sat down. My black strands of hair fell in my face. I blew them off and walked the filly out on to the dirt track.
I watched as the other horses worked. Winnie stood still, breathing in the air and blowing it out of her nostrils. She turned his head slowly, looking around. The birds fluttered in the spring trees, as rain began to fall from the sky. Winnie side stepped slightly, perking her ears. It's alright, only rain. Jacey walked behind me. Hey Meg. Four furlongs, no whip, just hand drive. I nodded and walked Isa forward.
The competition wasn’t too lax at the moment. Only us two entered. In Gate One, there was Paradise Island. Sonja, our arch rival. She was a beautiful filly, and we’d never gone against her before. She was grade three, and strong, and powerful. She earned Best Grade Three, and Best Two Year Old Filly. We expected Fiery Touch and Midnight Thriller to possibly enter too. Fiery Touch had recently been sold to Witch Creek Stable. The filly was half sister to Winnie, and they were so alike. Midnight Thriller was twin sister to Eternal Phantom, she started her racing career late as a two-year-old. Eternal Phantom narrowly missed out in the Juvenile, placing third behind Instant Success and Forbidden To Fly.
Winnie broke into a trot. She perked her ears and bobbed her head. The flash noseband was definitely working. She wasn't trying to chomp her bit, which meant the flash was doing it's job, and stopping her from opening her mouth. She tucked her head to her chest, and began to lope gracefully up the back stretch. I made myself as small as I could when we got to the four furlong pole, and Winnie leapt forward in style, really bringing her knees up.
I saw Jacey at the start line with the stop watch, as she pressed it. The wind blew in my face, leaving a bitter touch. I ignored it and pressured Winnie to pick up his speed. She responded instantly and overexaggerated her movement to cover the ground. The first furlong went in about 10 seconds flat. I continued to push her forward. We came into the home turn and I pushed her more and more. We flew down the home stretch and came under the wire. We both relaxed, and watched at the rain flew down on the infield. Good girl, I walked her over to Jacey. Fourty three and one fifth. I was thinking to myself how amazing that time was. Such a fast speed in the first furlongs from a stalking filly! I patted her and walked her inside.
