In Father's Name

[Deleted]

Tears Of Blood & Mitch Evans
Sophie's Voice & Jacob Donovan

In an impressive feat, all of Cryin' Out Loud's foals had broken their maiden early in the year and that spoke volumes about him as a sire. His talent had passed from him into his foals, and for every foal to have inherited that was quite a feat. Among his foals, the twins most certainly stood out - their mother was an unknown broodmare owned by Silver Stride Stables who had never thrown a foal before and in all honesty the breeding had been a risk. Still, both had been performing well - Tears Of Blood (or Sanguis) for Silver Stride Stables and Tears Of An Angel for Serendipity Hills. Another of his foals, Sophie's Voice, had also been performing well although she was only lightly raced, starting four times for two wins and two shows. Her most impressive start was her most recent, over a month ago, when she had won in the Magic Millions Dirt Sprint.

It seemed the stable were starting to make a name for themselves not just in one area of racing, but many. Paradise Island had been snapping up races between seven and ten furlongs on the dirt, as well as one on the turf; Wannabe Hero had claimed major victories in sprints on both surfaces this season; while two year old Blue Me Away had won five of his six starts on the turf between eight and eleven furlongs. All in all, their season had been quite a strong one and they were looking to improve it and the next major series on their minds was the new, two year old only series at The Wire called Follow The Hoofprints.

For the Follow The Hoofprints Dirt Sprint the stable had two entries - both Cryin Out Loud offspring. Tears Of Blood and Sophie's Voice were both strong horses; the colt was more experienced and had just made the jump to Grade Four but the filly was talented and possessed true heart. Indeed, Matthias was looking forward to seeing how they ran against one another - something that they had not done before. But first, they would work out together to prepare for the race.

The field had only one other entrant, Attractive Flight of Star Thoroughbreds. He was a strong racer, there was no denying that and had tallied up nine starts already - twice as many as Soph, and three more than Sanguis. But experience was not all that mattered, and Matthias was not worried by that. If you looked at the colt's record it was quite impressive - he had never placed outside of the top three - but then again he had only won once and the majority of his races had resulted in shows. He was not one to overlook, however. To do so would be foolish.

The news that Matty would be in the line-up had worried jockey, Jacob Donovan. He knew that Soph would struggle because of her lacking experience and that the colts were likely to dominate however Matthias had been able to calm him down with a few simple facts. Firstly, no matter what happened they were in the top three and while he would love to see Soph win if she did not, it was not really a big deal. Secondly, that the colts were both closers and as the sole front runner their was an advantage, and finally that Matthias had faith in the jockey's abilities.

Mitch had not been so shaken. Sanguis had raced against Matty before, in fact only two weeks previously, in a start where Sanguis had stolen the win and Matty had shown. It had served to give the jockey confidence that experience was not all that mattered, that the colt's heart and soul also had an effect in a race. Was Matty a threat? Yes, and Mitch would not deny that. Was he going to back down? Not a chance, he loved a challenge and thirsted for another win.

Sanguis was looking good, he stood at the door to his stall with his eyes bright and tossed his head impatiently when he saw the blonde-haired handler approaching. Lucas smiled as he took a grip on the colt's rein before opening the door and was prepared when the colt tried to charge out, puling him back before he could get anywhere. "San." a stern tone, the colt's audits flicked and seemed to relent, tossing his head again. Sanguis was clearly ready for the run, and was determined to get to the track. Laughing slightly, for the colt was obviously in one of his gentler moods, Lucas led the colt onwards toward the track.

Soph's energy levels were through the roof. Having rested for over a month she was bright, alert and ready to race. Since being tacked up earlier she had been making quite the racket, calling to everyone that passed and pacing in her stable like a mare preparing to foal. But every time she heard someone approaching she was straight to the stall door. Mia smiled at the filly, ran her hand down her nose. "That's it, Soph. Come on, let's get you down to the track, eh?"

Given the horses which were involved, the walk down to the track was surprisingly calm and they were soon stood side by side on the dirt. Looking at them, you could tell they were siblings - chestnut, with a lot of chrome and standing at around the same height. Soph's face marking was broader, all four of her limbs encased in white where as Sanguis only had two white socks but the resemblance was undeniable. Lucas loved both of the horses, and hoped well for them both come race day.

Jacob was the first jockey to arrive. He moved to Soph immediately and took the time waiting for Mitch to bond with the filly. Clearly, there was something strong between the horse and the rider and that softness between them was adorable. Soph nuzzled her jock, licked at his hands and showed him the warmth in her heart while Jacob gave her the attention she seemed to crave. When Mitch arrived, however, he was all business and after stroking the colt's neck he pulled himself into the saddle. Jacob took the hint, moving to climb into the filly's saddle and they sat side by side.

"Right guys, just waiting for Matthias to arrive and we can get started." Lucas told the jockeys, an authoritative tone claiming his usually soft voice. But his brother had been giving him more and more responsibility so people needed to know exactly where they stood. He didn't exactly enjoy it, but with him often running the stable when Matthias couldn't be around it was important.

Several minutes later, the trainer arrived. He appeared in the stands, tiredness wrote on his face. Clearly, it had been his turn to get up with Amira the night before and it was taking it's toll. Lucas, trusting Mitch to keep his chestnut mount under control, released his grip and moved to stand at the rail. "What's the plan, boss?" he asked and the trainer grinned. "Two furlongs, side by side. Keep them wanting so that they're focussed come race day." Lucas nodded. "Gates?" The trainer shook his head, a clear no, and Lucas turned around.

Mia had grabbed hold of the chestnut colt's rein, and Sanguis seemed to be getting a little riled. Lucas ran over, took the rein from Mia and walked to colt for a moment. "What happened?" Lucas asked the jockey and Mitch looked a bit worried. "San decided he wanted to start and Mia stopped him just in time, he's determined to go." Lucas nodded. "I say we get this started." He signalled to Mia to follow him with Soph and drew the colt up at the two furlong mark. Mia brought the filly next to him. "Right guys, your galloping them side by side for two furlongs. Don't let them get too quick, the whole point it to get them riled for race day, okay?" the jockey's nodded and Lucas smiled.

"Three, Two, One." the handlers released the horses, and Soph broke away quickly while Sanguis was a little slower off of the mark - a difference expected between a front runner and a closer. Jacob held Soph at her speed while Mitch urged Sanguis forward slightly and soon the two chestnuts were side by side, but they were not happy about it. Soph was pushing to go forwards, but all Sanguis wanted was to drop back. If they'd had their way there would have been several lengths between them but neither jockey was giving in.

If there was one thing that was definitely different about the siblings (other than their running style) it was the way they galloped. Sanguis had a noble, long stride while Soph's was much shorter and quicker. For Soph, hers allowed her to gain speed quickly early in a race while Sanguis' was perfect for a horse who needed to cover a lot of distance in a short time. In a race, the benefits of each would reveal themselves but today they had to run side by side.

The pace was faster than average, but not exactly huge. They closed the first furlong in a nice time and then the jockeys had another battle. Both horses knew the post was close and looming, they wanted to gallop for it and of course their speeds naturally increased. It was a battle to prevent them going full throttle, to keep them neck and neck. The horses were increasingly frustrated as they moved onwards and as they passed the the post the jockeys were able to relax. If nothing else, the horses would be determined to win come race day.