The Speed Dual

[creativecause]

The Speed Dual

Tears of blood an Andrew Martin 

Call Me Crooked and Alex Shade 

Alex stood before his two regular mounts with Andrew at his side. Crook and Tears were some of the top horses in their divisions, and he was lucky to have the honor to ride both of them. However, today, that wasn't the case, because it was physically impossible for Alex to be in two places at once, he would have to ride only one. Steve's orders had been for him to ride Crook and Andrew would ride Tears. Call Alex selfish, but if he had it his way, they horses would work separately so he could ride both.

Crook danced around and squealed, tossing her head this way and that, looking much like a child throwing a temper tantrum. Meanwhile Tears ducked his head and made a low growling-like noises before dancing around Hadley, who was holding him and waiting for Andrew to mount.

“Still gonna kick your butt,” Andrew said cockily to Alex and stuck his leg out for Jessie to throw him up to Tear’s back.

“In your dreams,” Alex growled walking over to Steve, sticking his leg out and placing his hands on Crook’s back.

Steve hoisted him up into the saddle and Alex quickly adjusted everything before looking over at Andrew.

“You’re still too slow,” he tissed and lead the way out onto the track with Tears tossing his head and chomping on his bit.

“Oh shut up,” Alex hushed and clicked to Crook to follow. The filly bounced and danced around beneath him.

Each step the horses took on the turf was exaggerated, lifted just an inch higher than normal. It was more than clear to both jockeys that they were both ready to go. Tears and Crook ducked their heads, chomped on their bits, danced sideways, threw their heads, and made all kinds of noise, although most of that came from Crook.

However, anyone who knew Tears, knew the horse was hungering for a win. He wasn’t at all pleased with his last two runnings, a place and a show, it wasn’t good enough for him. The stallion was hungering for victory and wasn’t going to let anyone step on his hooves and get in his way this time. His next race would come July week 1, in the Seaspray Grade One Sprint, and no other horse had dared to enter against him yet. With his behavior recently it wouldn’t come as much of a surprise either, the stallion had been nothing short of nasty since his loss against Royal Cadenza.

Crook on the other had, had just come out of a impressive victory yet again in the highly regarded Demosielle Stakes. Crook had solidified her spot among the top 2 year old turf sprinters with the victory and was looking better and better after each race and work out. Crook bobbed her head up and down and played with her bit in her mouth. Tears had his work cut out for him if he was going to beat her in this work. Her next race would come in a lower key one, Crook was entered in the G5+ Eleanor Casey Memorial, it was a lower key race, and Steve had considered moving her over to the G4 Seaspray Grade Four Sprint over dirt against Siren Call if no one else would enter.

Tears loaded into the gate without a problem, his focus on beating Crook the whole way around the track. However, Crook decided that she wasn’t so much as going into the gate unless someone made her, and that someone happened to be four assistants and Alex.

Once the gates flew open Tears and Crook shot out, both of them at eachothers throats in just seconds. Tears pinned his ears meanwhile Crook flicked them back and forth waiting for Alex’s commands, even though she and Alex both knew that she wouldn’t need to.

Tears stuck a head in front of Crook, only to be shut down by Crook, who wasn’t having any of Tear’s attempts to undermine her, she pushed her head ahead of his and and kept it there. Crook and Tear’s continued their duel throughout the entire backstretch and final turn, neither willing to let up, and neither jockey willing to let up.

They hit the homestretch just noses apart, with Tears on the rail and Crook to his outside. Andrew let Tears loose and the stallion kicked for home like a rocket, leaving Crook in his wake. However Crook knew her own strength and took off after him, letting Alex push her the whole way. Crook fired past Tears to a half length lead and began gaining on him, but Tears refused to be outdone and pushed himself to catch the filly. They were soon nearing the wire, Tears fighting from the rail and Crook fighting from the outside, with a half length lead on Tears.

They hit the wire together with Crook a head by a half a length and Alex smiling at Andrew.

“Shouldn’t have let him go that early,” Alex said.