Post by creativecause on Aug 1, 2014 17:40:19 GMT -5
A Game Of Inches
Daddy’s Overdraft and Alex Shade
Alex itched Cobweb behind her ear as Steve finished tightening her saddle. Cobweb had to be his favorite mount, but he wouldn’t dare say that outloud. He loved how the filly poured her heart into every race, and everything she did, not to mention she had a loveable personality to seal the deal.
Throughout their past few races, no matter how many of them ended winless, Alex learned something new about the filly in each one. He always thought he knew everything about Cobbers but then he would turn around and learn something else about her. He’d observed a lot about her in their last outing and he knew that she was itching for a win just as much as he was. Cobweb was absolutely brilliant, and he wanted the entire world to know it. Of course under the current circumstances of where she was headed next it might not be the best way to show the world.
Cobwebs next destination was the Breeders Stakes, the final leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, and she had the opportunity to spoil a possible Canadian Triple Crown hopeful. Anodyne, the colt was far more achieved than Cobweb was, at G2 status and with more HOTY wins under his belt then Daddy’s Overdraft it was looking to be a sure defeat. But as many say, weirder things have happened. Cobweb was itching for victory, and Alex was willing to do anything he could, still following the rules of the game of course, to get that victory. Cobweb was a classic winner, and one of the top 3 year old turf fillies in the country at the time and he wanted to prove it. Her next wall that could keep her from victory was Call Of The Wild, hopefully his previous 5th place finish in the Dare To Dream Memorial Stakes was enough to shake him a little and keep him from victory this time around. The son of Foolish Lad was a serious threat at the moment, but Cobweb had already beaten him once, she could do it again.
The Breeders Stakes was a big risk again, there was a high chance she wasn’t even going to get second place, but they had to try. Cobweb was going to prove her worth, she was going to prove that she was a serious threat. Those who don’t take risks can’t know how far they can go. This risk was worth it.
Alex placed his hand under the grey fillies mouth and she rubbed her lips and teeth across it. He didn’t have a treat for her, but it was something he and Cobweb did often, she didn’t seem to mind.
Steve backed away and beamed at Cobweb, she was one of his top horses and he wanted nothing more to see her crush Call Of The Wild and Anodyne in the Breeders Stakes. He always had faith in his little grey filly, he knew from the day he saw her Grayson Meadows had stumbled upon something good. Something that had the potential to be great. She didn’t have the pedigree but she had something even better, heart, and guts. He knew Cobweb would never shy away from a good battle, and she would do anything to please Alex.
Recent works had pointed to her doing so well, that Steve had decided to try her in the final leg of the Canadian Triple Crown. The 12 furlongs over the turf ended in a dead last place finish for Cobweb last time, but the filly was more exposed, more ready to take on the challenge then she was last time. With every race, with every work, with every passing day Cobweb improved, she gained muscle, she gained maturity. Cobweb had her head in the right place, she just needed a win to overcome her ‘overhyped’ status at the moment.
Steve threw Alex into the saddle and Alex tightened his helmet. The next thing he did was toss the whip aside, onto the ground.
“You think you don’t need that?” Andrew laughed.
“She doesn’t need it.” Alex said, turning the filly in the direction of the track. Tossing the whip aside was a bit of a risk. This would be her final work for the Breeders Stakes, but Alex was confident that the filly would give him her all, without completely tiring herself out before race day even came. There was no need to lose the race before it even started. Shd didn’t have much prep under her, but she was still ready for a big run, and everyone at Grayson Meadows knew it.
Alex walked the filly onto the turf track and she ducked her head, and scrunched up her muscles in a way that said that she was more then ready to get running again. Her normal run all over the track during warm ups didn’t happen, instead she stayed in a straight line and lifted her legs and went a bit quicker then what should have been expected. Probably because she knew Alex was going to get on her if she ran all over the place while there was a bunch of other horses working on the track that day.
Cobweb eyed every other horse working, sizing them up, even though she wasn’t going to be running against any of them.
“Come on Cobber’s focus,” Alex said to the filly, and she flicked her ears back, completely alert to what he was saying to her. Jogging her up to the gate, and they loaded without a problem.
Alex stared ahead, watching the track ahead of them, the group that had just gone out of the gates was already half way down the stretch of where the gates were. He twisted a lock of Cobwebs newly cut main in his hand. The gates burst open and Cobweb shot out, striding out quickly and eating up monstrous amounts of turf in just a few strides she was nearly caught up with the group ahead of her, Alex slowed her and brought Cobweb down to a comfortable pace. Her hooves striking the turf with decisive well formulated movements. Alex and Cobweb always looked great together, but today, from anyone watching in the grandstands, they looked phenomenal. Every movement between the two looked effortless, Cobweb’s full attention on Alex and his full attention on her. Everything just flew past them, leaving multiple horses in their wake, they had been working her up to the mile and a half breeze along with another 1/2 of a mile run out all week. Cobweb had responded extremely well to the program they had set aside for her, hince on why she seemed to be doing so well. At the end of the week she should be able to run two miles without losing much breath over it, and run that two miles pretty quickly. Most would wonder why on gods earth they would push a filly like this to run two miles like that when they only need to run a mile and a half to win the race. The answer was simple, she would need the endurance to outrun her rivals. Cobweb was the only filly in the race, which already stacked the odds against her, she could use whatever help she needed.
Alex could recite the speech in Any Given Sunday, that life was a game of inches. And if something went wrong during the race, he and Cobweb would have to heal as a team, or they were finished. And that an inch can make the difference between winning and losing, and he and Cobweb were willing to fight, and die for that inch. They had to be in their prime shape, half a step too early or too late and they don’t quite make it. One half a second too slow, too fast and they don’t get to the wire fast enough. The inches they needed were everywhere around them. They’re in every second, every minute, and every millisecond on the track. Alex and Cobweb were a team, and as a team, they were going to fight for that inch.
Continuing down the final turn, Alex let out a notch and the pale filly accelerated as much as he wanted her to. Cobweb listened to every sound, every moment he made. Part of the reason why she listened to Alex so well was that she had taken to him so well right from their first meeting. Cobweb didn’t much like Andrew, but she loved Hadley. She was strange in picking people. But regardless, everyone loved her.
It was likely that Anodyne would go for the lead, he was really the only one that would want it. Call Of The Wild would be close to Cobweb, to make sure she didn’t get away, and Cobweb would have set up a pretty quick pace from the start of the race. It was best that they sat her a bit off of the pace, but not so much that she was totally off of it. They didn’t need Anodyne running away with the lead so far that they couldn’t catch him. It was a tricky way of thinking, but Alex knew Cobweb, and he knew when she needed to get moving and how much energy she had left. Alex was determined to not make this a repeat of the Belmont Turf Classic.
Although both colts were taller, Cobweb had the stride, and energy to keep up with any 18 hand thoroughbred, as rare as they were.
Rounding into the homestretch Alex called upon Cobweb, giving her more head and clicking to her. The 15.3 hand grey rocketed down the stretch, almost making Alex lose his seat. Sending turf flying in every direction behind her, Cobweb dug her heels into the turf, extending her stride with every step she took. She was in full flight down to the wire. From a distance one might have imagined seeing her sprouting white wings as she flew past several over groups of horses. A bay was about five lengths ahead of her and she dug in to pass him on his outside, to beat him to the wire. The colt reminded her all too much of Call Of The Wild.
“Come on Cobbers!” Alex called and the filly straightened out her head more than it already was and blasted past the bay colt hitting the wire a length ahead of him. Alex slowed the filly down for her run down for the next half mile. Alex patted his mount pride beaming in his eyes.
Like he had thought before 99 out of 100 times Call Of The Wild and Anodyne might beat Cobweb, but not this time. This was the one time, that they wouldn’t, this was Cobweb’s time. Her time to show the world what she could do, even if it meant ruining a Canadian Triple Crown winner. Because she and Alex were willing to fight, and die for that inch.
