The Fighter

[creativecause]

The Fighter 

Passion Heart and Andrew Martin 

"Give em hell, turn their heads 

Gonna live life 'til we're dead. 

Give me scars, give me pain 

Then they'll say to me, say to me, say to me 

There goes the fighter, there goes the fighter 

Here comes the fighter 

That's what they'll say to me, say to me, say to me, 

This one's a fighter"

-Gym Class Heros - The Fighter 

Andrew smiled back at his ill tempered mount as she shuffled around with Sam swearing at her every time she turned her head to nip at him and moved around in pure annoyance. She was feisty mare, that was for sure. It never occurred to him that this mare would flourish as much as she had when he’d first ridden her. She’d been nearly impossible to control, she was a furious animal who was so ticked off and riled up that she was dangerous. He’d thought Grayson Meadows had bought a loss cause, and that she should be put into retirement right away. However, after that first race, and that 5th place finish, he felt something else about her entirely. The mare had no intention of giving up, and she didn’t it was just a matter of finding her focus and controlling herself, something she hadn’t learned yet. Ally had wanted to win, and Andrew realized then that this horse was a fighter.

Two weeks later, with a little bit more practice and trying different tactics, the coal black daughter of Passionate Ruler won the Summer Cup Grade Five Turf*. Of course as most grade five races were against a bunch of two year olds, it had been a fairly easy and predictable victory. However, that was the race that seemed to have turned Ally completely around, she’d turned into something else entirely. She became something beautiful, in an odd animalish way. Her workouts became quicker, her personality on the track, though still often times unpleasant, changed in a somewhat good way. It was like a switch had been flipped and suddenly you got the Passion Heart everyone knew today.

There was always the question around the stable though, could it last? Would the mare go back to her old ways after a huge and devastating defeat? Well the Queen Elizabeth II* stakes proved that even after a horrible race, nothing could get this mare down. She came back in her next race as strong as ever, and right now it looked as if she was on a roller coaster that only goes up. She took down Night Goddess and the highly regarded The Devil’s Hourglass, and although it was narrowly, it was still a win. It was a hard fought one too, Ally came back at them with everything she had and fought hard with every step she took for that win.

Another great quality about the mare was that as long as the race was on turf, she had no preferences for distance, she could win anywhere between 7 furlongs to 1 mile and a 1/4. Although there was much speculation around Grayson Meadows that perhaps the mare could go a bit further than that. Truth was, it was a wonder how she did so well, her dam was dirt oriented more router-type, and her sire was a turf oriented miler type. However, bloodlines aren’t everything.

Andrew got a leg up on Ally once sam had finished, and of course the second he got on her back she tried to take off on him.

“Fiesty as always,” he said to the mare and nodded to Sam before heading out onto The Wire’s the track. Andrew lead Ally across the dirt track onto the turf track, and Ally didn’t cause any problems, but Andrew knew it was too good to be true because just moments after they got on the turf she started tugging on her reins and offering small bucks. Often he wondered if it was just because she was excited or just plain ticked, but whatever it was, it wasn’t unmanageable.

He started running Ally through her warm up, and they went over smoothly. So they started to make their way to the gates, although Ally didn’t really need to break from them.

Her next start was a bit of step down from her last, but they figured she may use a nice little break after her big HOTY race win. So her next start was the Viviparous Stakes race one, part of a series that she would be running in until the Winter Cup. There were two other entries as of now, Firestone Racings Silver Serendipity and Grayson Meadows own Prima Donna. Prima Donna had beaten Silver Serendipity in her last race against her, and Passion Heart had somewhat demolished Prima Donna in their last partnered workout. Not that it proved a thing, anything could happen. Silver Serendipity would be pressuring Ally, and Andrew would have to be careful with how much he let Ally run, she needed the energy to run in the front throughout the entire race, but she also needed it to close out the race and keep Prima Donna from taking the victory over her. It put her in a somewhat tough position, but she’d proven before that it couldn’t stop her from winning.

Ally waited quietly for her turn. The coal black mare stood at a tall 16.2 hands, her large muscles rippled under her skin every time she jumped around a bit, or twitched to get a fly off of her. A fire burned in her eyes that showed of her determination and anyone could see it from just a glance. A single star upon her forehead looked much like the moon on a pitch black night with no stars in the sky.

The gates flew open and Ally exploded out of them, she quickly fell into a nice easy rhythm. If it was even possible, she’d felt better than she had in her last work. Andrew sat on her and let her pick the pace, which was a bit quicker than normal. She flew over the turf, not wasting any time with useless motions or throwing any tantrums, she just went. It was much like a child who just wanted to get things over with so they just do it, however Andrew knew Ally enjoyed it to some extent. Maybe it was simply because she enjoyed shooting down other horses confidence by winning, or maybe she just liked stretching her legs out.

Ally effortlessly ran over the turf, leaving it flying in her wake. Ally wasn’t going to waste any time, the home stretch opened in front of her and she kicked into another gear, flying past the grand stand. She moved like a well oiled machine, and to anyone who was watching her work, they would have said she looked dominant and impressive with every stride she looked more confident, more powerful. Nothing was going to stop this horse from winning. She powered through the final furlong and flew past the wire in a very impressive fashion. No amount of loss could stop Ally from achieving her goal, she wanted to win and she was willing to fight for every inch, that she could. How could you possibly know that? Because this horse was The Fighter.