Blank Space

[creativecause]

Blank Space 

Call Me Crooked and Alex Shade 

Cause we're young and we're reckless 

We'll take this way too far  

It'll leave you breathless 

Or with a nasty scar 

Got a long list of ex-lovers 

They'll tell you I'm insane 

But I got a blank space baby 

And I'll write your name 
- Taylor Swift - Blank Space

Crooked jumped out of her skin and hummed with excitement when Alex appeared at the front of her stall. She let out a squeal of joy and threw her head from side to side. He placed his left hand on her forehead and his right on her neck and her skin twitched with excitement, eyes full of fire. Crook swished the bit around in her mouth a little bit and Alex thought back to the first day he met her.
Crook had been a flighty filly, built like a twig, and had as much energy as a hundred thoroughbreds. He could have run her for five miles and she’d come back still bucking, still throwing her head and lifting her hooves high off the ground. Nothing could slow her down, and she was full of potential. Several workouts later she won the Follow The Hoofprints Juvenile Turf Sprint quite impressively. She never looked back after that, Crook climbed her way to the top of the Juvenile Turf Sprinting division. Crook was the first two year old of the season to reach grade three status by a month, now she was sitting just on the edge of grade two status. To say she was a bit of an overachiever was something of an understatement. She was the star sprinter of her crop and she was going to have a huge red target with flashing lights above her as she ran in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint.
Crook had rattled off two very nice wins recently and she was looking better than ever, there was one thing for sure, if they wanted to beat her they were going to have to run the race of their life. She’d been clocking bullet works all week and she wasn’t showing a single sign of slowing down. Crook was looking better than ever and even though she was still twigy looking, she was looking more like a three year old every day. If anyone thought Crook was slowing down, they were wrong.
Crook began to pace in circles, figure eights, she was ready to go and Alex smiled. “Well? You ready?” he asked. Crook’s ears perked and she stopped for a moment, and looked right at him. “Well?” he asked, and Crook tossed her head and let out a loud, excited whinny.
Sam and Steve quickly came down the barn aisle looking like someone had ruffled their feathers. Alex could only guess that they’d had a bit of a run-in with the ill-tempered Passion Heart.
Alex haltered Crook and held her as Steve and Sam got to work with tacking her up, they walked her twice before they finally finished tightening her cinch. She took the bit and bridle like a pro and stood still for the most part while Steve and Sam finished putting her wraps on.
Sam patted her neck and whispered, “that’s my sweet girl,” into Crook’s ear. Crook seemed to nod before shaking her whole body out making a similar sound to a birds wings as it lands on a nearby branch. She blew out through her nose and sprayed Alex with some of her boogers before pausing to look at them again. Alex saw her eyes get a wild look in them again, and he could tell her patience was thinning. She wanted to run, and Alex was more than willing to let her.
Steve gave Alex a leg up and Crook didn’t stand still for a second, she was moving before he was even on her and continued to move when he sat down in the saddle.
“Six furlongs, run her out for another five afterwards, make sure she’s nice and loosened up. Let her run, but don’t let her blow herself out.” Alex nodded and Steve patted Crook’s butt which caused her to instantly leap up to a very fast paced trot. Alex shot him a thannnnks look and Steve just shrugged and they turned back to go get the next string of horses who needed workouts ready.
Crook transformed, she ducked her head, and raised her tail proudly. She stopped for a moment and glanced around with her ears perked, taking the track in. Alex thought the filly may be disappointed because there was no one else on the track to watch run this morning. She started off at a trot again, Alex started taking her through her warm ups and made sure she was nice and loosened up. He turned her in the way of the gate and he could feel her body begin to shake with excitement. They’d recently done some gate schooling, and she seemed to become a bit more comfortable with the gate, but she always seemed to hesitate to go in at first.
She gated and burst from them in just a matter of seconds, she rejoiced in her strength with every stride she took, her ears perked, and if horses truly could smile, she definitely would be.
The Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint was murderous, there was little doubt about that. Crook had been born into a very tough juvenile crop, but she handled them with ease. The race was going to be pace heavy with Athena’s Desires and Stiletto Allure likely out on the lead. Phantasm Frost was a serious threat to Crook, and he was the underdog horse and lately he’d been racking up wins. They’d be at the back of the pack, and Crook was likely to stick with Phantasm Frost until she decided it was best to run. Alex trusted the fillies judgement more in every race he ran on her back, he was confident that Crook would make the best decision when it came down to the time to go.
She strode out nicely looking very professional, her old antics of flicking her ears around all over the place and not paying attention were well behind her. Although she was often thought of as crazy, she did seem to settled down a bit after some aging. Everything about her looked even, well put together, she had never looked better. No one could miss her big white blaze and her flashy speed as she continued her quick descent down the back stretch and into the final turn. She kicked turf up behind her and left it in her wake. Alex could feel her momentum building, and he knew she was about ready to fly. Crook came off the far turn guns blazing and kicked into overdrive, nostrils flared, legs rapidly eating up the turf. Crook felt like an absolute animal, and that is exactly what she was, an animal. She ferociously tore up the turf, a bright fire of determination burned in her eyes. They crossed the wire and Alex pulled up on Crook so they could start their five furlong runout.
Alex knew any horse that dared to challenge her in the stretch was going to have to fight for every millimeter to get past her. Didn’t matter who it was, if their name was on the blank space, Crook was going to run them down and make them regret ever daring to defeat her. The Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint was her race to win and she knew it. After all, a six furlong bullet work in 1:08 flat was pretty hard to argue against, Crook was ready and someone was going to have to run the race of their life to catch her.