Post by creativecause on Dec 27, 2014 20:00:01 GMT -5
Demons
Take Fight and Andrew Martin
Dare To Impress and Alex Shade
No matter what we breed
We still are made of greed
This is my kingdom come
This is my kingdom come
- Demons - Imagine Dragons
Fly shuffled his feet and squealed with pure excitedness. He continued to make a ruckus and snorted and lifted his head up as high as his body would allow him. The colt had been nothing short of fired up since his win at the beginning of the month. He was even more of a handful now more than ever.
Imp however stood still as Alex brushed her down and Steve and Sam worked together to get her tack on without getting stepped on or interrupted by her constant need to move. Imp was finally grade two and her turf triple crown form was coming back at a alarming rate but it didn’t change the fact that she was still something of a laughing stock. She’d put a lot of nonbelievers to rest by winning the World Filly Cup, but then she followed it up with another third in the La Costa Stakes. She was considered a wishy washy horse by some and a serious threat to others. So she didn’t win the Turf Triple Crown, but she had every good reason to, she switched barns right before the Belmont Turf Classic. She may have been training well, but transistion is never easy for any horse. As lame of an excuse that it sounded like.
Anywho, Imp was out for blood, and she was going to stop at nothing to win the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare turf, even if it was against one of her own stablemates.
Steve had chosen for Take Flight and Dare To Impress to work together not only because of their relations, but because it was a different combination that had never been done before.
Fly was the favorite for next years turf triple crown, or at least he looked to be, although he didn’t really deserve it. He’d only had one horse of the year win to his name but his grade three status certainly helped with that. Most of his participation in horse of the year races ended with a second or third place finish and it was slightly unsettling to everyone at Grayson Meadows with him going into the Breeders’ Cup full of horses with more horse of the year experience. However, what made it funny was that he did indeed not have a lot of horse of the year wins to his name, but he’d beaten every one of the horses who’d beaten him in the horse of the year races he’d taken apart in. With that in mind, it was also best to not underestimate him.
Many believed that he wasn’t able to get the shorter distances of 9 or 10 furlongs, but his last race had proved otherwise. Fly was certainly a classy horse, and he was the king of his crop when it came to longer distances. His last win over ten furlongs was the perfect prep for the Breeders’ Cup and he was ready to take on the likes of Refute, Spotlight Pride, and Devil’s Flair.
Once the two were tacked up Alex and Andrew were given legs up and were headed out to the track. Fly was his usual bouncy self, and jumped all over the track, he could barely contain himself. Imp ducked her head in and didn’t display such childish behavior but she did display her aggression and spirited personality on the track. Her muscles flexed powerfully and she held her tail high, just slightly over exaggerating every step she took. Her black coat reflected the sun's rays making her look rather majestic next to her duller-colored bay uncle.
Fly’s next race had vengeance written all over it, every horse that had beat him during the Turf Challenge was entered and they would be in for a very rude awakening. Fly had never looked better, stronger, he was losing his danky two-year old look every day and was beginning to fill out very nicely. His ribs no longer were as prominent and he'd finally seemed to grow into his legs. He seemed to get less and less blindsided to what was behind him and running at him with every workout and finally seeming to grasp the concept that usually someone was going to run at him hard and fast at the end and he needed to be ready. He'd lost so many races that way and it was painful to watch. However, those days were long behind him. He'd held off the likes of a fast closing Girl Talk recently, who had just managed to notch a win against the likes of Pandora.
His running style was going to benefit him largely in the Breeders' Cup, the juvenile turf was going to be an absolute pace meltdown with the likes of Spotlight Pride, Devil's Flair, and Refute all pushing each other to exhaustion. Not to forget Spotlight Pride and Devil's Flair had run the previous week and the two of them drove each other to exhaustion, it would be pretty impressive to see either of them notch a win easily after their last race. If Refute did indeed rate in the race it wouldn't matter much because Spotlight Pride would be pushed by Devil's Flair, Dragon Heart and just maybe Refute. That would leave Fly and Eavesdropper to pick off their opponents and rally for the win. If the pace was going to be as suicidal as predicted Fly was perfectly set up for a win. The race was his to lose though.
Imp on the other hand wouldn't have any of the sort in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf. She was going to be put behind an incredibly ticked, and holy-crap fast Passion Heart. The older mare was out for blood but she was looking to run everyone into the ground, she'd bounced back wonderfully from her 1:59 3/5 work the other day. Fleet Majesty looked to be an incredible threat too, she was only improving and her experience on the rest of them could lead her to a victory. The race wasn't chocked full of pace, but it was chocked full of closers, and that was seriously dangerous. Imp may have been running well, but she was going to have to run great to run down Passion Heart and hold off everyone else. She wasn't set up perfectly for the win, but it wasn't like she hadn't won under similar circumstances.
The two gated with little issue and they flew from them strongly, they ran side-by-side, Imp on the inside, Fly on the outside. Watching them run you could certainly tell they were related, they carried themselves in certain manners that were unmistakably from the Merry Bay King and Impressesario line. This was a highly anticipated workout by many when they saw the workout schedule for the day. These horses were considered royalty and they certainly delivered nothing but the best. They seemed to know it too, they had that winning aura to them and when Imp decided to test how fast Fly would go, the two started picking it up. Sinking their hooves into the turf and leaving small little dents in the grass.
Soon they were at each others throats but both were holding back just enough to really go for the jugular when the home stretch came. Imp perked her ears on was cocked back at Alex and the other over at Fly. It was like she was daring him to run at her, try and impress her, just as her name entailed.
The homestretch opened and Fly and Imp dug their heels into the turf together. Looking every ounce the royal blood that they were. They broke off at about the same speed and they continued their dead-locked duel down the stretch. Neither wanted to give the other so much as a centimeter and they continued to fight with each other for the lead, both showing serious heart and guts. Imp found another gear and put her head ahead of Fly, and he came down hard on her but he didn't catch her before they flew past the wire with Imp winning by a head.
They were both ready, and both were out for blood. They were out to lay their claim to their titles as the top of their division, and someone was going to have to run the race of their life to beat them.
