Post by Ripley on Jan 15, 2015 20:42:52 GMT -5
Divided We Fall
featuring: Divided Notion
David yawned from his cot, rubbing his hands over his face. He'd taken a brief nap over the track break, tired after all of the excitement over Note. The Like A Cheetah colt had stunned him with his speed. He'd ridden good horses, but a horse that young with that kind of speed... That was something else. He'd worked his way up from the bush tracks where talented riders often had to carry their mounts to victories. The mounts had to be booted home as though the rider's lives depended on it. For some, theirs had. Most families at the bush tracks were broke, supported by what little clientele they had. Some did it for fun, living their life's dream despite being in the poor house. Doing what you loved came at a sacrifice when it involved thoroughbreds.
Not for these people though... Carter turned his head sideways, watching Reese mount up on Taboo. The gray filly was top of the line bloodlines, sleek dappled body with a hothouse flower attitude. She was scary fast, bred to be scary fast and bloody talented. Blue bloods could have all the speed in the world, but they needed to have the heart, the courage. Was Taboo courageous? He didn't know. He'd never ridden her, but he'd make judgments on the filly because that's what he did. He wasn't a Nick Landing, a Brookson Wells. Born into money, trained into a job making money. He'd worked his way up from the bottom, from the bush tracks. He'd ridden his first race at the big tracks aboard In Front and had drove the colt home as though his life had depended on it. In Front had been impressive, but Ripley hadn't been looking for impressive. She'd been looking for a great return. She'd gotten it, but when she'd caught Dave with his eyes full of fight and fright, she had been angered. He'd been fired up, but she'd simply cut him with those cat-green eyes and he'd lost his fright. He'd stared at her as she'd said, "You're not a desperate jock anymore. You have nothing to lose by losing a race. Now go give him a mint." He'd gawked at her as she dropped a mint in the palm of his hand and walked away.
David jolted as a hand touched his knee, but he relaxed when he saw Brooks. "Yeah?"
"You gonna get up or laze around like a barn cat? I've got a horse for you, courtesy of Ripley Marsh."
David cocked an eyebrow, but he sat up and placed his feet on the ground as Brooks left him behind. A horse? He'd been done for the day by his last check on the workout board. He rolled his shoulders as he walked, getting rid of the kinks that had built up. Aches and pains, aches and pains. Brooks emerged from the end stall, leading a horse that David had not suspected he would ride in a million years. His blood sung with the excitement and rush of surprise.
Divided Notion. The very type of blue-blood that he'd just been mocking.
Brooks brought the stallion up to David, looked the man in the eyes and said. "Ripley said you'd be a perfect match. I had my arguments, but she not swayed. She said you'll fix each other." David's expression remained devoid of anything other than excitement, but Brooks could not help but feel he'd missed something. Ripley hadn't wanted Brooks to meet up with David after In Front's second out and he'd always wondered why. He hadn't seen the need to send the big colt flying like that, but he wasn't going to hurt him. Hell, they'd won the darn race!
David shrugged. "Don't know what that means, but I'm not going to argue."
"You shouldn't." Brooks motioned for him to step up to the horse's barrel, held a hand out to boost the jock.
David soared through the air, landed neatly on the horse's broad back. Divided Notion was a thick horse all around. According to Ripley's conversations with Brooks, the blaze marked horse hadn't always been so thick. Maturity had caught up with him. Time off at Blue Cross Estates had allowed him to fatten up and get out of race shape. The horse needed work to get back into his ultimate shape, but there was a question if his true abilities had even been touched. The powerful horse had been a consistent bugger, had won five races despite being shifted around, but he'd been expected to go above and beyond good and head toward great. Intrepid and Witch Creek had reached a deal at the sale that would give this one a big shot. If anyone could figure out how to turn Divided Notion into a champion on the rise, it would be Ripley Marsh.
David just hadn't expected to be the chosen rider.
Brooks led the strong horse toward the track, nodded at David to take up the stirrups. "He's going to debut this week so this is your chance to catch that ride. He's going to work on the turf today. He should like the springy turf here better than the thick stuff at Green Horse Fields. I'm hoping that's the case and that he won't exude too much effort today. Just get him to run that last stretch. I want four furlongs, breeze the first two. Gallop out at a good clip."
David nodded, took a breath when Brooks unclipped the lead shank from the bit. Divided Notion shook his head, but stepped out willingly over the dirt. He moved into a surprisingly graceful trot, his legs covering a tremendous amount of ground. David easily posted with the rhythm, was impressed by the horse. He was very much like In Front. This heavy, cumbersome creature sounded loud, but he glided. In Front took a lot to get going because he was nearly two hands taller than Demi. Demi, as heavy as he was, felt as agile as a tiger. David let the horse pick up a lope two hundred yards from the gap entrance to the turf. The dark horse moved confidently, mane and tail billowing back behind him like a cape. His easy going movement had David interested to find out what came next.
The gap crew nodded at David as he passed through the gap. He wasn't as well known as the other riders for Witch Creek, but they knew the black saddle pad and blue polo wraps as the stable colors. Demi snorted at the workers, his first display of unease since he'd come onto the track. David patted the colt's neck, jogged him around the bend, impressed that the horse seemed to really dig into the turf. His ears were pricked, his eyes bright and he seemed more on the muscle with every stride.
David checked over his shoulder, noted that Ripley was at the rail, appearing out of nowhere aboard Jabberwock. He clucked to Demi, ignoring the unease he felt at being watched by all these people. Divided Notion, however, did not seem to care if he had an audience or not. He moved into an impressive gallop stride and moved to the rail with purposeful strides. The blaze faced stallion cut his way over the turf with so much joy that it could be felt traveling up the reins to his human. David leaned close to the horse's neck as he breezed through the first two furlongs and headed for the far turn with gathering steam. His large stride carried him three wide around the turn, but his speed never seemed to falter. He had a one track mind and that mind was saying to stay as straight as an arrow.
David took note of a gray filly galloping down the center of the track at the same time as Demi. The dark horse's ears slammed to his heavy set neck just then, giving David ample warning. David's hands clutched the blowing black mane in time for the horse to give a great lurching stride. He would have been thrown back if he had not been paying attention.
The heavy set horse no longer seemed over-weight or under-fit. He powered down the stretch with such speed that it knocked the wind out of David's lungs. The horse swallowed the ground between himself and the galloping filly, drew her attention, but now he was set on beating her. It wasn't a fair race, but David could have cared less. When Demi stretched his thick body out, he seemed to drop to another gear and fly.
Ripley and Brooks watched with surprise as Divided Notion bolted through the finish line. No pressure, no encouragement. He just did it. David was still as a stone as the stallion bounded back into the first turn, ears pricked and stride well under him. Ripley nodded, "I'll be happy to get that horse in a race. He's tired of being beaten. And only a race will get him where I need him to be."
"Either way," Brooks said slowly, "It'll be a pleasant first race back."
Ripley nodded, watching David stroke the bay's neck. "That it will be."
