Post by creativecause on Feb 4, 2015 18:25:01 GMT -5
Geronimo
The Apathy and Hadley Grayson
Daddy’s Overdraft and Alex Shade
Prima Donna and Jessie Coppermen
Take Flight and Andrew Martin
Cobweb squealed so loud Alex swore it shook the whole barn. The older mare certainly hadn’t lost any of her spunk in her older age. She sidestepped and threw her head, her hide twitched wildly with anticipation. Eyes lulled in excitement. She was alive with energy and her skin hummed beneath Alex’s hands. Cobweb was back and better than ever this year, and she was going to make her mark on the racing world in this season, he just knew it.
Several stalls over Hadley was wrestling with Comet. The filly was a handful and she always had been. After a so-so two year old season, Grayson Meadows was determined to get her on her feet. She was the daughter of a hall of famer and it was about time she started to act like it. She flicked her ears back and forth, and blinked her eyes at Hadley as she finished with her bridle adjustments. In terms of growth and development, Comet certainly was a tad behind everyone. She hadn’t hit her stride yet, she hadn’t quit grown into herself just yet. Tanner Grayson had bought the filly and brought her home knowing that she may not actually really do some damage until late her three year old season. However, she had a sister by the name of Reflected In Water that said otherwise. She’d certainly picked up in the few months she’d been at Grayson Meadows and Steve was certainly more than willing to make sure that she continued to improve. They could have what could be a serious turf triple tiara contender in her.
Further down in the barn was the princess. Prima Donna. Usually she was Hadley’s regular mount but not today. Today Prima was to be Jessie’s mount. He hadn’t been exactly happy about riding the mare who acted like a queen, but he could think of worse horses to ride. Prima nudged and pushed at Jessie, awaiting his reaction, but unlike many, he didn’t react at all to her pushing and prodding. It did rather annoy him that she always had to be first and her queen-like, I-know-everything attitude was slightly aggravating. He decided it was best that he not react and that’s exactly how he dealt with her.
Then there was Fly. The Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner. After a few weeks of breaking, Fly was ready to come back this season and do his best to take the Turf Triple Crown. He pranced around Andrew like the regal animal he was. His head was rather odd shaped, he wasn’t roman-nosed, but he had this odd bump at the top of his head that gave it a rather odd look. Nonetheless his head-shape didn’t much matter. He had done quite a bit of growing since the Breeders’ Cup but it hadn’t affected his running any. Andrew had stopped him to admire his well-muscled body and white stripe down his face. He was the animal that god built to do something great. He was the spitting image of his father, except he wasn’t chestnut.
Everyone quickly finished up with their mounts and before they knew it they were all out on the turf track warming up. Hadley was wrestling with The Apathy as the only thing she wanted to do was run, which provoked Cobweb and she hopped across the track in an odd, yet athletic way.
Looking down at all of them they may look like a rather odd group, Cobweb hopping all over the place, The Apathy arching her neck and pulling hard on her bit, and then there was Fly who was trotting alongside Prima Donna, both looking regal.
Team Grayson Meadows was trying something new here, they were going to work in pairs and stagger themselves. Cobweb and Fly, Comet and Prima.
Fly and Cobweb were warmed up quickly and were both loaded into the gate. Cobweb threw her head and Fly seemed to march in place in the gate. Their eyes were lulled so the whites of them could be seen and their nostrils flared, breathing in the track. The gates burst and they flew out of them. Cobweb broke the quickest and put at least a length between her and Fly as she charged to the front and slowed down at the beginning of the first turn. Fly took the lead from the grey mare and they battled on through the turn.
Both had a spring to their strides that made them a very intriguing pair to watch, neither was totally blowing themselves out, but both were painfully aware of each other's presence and both of them wanted to get to the wire first. Fly ran strong along the outside, he was taller than Cobweb by now, more muscled, he looked like a full fledge three year old now and he ran like any battle tested horse would. He was a Breeders’ Cup race winner and he certainly looked like it. His stride extended over the turf effortlessly and he looked much like a kid rather enjoying himself.
Cobweb had a similar image, she was the white ghost next to his lighter bay coloring, but she looked just as content with what she was doing as Fly did. It was a wonder the two didn’t work in company more often. Cobweb pressed Fly on and her tongue lolled to the side of her mouth. She tugged on the reins and chased Fly around the back stretch. She was thriving off of her recent win and it certainly showed.
Jessie and Hadley gated with Comet and Prima and they waited for their turn to start their work, Aaron gave them a thumbs up from the rail with her stopwatch in hand. The gates burst and Comet shot out of them like, well a comet. Her ears were pricked with intense focus and excitement. Prima followed quickly after, striding along strongly. Being the half sister to the famed Call Me Crooked, one would think Prima was a rather nice race horse, and she was. She’d just come off of a so-so season and was sitting on the edge of being a Grade Two competitor. She was a very classy horse but she had yet to hit her stride, Steve was confident that this season was hers. She was going to hit grade one and flash her speed in everyones faces. Comet was looking to be quite the upset in the Turf Triple Tiara, but she had to start winning and picking herself up before she could do that. Which in the past few weeks, she’d done just that, with a solid prep under her she was ready to take on the rest of the season with her head held high.
Fly’s next start would come from an unexpected place, the Green Horse Turf. The race had originally been picked for Dare To Impress but they’d decided he needed a prep before jumping onto the Turf Triple Crown trail, so here he was. Working like an absolute animal in prep for a challenging race ahead of him. Handsome Tabby was a horse to bring concern, but Fly could handle him. Fly was set up to run one heck of a race, many may think he couldn’t handle it being against older horses, but Fly was a classy horse and it wasn’t like he hadn’t handled rough competition before. The race was pretty well balanced with Refute being the frontrunner and Handsome Tabby would contend with him then there was Fly who would be behind all of that madness and Livin’ The Jazz would be looking to pull the upset.
Cobweb wasn’t going to race for another week and she’d be up against one of the best. Beautiful Liar. The task at hand would be difficult, both were trying for their G1 win and it was going to be quite the race.
They were beginning to pick it up and soon they were at eachothers throats, Cobweb stuck her head ahead of the colt and both fought on gamely. Cobweb nabbed the win by a nose at the wire when Fly came back at her with a vengeance but it wasn’t quite enough, although he passed her several strides after the wire.
Donna and Comet were a different story, they seemed to be rather annoyed with each other already but kept together. They matched, stride for stride, and they nearly looked exactly alike, other than Comet had a huge blaze that would soon be recognized by just about anyone. They flew around the final turn and into the stretch and they dug in after each other. Donna stuck her nose in front and then her head and they battled right on. Their coats glistened with sweat even though it wasn’t that warm outside. They flew over the frosted turf and down the the wire with Donna taking it by a neck.
