kids in the dark

[Cruisey]

SIREN CALL && DEVON BLACKTHORN
DARK MAIDEN && SAMMIE PICKETT
FLASHING THE DECLARATION && TALIA SMITH

Johnny was going on break as the day rolled on and more and more works were piled upon Carter. The next group was a trio of sprinters, each in its own class. Siren Call, the grade three that was preparing for the Triple Sprinter Crown had fallen to her foes in the Motion Sprint, the first prep race of the series. The bay filly was full of fire after her loss, and she threatened to lunge at any horse that crossed her path. This was highly unusual of her, but Carter couldn’t blame her. Devon led her to the track separately from the others so she wouldn’t do any harm to herself or her breezing partners. In Carter’s hands led the two others down towards the grandstand. The little filly by the name of Dark Maiden was being led on his left, and jet black colt Flashing The Declaration was on his right.

Talia was going to stay on Flasher, and Carter had asked Sammie to hop on feisty little Mai. Sammie stepped forward and took Mai from Carter, refusing to look him in the eyes.

“Sammie…” Carter started, but she quickly cut him off by climbing aboard the bay filly.

“Not now Carter, we can talk about this later.” She sounded sad as Carter sighed, shaking his head as he watched her walk away on horseback. Devon mounted Siren and she instantly wheeled around, raring to get on the track. Talia was the last to mount onto Flasher, who calmly walked away when asked.

"How does she go out of the gate?" Sammie asked Talia, who was a little bit behind on Flasher.

"Pretty good, just watch out. She likes to cut to the rail right away, so make sure she doesn’t run whoever is on her left side down." Talia smiled at the younger girl and Sammie nodded.

All three horses were warmed up and made their way over to the gates. Flasher went in first on the inside, followed by Mai in slot 2. Siren was giving Devon a hard time again, but after the third attempt she went into the contraption without a second glance. Talia crouched and took hold of Flasher’s mane in preparation for the break. Sammie did the same, prepared for Mai's sprint from the gate. Devon tangled his hands in Siren’s black mane, adjusting his goggles one more time. The gates opened and the starting bell rang shrill in the air. Mai did just as Talia said she would and shot from the gate like a bullet. Flasher was hot on the filly’s tail and was fighting for the lead. Siren settled in behind and Devon stood in the irons, letting the experienced filly settle into her own pace. Mai hugged the rail as Flasher took a weird step and veered into the filly’s side. Mai threw her head in protest, flattening her ears against her head. Talia quickly straightened him up as they passed the 1/4 pole. Siren watched the scene unfold in front of her and was completely unfazed at the dirt being thrown in her face.

Too soon, the horses were at their marker and Devon let out an inch of his reins. He was urging the filly aggressively and Siren was responding like there was a burning iron on her side. Sammie started rocking on Mai’s back, and the filly responded quickly. Flasher was a little bit late to jump the gun, but he barely held onto the two fillies ahead of him, who were surging away gamely. Devon took this time to swing his whip across Siren’s side and the horse shot off like a rocket. Mai was hot on her tail, and Flasher was surprisingly not as far back as the three jockeys thought. Siren crossed under wire first, and Devon stood in the irons to attempt to slow the wired horse down. Mai galloped under one length behind Siren, and Flasher who was just half a length behind Mai. Flasher passed up the two bay fillies, which were being trotted around the turn. Flasher was still at full blown gallop, ignoring Talia’s requests to slow down. The colt was frantic and his strides were strewn, visibly disturbed at the loss against two girls. Talia huffed, annoyed at the black colt, who was struggling to find a normal pace. Devon and Sammie watched as Flasher retreated to an abnormally fast paced trot and then finally back to a walk. Siren was barely huffing, and Devon patted her sweaty neck. Sammie liked riding Mai, the filly had a certain fire under her belly that was difficult to place, but would certainly bloom later in the season.