a special time

[S u N f r O s T ~]

ITALIAN ICE AND VALENCIA ANDREWS - SUMMER DAWN TREADER CUP
IMPRESSIONABLE AND KRYSTAL YHATE - MOTHER GOOSE STAKES

Never let the dream fade, even when failure seemed to be the only option. This was the message burning in both women's hearts as they vaulted onto the backs of their dearest mounts and proceeded to head out to the Wire's dirt track. Their horses knew the way, walking with the confidence of experienced racehorses and heedless of the stares of the media. They each got stares for different reasons. Italian Ice was the Wire's first Canadian Triple Crown winner. She had dominated at the Wire for the entirety of her career, but this season was focusing solely on a handful of races. She was off right now for the Summer Dawn Treader Cup with plans to lay claim to her second title in the race series. The odds could be stacked against her based on this season - Icee had not raced as much as the other horses. But had this stopped her from making a strong appearance in the Turf Triple Crown and sweeping the Canadian Triple Crown as a three year old? Such disadvantages appeared not to matter when it was this mare gliding over her home track. As for her companion, well, Impressionable was showing up on the Triple Tiara trail. The filly had proven to be not ready to face the males in the Crown as planned, but she was packing a punch for the Tiara. What other filly had been campaigned so purely against the males from the start of her career? Empress was facing gender-segregated competition on purpose for perhaps the first time in her career. They had never said no to facing the boys before.

Empress's chestnut coat glittered like a brand new penny in the morning sunlight. Icee was like a black wraith at her side, lithe and powerful like a predator. Valencia Andrews sent smirks to any media member who met her eyes. She projected confidence, as did her mount. This was their track, and the rest would do well to not forget that. They picked up the pace, shoving into the lead with sudden strength, showing off their easy power as they began to jog. Empress did not miss a beat. The three year old filly followed her elder, snaking to the outside and sticking to it throughout the warm-up like the game horse she was. Icee flared raw talent; it was what had made her stick with Valencia for so long and so well in the first place. They had been working together for so long and had accomplished no end of things together. The lead was theirs to own, the win theirs to claim. Empress, however, refused to let the overwhelming confidence of her workmate get to her. She maintained her icy cold demeanor even as they finished warming up and swung right into the workout, two fighters ready to go at it in the ring.

Now it was Empress who swept the lead despite her position on the outside. The cold princess refused to let any horse get in front of her during a race, but at the same time she knew modulation. So, too, did Icee. The black mare took her accustomed position as a stalker, letting the pace fly but making no effort to speed it up or slow it down. She was perfectly fine in her hunting position. Krystal loved the easy control Empress commanded, as well as the toughness she used to back it up. No horse could be as mentally tough as her chestnut filly, out boxing with any horse who tried to face her from day one. Empress had developed a lot - it was perhaps that development that had kept wins at hoof's length from them this season. Well, Empress was certainly ready to show the world how much she had grown in the Mother Goose Stakes. The classic distance was her bread and butter, the battle of the race a homecoming. For Valencia, it was Icee's smooth motion and sheer toughness that got her. Icee had not had the consistent racing of a successful racehorse, but what racing she had gotten in her first two years had been enough to turn her into a monster. And now the mare tracked her prey, intent on this win as she had always been in every race.

The four furlongs was clicked off in forty eight flat. Empress was just coasting, giving it barely anything. But now Icee pressed it, Valencia light as a feather on her back and letting the mare do what she did best. There was no point in trying to coach a veteran who already knew what she was doing. Valencia was merely there as the co-pilot. Empress let Icee creep right up on her and didn't flinch a bit. She glared right into Icee's eyes, never breaking stride, never backing down. Icee had faced many a game competitor in her time. She was not intimidated by this horse that had grown too big for her britches. It would be time to put her in place in three...two...one furlong, and the final stretch, and now Icee galloped for the lead. She sprinted as though she had never been moving at all, and took the lead with ease. The move left Empress slightly stunned - she had not quite faced a horse of Icee's caliber before - but regardless the chestnut recovered, streaking after the older mare indignantly. Icee had two lengths at this point. Through sheer heart and effort, Empress narrowed it down to one before the wire slammed the breaks on the flying pair.

Empress pulled up, snorting in indignation. Icee looked as though the effort had taken nothing out of her, class as always. Amber Black watched from her place at the railing, a smile curving her face. There were her classic fillies, always ready to go and kick butt no matter the odds. How she loved the heart and class of these two. And now, after what she had seen, she was even more excited for race day.