illumination

[S u N f r O s T ~]

CALL OF THE WILD AND KRYSTAL YHATE
ALTERCATION AND AMBER BLACK
CYCLONARIA AND VALENCIA ANDREWS
MELUSINE AND MEREDITH MAHON
MELODIOUS AND HENNA TURATH
TRINITY AND CHRISTOPHER BLACK

TRIN'S LURE GREEN MILE WORKOUT

If there was one horse that deserved glory right now, it would be Trinity. The fierce bay filly had grown into a courageous underdog in her races, always giving top effort under her jockey Christopher Black. The road had not been easy, but Trinity had run it regardless. She had placed third in all of the Turf Triple Tiara preps and legs, ever consistent and hard-trying. Her talent grew by leaps and bounds every day. No horse on the roster trained harder - or better - than Trinity. She had one her last start in the Flatfoot Mile over Spotlight Pride. Now she faced the same colt in the Lure Green Mile, and the racing world wondered if she could maintain her consistency and snag another win. Pride was the best horse of his age at a mile on the grass. Trin could match him. They just needed to do it. Christopher leaned forward and let the filly soar after a half mile lope around the track. Trin gave it her all and then some. Her motion was near effortless as she raced down the turf, and Amber clicked the stopwatch and smiled as Christopher brought Trin to a cool-down pace. The engines were revving and the filly was ready to go, for sure.

But now it was her turn. Altercation, son of Worldbreaker and Royal Assault, had been bred to be a beast in the turf classics. As of yet, Al had not yet developed to the point of competitiveness among his yearmates. The press had been disappointed, but Amber remained hopeful. Al just wasn't there yet, that was all. His sire had not run his best until four or five years old. Al had followed those tendencies. He improved every race and always tried hard, but he just wasn't firing as of yet. That would change. Al had a long-strided, confident gallop that covered ground quickly. Amber let the horse run, and Al took to battle like a fish to water. He was being shadowed by Melusine, his female turf counterpart. Sina was the spitting image of her dam, Sillenia. She was built like a tank and always gave out punishment. As a juvenile, Sina was lighting the tracks on fire. She was lightly raced but had only lost three times in her career, two of those losses being narrow seconds. This filly was selectively raced and their best hope for the Turf Triple Crown should Al not pick it up. Meredith Mahon was getting her first ride over this filly and was impressed with her tactical ability to rate and then swarm when asked. Al fought bravely, but Sina outfooted him slightly to the wire.

Melodious was not keen to wait any longer. The flighty filly had patiently watched the other horses work, but no more. The light gray asked to go and Henna let her go. This was a filly who was their best turf sprinter. And she worked out alongside their best turf miler, Cyclonaria. Valencia whistled as the chestnut threw down the gauntlet, taking off after her competitor like she had been lit on fire. Cy did not work well unless it was with another horse; Mel was a long-time stable rival, and neither one managed to win over the other during a workout. It was only in races, with interfering factors, that other horses secured the win. Mel and Cy raced more than impressive fractions, gradually gaining faster with every furlong, until finally their jockeys ended the private battle. Amber clicked the stopwatch, and looked down with a smirk. She had some of the quickest turf fillies in the country, right in front of her.

Senior racehorse Call of the Wild went for a run next. The stallion had followed an interesting arc of development. As a juvenile, he had mainly undercarded with some HOTY races thrown in, and his performance had been solid. Call had mirrored his performance as a three year old, but in HOTY races with some undercards thrown in. He had been fantastic, showing a liking for the miler distances that Amber had then scheduled him to race in. Krystal knew that they now enjoyed an even greater amount of success. They were excellent turf milers, known for it by now, and they raced solely in HOTY races while performing well. Call showed his experience now, rating perfectly for his stamina-based mile workout and racing the final quarter in solid time. Krystal's grin was unmistakable as she brought her colt back down to a jog. Call moved easily, effortlessly. He was truly becoming a different horse entirely as he grew up and was the only horse heading on to another season in Year Sixteen as a result of his stunning development.