Better Late Than Never.

[Cavallo]

Better Late Than Never.
Featuring: Meritorious & Secret Success

Brody ran through the barn aisle's at a neck-breaking speed. He was late and he was afraid of how Nick would react. He thanked his lucky stars for the staff at IRS as he saw Tera standing, albeit impatiently, tacked, groomed and ready to hit the tracks. Tera danced in place in anxious anticipation as Brody collected the reins and slapped the colt's neck affectionately. The grey colt chuffed at the attention, but was more than willing to follow his lead to the tracks. Secret Success was not the poster child for IRS. When most people thought of the black and maroon racing silks they thought of Nightshade, Anodyne, War Admiral, Admiral's Revenge, but not Tera. The grey colt was the picture of a toned and seasoned athlete, his grey form toned and streamlined and yet filled with power and muscle. Brody was proud of the colt beside him and had no shame or fear to be Tera's rider. He may not be the poster child, but that didn't mean he wasn't a serious contender.

March and June had been a series of second places for the hard trying colt and horse, rider and trainer knew Tera was on the cusp of a new greatness, hence their entrance into the Red Mile series. It was a smaller field, but it was not lacking in caliber. It was the perfect chance to up the stakes. It was not Tera's first rodeo at the stakes level, but he'd never been sharper or more fit. Nick checked his watch and gave Graham "the look" as he and Tera trotted over to where Michael and Meritorious stood waiting. The chestnut filly was her usual fireball self as she danced in place, eyes flashing a white rim that blended in eerily with her bald face. Michael quickly soothed the filly and smiled at Brody who had enough common sense to look sheepish.

"You're late Brody." The young jockey apologized profusely, which Nick waved off and gave quick instructions. Both jockeys smirked and mounted as they tore off over the dirt track. They knew their instructions. Mile workup with a three furlong breeze home. Simple and yet enough of a work to skim off excess energy and have them both poised and primed come race day. Nick watched with astute eyes as the pair galloped easily over the track. He wasn't expecting a miracle this year in the CTC. Back to back winners would be a thing of legendary proportions for him as a trainer, but he was if anything a realist. There was a lot of solid competition this year for the CTC and the chances of there being another Crown winner was slim in his mind, but if anyone could pull it off he knew it would be Tori.

The chestnut filly was one win shy of her grade two status and boy was she ever hungry for a win. After being denied her victories in the month of June she was primed and looking for retribution. This wasn't an entirely unfamiliar field, she'd bested and lost to horses in this field and so it seemed to be a wild card kind of prediction, but he had faith in the rambunctious and loud personality filly.

They flew in tandem, neither three year old quite willing to concede, but both jockeys handling them in expert fashion. He wanted them to push and challenge one another and leave them wanting more come the finish. Tera was a wide eye wonder as he held his own against Tori, much to the filly's frustration, but she minded Michael's cues. She wasn't a runaway freight train, no she was a carefully calculated bullet train, just waiting for her rider to push the go button. Around the turn they came and Nick's eyes gleamed in pleasure as his head mentally ticked off the fractions. They rallied for home and both put on stunning short peeks into their blossoming and developing talent. They were each coming into powerful forms and now was a better time than ever.