Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2012 2:49:25 GMT -5
Dawn Of Silence
The end of his season had gone badly. Very badly. It resulted in Danny finishing a very reluctant fourth... well, last, in the Breeder's Cup Juvenile Turf. I shouldn't have overestimated the colt. He wasn't ready for such tough competition. He may have placed well in his first five or so starts, but then it started going down hill, where we eventually were placing fourth and fifth in everything... which was very annoying considering we'd just changed his racing style for him to run better. He used to run at the front and tank along, but then we decided that we were going to let him precede, and have a pacemaker in his races so he wouldn't tank off and waste all his energy, but it seems no one noticed and he kept placing lower than he should've done.
Our next race was a Grade 5 race over at the wire on the Turf. The field was looking okay at the moment. In Gate One, there was us… so let’s move straight to gate two. In Gate Two, there was Cosmic Warfare. He’s started twice as a two year old, achieving a fourth and a fifth, then he started three times as a three year old, achieving a first, a second, and a seventh… we’d beaten him in the September Maiden Turf, when we won, so I was perfectly convinced that we could do it again. In Gate Three, there was the old Battling Brook Stable… they were no longer based at Akita Rose now, they were based at their own stables, Witch Creek Stable. There entrant was a horse who hadn’t raced for a long while by the name of Frozen Motion. He was a beautiful grey – and he’d had a good season but hadn’t raced for a long while. He achieved a first, two seconds, a third, a fourth, and a fifth. He had a good record, but would it be enough for Danny to beat him?
Finally in Gate Four, there was yet another grey – a colt owned by Akita Rose Stables themselves by the name of Snow Storm. He’d also had a good season, with one win, two thirds, a fourth and an eighth. In his two-year-old season though, he only managed to achieve a fourth and a ninth. Was he finally beginning to come into his prime and take the wins? It was yet to find out. I'd just finished tacking Danny up when I lead him out. I hopped on very quickly and walked the colt to the track. He pricked his ears tall, like he did yesterday. I smiled as he began to trot on the spot. A pony horse came up beside us. The man on board looked at me and smiled. So what can I do for you today? He asked me. I suddenly felt in a dream world. “Five furlongs please.” I said, trying to avoid eye contact. As the man took hold of the rein and broke into a trot. Instead of doing as he was supposed to, Danny broke in to a canter beside the horse. I sighed. “He's only a baby inside still... he's a goof, nothing we can do to be honest.” When the pony horse broke into a canter, Danny pricked his ears again.
As we got to the six furlong pole, he let us go. We began to gather speed. I took hold of the mane and pulled myself up into the racing stance. The colt broke onto the outside leg first, and began to run. I gave him his mouth and he pounced along the turf. I smiled and let him go. He really began to run. As we hit the turn, the colt changed his leads perfectly. I really let him go. He powered energetically along the turf, stretching his whole body out. I began to niggle him along, and we powered round the home turn and into the stretch. He ran as fast as he could, and trust me, it's fast. Very. This colt was maturing from a two year old to a three year old... it was time to go kick some butt. Coming down the home stretch, I wanted him to excel. He ran on, and extended his stride as we flew across the line. I patted his still dry neck, and grinned. I was so happy. The colt had done very well, and the day before his Grade 5 race, I knew we could kick some ultimate butt now. “Good boy Danny... you're very special to us.”
