born to reign

CROWNED QUEEN WORKS FOR THE STARSHINE SPRINT

Making kissing noises, Sarah got the bright chestnut filly moving off at a brisk trot. They began their warm up on the dirt track, and had it to themselves. This morning was their final workout before Jewel's next race. The thoroughbred was alert and energetic, but not difficult. Well, at least not yet. That would come when they got closer to galloping, and when Sarah had to bring the filly back through her paces after galloping.

The final leg of the Sprinter Tiara was running this weekend. It was the the Starshine Sprint, seven furlongs over dirt for three year old fillies only. Before now it had only been Wishing For A Heroine against them, but the arrival of a new competitor made things more exciting. Stride Of Perfection Stables had sent Battle Wings to try and steal the last race of the series. Of course, Crowned Queen, or Jewel as she was known at home, wasn't about to hand the Starshine Sprint over. And Sarah was sure that Wishing For A Heroine wouldn't either. Luckily, Battle Wings was a pace setter, which meant Jewel could coast along behind in her preferred position as preceder for about the first four furlongs of the race. After that, she'd begin to make a move. First creeping up onto Battle's flank, then at two furlongs bursting forward and sprinting for the wire like her tail was on fire.

Sarah nudged the filly's sides and the flame coloured thoroughbred surged into canter. Sarah had been riding her for months now, but was always impressed by Jewel. She had just hit thirty races and had accumulated fourteen wins, nine seconds and four thirds. There were only three out of top three placings. Sired by Flying Colours, and out of Crowned Cookie, Jewel had the breeding to go far in her career. Flying Colours was the only grade two to be inducted in the Hall of Fame, famed for his wins in the Unicorn Horn Sprint, Star Festival and Breeder's Cup Sprint. Crowned Cookie did nothing special on the track, but reached grade three in only eighteen starts.

Jewel tugged on the reins for the fiftieth time, and Sarah let her switch to gallop with the four furlong marker only metres ahead. Coming off a win the filly was confident and ready for more. She'd been rested since her last run, which had been in the Purple Rose Stakes, and Sarah knew Wishing For A Heroine had too. Battle Wings on the other hand was coming off two wins, one the same week as the Purple Rose and the other last week in the Cigar Red Mile. In both races the filly had faced tough competition and it made her a top contender in this race.

Jewel lengthened her stride and propelled herself forward powerfully with her hinds. The finish was two furlongs away, and the filly would accelerate quickly to full speed and hold it for that length of time, ready with a final burst if needed. Sarah drove her on, although it was barely necessary. Even without competitors Jewel just loved to go all out. When the time came to slow the thoroughbred down, there was the usual argument. Jewel wanted to keep going, to catch up to Blue Me Away who worked on the turf track. Eventually Sarah pulled the horse up and turned her back for the gap in the rail. Jewel was ready for this race - she was born ready to reign.

BORN TO IMPRESS WORKS FOR THE BABBLING BROOK HANDICAP

Impress moved with such power and grace, it was hard not to be mesmerized by him. He was completely black and shone brightly even in the low morning light. He was a picture of health and fitness. Sarah posted in time with his trot, warming the four year old stallion up for his workout. Impress arched his neck and held his tail proudly. There was no one to show off to, really, being at their home training track. But Impress couldn't help himself. He was an impressive horse.

Today they were putting in their final workout before the Babbling Brook Handicap, a prep race for the Senior Superstars series. It was a ten furlong race over dirt, and had attracted a good sized field this year full of good competition. Impress had been only lightly raced this year so far, and had taken several weeks off racing to do intensive training for the second half of the year, which brought tougher competition and back to back weeks of racing. Impress was more muscular than before, filling out as he aged and trained. Most of his training in June and July had been at the beach, which had built his strength and stamina tenfold. In between those sessions and during some of them, Impress had done swims in their purpose built pool and walked and trotted through the water walker and the ocean.

Being a Kentucky Derby winner, the press had followed Impress closely for sometime and then practically ignored him since his third place finish in the Breeder's Cup Classic last year. He was stronger, faster, and more mature now and would be going back for a second try in the iconic race at the end of the season. There was just a few months left to go and Impress would race a lot between now and then to prepare for it. The field for the Babbling Brook would hardly compare to the Classic field, so it was practically a warm up along the way.

Pushing the colt on into canter, Sarah considered the Babbling Brook Handicap field more closely. Gate one would hold Red Herring, who had been a rival of Impress' back as a two and three year old. Red was now owned by Firestone Racing, and had most recently run fourth in the These Old Bones Stakes. Next was without doubt their biggest competition, Eternal Phantom. The Stride Of Perfection Stables mare had not placed out of the top two all year and was coming off a second in the El Sol Del Mar Memorial, in which Lusitania's Soldier had beaten her. She would most definitely be out for blood. The third entrant was a bit of a surprise - Gallant Knight from Ivory Storms Stables. it was true that the four year old half sibling of Flashy Wings had vastly improved this year, but Sarah wondered if he was in a little over his head in this race. Time would tell.

The fourth entrant was up and comer GS Super Charged. The four year old Admiral's Revenge stallion was coming off a win in the These Old Bones Stakes and looked to be one to beat. Their last contender was Nightshade of Intrepid Racing. The four year old filly was having a good season and was coming off third place in the These Old Bones Stakes. Overall it was a challenging field but not one Impress couldn't beat. He'd most likely run behind the leaders until closing dramatically in the final furlongs to hopefully snag the win.

Impress switched to gallop with powerful acceleration. Sarah had to take a handful of his jet black mane to steady herself before taking in an inch of rein and rating the colt's speed. They moved around the turn quickly, and Impress accelerated again in the straight, almost immediately reaching his full speed. Sarah drove the colt on but all she really needed to do was hold on - he was doing the rest. Especially now that there was a group of horses ahead to chase down. Reaching the finish in record time, Sarah managed to pull the eager colt up fairly easily with a one rein stop. Impress had barely broken a sweat, and seemed as though he could keep going for miles. His breathing quickly returned to normal. The colt was born to reign, so rule he would.