born to fight

BORN TO SOAR AND SILENT FURY WORK FOR THE BREEDER'S CUP TURF

Dismounting Sunset Crusade and Bank On Greatness, Marissa and Sarah moved on to their next mounts for the morning. The beautiful chestnut Born To Soar, and the sometimes aggressive but good looking son of Rising Fury, Silent Fury. Sarah wished she could have brushed Born To Soar this morning, wanting to spend special time with the young mare. But they had a schedule, and they had to stick to it. She'd gotten up a half hour earlier than she needed to to groom Greatness.

After winning the Breeder's Cup Juvenile Fillies as a two year old, and the Ladies Classic as a three year old, Born To Soar was now going to attempt to conquer the Breeder's Cup Turf. Along with her was Silent Fury, who had narrowly lost the Breeder's Cup Juvenile Turf last year and had this year won two legs of the Turf Triple Crown and placed second in the first. He'd only been lightly raced, because of being a lower grade and younger than STBS's other turf horses.

They mounted up and began their warm up, starting with a trot around the outer edge of the turf track. They rode in silence for a while, each thinking and worrying about the Breeder's Cup. These two were entered in the Breeder's Cup Turf. Funnily enough, they were up against their half siblings. Born To Soar and Wildly Natural were both sired by The Natural, whereas Worldbreaker and Silent Fury were both sired by Grand Silence. SOPS's horses were also out of the same dam. It would certainly be interesting to see how this race played out. Silent Fury would set the pace. Marissa would have to ensure he didn't go too fast, because the race was twelve furlongs and he would need to conserve some energy to hold off the SOPS horses in the stretch.

Born To Soar would likely run second. Sarah would keep her next to the rail until the stretch, where they would make their move and attempt to overtake Silence. Wildly Natural was a closer, and would most likely run in third or fourth until the stretch. Worldbreaker liked the same position, and would also most likely run third or fourth. Or the pair could choose to run side by side. The plan for the Star Thoroughbreds pair was basically to run ahead of the SOPS pair, wire to wire.

But, both SOPS horses were just as talented as the STBS horses. Wildly Natural was grade one, and had put away 34 wins in 69 starts. At five years old, the mare was still going strong although it was rumored she was to retire after this race. Worldbreaker was four, and although not as strong as Tura, he was still a good colt. His career record was 31-9-10-5, and five of those wins had been won this season. He was clearly upping his game, and could prove a serious contender.

Born To Soar was also grade one. She was four years old, and had won 29 of 58 starts. She was the winner of this year's G1 Universal Cup, one of the biggest turf races on the calendar. This year she had won nine of nineteen starts, placed second in seven, third in two and once in fourth. As the young mare was likely retiring, Sarah seriously wanted her to win her last race. Silent Fury was the youngest of the field. At three years old, he was grade three and had a record of 21-7-7-4.

After trotting and cantering for more than a lap of the turf track, they had arrived at the four furlong pole and made the swift transition to gallop. As expected, as always, Silent Fury quickly took the lead, and Born To Soar followed, accelerating a bit more gradually that her furious stablemate. The approached the turn quickly, and leaned inwards as they rounded it.

As the turn leveled into the stretch, Marissa looked back to see Born To Soar's position, then urged Silent Fury on. The colt put on a burst, pulling away from the chestnut filly, who had begun to make her move. Sarah gritted her teeth, and urged Sophia harder. Not that she needed to - the filly was ultra competitive and wasn't about to let the colt get the win. Rising Fury foals were notorious for their speed and furious temperaments, and The Natural foals were famous for being naturally amazing.

Born To Soar accelerated rapidly now, closing on the colt with every stride. He had the energy now, but after twelve furlongs of leading a race Sarah knew he wouldn't have quite so much steam left. Born to Soar lunged forward, putting her nose under the line first as Silent Fury's head drew back. Dammit, that was close! Marissa exclaimed as they galloped out. They were ready to take on the Breeder's Cup Turf.