clock is ticking

ATTRACTIVE FLIGHT WORKS FOR THE TICK TOCK SPRINT*

Neck arched, with his tail in the air, Attractive Flight looked great. He was a muscular colt, with a deep chest and a fine head. Trotting on the dirt track, he would have drawn stares if they were out in public. After selling several horses and retiring several more, Star Thoroughbreds now had more time to devote to their still huge racing string. Attractive Flight was to run in the Triple Sprinter Crown and had raced well in preparation for the series, although he had won only twice so far this year and neither win was anything special. Still it was something - the Flying Colours colt was a late bloomer like his sire and they would expect more from in him future.

The first race of the Triple Sprinter Crown was the Tick Tock Sprint, run over five furlongs on dirt. Interestingly enough, the only contender it had attracted thus far was Special Edition, the colt they'd been forced to sell just days ago. As a former owner of Ed, they knew his strengths and weaknesses, the position he liked to run in, his personality, everything. Whether it proved to be any advantage remained to be seen. Ed had run as a mid packer with Star Thoroughbreds, and as it was his first race with Dark Justice Stables, would they know that? As it was only the pair of them, anyway, and Matty ran as a closer, Ed would have to lead the race.

Matty moved on into a quick canter, flicking his tail and snorting impatiently. Blaze tightened his grip on the reins for a few moments, sure that Matty was about to haul his head down and buck. The colt cantered on with a slight head toss, arguing the extra pressure on his mouth and Blaze eased it back slowly. Earlier today he had been admiring Blue Me Away from aboard, now he was admiring Attractive Flight. The three year old bay shimmered and shone in the early morning sunlight, muscles bulging as they stretched and contracted. Apart from colour, the colt strongly resembled his sire. They had the same body type, the same personality, and hopefully the same ability.

Matty's times were improving all the time, bit by bit. Blaze hoped by the end of the season the colt would pick up performance wise, and win a heap of big races. He was currently on the verge of grade three and hadn't won since May. Hopefully that would change with the Tick Tock Sprint. As they moved toward the final turn Blaze urged the colt on into gallop. He didn't need encouraging, and made the transition immediately and smoothly. Taking the turn fast, Matty continued to accelerate into it. It was one of his great qualities as a racehorse - some horses couldn't keep up or gain speed around the turn. It was where Matty really began to gain ground on the leaders in longer races, before truly beginning his sprint at the two furlong marker. In short races like the Tick Tock Sprint, where the race was entirely straight, he started slow and worked his way up to lightening speed before the finish. Not the typical sprinter racing style, but it was how Matty worked best.

The colt finished the turn and really turned on the speed, kicking up dirt behind him as he dug deep for more. Blaze began to urge him on and the colt gave it nearly everything. Nearly everything, because he was only racing the clock. He gave it all when he had someone to beat. As they crossed the finish line Blaze stood up in the stirrups, satisfied. He knew they could win on race day - Matty had stayed at Star Thoroughbreds for a good reason.