fall upon my sword

BLUE ME AWAY WORKS FOR THE SWORD DANCER STAKES

Once upon a time, a long time ago now, Blue Me Away had been the top turf horse of his age group. Since losing the first race of the Turf Triple Crown, and then the following two legs, a lot of confidence had been lost in the colt. Not only the confidence of those who worked with the colt, but the confidence of the colt himself. Their competitors no longer saw them as a threat, because they never won. There were a few people who worked close with Blue, and they were the only ones that still believed in him. They knew it was just bad luck that he kept losing, and he would get the win and restore his confidence sooner or later.

Blaze lead the colt from his stall to crossties and then proceeded to pick out each out his four hoofs. Then, instead of tacking up, Blaze took the colt for a walk down to the horse pool. Star Thoroughbreds had a swimming pool for the horses and also an aqua walker. It was great exercise for the horses without putting stress on their delicate legs. Entering the indoor pool area, Blaze looked around for James, his uncle, boss and the main trainer for Star Thoroughbreds. Bring him to the walker first, Blaze. James called from the controls for the machine.

Blaze jiggled the lead rope, and Blue followed him again. Leading the colt to the entrance of the aqua walker, Blaze closed the gate behind him and unclipped the rope. Blue looked at him and began to wander into the water as another gate type thing moved behind him. Blue reached the aqua walker itself and stopped, looking back at Blaze again. Blaze smiled at the colt and closed the safety gate behind him so that the thoroughbred didn't try to leave before his session was over.

James started the machine, and Blue began walking briskly in the water that came up to his belly. Blaze joined James without taking his eyes of the colt. Both men were silent for several minutes, until James pushed up the intensity so that Blue was almost trotting. Do you think he'll ever win again? Blaze asked James quietly. James looked at him in surprise. He wondered if Blaze thought it to be his fault that Blue Me Away was not getting the wins in. Of course. He's just going through a patch of bad luck. I mean. he's coming second, not last. James reasoned. Blue snorted loudly, as though he was agreeing and promising to win next time out.

Blaze didn't reply. It was exactly the fact that Blue kept coming in second place that had him worried it was his fault the colt wasn't winning. His next opportunity to win was in the Sword Dancer Stakes. With just two other entrants, he didn't have much competition and therefore had a higher chance of winning. That was the logic, anyway. Blaze knew that the other two colts they would face in the race were tough. GS Royal Crown was a grade two colt that had snuck under the radar this year and racked up a few impressive wins. He would be the favourite. Ode To Glory was the other entrant, and like Blue he was having a fairly average season. The difference was, Ode had won two weeks ago. He would have the confidence Blue did not.

After a good fifteen minutes treading water, Blue was let out and onto his next workout activity - swimming. Blaze hooked on lead on to the side ring on his halter, and James clipped onto the other side after turning off the aqua walker. Together they lead the colt down the ramp, each taking one side of the pool. Blue entered the water and took several steps. When he was about to lose his footing and begin to swim, the colt lunged forward, creating a wave. He swam strongly, reaching the end of the pool in good time. Blaze and James turned him around and lead him back into the pool, swimming him again. They did this twice more, then the workout was finished. Blue sighed contentedly as Blaze rubbed him down with a couple towels, then followed him to a dry heated stall where he would remain until he was completely dry. The weather was cold outside, after all.

Blaze couldn't stop thinking about the Sword Dancer Stakes, and how much he wanted to finally win on Blue. It had been too long. He knew Blue would try his best, and hoped their luck would finally change.