war of the worlds

EUPHORIA'S WARRIOR, BORN TO IMPRESS AND WAR CRY WORK FOR THEIR NEXT RACES... WHATEVER THEY MAY BE.

An important decision needed to be made. The Palm Tree Paradise Invitational and Dubai World Cup were so close, with one running this weekend and the other running next weekend. Truthfully, the Dubai World Cup was the more important of the two but they couldn't send three horses to it. So, they had to pick which horse or which two horses to run in the big one, and the other or other two horses to run in the invitational race.

Marissa firmly guided War Cry through warm up exercises, barely keeping concentration as her mind raced over what it knew. Xena hadn't won since the Coaching Club American Oaks. She'd lost six races since then, and it was becoming a serious drought of wins. She needed a big win to redeem herself, and to place herself back firmly as a top contender for the Breeder's Cup and end of year awards. The Dubai Filly Cup had been an extremely close race, in which Xena had placed third behind four other horses who had drawn for the win and second place So far three of those four fillies were entered in the Dubai World Cup, as well as the stallion Flashy Wings.

Euphoria's Warrior and Stella were ahead, also trotting though figure eights and circles. Stella and Warrior had won the Dubai Colt Cup last year, and then placed second in the Dubai World Cup. This year the colt had run second in the Dubai Colt Cup, beating Born To Impress but losing to Flashy Wings. Stella knew there was some confusion as to which race each of the three horses would run in, but had a feeling the three year olds would get their chance in the Dubai World Cup. The Dubai World Championship was due to run two weeks following the Breeder's Cup, and that could possibly be Warrior's last race, if not the Breeder's Cup itself. Stella did not know yet which race she and Warrior would run in - it came down to the performance of Born To Impress in his next race as well as Warrior's.

Born To Impress strode onto to track a few minutes after Xena and Warrior, tossing his head proudly and playfully. He had picked up where War Cry had left off, and was now truly coming into his own. As the winner of the Unicorn Horn Dirt Mile, the Louisiana Derby, the Florida Derby, the Kentucky Derby and five other big races, Impress was looking good for a Horse Of The Year Award. It was his performance in his final two races of the year that would make or break this, though, so Impress had to win his next race, whether it was the Palm Tree Paradise Invitational or the Dubai World Cup, and then he had to win whichever Breeder's Cup race he was sent to. A Classic run was possibly on the cards.

After several more minutes trotting, Impress caught up with Xena and Warrior and together they moved on into canter. Marissa concentrated on keeping her feisty filly in check as every time she let her guard down, the thoroughbred attempted to bite her colt companions. Impress was used to it, and mostly ignored Xena. Warrior on the other hand had worked with her less, and with the same sire as the filly he was happy to finish any fight she started. Sarah's mind wandered from Impress' back, and she dreamed of winning the Dubai World Cup on him. She'd made a spectacular comeback to racing after her maternity leave by winning the Kentucky Derby, and since then they'd had several more successes. Sarah had ridden his half sister to the Hall Of Fame, and she planned to do the same with Impress.

The Palm Tree Paradise Invitational field currently consisted of Fire Dancer, Sweet Inferno, Red Herring, Nightshade and Paradise Island. Marissa knew she didn't want War Cry to run in that field purely because of her colt nemesis. Red Herring was partly to blame for some of Xena's losses since the Coaching Club American Oaks, and also her loss in the Kentucky Derby. The Dubai World Cup field on the other hand consisted of Flashy Wings, Eternal Phantom, Nightshade again and Fiery Touch. It wasn't clear whether Nightshade would run both races or just one at this point in time. Both fields were mixed age and gender, and both fields were tough. Now came the time to decide which horse would run in what race. Now was the time to gallop.

War Cry and Marissa burst forward into gallop a split second before the colts. She was a filly on a mission to win. Born To Impress locked in his position a half length behind her, with Euphoria's Warrior bringing up the rear in closer style. Each horse settled into the pace comfortably as they headed up the backstretch. Xena's ears were turned away from the wind, listening to the colts following her. Her stride felt strong, as though she had all the power and confidence in the world. Sarah crouched low over Impress' neck, her lower body moving with the black horse. His long legs covered the ground easily, and he hadn't yet broken a sweat. Warrior loped along at the back of the three horse pack, fully relaxed. He was the shortest horse of the three, but had more muscle especially now that he was nearing full maturity.

The second turn was before them, and War Cry seemed to be increasing her lead. By the time the corner ended, she was a full four lengths ahead and gunning it. Warrior moved wide and poured on the speed, while the bigger colt Born To Impress took a bit longer to get going. They quickly matched each other stride for stride and began to close the distance on War Cry together. The filly was a bright chestnut flame in the morning sunlight, and she beat the boys to the wire by a full two lengths. As they galloped out, Marissa rubbed the filly's sweat darkened neck. Her mind was made up. Sarah and Stella caught up on the colts, both smiling. They knew what to do now too.

War Cry and Born To Impress would run and one would win in the Dubai World Cup. Euphoria's Warrior would take on the Palm Tree Paradise Invitational. May the best horses win!

BLUE ME AWAY WORKS FOR THE TROPICAL RAINFOREST INVITATIONAL
SILENT FURY WORKS FOR THE WORLD TURF CUP

This was what it all came down to. Their final race of the year before the Breeder's Cup. It was Silent Fury's second last race ever. The five year old stallion had proved himself immensely over the past year and Marissa just wanted him to reach for the stars in his final two races and get the wins they both wanted so much. The World Turf Cup was next weekend, so right now they were offering Blue Me Away stiff workout competition to make sure he was on his toes for the Tropical Rainforest Invitational.

The three year old colt had slumped in the middle of the year, losing all three Turf Triple Crown races to a filly. He'd been so close, but so far. After losing by a bare nose seven times with just a single win in between, Blue's luck finally changed and the black colt won the massive Universal Cup in September week four. He then went on to win another three races, the most recent being the Champion Stakes just last weekend. Blue was raring to go again already, and the Tropical Rainforest Invitational would be a big test to see how far he had come. Older horses he had not faced before were entered in the race. Older horses who had run against Silent Fury for much of the year.

The two young stallions warmed up separately, each rider concentrating on their mount. Blaze grinned to himself when he thought about how lucky he had been. Had Sarah Star not been pregnant last year, she probably would have been Blue's rider. Or Marissa, or Stella. But it had been Blaze who was given an awesome horse to ride to the top. And to the top they would now definitely go. Blue had beaten the best of his age, and now he had to beat the best of the older age group. The Tropical Rainforest Invitational field contained four other colts and stallions. In gate one would be Infinite Warcry from Stride Of Perfection Stables. He was four years old, and although he had raced better last season, the stallion had proved recently he still had it when he won the Continental Cup.

Frozen Motion of Witch Creek Stables had drawn gate two. He and Infinite War Cry had been intense rivals last year but Blaze was not sure if that was still how it was. The grey stallion was four years old and had raced well this year, winning the Caulfield Cup recently and dead heating for the win in the Cox Plate with Silent Fury. Blue had beaten him to the post earlier this year in the Fourstardave Stakes. Then there was GS Supercharged in gate three from Nature Blue Stables. He was a three year old Admiral's Revenge colt with a record of 33-8-7-9. Given he was the only horse in the field that was not grade one, he would likely be forgotten about by the others. Blaze vowed to himself not to let the colt's lower grade fool him. GS Supercharged could bring it when he wanted to.

Finally there was Firebird. Firebird was a horse recently returned to the track after a long layoff, but he had proven he wasn't a has-been by racing strongly in the Melbourne Cup and last week's World Colt Cup. Firebird would lead the race, followed by Frozen Motion and Blue. Infinite Warcry and GS Supercharged would bring up the rear in closer position. Given the field makeup, the race was bound to be close. Blaze was nervous for it, but he trusted in Blue and he knew Blue would give it his all. The three year old colt was ready to show the world what he was really made of.

The pair of thoroughbreds came together now to canter. Silence made it perfectly clear to Blue that he would attack if the colt came too close, but also dominant Blue did not seem worried. Marissa kept a close eye on the distance between them, ensuring Silence was out of striking distance from Blue. She too had been contemplating her mount's upcoming race. The World Turf Cup had been on the hit list for Silence since early this year, and finally it was here. He'd won the World Colt Cup last weekend and was already raring to go. The World Turf Cup didn't run until the first weekend of December, which was still more than a week away.

Silence would be up against a field of three strong fillies, so far. There would be Italian Ice in gate one, Flawed Princess in gate two and Bella Luna in gate three. Entries were still open, so more competition could still come. Finally though it was a different group of horses. He'd faced Flawed Princess before, beaten her, tied with her and lost to her. The other two, he had never raced before. Both were exceptional racehorses, that much was obvious. Luckily, none of the entrants would try to challenge him for the lead until late in the race. Silence didn't take kindly to any horse trying to get in front of him and had the tendency to get violent if they did. All three fillies were in fact preceders/stalkers.

The pair of thoroughbreds burst into gallop right on cue. They quickly completed the turn and gunned it down the stretch. Silent Fury snaked his head at Blue, trying to take a chunk out of the black colt but didn't quite reach. Marissa yanked his head back around and gave him a crack on his rump, moving him further away from the three year old colt. It was just a three furlong sprint between the pair that was over in a matter of seconds - Silent Fury taking the mini race by a nose. Blue slowed down grudgingly, tossing his head in dissatisfaction. Silence dropped to trot and smugly danced back to the gap in the rail. Blue was fired up and ready for the Tropical Rainforest Invitational, while Silence was ready to rest up for the World Turf Cup. May the best horses win!