Fancy Flyers May Week Four
Courtesy of Event of the Year Photos.
Ripley stood in the shade of the barn eyeing the two women before her. Her fingers tapped anxiously on her wrists, her eyes shifted uneasily, her feet danced much like the thoroughbreds did when they reached the gate for the first time. Ripley Marsh was uneasy and for good reason. Brookson Wells had not shown his face since she'd come home with three more horses in tow. Maggiletti Reynolds had tracked the man down, yelled at him for being so pessimistic about the arrival of more horses, compared him to his uncle, whom Ripley had also dumped last year, and then had promptly received a slamming door to the face. Maggie paced like a cat outside of the barn, her swinging strides eating up the ground and carving a channel in the dirt. Justin and Connor had long since fled, trucking Cross and the rest of the crew back to the various race tracks. Only a pair of fillies remained. A chestnut filly with a star and stripe and the light gray filly with a pink nose. One was a newcomer and one was up for sale until some improvement was noticed. Ripley was placing a lot of eggs into these two particular baskets. She wanted improvement and she wanted both of them to take her to the Triple Tiara come next year.
Her long term goal was not to go in with an underdog as she had the last two years with Fiery Touch and, now, Indian Darling. Fly By Darkness and Supernatural would get her there and hopefully, they would get her there on top and in style. Their jockeys and exercise riders Reese Balling Jones and Laura DeComte were also relatively new people to Witch Creek. Reese was under a lot of pressure until June when she would enter the gate for the final race of the Turf Triple Crown with Bella Luna. The caramel-skinned woman let out a whoosh of breath, brown eyes snapping with anxiety and irritation, as she smoothed the saddle pad on Supernatural's back. The gray filly snorted expressively, stomped a foot and seemed to be telling Reese to calm the heck down. Ripley smiled at this exchange. Siri was not the calmest animal herself. She was consistently high energy and consistently full of herself. Recent gallops showed that she was finally settling in and her lost in the Follow The Hoofprints Dirt had been a good loss. She'd tried hard the whole race, had lost a little energy the first week back, but now she was back on her toes. She was focused and maybe, just maybe, Ripley would eat her words and she would not be for sale much longer.
The head trainer turned her sharp gaze to the chestnut filly now. Fly By Darkness was a sixteen hand, stout filly with soft eyes and fun spirit. She'd come to Witch Creek on a trade. Laura had instigated the trade for Fly By Darkness by suggesting Alucard to Stride of Perfection Stables. The big bay colt was gone now to a better home who had proven they could turn milers around with the flip of the switch. Ripley stepped to the filly's head, straightened out the browband on the bridle. Witch Creek had a knack for turning dirt fillies around, especially dirt fillies whose future rested in the Triple Tiara as three year olds. Hey pretty girl. You sure are beautiful. Laura let her smirk spread into a smile, but hid it by ducking down to tighten the girth. She'd loved Alucard, but God, Fly was perfect in every sense of the word. She had incredible breathing, claiming half-siblings to a Triple Tiara winner and recently, a Kentucky Derby winner. Fly's sire had produced one of the most consistent Hall of Famer's ever in Dare to Dream. Fly By Darkness was not the typical addition to Witch Creek's string. She had manners, was not bullish, rated kindly and she understood the word "no" meant "no". Laura patted the filly's rounded hip, admiring the copper gleam of her coat. Laura could not wait to get on the filly's back.
Reese compared Siri to Fly quickly and to herself. Siri was long-legged where Fly seemed more compact. Siri looked like a greyhound mid-run and always kept her head cocked to the inside despite her position on the race-track. Siri had two wins to her name, had only been out of first or second once in six career starts. Supernatural was the perfect horse for Reese Balling Jones. The two year old reminded Reese much of Bella Luna when they'd first met. Siri was as consistent, if not a little bit better at this stage, and she was a swift learner. She improved every single race and never went into a challenge without her A game. Reese ran a loving hand down the filly's satiny neck, finally relaxing after a news meeting. She wanted the Turf Triple Crown to be over with already, wanted to stop worrying about Bella Luna's next move, wanted the press to give her space. Reese could find it with this filly. No one considered Supernatural to be top of the class. Truthfully, there were no top class two year old horses this year. Not like last year. Last year's crop had been special. This group was more like wine and cheese and would be better as they aged.
Ripley waited for all of the preparations to end before she turned to the outside of the barn and to the man waiting for her acknowledgement. She called back to her riders, I'll meet you guys down at the track. Just jog them once and I'll be right there for further instruction. The women quickly led the chestnut and gray out of the barn, leaving Ripley to face down a slightly irritated yearling manager. Can I help you with something Malcolm? Malcolm ran an uneasy hand over the back of his neck, shaking his head as if deciding what to say. I have eight yearlings now Ripley. Eight of whom are moody, testing and grumpy almost every single day. I want to get them going ASAP. I know its more our style to wait and see, but I'm telling you the early work won't bother them. Particularly that little Taboo filly you just brought me. She's been off the walls crazy and nearly ripped off a couple of my fingers while I wormed her. Listen, in other parts of the world they start these guys up as soon as they reach one "officially." Maybe they'll be better off if we get them going..." He trailed off at Ripley's pointed look and her raised hand to stop him. The auburn haired woman felt cross eyed and slightly ambushed, but she had been expecting as much. Clint had come raving to her the other day about Taboo's terrible attitude and Black Magic's forceful nature. Max, Crook, Ro, Saint, King and Brain hadn't been much easier. It's fine Floyd. Do whatever you want. Just let me know when you need riders up on their backs. I'm sure I won't have to look very far for volunteers. Ripley patted his shoulder as she stalked past, ignoring his relieved breath. Some people just needed to chill out when it came to her. It's not like she bit heads off often.
Laura was smiling a broad smile as Fly trotted fluidly over the dirt track. Her ears stuck straight up as she took in the sights and sounds of the track as if she hadn't seen it before. She'd been here for a week and a half now. The chestnut cutie bounded over the track with swift, energetic strides. She paid relatively no attention to Siri who was paying all sorts of attention to Fly By Darkness. The dappled gray's head was cocked to get a real good look at this new rival in the barn. She'd long since been used to working out with the three gorgons and Flashpoint. But Fly was new and Fly was very different. She was fun. Her energy radiated over the track to smack Siri right in the face. Reese could sense an odd irritation in Siri that had never quite existed before. It was as though Siri was upset the she wasn't having as much fun. Her brown eyes rolled when Fly let loose a running buck. Siri squealed, pinned her ears and copied the other filly. Reese snorted, patted Siri's neck, turned, spotted Ripley heading down to the track. Let's pick it up a notch. Ripley's nearly here and I don't want to get thrown. Laura nodded in agreement, patted Fly's neck and stood up in the slim stirrups.
Fly bolted forward with a solid push off her hind legs. Laura snagged the flying red mane at the base of the filly's withers, hunkered down against the sharp wind. The Prancing in The Darkness filly could really scoot. She swept over the track with quick strides, ears cocked back to listen to Laura's breathing. She was kind and gentle with the bit, eager to please and there was plenty of horse waiting beneath her. She hadn't expected less. Stride of Perfection Stables really knew how to prepare a horse for the track. It was just a matter of clashing personalities that usually hampered the training regimen of any top stable. Fly glued herself to the rail and kept even with Siri. She did not want to move ahead or drop behind. Currently, Siri was the pack, even if the pack was only one. Laura tapped her fingers to the beat of the gallop, counting times in her head and let Fly gallop without too much restraint.
Supernatural was a whole different story. She was seething with irritation at this point, her whole body was turned to face down Fly By Darkness. The dappled gray gal had her head cocked to extremes, her round eyes rimmed with white and her inner ear locked to listen to Fly. Reese wasn't having too hard a time staying with the abnormal movement. She'd grown long used to this since she'd first started working with Siri. She never was as bad as this in most workouts and in races, never tilted her head. Fly was really getting her goat and Reese wondered if she could work this around to Siri's advantage. The gray strode out on her long, thin legs, taking advantage of her lean body. Every single one of her strides was fluid and effortless and she never seemed to be trying hard at all. Her alertness to Fly was odd, but nothing to worry about when it came race time.
Ripley watched as the fillies motored into the backstretch, really appreciating both of their movements. Siri was economical and Fly was being handled confidently. Both of them looked as though they could go on forever at this pace. Laura and Reese were both coming to that exact same conclusion as they niggled their mounts for more speed. Siri immediately responded, gunning forward and into the bridle and bounding away to a three-quarters of a length lead. Reese leaned close to the icy mane, wanted to grin, but her kept her mouth shut for fear of bugs. Supernatural was on her game today. The head-cocking had stopped as soon as the speed had been called upon. Siri stretched out over the track like molten silver, ears bobbing up and down as she hit the sweet spot in the far turn. She kept Fly locked down on the rail by angling her long-legged body just so and thus turned the frustrations over to Laura and her mount.
Fly's head flew up when Siri blocked her natural centrifugal force. She snorted with disdain, spread her jaws wide in protest when she found that she could not move forward as Supernatural had. Laura gritted her teeth at the race-riding move. Reese was becoming the best jock on the turf and now she was progressing to being tough on dirt as well. Laura's blue eyes refocused, gathering all of the information she needed as they carved quickening fractions through the final bend. Siri was floating to their outside, easygoing and confident. Fly was lathering up in frustration at the relatively small hole on the rail. When Siri further came into the rail position, Laura's mind was made up. The red-head slammed on the breaks, careful not to completely throw Fly's natural balance off. Fly struggled against the control at first, but when Siri galloped ahead to lead by a length and a half, Fly let out a sigh. The chestnut was glad to be out of the tough spot and so was Laura.
Reese nudged Supernatural on, taking stock of the swift movement on Laura's part. The intimidation had been down and now Siri was entering the home-stretch free. Her sweeping strides covered the ground with such smoothness that Siri could have been a programmed machine. Her head was lowered as she charged, her ears swept back into her flying mane. She was in a word: perfect. Reese kept her hands light at the withers, brown eyes forward, but ears listening for a charge from Fly By Darkness. It had to be coming. Laura did not go down without a fight and Reese doubted Fly was not a scrapper.
Laura's face spread into a wide grin when Fly switched to the outside with a hop. The filly was agile thanks to her compact body. Her chest expanded and deflated with every breath as she took in the flying Siri. Then, as if Laura had dropped a match to gasoline, the chestnut exploded with a huge kick. Shock flicked through Laura's eyes as Fly surged forward as though she'd been at a standstill. Ripley shook her head from the sidelines, not surprised at the move as it had been how Fly By Darkness had notched her only victory. Laura shook the reins at Fly as she raced up to Siri's outside haunch, urged her forward to the meet the gray's surprised gaze. Reese cursed under her breath when the scrappy filly roared up to them with a determined Laura on her back. Siri's breathing became snorty and her eyes lit with anger and fire. She kicked on, meeting the filly speed for speed as they whipped to the wire all out. Reese shook her hands, grinned when Siri snagged her lead back. Fly darted forward and wiped the grin off Reese's face as she snagged the victory beneath the wire by a hair.
Laura let out a hoot as she stood in the stirrups, punched a hand into the air as if it had been an important race. Way to go Fly! Laura smacked the filly's neck exuberantly as Supernatural galloped out around the far turn, under pressure from Reese. Fly had beaten her to the wire, but Siri could still be made a winner by a supreme gallop out. Laura brought her stocky chestnut filly to a jog, bent to kiss her neck when Siri and Reese cantered back up to them. Reese was beaming, but Siri looked just as frustrated as she had when jogging alongside Fly By Darkness. She would beat her next time and whoever got in the way in her next race out. Fly bobbed her head, accepting the challenge, but only enraging Siri further with her gleaming playful eyes.
Her long term goal was not to go in with an underdog as she had the last two years with Fiery Touch and, now, Indian Darling. Fly By Darkness and Supernatural would get her there and hopefully, they would get her there on top and in style. Their jockeys and exercise riders Reese Balling Jones and Laura DeComte were also relatively new people to Witch Creek. Reese was under a lot of pressure until June when she would enter the gate for the final race of the Turf Triple Crown with Bella Luna. The caramel-skinned woman let out a whoosh of breath, brown eyes snapping with anxiety and irritation, as she smoothed the saddle pad on Supernatural's back. The gray filly snorted expressively, stomped a foot and seemed to be telling Reese to calm the heck down. Ripley smiled at this exchange. Siri was not the calmest animal herself. She was consistently high energy and consistently full of herself. Recent gallops showed that she was finally settling in and her lost in the Follow The Hoofprints Dirt had been a good loss. She'd tried hard the whole race, had lost a little energy the first week back, but now she was back on her toes. She was focused and maybe, just maybe, Ripley would eat her words and she would not be for sale much longer.
The head trainer turned her sharp gaze to the chestnut filly now. Fly By Darkness was a sixteen hand, stout filly with soft eyes and fun spirit. She'd come to Witch Creek on a trade. Laura had instigated the trade for Fly By Darkness by suggesting Alucard to Stride of Perfection Stables. The big bay colt was gone now to a better home who had proven they could turn milers around with the flip of the switch. Ripley stepped to the filly's head, straightened out the browband on the bridle. Witch Creek had a knack for turning dirt fillies around, especially dirt fillies whose future rested in the Triple Tiara as three year olds. Hey pretty girl. You sure are beautiful. Laura let her smirk spread into a smile, but hid it by ducking down to tighten the girth. She'd loved Alucard, but God, Fly was perfect in every sense of the word. She had incredible breathing, claiming half-siblings to a Triple Tiara winner and recently, a Kentucky Derby winner. Fly's sire had produced one of the most consistent Hall of Famer's ever in Dare to Dream. Fly By Darkness was not the typical addition to Witch Creek's string. She had manners, was not bullish, rated kindly and she understood the word "no" meant "no". Laura patted the filly's rounded hip, admiring the copper gleam of her coat. Laura could not wait to get on the filly's back.
Reese compared Siri to Fly quickly and to herself. Siri was long-legged where Fly seemed more compact. Siri looked like a greyhound mid-run and always kept her head cocked to the inside despite her position on the race-track. Siri had two wins to her name, had only been out of first or second once in six career starts. Supernatural was the perfect horse for Reese Balling Jones. The two year old reminded Reese much of Bella Luna when they'd first met. Siri was as consistent, if not a little bit better at this stage, and she was a swift learner. She improved every single race and never went into a challenge without her A game. Reese ran a loving hand down the filly's satiny neck, finally relaxing after a news meeting. She wanted the Turf Triple Crown to be over with already, wanted to stop worrying about Bella Luna's next move, wanted the press to give her space. Reese could find it with this filly. No one considered Supernatural to be top of the class. Truthfully, there were no top class two year old horses this year. Not like last year. Last year's crop had been special. This group was more like wine and cheese and would be better as they aged.
Ripley waited for all of the preparations to end before she turned to the outside of the barn and to the man waiting for her acknowledgement. She called back to her riders, I'll meet you guys down at the track. Just jog them once and I'll be right there for further instruction. The women quickly led the chestnut and gray out of the barn, leaving Ripley to face down a slightly irritated yearling manager. Can I help you with something Malcolm? Malcolm ran an uneasy hand over the back of his neck, shaking his head as if deciding what to say. I have eight yearlings now Ripley. Eight of whom are moody, testing and grumpy almost every single day. I want to get them going ASAP. I know its more our style to wait and see, but I'm telling you the early work won't bother them. Particularly that little Taboo filly you just brought me. She's been off the walls crazy and nearly ripped off a couple of my fingers while I wormed her. Listen, in other parts of the world they start these guys up as soon as they reach one "officially." Maybe they'll be better off if we get them going..." He trailed off at Ripley's pointed look and her raised hand to stop him. The auburn haired woman felt cross eyed and slightly ambushed, but she had been expecting as much. Clint had come raving to her the other day about Taboo's terrible attitude and Black Magic's forceful nature. Max, Crook, Ro, Saint, King and Brain hadn't been much easier. It's fine Floyd. Do whatever you want. Just let me know when you need riders up on their backs. I'm sure I won't have to look very far for volunteers. Ripley patted his shoulder as she stalked past, ignoring his relieved breath. Some people just needed to chill out when it came to her. It's not like she bit heads off often.
Laura was smiling a broad smile as Fly trotted fluidly over the dirt track. Her ears stuck straight up as she took in the sights and sounds of the track as if she hadn't seen it before. She'd been here for a week and a half now. The chestnut cutie bounded over the track with swift, energetic strides. She paid relatively no attention to Siri who was paying all sorts of attention to Fly By Darkness. The dappled gray's head was cocked to get a real good look at this new rival in the barn. She'd long since been used to working out with the three gorgons and Flashpoint. But Fly was new and Fly was very different. She was fun. Her energy radiated over the track to smack Siri right in the face. Reese could sense an odd irritation in Siri that had never quite existed before. It was as though Siri was upset the she wasn't having as much fun. Her brown eyes rolled when Fly let loose a running buck. Siri squealed, pinned her ears and copied the other filly. Reese snorted, patted Siri's neck, turned, spotted Ripley heading down to the track. Let's pick it up a notch. Ripley's nearly here and I don't want to get thrown. Laura nodded in agreement, patted Fly's neck and stood up in the slim stirrups.
Fly bolted forward with a solid push off her hind legs. Laura snagged the flying red mane at the base of the filly's withers, hunkered down against the sharp wind. The Prancing in The Darkness filly could really scoot. She swept over the track with quick strides, ears cocked back to listen to Laura's breathing. She was kind and gentle with the bit, eager to please and there was plenty of horse waiting beneath her. She hadn't expected less. Stride of Perfection Stables really knew how to prepare a horse for the track. It was just a matter of clashing personalities that usually hampered the training regimen of any top stable. Fly glued herself to the rail and kept even with Siri. She did not want to move ahead or drop behind. Currently, Siri was the pack, even if the pack was only one. Laura tapped her fingers to the beat of the gallop, counting times in her head and let Fly gallop without too much restraint.
Supernatural was a whole different story. She was seething with irritation at this point, her whole body was turned to face down Fly By Darkness. The dappled gray gal had her head cocked to extremes, her round eyes rimmed with white and her inner ear locked to listen to Fly. Reese wasn't having too hard a time staying with the abnormal movement. She'd grown long used to this since she'd first started working with Siri. She never was as bad as this in most workouts and in races, never tilted her head. Fly was really getting her goat and Reese wondered if she could work this around to Siri's advantage. The gray strode out on her long, thin legs, taking advantage of her lean body. Every single one of her strides was fluid and effortless and she never seemed to be trying hard at all. Her alertness to Fly was odd, but nothing to worry about when it came race time.
Ripley watched as the fillies motored into the backstretch, really appreciating both of their movements. Siri was economical and Fly was being handled confidently. Both of them looked as though they could go on forever at this pace. Laura and Reese were both coming to that exact same conclusion as they niggled their mounts for more speed. Siri immediately responded, gunning forward and into the bridle and bounding away to a three-quarters of a length lead. Reese leaned close to the icy mane, wanted to grin, but her kept her mouth shut for fear of bugs. Supernatural was on her game today. The head-cocking had stopped as soon as the speed had been called upon. Siri stretched out over the track like molten silver, ears bobbing up and down as she hit the sweet spot in the far turn. She kept Fly locked down on the rail by angling her long-legged body just so and thus turned the frustrations over to Laura and her mount.
Fly's head flew up when Siri blocked her natural centrifugal force. She snorted with disdain, spread her jaws wide in protest when she found that she could not move forward as Supernatural had. Laura gritted her teeth at the race-riding move. Reese was becoming the best jock on the turf and now she was progressing to being tough on dirt as well. Laura's blue eyes refocused, gathering all of the information she needed as they carved quickening fractions through the final bend. Siri was floating to their outside, easygoing and confident. Fly was lathering up in frustration at the relatively small hole on the rail. When Siri further came into the rail position, Laura's mind was made up. The red-head slammed on the breaks, careful not to completely throw Fly's natural balance off. Fly struggled against the control at first, but when Siri galloped ahead to lead by a length and a half, Fly let out a sigh. The chestnut was glad to be out of the tough spot and so was Laura.
Reese nudged Supernatural on, taking stock of the swift movement on Laura's part. The intimidation had been down and now Siri was entering the home-stretch free. Her sweeping strides covered the ground with such smoothness that Siri could have been a programmed machine. Her head was lowered as she charged, her ears swept back into her flying mane. She was in a word: perfect. Reese kept her hands light at the withers, brown eyes forward, but ears listening for a charge from Fly By Darkness. It had to be coming. Laura did not go down without a fight and Reese doubted Fly was not a scrapper.
Laura's face spread into a wide grin when Fly switched to the outside with a hop. The filly was agile thanks to her compact body. Her chest expanded and deflated with every breath as she took in the flying Siri. Then, as if Laura had dropped a match to gasoline, the chestnut exploded with a huge kick. Shock flicked through Laura's eyes as Fly surged forward as though she'd been at a standstill. Ripley shook her head from the sidelines, not surprised at the move as it had been how Fly By Darkness had notched her only victory. Laura shook the reins at Fly as she raced up to Siri's outside haunch, urged her forward to the meet the gray's surprised gaze. Reese cursed under her breath when the scrappy filly roared up to them with a determined Laura on her back. Siri's breathing became snorty and her eyes lit with anger and fire. She kicked on, meeting the filly speed for speed as they whipped to the wire all out. Reese shook her hands, grinned when Siri snagged her lead back. Fly darted forward and wiped the grin off Reese's face as she snagged the victory beneath the wire by a hair.
Laura let out a hoot as she stood in the stirrups, punched a hand into the air as if it had been an important race. Way to go Fly! Laura smacked the filly's neck exuberantly as Supernatural galloped out around the far turn, under pressure from Reese. Fly had beaten her to the wire, but Siri could still be made a winner by a supreme gallop out. Laura brought her stocky chestnut filly to a jog, bent to kiss her neck when Siri and Reese cantered back up to them. Reese was beaming, but Siri looked just as frustrated as she had when jogging alongside Fly By Darkness. She would beat her next time and whoever got in the way in her next race out. Fly bobbed her head, accepting the challenge, but only enraging Siri further with her gleaming playful eyes.