vanishing phantom

ETERNAL PHANTOM AND KRYSTAL YHATE
FORBIDDEN TO FLY AND HENNA TURATH
LYNARA'S KINGDOM AND AMBER BLACK

The first to appear on the dirt track was the black filly who appeared to live in the night. Eternal Phantom stepped forward with fire burning in her eyes and desire filling her heart. She pawed once at the dirt before listening to Krystal and trotting forward. Her eyes roved around the track, seeking out others. It was dark, but as she appeared the sun finally decided to peek over the horizon. Phantie snorted once as the sun illuminated her, separating her from the darkness of night that she had come to enjoy and love. Krystal frowned a bit as well. Phantie was the most speedy at night. To lose their dark advantage could mean losing this little race that had been set up between Phantie and two others of her age group.

Now the colt royally appeared. He stepped forward, looking like a cloud, and eagerly bugling a hello to Phantie. It was as if he didn't acknowledge that he had soundly defeated her in the Breeders Cup Juvenile when he had proven himself the best and won. As per usual, Fly was treating racing like a game, while Phantie was very serious minded about being defeated as she had been. He danced underneath Henna Turath, who couldn't help the smile breaking out on her face. Fly had impressed them all, and had ended the season with six wins, and five of those wins were Horse of the Year Selection races. He was a talented racehorse and Henna had huge plans for the colt this season. He may not treat racing seriously, but damn was he a good horse!

The last to arrive was the moody Lynara's Kingdom, one of the hardest horses to ride in the stable, ever. This was due to her changeable temperament. One moment she could be calm, and the next she could be a hellion of fury, bent on destruction. Therefore, Amber Black had selected herself to ride the gray filly. Now three years old, the filly had achieved grade four in her juvenile season and was steadily growing in experience. Amber was also becoming an expert on how best to handle the slightly crazy filly. The filly had a variable racing style, and Amber was learning how best to quickly gauge how the filly wanted to run her race that day and how to rate her pace accordingly. It took a lot of effort and brain power. It truly was a great thing that Amber had been in the business of racing for as long as she had.

The three women greeted each other with nods. They walked side by side for a bit, discussing the workout at hand. It was rare that three horses were worked together, and on the occasions that they were the competitive spirit was overwhelming. All the women felt it. They drifted apart as they began to warm each of their mounts up in slightly unique ways. Krystal just let Phantie trot and gallop, keeping her on the inside of the dirt track as they curved around and into the backstretch. Henna circled Fly numerous times, doing the refocus exercises she had worked so hard to perfect for the scatter brained colt, smiling as she felt the colt focus more on her and less on the horses and environment around him. As for Amber, she just let Lynara rocket down the track at a quick pace before reining her back carefully. She wanted the filly to blow off some of her high spirits before attempting to control her.

After about five minutes the ladies were done warming up. They gathered at the wire for their pre-decided mile long race. The distance best favored Fly, was at the limit of Lynara's preferred range and was too short for Phantie's. All odds would be on Fly to take the race, but a surprise was always possible. After a hushed three second countdown, the imaginary gates opened and the race was on! Unsurprisingly, Phantie took the lead. She had been fired up and competitive before, no doubt because of Fly, so of course she would desire to take the lead early on. It would also help because the race was a furlong out of her preference, and she would be right up there and alongside the pace. Just behind her strode Lynara's Kingdom. The filly appeared to be freely running, not under a hold at all. Amber gradually grabbed up some more rein as she realized what position her changeable filly was running today and went with it. Fly, meanwhile, was just off of the two fillies and running happily. He appeared to be focused enough to know he was racing and was treating it with his usual playfulness.

The first quarter went by in a speedy twenty two and three fifths. Phantie was setting a furious pace, as though her anger at her loss could not be quantified. Lynara had ghosted up a little bit and dropped back again, as though playing with Phantie. The black filly in front did not want to be played with. She accelerated slightly, and Lynara slipped right on through in her slipstream, enjoying toying with her prey. Meanwhile, Fly was even farther behind the two fillies as they accelerated, happily romping along with his eyes on the prize. The half was in forty five flat and swift. Phantie wasn't slowing down anytime soon and neither was Lynara, who had now come up alongside to directly challenge for the lead. Phantie was not having it. She was very hot headed today and was not backing down. The pace was still increasing and Henna, aboard Fly, was wondering by how much more. She had let Fly increase his speed a little bit so that they didn't get too far away, and was observing the match ahead with a lot of interest.

With a three quarter time of one oh six flat, the pace was swift and neither filly was tiring. Henna decided to go for it. She released Fly and the colt swept up the track swiftly, his eyes planted on the open track ahead of the fillies. At the same time, Lynara made her serious bid for the lead, and Phantie also increased her pace. She was feeling a bit sluggish, Krystal realized, but knew that they needed this workout and to feel a bit tired afterward would mean only more strength later. So she pushed Phantie on even more, and the talented thoroughbred gave her her heart and went for it. They left Lynara behind and were running away with the lead. Just behind, Fly was coming on with his run, and it was amazing. He blew past Lynara like she was standing still and moved on to challenge Phantie.

Lynara was upset by the distance and was working hard to catch up, but the distance, being at the limit of her preferences, was catching up to her. Phantie was just starting to get rolling as Fly finally caught up and attempted to just keep flying on by. Phantie responded to the challenge by digging deep and not letting up. The wire was upon them, and under the wire they went! The women slowed their horses down, some laughing while Amber looked exhilarated despite Lynara's last place finish. Everybody had gotten faster and they all couldn't wait for the new year to begin for their three year olds!