canjun kisses

CANJUN MOON AND HENNA TURATH
WILD KISS AND AMBER BLACK

CANJUN'S WORKOUT FOR THE AZALEA CUP COLTS

The colt, for lack of a better term, was a nimrod. He was always on the move, always doing something. There was no stopping him from energetically hopping about, quacking if he had been a duck, neighing since he was a horse. There was no such thing as a moment of rest with him. He was the definition of crazy, almost as nuts as Pegasus Wings. Which was, of course, the reason why Henna Turath was riding him. That, and the fact that he was a sprinter. Now, thus far Canjun Moon had not been impressive. He had only won once and had placed out of the top three twice. However, he was still an excellent racehorse. His win came from the Unicorn Horn Juvenile Turf. He had placed second in the Magic Millions Colts Turf Sprint. He had it in him to do great things. His half sister Deadly Desires had been the top turf sprinter in her time. He would fill her horseshoes, starting with the Azalea Cup Colts.

Their journey would begin by working with Wild Kiss. The filly had placed second in two legs of the Turf Triple Crown and had proven that she had a measure of class. Amber was impressed enough with her to consider the Breeders Cup Filly and Mare Turf or the Mile. Something like that. She was not the best turfer out there of course, but she came close to being the top three year old turf filly. She moved with a sly sort of grace, almost as though she wasn't all there. It was an attempt to deceive Amber, but the experienced jockey knew better and ignored her ploys. Instead, she steered the pretty bay over to Canjun, who was dancing in place, and together the two horses began a warm up trot that soon became a canter. Kiss suddenly made as if to take the lead, and Amber let her go. Canjun did not react. He was too wrapped up in himself and making his legs move of his own accord. It was often how he got about himself - wrapped up and unaware of the world. Henna often had to get the colt to refocus.

The Azalea Cup Colts featured Royal Assassin, half brother to Pegasus Wings and Here's The King and bred for the sprints, Dawn Of Silence who had so far only started once and Strictly A Hero who waxed and waned with race performance. Canjun actually had a pretty decent chance of taking the field and winning. Royal Assassin was the biggest threat right now, with three wins and classy bloodlines, but it wasn't as though Canjun was lacking in that department. That, and the fact that he was a closer, an unusual style for a sprint race that he took full advantage of. Canjun would break slow and then gradually get faster, loving the feelings of acceleration and sudden speed that closing got him. He was still learning how best to run with it of course, but it was going well with him so far.

Given the field, Henna had no plans to change Canjun's style. Kiss, a fellow closer, would help him work on acceleration today. With a glance at each other, Amber and Henna got their mounts going into a steady gallop and remained motionless as their mounts took up regular positions, side by side. They were going to do a mock race for seven furlongs, the distance of the Azalea, and it would get Henna ready to rate Canjun's speed accordingly. A furlong passed, and the pace increased. Then another furlong, and the pace increased again. Canjun drifted slightly past Kiss, who didn't react until the fourth furlong. Then, the bay three year old came up and passed Canjun and then kept going, right into her main acceleration drive.

With a mere two furlongs left to go now, Kiss was accelerating rapidly. Canjun was being a bit too slow. Henna poked him with her crop once, and the two year old reacted immediately. He reached in front of him and accelerated quickly, working on narrowing the distance and loving every inch of the run. However, he wasn't quick enough to catch Kiss, who ended up crossing the wire about a length in front and still pouring it on. As they slowed the horses down, Henna reflected on the workout. They had had it in them to eventually catch Kiss, but they hadn't reacted fast enough. She would remember this fact for race day and plan accordingly, especially if the pace up front was a fast one.