full moon rises

WILDLY NATURAL AND AMBER BLACK
SILLENIA AND KRYSTAL YHATE

TURA'S AND SILL'S WORKOUT FOR THE FULL MOON DERBY

It was the famous Full Moon Derby run over ten furlongs on the turf, the first of the premier series of turf races that would begin to dominate the calendar. As Amber Black considered the race, Krystal Yhate pulled up alongside her aboard Sillenia. Amber took the time to look the bay mare over with a careful eye. Sill was having a headstrong day. She was pulling at the reins and looking very impatient. Krystal was having trouble holding her own and looked slightly annoyed by the gap between workouts. It had been a busy month for both of them thus far, and things would only get worse as they drew closer and closer to the season ending races, the ones that really counted. Amber herself was aboard Wildly Natural. The beautiful black mare had won five of eight races this year and placed second in the other three. Her wins included, most recently, the Rising Fury Memorial Stakes. She had beaten Born To Soar, who had also beaten her, and had recently defeated top three year old turfer Executioner's Apprentice. She was classy.

Sill was not as classy. She had three wins this year, one from the Unicorn Horn Turf. She tended to place just behind the competition, a fact that annoyed Krystal to no end. Today, in an effort to encourage her, she would taste victory in this workout. That was the plan. Sill would intentionally win over Tura, and it was hoped that a resulting confidence boost would get her going again. Thus, Krystal was very impatient to begin. She glanced at Amber, and opened her mouth as though to speak, but before she did Amber merely nodded and cued Tura into a trot. Krystal followed just a little bit behind, struggling to keep Sill in. Thus they trotted for half a mile, and then cantered for the remainder. The turf track was firm, and it was nice to be working at home. It was truly beautiful at the stables. The girls loved working there.

Now that they were warmed, the girls got their horses going in a steady gallop. Both fillies were closers, so the opening pace was nothing fast. They stayed side by side, running together in tandem, neither challenging nor backing down from the other. The plan was an eight furlong race. The distance of the Full Moon Derby was ten furlongs, but they didn't want to race that just a week before the actual race. It would be a better idea to just race at two furlongs under and see how it went. Thus, at the end of warm up, they were just crossing under the wire. Smoothly, both girls broke into gallops and the race was underway.

Tura comfortably slid into a spot behind Sill, who was only too happy to go on. The mare was really acting headstrong today, and wanted a faster pace than her normal closing stroll. Krystal gave it to her, knowing better than to argue, and they opened up a three length lead on Amber and a waiting Tura. But Tura was content to just wait for the right moment. Her eyes were focused ahead of her as though seeing the path to victory and her legs were keen on taking her there. The race was about halfway through before Tura began to move a little bit. The lead had widened to seven lengths, but Tura could care less. Like a purring motorcycle before it got revved, she began to drift up on Sill almost lazily, closing the gap with an intent that spoke of anything but laziness. Sill and Krystal were unaware of the approaching threat, or perhaps they were but chose to take no notice of it. Whatever the case, Tura and Amber were within three lengths with two furlongs left to go by the time Sill and Krystal turned it on.

The bay mare ahead suddenly broke into a sprint, as though she had been waiting for it the entire race. But before she could get very far, Amber timed her own asking to Sill's and had Tura going at an even faster pace than Sill. The black daughter of The Natural and Wild Flower closed in like a freight train, curving around the final turn and dashing to Sill as though she had stopped still. They drew up alongside, but Sill wasn't giving up. She dug in and gave it her all, Krystal almost frantically encouraging her up on her back. But Tura did not wish to be denied. She dug in, too. The two mares fought hard, looking for more, and crossed the wire nearly side by side. It was hard to tell just who was that inch farther back, but that hardly mattered.

The women pulled their horses up and smirked at each other. Each were confident that they had defeated the other. But they would truly have the answer to that question come race day.