prove it to the w o r l d //

[S u N f r O s T ~]

Today's workout was important. It would prep Radiance for what would surely be a great year. In fact, I had plans for Radi to go to the Breeder's Cup Juvenile and win it like Ario had done last year. It seemed like Radi was certainly on the path to glory, seeing as he'd won his first race and come third in an extremely competitive second start. I knew he would need more training to make it big, though, and that was why we were going in for a match race against True Enough.

I shaded my eyes from the glaring sun so I could see where my mount trod. The majestic bay I rode had started to fill out into all sixteen hands of his height. He carried himself with quiet intelligence. There wasn't a touch of menace anywhere in his form, his expression, or his pace. Speaking of which, we were cantering down the dirt track in a quick warm up. Today we were going a long twelve furlongs against True Enough. True was a born distance runner, and Radi was more of a classic horse that still could go the distance.

I decided to pay attention to Radi instead of what was ahead. As soon as I focused on him, Radiance seemed to know. The colt nickered very, very quietly with pleasure and arched his neck, making me focus all the more on him when I tried to make him stop. My answering smile to his actions was wide and happy. The colt was far too intelligent for his age, and this showed when he raced. I just hoped he would have the intelligence to not go down without a fight against True Enough today.

I heard the quiet clip clop of hooves coming down the concrete path to the track. My eyes swiveled to the entrance to the stable track. A tall bay stallion trotted through the entrance and immediately put on a show as his legs touched the dirt track. I grinned as I heard Krystal calming the stallion down with her voice. True Enough toe danced to the left like he was two, and then quickly calmed down and cantered towards us. The stallion was a picture of beauty, each part of him not too large or small. His body was virtually streamlined to go fast. I diverted my attention from True to his rider, and shot a quick smile at Krystal. Krystal replied with a smile of her own before passing us and warming True up with a couple loops.

The reaction of my colt was immediate. Radiance aggressively fluffed himself up, ears back, and was preparing to announce his presence when the pressure on the bit stopped him. Puzzled, he stopped whatever he was about to do and investigated, and the pressure disappeared swiftly. In a quick flash of intelligence he understood I was telling him to stop, and his loud snort of defiance soared through his lips. He was quiet after that though, expressionlessly trotting forward to catch up to the working True Enough.

I exchanged a quick glance with Krystal and inclined my head behind me. As one, we turned around and headed back to the way we had come. Once we were past the wire I signaled again, and we turned our mounts and headed for the wire. The wire would be the starting point of our race. Krystal understood that instinctively, and was loosening her grip on the reins in preparation for speed. I was also preparing, wrapping a chunk of mane into my fist and tensing my leg muscles. Radi snorted with excitement and picked up his canter. True accelerated in turn so that he wasn't left behind, and the start was even as we passed under the wire and began our race.

When I gave the signal to gallop Radi hesitated. He broke into the stride but kept himself slow, letting True carve a couple lengths of daylight between us before really running. I already trusted how analytical his mind could be, so I didn't ask him to speed up. His strides came slowly, but they were long, simply refusing to let much space come between him and his prey. The analytical part of his mind had been unlocked the second we had started to gallop. He was already planning his moves, and seemed decided on them as we swept through the first turn and entered the backstretch.

True was four lengths ahead of us and looked capable of widening that distance. Krystal's form on his back was small, and I couldn't tell what she was doing up there. I let out an inch of rein so Radi could decided what to do. A furlong passed, and then Radi picked up his pace slightly. His front legs slowly carved a path through the dirt and through another length, narrowing the distance to three lengths between him and glory. I could hear the steady thrum of his hoofbeats on the dirt, and True's own legs could be heard in the background, hitting the ground with quiet assurance of victory.

Radiance didn't seem to realize that he was chasing after his father, which I found pretty amusing because I had completely forgotten that fact as well. That meant that we were more than capable of beating True. The two were alike, with True's coat being slightly darker being the only visual difference. Their style of running was similar as well, but because True no longer raced and was a breezing partner his style had been edited. I wasn't sure whether Radi would follow in his dad's post-racing career. It really depended on whether Radi reached grade one, which I was absolutely sure he could.

The quiet beat of the two horses' hooves increased in tempo as the furlongs passed. We were just nearing the last turn when something released in Radi. The bay two year old extended his strides to their greatest length and soared over the track, rapidly narrowing the distance between him and his father just as the last turn came up. Radi's strides decreased in size just as fast as they had increased, and we comfortably rounded the last turn. True Enough was now picking up the pace, and the champion stallion quickly added a length of daylight on the turn and looked ready to add more.

My colt wouldn't have it. I gave him free reign and was rewarded with the shrieking wind. Radiance was trying his hardest to catch up. He was going full pelt and looked like he had no more to offer. True Enough was much faster. The seven year old stallion had massive strides, long legs, and a very fast way of moving those legs. He was leaving us behind, leading by five lengths now, when something happened in the final furlong. Sweat darkened Radiance's neck, and his heavy panting went in time with his hoofbeats, but we were starting to narrow the gap as Radi found some unseen reserve and began to use it.

The gap narrowed to four lengths, Radiance fighting for every inch, when we flashed under the wire. Ahead of us, True Enough was being headstrong, refusing to slow down. I wondered if I would get a similar attitude from Radi, and was surprised when the colt quickly slowed as I asked him to. The colt had never gone twelve furlongs at such a fast rate. He was capable of many great things. A grin beamed itself onto my face. He had given an excellent account of himself throughout the course of this work.

I turned the cantering colt in a couple loops, and when True Enough finally came trotting towards us I shot a grin at Krystal. How was your ride? I asked playfully. Krystal looked flushed but happy. I love this guy! she said in an enthusiastic voice. I noticed how her hands were twined possessively in the champion's mane, and shook my head mentally. Krystal sure knew how to get champions to trust her. True was tossing his head, protesting less now, wishing for more furlongs to run. I shook my head and laughed. Krystal gave me a weird look, but I ignored her now and turned Radiance away to bring him back to the barn.

Krystal could get some champions to trust her, but it hadn't worked on True's son just yet.....

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