our reign is beginning

[S u N f r O s T ~]

SILLENIA AND KRYSTAL YHATE
WORLDBREAKER AND AMBER BLACK

They had both returned triumphant from the Breeders Cup championships. While one of them had not actually won, he had performed admirably to the turf queen of that season, Wildly Natural. Krystal was still high from the memory of winning the Breeders Cup Filly and Mare Turf. Sillenia had defended her title in the largest Breeders Cup field this year. Even though second placer Terror Smile had broken down after the race and made their victory bittersweet, Krystal still considered the race a victory and looked forward to further successes aboard her new primary turf mount. As for Amber and World, their eyes were on the prize. World was usually lightly raced. Last year, he had shone despite those light races, and this year was looking at a tough racing schedule that touched all of the main turf races. Amber wanted to win and she was gunning to do well. Their opponents would be hard pressed to stop them this year.

The thoroughbreds were both five years old now. Fully grown and experienced, they glanced about the track with an eye full of knowledge and glided along with confidence in their steps. Side by side, chestnut alongside bay, Amber alongside Krystal, they warmed up. They were the picture of racing thoroughbreds. The muscle that had been theirs for years gleamed and the confidence that had won them races shone. Sill was by far the more accomplished of the two, but not for long. Amber's ambition was for World to go farther than the thirteen win minimum for grade one this year. They definitely had a long way to go but they had plenty of opportunities to do well and Amber was excited. World had impeccable breeding and heaps of talent that she had not yet tapped in three years of racing him. This year was their year, and though the competition was tough they would be ready.

Their warm up was efficient, and soon the thoroughbreds were ready to run. World and Sill were getting quietly competitive now. Sill was pulling on the reins insistently and World was letting Amber know in his own way that he was ready to obliterate the competition at his side. The women counted down and then let their mounts take off on their pre-discussed mile long race. The two horses were both turf routers suited to races ranging from nine to twelve furlongs. A mile was a bit short for them, but it was a race designed to get them going sooner. The two were both closers, and the faster they got going and the quicker their turn of foot was, the better they would likely end up performing. It was hoped that race workouts like this would stoke their competitive fires and get them even more eager before actual races. The extra race conditioning would make them fit to face the top class turf horses and come away winning. That was what they hoped, anyway.

Being closers, their initial pace was slow. Sill moved up to take the lead, feeling a bit more comfortable with World somewhere behind her. The two horses agreed and moved smoothly together, neither challenging the other, just taking their time. The women took their time as well to analyze the respective gaits of their mounts. Sillenia's gallop was free flowing and smooth. Her legs were flying free and it would be easy for the mare to go faster or slow down. Her pace was tactical, the makeup of her gait strong, and she looked like a colt with powerful strides that ate up the track. World, meanwhile, looked almost like a filly. Though he had plenty of muscle, he moved with untouchable grace, seeming to barely brush the turf as he moved along. He was poetry in motion, and Amber had one day proclaimed to have a poet seriously write about the stallion's gallop.

After about a half mile with no changes in position, World began to ghost up to challenge Sill, while Sill's pace remained unchanged. World was the type that gradually built up speed, while Sill was the sudden unleasher of a powerful sprint that got her to the front in no time. So now World was beginning to roll, and he moved up past Sill and took the lead while still in hand. Sill was unperturbed and let him have it, though her eyes glinted with a sudden challenging air. As the last quarter of a mile of the race dawned, Krystal held on and let the bay mare go. Sill exploded with speed and strode up alongside World. Amber had timed her mount's move perfectly, though, and as Sill moved up so did she and her chestnut stallion. The race became a duel as Sill's greater acceleration attempted to outdo World's slight lead and good jockeying by his rider.

The wire was coming up, and World was still in the lead. Krystal swung Sill a bit farther outside and let the mare go. She was plowing her way up, but just ran out of time at the wire. World won by a head. Had the race been longer, the circumstances would certainly have differed in some way. But for now, World was the champion - until the next race, that is.