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Post by Cavallo on Dec 24, 2012 16:36:35 GMT -5
FS Mockingbird & Nick Landing
Back to back, they had claimed second place finishes. Nick and Jay were getting frustrated. All of the major races this year had slipped through Nick's fingers...forever cursed to second place when things mattered the most. There was the Twilight Steak race, the Novizio....the list went on. Nick tried to take a calming breath as he rode his mount at a warming gallop. This is your first full year back Nick...the team has done well! Keep that in mind! He smiled at the thought. It was true. With this being IR's first full year back at the tracks, since their disappearance, IR had been a formidable force all year long.
Mockingbird had proven himself as an international racer, proving that his foreign success was just as valid on The Wire and on GHF. This would also be the chestnut's last year on the tracks. It was time for the stallion to settle down and sire some babies - he deserved the break, but Jay as of now had other ideas about 'retirement'. He pulled violently for his head asking for more...more than a gallop, he wanted to fly.
Nick smiled as he indulged the chestnut and fed him a bit of rein. He took it and was off like a shot. They were on familiar dirt and Jay was perfectly at ease. He knew this track intimately and he didn't hesitate in the slightest as he reached down the backstretch of the track.
Nick was small on Jay's back as he fluently guided the colt. He barely had to touch the reins. This was a stallion who knew what he was about. Tomorrow they would be facing good and noteworthy competition. There were three other entrants, one from SOPS, once from WCS and the other from BAS. It would be a full field with great expectations and versatility. Jay charged back around the final turn into their homestretch, his eyes flashing fire, his stride blurring. Nick still had him in check. It was after all a light gallop today and the real deal tomorrow.
He didn't need workout partners to bring out the best in him. Jay was naturally good and naturally competitive...with himself. He was the way he measured himself and casually would look to see other around him, but when it came down to it...Jay was just something else.
Nick smiled as he pictured tomorrow's race. Tonight he'd make sure Jay was well-groomed, fed and rested and then come race day...He'd let Jay do what Jay did best. Run like no one's there.
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