The First Race

The racetrack was somewhere in Kentucky. The whole crew was there with Martyr's Heart, preparing to put him into his first race of his life. The white colt was antsy, which was not like him. Mrs. Chick oversaw the unloading from the trailer, the registration process, and then making sure the colt was comfortable. Tomorrow morning, Prince would be running his first race.

The next day, Friday morning, the whole race course came alive with spectators, horses, trainers, jockeys...the whole nine yards. A nervous Prince was groomed by an equally nervous Mrs. Chick; she brushed him down until his coat gleamed with health and life. He would be starting in race number four of the day, and he was number five in the post positions. The field was nine horses. The race type was easy, an allowance race with a total purse of $35,000, $28,000 going to the winner. The track was labeled as wet; it had been raining the last couple of days, making the dirt track muddy. But Angelfire Farm was in luck; Prince had been trained on a muddy track...he knew nothing else. And he ran splendidly on mud. But soon we would see if he had what it took to get him across six furlongs.

After grooming the colt, Danielle Chick left the stall and ventured out to find her husband. She ran into Jesse and Prince's jockey for the race, Jose Martinez. The Mexican was short, but very alert and attentive. The Farm's trainer was going over basic information about the white colt; his temperament, running style, when to urge him, when not to urge him, and so on. The fourth race was announced, post time in twenty minutes. People scrambled about to get the nine Thoroughbred colts ready for the race. Mrs. Chick found her way into the grand stands and found her husband, who was speaking with a neighbor who was also running his horse in the fourth race, a chestnut 2-year old colt named Shining Sun.

The minutes ticked by. Suddenly, the crowd began to roar: the horses were making their parade to the starting gate. Danielle could hear the shocked whispers as her white colt made his first appearance. He was dancing beside his lead pony, trotting nimbly on his dainty pink hooves, flicking his tail with spirited anticipation.

The horses made it to the starting gate...now was Prince's time. Now was the white colt's time to shine, to show the world that he was the next Triple Crown contender. The horses were loaded in one by one; Prince went into the gate easily. His neighbor horse, a dark bay colt, did not. It was almost ten minutes before all the horses were loaded in. The start was seconds away.

The bell rang, and Dani tensed as she watched the nine horses break from the gate. She was not surprised to see him break free cleanly. But she was surprised to see him take lead in two bounds, passing his fellow horses, and stretching out in the mud.

The first furlong whirled by, with Prince in the lead by two lengths. The other eight colts were struggling in the mud, but Prince made it look easy. Two more furlongs whizzed by, and Prince stretched the distance between him and the other horses, now it was five lengths. The crowd was shouting, roaring, standing on their feet as the white colt, the star of the show, came into the home stretch with nearly ten lengths between him and the other eight horses. Jockey Jose eased back on the reins, and Prince obeyed his rider, slowing down. He passed under the wire, winner by nine lengths. Dani was speechless. She watched as Jose eased the colt into a canter, then turned him back and rode him at a slow trot to the winner's circle. Mr. and Mrs. Chick rushed to the circle to pose with their colt as the pictures were taken. Dani examined Prince; he was barely breathing hard. That race had been too easy, and it showed in his chocolate brown eyes. They gleamed mischievously. Dani chuckled and patted the colt's muscular shoulder.

Race one was down, with Martyr's Heart in first place. As the colt was being led back to the stable to be groomed down and settled down, Dani wondered just what kind of colt they had bred and trained. After six furlongs...nine lengths...he was barely tired.

It made her really wonder...
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Wow...I just saw that I forgot to color in the bridle...OH WELL!!
And there we have it. Prince's first race. Enjoy!