October Week 1 Workouts

"Mmmm, morning boys," groaned the dark-haired girl, who appeared to be doing a backbend just outside of the stable doors. Minske had to admit, he was impressed. The girl looked completely comfortable with the acrobatics, standing without so much as a stumble, turning a bright smile to the two. "Morning, Hal," he responded, while Tigris simply grunted, pretending not to notice how, ah, flexible she was. Minske noticed, and hid a grin by saying, "Dad has a mock-race planned for us. I'm on Charlie, Tigris is on Ginny, and you're on Uno, Hal. He wants us out there in twenty." The three split off, early-morning coffees kicking in. Minske went to Charlie's stall and was greeted by the massive chestnut head, alert and eager, thrown over the stall door.

Minske smiled, patting the horse's neck before entering the stall to groom and tack him up. Charlie behaved like a gentleman, but that wasn't abnormal. From the next wing over, Minske heard a squeal, then a second - then Tigris vehemently telling his charge to be quiet. Minske looked over the stall door, calling out, "She only acts like that because you react. And she likes you."

"Yeah, well, it's deafening," Tigris yelled back, and Ginny joined in with a whinny of her own. Minske laughed, and finished the preparations on the big chestnut colt. Then he led the horse out, followed quickly by Tigris and Ginny and Hal with the big stallion, Uno.

Handsome Tabby, or Charlie, was a maiden that was lightly raced thus far, but had pulled second in both of his maidens - it was only a matter of time before everything clicked and he pulled through for a win. Ginny, Greater Avalanche, was also a maiden. She had a single start, and had pulled third. She would find her stride as well, Minske was sure. She was too precocious to come in behind the winner too many times. Finally, Uno, Odd Number Out, was by far the most accomplished of the three. The G4 stallion had been having a great run, winning his last two starts, placing no worse than third all season. He'd never looked stronger, and though he was a lease to Valkyrie, they had no less hope for his future.

The three pairs reached the track, and mounted up while they received instructions from Minske's dad. The older man was leaning against the rail, seeming as relaxed as could be. "Go out there and warm them up, then pull them around to the gate. They all load pretty easy, but there are hands there to help get them in. Charlie in one, Ginny two, Uno three. Since none of them are true frontrunners, put Charlie up front, unless someone else rises to the task. The gate's set at eight furlongs from the wire. Don't run full-blown if you can help it, but I think they could all use this to sharpen their runs." With that, Cole waved them off, and the riders pulled out.

The three let the horses trot half a lap, then cantered them the rest of the way around, warming them up before pulling them up near the gate. The horses could tell there was something different happening, and the riders kept them circling as the hands walked out to load them. Charlie was put in first, loading easily and calmly as his personality dictated. Ginny was put up second, only needing a little bit of urging. Uno went in like the pro he was, though he was snorting eagerly once he was in. Luckily, it didn't take more then a few seconds. The riders leaned in, prepared, waiting...

They were off!

The three horses surged forward, all breaking well, Uno immediately dropping back. Surprisingly, Ginny moved up to challenge Charlie for the lead, so Minske let the chestnut settle back, allowing the pushy filly to take the lead. As she was still learning, they shouldn't have been surprised. Uno finished just behind Charlie, Charlie just behind Ginny. The three of them moved toward the turn at an easy pace. The horses lengthened their strides coming around the turn, pressing their pace a little faster. Hal began making her move first, pushing the big grey colt up to challenge the leaders. As he drew alongside Charlie, the chestnut colt swung out into the opening, starting his run as well. Tigris pushed Ginny, seeing the others coming in behind him.

One thing was immediately apparent - Uno's age and experience put him way over the other two horses. He crossed the wire two lengths in front of Charlie, who was a head in front of Ginny. All of the horses were being lightly held, keeping them from going all-out. However, it was a good way to sharpen up the three horses for their upcoming races.