People: Charlie Burke Jr, Kirsten Jade, Melanie Mackenzie & Aaron Phillips
Place: Akita Rose Stables Turf Track
Date: December 7 2013 (January Week One)
Les bêtes de nos jours
aka. the beasts of our days
Kirsten tapped her fingers against the rail with impatience. She'd come down to the track to check out the big black beasts of the stable in action. They were racing this weekend and she wanted to see their progress. If all was good they would ship them out this afternoon to The Wire. She glanced to the side to Charlie who was scribbling something on his clipboard. Kirsten sighed. Let's get this show on the road...
Melanie whistled happily as she tacked up The Unicorn. The four year old stallion by Muffin Man regarded her from the corner of his eye. Melanie smiled and shook her hand through his mane. Uni snorted and threw his head to the side obviously not impressed with Melanie's change in mood. She grinned. She couldn't help it, finally after a whole year she would get to wear ARS' silks again on the track and take on some of the best horses in the country. She was planning on trying to get Jockey of the Year one of these years and finally prove herself as one of the best (instead of one of the most gossiped about) jockeys of all time.
The clip clopping of hooves approached her from the left and broke Melanie out of her daytime fantasies. "You ready?" The gruff voice of Aaron floated towards her. She looked up to see him leading the giant of the stables, Apollo Bear, towards her. Aaron may be a grumbler but his eyes told a different story, they danced with obvious contentment. Melanie grinned at her boyfriend, "You betcha. You and Olio are going to get your butt whipped out there." Aaron rolled his eyes. The competition starts already. "In your dreams short stuff. Olio is more fit than a tank."
Melanie put her hands on her hips and frowned. "I may be short but you better watch the muscle you've gained working out all the time. You might not even be able to make the scales at The Wire." Aaron frowned. "Well at least I have muscle... and can stay in the saddle of my horses." Melanie stuck her tongue out at him and pouted. It wasn't her fault that Charlie had her working with the terror of the stable, My Man O War - thank god Kirsten was back now. She can deal with the juvenile monster.
She gave one last glare at Aaron and stuck her chin up in the air and proceeded to lead Uni out of the barn. Aaron shook his head and followed behind her. They each mounted their beasts and made their way over to the track. Aaron could see Kirsten was already there with Charlie. He smirked to himself. Kirsten is going to be impressed with the work he put into Olio, he could feel it.
Kirsten watched the two black stallions warm up on the turf track. Uni was big but compared next to Olio he looked small. She has never in her life seen such a big racehorse. His muscles were overwhelming. At least his body looked ready to race, now was the time to see if his talent matched.
Melanie clucked her tongue and brought her mount into a slow gallop. Uni bobbed his head and lengthened his stride. She sneaked a peek at her sister on the rail and gave her a smiled. Kirsten didn't notice, she was too busy watching her mount. Melanie looked down and tried to focus. It felt great to have her older sister back but it also created more stress on her career. She really wanted to do good and bring ARS back in the leader boards this year. Hopefully they had the horses to do it.
Kirsten watched the horses warm up and had to admit they both looked good. Olio would be running on the dirt in his next race but the surface never bothered him, he was equally as good on both surfaces. Hopefully he will move into a grade three status soon and start getting some big races under his belt. She had big plans for all her horses this year. They were going to rule the track.
The horses moved in unison at a slow gallop under the quarter pole. Suddenly they were both in high drive. The workout has started. The true potential of both horses was shining through. Kirsten nodded. She liked what she saw. They were ready to run this weekend.