PERSON: Kirsten Jade
PLACE: Major Horse Shows Track
Posted on April 6 2008
Spitz stood at the entrance of the track peering off into the distance. The grey stallion has been doing amazing the past while. She was pretty proud of him. She honestly never expected him to do all that well on the track. She expected him to just race a little bit of allowance races maybe graded stakes races but never had she imagined him to be entered in the Barbaro stakes and breeders cup races. It was amazing. He won horse of the month just last month. She was so excited for his career this year. She has feeling that she had been very wrong on this colt. It shows that you can not just judge a horse by his looks.
She bought him about a year ago at the regular Keenland Sales. She had been very surprised to see an unraced four year old in the auction. She doubted that anyone would really take him for anything. She was right. She had been the lone better and bought him for $3, 000. Why had she even token a chance on him? She did not know. Perhaps it was his personality that won her over. He was such a sweet boy, which was very unusual for a mature stallion. She figured that if he proved to be nothing then he would make a good horse to train the green racers. She had lost her prized "green horse trainer" horse the year before. Maybe that is why he was never raced... such a sweet horse couldn't possibly be a good racehorse, could he?
Well, she had to admit he proved everyone wrong this year. He's been blazing up the tracks with a urge to win that she never thought he had. He's an amazing stallion with good potential. Not only that, he had also helped her through a tough time. She lost her husband and newborn baby last year and is still having trouble recovering. She could still remember that one day she had grabbed just any horse and toke off in the trails in tears. It sure helped them bond however. He was definitely one of her favorite horses.
"You are a good boy, aren't you?" She smiled and pat the stallion between his eyes. She had not planned on racing him at first and started him in the breeding shed at first. He has a beautiful little colt named Spitfire that will hopefully bring Akita Rose Stables a lot more success as well. They were doing really good as a stable but were not all that well known. Oh well... things like that came in time.
She cleared her throat and mounted the big stallion using the rail. "Alright boy, let's get you conditioned for the Barbaro Stakes!" There has already been some amazing horses entered in the race, especially Whitebrook Stable's beautiful stallion, FS Mockingbird. He's been all over the place lately and has been putting in a lot of practices. As well as Souvenir, an amazing colt from Memoir Stables.
They walked onto the track with the sun gleaming halfway up in the sky. It was around six o'clock in the morning, regular time for Spitz to work. The wind was calm and collected. Spitz was in good shape, running in many races and working every morning. He looked great and felt great. This will probably be his last year so they have to make it count. Kirsten had a good racing string of horses this year and next year looked just as good.
After warming up with some trotting and light cantering around the track Spitz was ready to do more. Kirsten clucked her tongue and urged him into a solid gallop. He moved around the track with ease and grace. He was very well conditioned. She gave him a bit more rein and allowed him to run more freely. They weren't going to do very much today since he was breezed just yesterday. Just a good gallop to get his adrenaline pumping.
"Ok that's enough boy, good work" She stood in her stirrups and pulled back on the reins. He responded to her commands right away. He was well trained and had good manners. Again, very rare for a thoroughbred stallion. It just proves that a good horse can come from anywhere... you can't judge their worth on a few lousy points...