What We've Worked For

ART

ART HAS BEEN MADE

Horse: MSR Wild Red Skies 
Horse Age: 2
Rider: Jillian Hayes
Show: TJC Prestige Races | ATC Champagne Stakes
Placed: 2nd

Featuring CapNRCubey's FHF Agent of Hell
__________________
Story (533 words)
Skye's next big race would take place in Australia. He would run in the last leg of the Australian Junior Triple Crown. April and May had proven to be two busy months for everybody, and the last show that anyone had gone to had been Duchess in Ocala. However, Skye had not been idle. He had been training to run a right-handed race for the last month, and it had been going well.
Morning Star Ranch had been getting increasingly busy in the past few months. there were now seven at the stables, with two new faimé foals on the way. With the commotion over the two foals that already existed on the ranch, showing had taken a back seat. Skye was rejuvenated when he finally stepped out onto the turf at Royal Randwick racecourse. He was ready for this race, even though it would be a massive change from what he was used to, but no one was worried about it. He had been training well on turf, and even though he had been unsure of it at first, he quickly took to it. The hardest thing had been the travel, but he had settled in quickly and began working shortly afterward.
There were only three employees from Morning Star Ranch that had flown to Australia to watch him; his trainer, Aaron; his jockey, Jillian; and his groom. Everyone else remained in Canada. Duchess and Ashryn had left the ranch in order to compete in an endurance competition, but Skye had been the main focus for a while. His racing career was just starting to take off, and this next race would prove where he stood and where he needed work.
The white and bay stallion tossed his head as he was led out of his stall, his blinkers and bridle already in place. He was not the quietest horse in the paddock, occasionally prancing and tossing his head around, but never anything that would put him in a negative light. He was an excitable horse, and that would never change.
As Aaron watched the colt, he couldn't help but think back to Duchess. Before her training incident, she too had the same attitude - excited and ready to go. Since Skye was the first racehorse they had got to a point where he could actually enter races, but the expectation was still high. He had proven that he could run at a high level, but this would be his most difficult test by far.
"Same as always?" Jillian asked, and Aaron turned to face her.
"Yeah," he said. "Just make sure to keep him focused, especially on the corners. He tends to turn his head a bit too much."
"I'll keep that in mind," Jillian said with a grin. "Anything else?"
"Get him to run for you," Aaron said. "You seem to know how to get him running, but still. He's been off for a little while so I don't know how he'll go once he's out there."
"I have a few ideas to get him to focus," Jillian said, watching as the horses rounded the corner once again.
"Safe ride, Jill," Aaron said as Skye approached the pair. "No pressure."
__________________
Pose reference