The Beast Below: The Gremlin, Haskell Invitational

  Woo hoo! We got 3rd in the Haskell Invitational!!  Sick bruh.
In terms of reality, wee 1-race Gremlin getting that against superstars Ghost Hour and Blackbeard Got Some Ink, is pretty stellar of him.
Also, it adds to his narcissistic self-aware plotline. I'm gonna write a wee follow up to keep the plot rolling.

Well done to everyone who entered!  


Registration Number: 10
Show: The Haskell Invitational held by the Thoroughbred Society
Horses Name: The Gremlin
Riders Name: Sam MacLean
Extra Images: ballenclieff.deviantart.com/ar…
Previous Experience: 1st in Thoroughbred Society's Juvenile Stakes thoroughbred-society.deviantar…
Advertisement: ballenclieff.deviantart.com/jo…
Prizes Donated: Full body portraits of 1st,2nd,3rd & Headshot of 4th!

So there is 3 extra horses instead of 2, but it was mostly for a compositional thing than a points thing. Tbh I wish I put a few more in the back, but I pretty much did this is 2 days so I'm pretty proud of it! 

Featuring Ghost Hour and Inglorious Basterd, and a wee snippet of Almost Normal in the bottom conrer.


Now I'm always a sucker doing a long story, so be prepared lol. Not my best, but w/e.  


Story: 

Although he’d been at the Ballenclieff for over a year now - and had settled well - he remained unpredictable, and prone to violent outbursts. Despite his successes, they were nominal and he had become somewhat of a liability. Following on from an exceptional debut, they’d received a small amount of press attention. The Gremlin, they learned, was not one for the limelight, having close to to attacked a photographer who - despite warnings - got to close. The event nonetheless did nothing to quash his infamy. 

As for the staff, only a very small, very experienced group would deal with him. Gina had been butted several times, though never bitten, and had taken measures to avoid him as much as possible. Even the growingly bold Sam narrowly missed a few scrapes. It seemed the horse had no love for anyone, and even when he appeared calm, could take a bite from nowhere. 

Sam was relieved that at least Gremlin had accepted him as a jockey. He had a usual training rider - a girl called Willa - who seemed to be the only person he’d not tried to wound yet. However, she’d been unable to come with them to America, so it was Sam’s job. It was risky business. 

As for Rob , he’d become the only one who could single handedly capacitate the colt. They’d been forced to muzzle the animal during any semi-public events. With this, Rob could lead him without fear of the big jaws behind him. He’d heard of some horses biting off people’s fingers. Though Gremlin was yet to eat body parts, they could do with preventative methods. 

As for other horses, the Gremlin was, most of the time, indifferent. He and Plushenko clashed horribly in the beginning, but now were almost friends. The Gremlin’s strength was that he was almost never intimidated by other horses, so saw little threat or bother with them. Also unlike other stallions, he was neither girl-crazy or gelding hating. He was almost pleasant. if they got too close he could be aggresive, but he was yet to attack any. He turned out to be, surprisingly, a mostly unsocial horse. Though he and Plushenko could be found grazing together in their adjoining paddocks. 

**

It was only on race days that the Gremlin turned into Mr. Hyde. And on the morning of the Haskell Invitational, the whole team could feel that today was a particularly bad day. He seemed to loathe other racehorses. Although it couldn’t be said he was anymore intimidated  by them, but he certainly became more volatile, and became more unmanageable. He could be a nasty competitor. It was intimidating just being around him. 

He seemed insatiably unstable that morning. At training, he’d nearly rammed several other horses, and almost thrown Sam. It had shaken the young jockey, but he was strident in not letting any fear seep out of his skin, and into the Gremlin’s brain. The colt was a bloodhound, and if a jockey was too aggressive or began pale, he knew exactly how to rip them up. Rob had instigated earlier that they use a ring bit on him. He was so liable to run away with his riders - and was a bull force once he got going - that it was the only logical way to keep Sam in control. The horse was a chaser, a hunter, and could get carried away. 

Saddling him up that morning, Rob could tell he hated the bit. He had practiced with it previously, but he always resisted. He fiddled and fidgeted. Rob worried this highly concentrated mood would wear him about before he even stepped foot out the starting gate. The animal was so decked out in hardware it probably counted against him in weight.

Seeing Sam and Gremlin matching was a pleasing sight. The animal trembled with adrenalin, and though he appeared calm, so did Sam. Rob held the animal steadfast as they waited to approach the entry ring. With the bright blue tack and the thin sheen of sweat that began to show on his skin, he looked like an impeccable million dollar racecar. The sun shone brightly, though it had been raining in the morning, leaving the track a slick, soft bed of light mud. The smell of the heating track was in the air, acrid and hot. Gremlin breathed heavily, his eyes fixed on the horse before him: a chimera colt, In Bed With the Queen.

Rob marvelled at the rainbow of horses in America. Back home, there were so few such bold showstoppers. The grey Gremlin was a literal dark horse in the mix. He was far less known than most of the other competitors, but his silently terrifying presence was gripping. Though in the sense that people stayed away from the great grey beast.  

While there were equally tall horses at the racemes, none as imposing. The Gremlin was an enormous horse.  Since arrival, the Gremlin had been making the lives of his stablemates and their handlers very uncomfortable. He towered over most people, even when he didn’t stand upright. He had a habit of hanging his head low, eye-level, so he could peer at you. Like a raptor. 

Suddenly they were on the move, and quick as a flash Sam was up on the horse. Behind him, he heard the Gremlin stir slightly, huffing loudly. He walked forward purposefully, knowing that if they stopped it would only cause the horse to engage violently in whatever was around him. He told the animal’s head close to his own. To the gate, he thought, without eating anyone.    

And then suddenly it was tim for Rob to leave, and hand the animal to the race team. Luckily by this time Gremlin’s energy was soaring and his attention was on the race. He was an incredibly easy loader, and one of the first in the gate. Once in there, he was like a lit fuse. The tension between him and the horses around him became furious. He was ready. Sam was ready.

Once was inside the gate, Sam had those few minutes to collect himself before the fury began. He could feel that the Gremlin was in a place that Sam was very unsure of. But he breathed, gathering his reins.

And then the sound of a siren, the clashing and metal and the purity of the open track was before them. He could catch only a glimpse, his heart in his mouth, and Gremlin stormed out like a cheetah in hot pursuit of the empty stretch. 

The field was huge, and almost immediately Sam felt his hands on Gremlin’s mouth holding him back and directing him towards the rail. Kiss the rail, Sam thought, like a cat kiss the rail. 

The bodies around them were huge and furious. The pace began faster than anything Sam had experienced. The Gremlin was a missile, but these horses weren’t paper planes. His eyes searched out beyond the grey’s heaving chest, and was immediately hit by flying earth. He gasped and tried to wipe his face on the Gremlin’s mane. Through his goggles, he tried to search out the leaders and get ready to knuckle down.

He was worried about the pace. He hands held the reins, and he could feel the resistance from the Gremlin already. He wasn’t at the rail, and there was a muddle of animals infront of him. The Gremlin was a chaser, not leader of the pack. He kept low. He stalked and struck at the last minute. But something was off. The ride was less smooth. He was tense. A solid mass.  

He gained stability. he saw the leaders easily within grasp. The Gremlin somewhat settled and followed close, though more towards the back end. His ears were back and he watched those around him. Even at a strong gallop he managed to exude a horrific aggression. 

And then, just as he was ready to kick it up a gear just over half way, Sam heard an ungodly sound. Somewhere out of nowhere a horse came up the inside of the Gremlin, and the fury that came out of that horse was something else. And then something snapped. A force that stirred from somewhere within the beast. In a flash the Gremlin threw down his head, wrenching the reins from Sam’s grasp. In his shock he slammed forward, but luckily didn’t lose total grip or balance. But, and he scrambled to gather them up, had lost his control over Gremlin’s bit. He felt the hard weight against his teeth.

And in a furious flash, they bypassed whatever was the next gear, to some ungodly sprint directed straight between the two leading horses. Gremlin’s mustered a screech that echoed around the group. Sam felt a twinge in the animal’s body, and felt him lurch tot he side, straight for the rail. Two horses were on his inside, a white filly and a dark chestnut, and Sam felt his eyes widen in fear. he could imagine the Gremlin’s jaws going for one of them. His goal was the inside. And his targets were in sight.

Sam tried to pull as hard as he could, hoping the Gremlin would lapse his grip on the bit. Sam buried his head into the back of gremlin’s neck, shielding his face from the debris, and pulling as hard as possible. Underneath him the Gremlin flew on, swerving just in time to not crash into the chestnut, charging like a locomotive into the throng before them. Within him he felt fear stir inside him, and he realised he was utterly, utterly terrified of the furious beast below.