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Racing Right For Once

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 2015 Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe 



Dallas knew that the 2015 Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe would be a challenging race for her white filly WBS Ghost Hour. She hadn't quite gotten the hang of right-hand yet, but Dallas hoped that something might click in Ghost now that other horses would be turning right on the track. Her hopes were that if she could stay behind at least one horse until the final stretch that she would take the turns okay and understand what was going to be expected of her. Ghost was a social, kind horse, but teaching her new things took patience and time. And Dallas had run out of time as race day finally arrived. Dallas never expected anything from her horses, as to not be disappointed. All that she asked from them before their races was that they did the best they could do given their circumstances, and with this particular race the odds were not really in Ghosts favor. Though she was among the favorites on the track, no one in the grand stands knew how poorly she had taken to right-hand, no one saw or knew these things except for her Jockey and Dallas. The press had tried to get Dallas to budge as to why they weren't running Ghost during her warm ups, why they were walking and trotting the track, they wanted to know the meaning behind the suddenly odd behavior from the Trainer and Owner of the mare who was now a rising star, as usually they would do a warm up run on the race grounds to get WBS Ghost Hour used to the track. Dallas had nothing to say, as she did not want her mare to seem weak in front of the press. She could not. Not after Ghosts impressive win at the Pacific Classic- her fall there had made her appear weak enough as it was. Though Ghost went on to win the race, the press was relentless in criticizing the mare and her trainer. They were criticizing Dallas's choice to even race her again after her fall, something Dallas had to deal with heavily at the Arlington Million. Dallas stuck to her decision to continue racing the mare after she had recovered, as it turned out that the injuries were merely cosmetics, no bones had been broken or fractured luckily. Though Ghost had many fans, there were still few who showed up to races just to protest against Dallas, accusing her of being cruel and heartless. Dallas tried not to show in public how this effected her, but at night it was all she could think about. She had been training race horses for years, and she never thought those things about herself until now. The rest of the WBS staff shrugged the accusations off, telling Dallas that she was doing nothing wrong, that if they were in her shoes that they would not let it get to them. That they would continue to race. So for the time being, Dallas took the advise of her friends and co workers, and she did what she thought was right. The joys of racing seemed to be drained from Dallas now, and she appeared to be all business. That is, aside from the brief time that her horses were actually racing. That was when joy would return to her features, and her eyes would light up as if she were alive again. She would yell out her horses names and applaud, she would weep at victory, and accept defeats in good sport. Ghost in particular never failed to cheer her up. But for a moment in the race, something odd happened. When the horses went into the first stretch, hidden from the grand stands by the thick trees, WBS Wise Jewel was in the pack, boxed in. When the horses left the cover of the thick trees and emerged into the open once again, the chestnut was far behind and running odly. Ghost was making an early move to second place. Things appeared to not be going how Dallas had planned them, and this put her in a state of distress. What had happened in the cover of those trees?

word count: 696

Registration Number: 2
Show: 2015 Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe
Horses Name: WBS Ghost Hour
Riders Name: Abhijat Devar
Extra Images: Taking It Easy Then Letting It Loose , The Secret To Success
Previous Experience: 3rd , 4th , 1st , 3rd , 1st , 1st , 2nd , 1st , 1st ,  2nd 
Advertisement: angry-horse-for-life.deviantar…
Prizes Donated: Ribbons to all, Personalized Blanket to 1st
Results: 1st/7

The big chestnut mare had an odd start to her life for a race horse. She remained unraced her whole 2 year career, and for the majority of her 3 year old career, serving as a surrogate mother to foals who had bigger plans than she. It wasn't until White Blood Stables snatched the mare up that her training was put to use and she had been entered in her first race at White Blood Stables home track during winter. Living up to her previous owners expectations, she placed 13th in a field of 16. The mare was competitive, but didn't know how to manage her skills, and though the will to fight was there, her trainer and jockey were both finding it hard to teach the mare to use her skills properly. It was if she were bipolar- a little competitive at the beginning, then just burning out and giving up as soon as the other horse whom she had challenged in the first place tried to push her harder. More times than most this was the pattern. WBS Wise Jewel was a mare from a small background, with small expectations, now being pitted against champions in only her second ever race.
The mare was loaded into the gates and ready to go, or at least her jockey thought she was. Though Dee was just another horse for her owner and trainer Dallas, living and breathing in the shadow of greater horses at the stable like WBS Ghost Hour, her jockey Jenna felt a strong connection with the big chestnut mare and had big dreams for her. Dallas agreed to enter the horse into the Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe simply because she could afford to, and it would keep Jennas dreams kindled. The mare was a little more worked up than usual, feeding off of the energy of the other horses slamming around in their loading gates. On her left was the damn near wild WPF The Apocalypse, and to her right was her stablemate that she hadn't seen for a while as he had been leased out, WBS Moves Like Jagger. She leaned her head over to her right, taking in Jaggers scent and whinnying a hello to him. Jenna straightened her out and she pawed then snorted, "Focus, big girl," Jenna breathed out to the mare, clutching the reigns and a lock of Dee's mane in her hands. Then the bell sounded.
Dee got a relatively slow start out of the gate, but managed to pass Sunday Memory, whom was being held back by his jockey. Jenna asked Dee for a little more, just enough to get up to WBS Ghost Hour in the middle of the pack. This was the wrong move, however, because suddenly she found her and her big mount boxed in by WBS Moves Like Jagger, who likewise stuck close to Ghost. Roughly 30 seconds into the race, Jenna found an opening as WBS Moves Like Jagger found his way up in the pack. As Jenna urged Dee out of her racing line and attempted to pass Ghost herself, she heard muffled screams, drowned out by the thundering of hooves. However, before Jenna could look back, WPF The Apocalypse slammed into her mount. Dee screamed out but her scream was cut short by an odd gasping for air. The mare rocked back on her hind legs and threw up her front legs as she moved- almost crow hopping at a canter. Jenna was able to stay seated by crouching low on the mare and tried talking to her, but something was wrong. The big chestnut was gasping as she ran, fallen to the back of the pack now. Her breath was short and loud, sometimes non exsistant. Jenna did not ask anything from the mare now, she just trusted her to do what she felt her body could take, and at this point they had a long ways to go. So she just set herself on the mare without giving any ques, and readied herself for whatever might come next, tears streaming her face from the fright of what had just occurred. But despite whatever was wrong with her, Dee seemed determined to catch that fiery mare with the devils red coat.


word count: 710

Registration Number: 5
Show: 2015 Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe
Horses Name: WBS Wise Jewel
Riders Name: Jenna Grace
Extra Images: Racing Destiny , {T} Training
Previous Experience: None
Advertisement: angry-horse-for-life.deviantar…
Prizes Donated: Ribbons to all, Personalized Blanket to 1st
Results: 6th/7

Featured Horses: TLEC Quiet Fellow , Sunday Memory , Enigma's Female Robbery , WBS Moves Like Jagger , WPF The Apocalypse , BTs - Blackbeard Got Some Ink

TLEC Quiet Fellow - Minor Injury by TimberlakeLaneECSunday Memory Reference Sheet by CapNRCubeyEnigma's Female Robbery by JarydebWBS Moves Like Jagger by angry-horse-for-lifeWPF The Apocalypse by Winter-Pine-FarmsBTs - Blackbeard Got Some Ink by Lone-Onyx-Stardust

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reff- Race Day stock 21 , Race Day stock 22 , at 0:41 on this video
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Lone-Onyx-Stardust's avatar
Thanks for the feature ^^