Wunder - 2017 TS Kentucky Derby

Registration Number: 2
Show: 2017 TS Kentucky Derby
Horses Name: JA's White Wonder
Riders Name: Kirsten Reintjes
Extra Images: 1, 2
Previous Experience:
El Camino Real Derby - 3rd
UAE 2000 Guineas - 3rd
Santa Anita Derby - 2nd
Wood Memorial - 2nd
Florida Derby - 2nd
Rebel Stakes - 1st
Sunland Derby - 2nd
Fountain Of Youth Stakes - 3rd
2017 TS UAE Derby - 1st
2017 TS Arkansas Derby - 1st
Mae Blossoms Handicap - 1st
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Prizes Donated: Chibi of winner

Horses featured: HPS Hell's Revenge, WBS Blackbeard's Ghostly Sails

Story:
The feeling before the start was of hideous beauty. This mixture of nervousness and expectation. Under her body, she could feel the body of Wunder, breathing. He snorted. Scraped the ground with his hooves. His nostrils puffed, his tail whipping around. It was just as clear to the stallion as his rider. It was about winning this race. Wunder was an outstanding racehorse, but Kirsten also knew he had his own head. If he wanted to, he ran faster than the wind, but if he had a bad day, he would not be trotting three yards. Her heart beat against her ribs, Wunder felt her excitement. Absent-mindedly she patted the horses neck. Only then she did stare stubbornly fowards. The racetrack spread out before her. Spectators were waiting on the stands. Strangely uprised women with oversized hats hanging from the sleeves of their husbands wagging with thick money bundles, trying to put money on the horses. The wait was soon over. The start signal sounded like a thunderbolt. Wunder did not need any command to run. He pushed out of the starting box on the track. Behind him, a dust cloud whirled, and in front of him lay the whole path, which he had yet to run. On the right and on the left were more jockeys and other horses - just schematically as colorful spots, some of them lying in front of and partly behind them. Kirsten was not sure which position she was in. Somewhere in the midfield probably. Some were in front of her. Wunder breathed deeply and heavily. He clung to the horses that ran before him. They were the only thing that interested him. To do so, he literally threw himself against his bit, pulled forward. Later, foam would form in his mouth due to the effort, but at the moment the horse only bited his teeth together. From the spectator's booths boomed jubilation calls. Someone shrieked Wunder's name, but the cry went under the wild shouts of the other callers. They did everything to fire the animals. But Kirsten was not allowed to distract from the race. It was only to look forward. The first curve came into view. There was still a lot left before them, infinitely much. Behind it lay the goal in the distance. "Run faster," Kirsten whispered softly. "You can do that. I can do that. And we can do it together." As if he had heard this, Wunder moved forward. The breeze, which met his rider, blew her hair, and struck the free parts of the skin like pinsticks. Under her riding helmet, sweat ran down her head. Even the horse seemed to sweat. His hooves thundered on the mud. But Kirsten was no longer aware of this. The spectators' voices fell silent for them, and they were still to be heard. There was only her and the horse. His thundering hooves, which met on the ground at regular intervals. His panting with effort. They both had now merged into a unity that had become a common goal. They wanted to do their best to win the Kentucky Derby.
Word Count: 520

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