Racing Against a Ghost

Drawing takes time around 'Now they were a 1/3 of the way finished with the final stretch.  Just a little longer, just a little- the girl immediately started loosening the reins, holding enough to stop him from running the track again once they crossed the finish line, but giving him (a little more than) enough to give him his head and let him run.'

Edit: We placed first, against Ghost, oh my god, oh my fucking god

Registration Number: 1
Show: TS Forego Handicap
Horses Name: GV ~ Show Me Love
Riders Name: Akiko Akiyama
Extra Images: N/A (didn't have time)
Previous Experience: N/A
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Prizes Donated: 1 free breeding to any horse owned by WCS
Horses featured: WBS Ghost Hour
Race Distance: 6 Furlongs 
Words: 424 (Prologue) + 433 = 857 words in total
Prologue: 
Akiko stood patiently (and quietly) as Hayley tacked up the palomino colt.  She had just finished buckling his breastplate as the colt started wiggling around, again.  It had taken both her and Emma to get the colt still enough for the girth and now he was acting like his hind end was on fire, as soon as she took a step forward, Emma quickly grabbed his halter and held him relatively still.    As Hayley leaned over to grab his bridle, Aki started thinking about the race and the competitors, no other horse stood out like WBS Ghost Hour.  Ghost was something else, an outstanding racer if Aki didn't want to go into too much detail.   She had routed for the mare as she climbed her way to victory, and now he'll be running against her.  A bit of a scary thought, she was extremely experienced where Zipper was still a greenhorn when it came to being on the track, he had raced a little for his older owners, but it wasn't quite like this.  Her thoughts drifted, 6 furlongs on a dirt, this should make it a little easier on Zipper, their home track was 8 furlongs and also on dirt.  To Zipper it would just be a quick sprint.  He always seemed to have more energy when she rode him back home on the stable's track like he was hoping for more only to be disappointed.   Zipper finally had his bridle on and was ready to go, he got lead out of the saddling paddock.  Once in the mounting yard, Aki was boosted into to saddle and reached over to fix her stirrups, one foot in, then the other.  Emma gave her a quick smile and then went to go take her seat.  The ravenette turned to Hayley, paying attention to what the woman was about to say, "Alright, you're racing against Ghost, but I'll guess you've figured that out," the woman started scratching the palomino's jaw when he started rubbing his face against her back, "Zip has a basic understanding of what he needs to do, your job is to guide him.  Run ahead of the pack, he'll get frustrated if he is stuck behind horses, and it might risk winning." the colt seemed to happily lean into Hayley's hand as she gave him a good scratch, "This is a six furlong race, although I advise you to hold his energy off, if he wants to run his own race, let'im." the young woman nodded as she took held of the reins.

Story
The palomino pranced around, he wasn't Hell like some horses she'd ridden, but boy was he a pain in the ass.  Two helpers grabbed one side of his bridle and pulled him in, one minute and forty-six seconds spent trying to get him in, it wasn't worth the fight.  The woman let out a sigh of relief.  She gave him a scratch on the shoulder, Zip let out a low huff of contentment.  The last horse was loaded, Aki (and undoubtedly Zip along with the other jockeys and horses) felt tense, anticipating the gate to open.  The young woman kneaded her hands into the reins, making sure she was in position, a couple more seconds, bRRIiiNG!!!  The bell sounded, the gates flew open, and they were out of the gates!  Zip did NOT wait to be caught behind the others, he immediately shot forward ahead of the pack, refusing to be behind the others, to have dirt fly in his face.   He charged ahead.  He had managed to get a couple of lengths ahead, Aki tightened her reins some.  She wasn't quite sure how he'd react on a track, oddly enough, he complied and held the pace.  Four beats.  One.  Two.  Three. Four.  She couldn't believe she was up here, on Zipper, as he ran the race, all of her life, she wanted to fly, as silly as it sounds.  This was about the closest she'd ever come to flying, but damn, it was a good substitute.  All of a sudden, she heard eight beats.One.  Two.  Three. Four. And again.  One.  Two.  Three. Four.  She glanced to her left, a white blur was flying forward, ah.  Ghost Hour was catching up.  She glanced down, Zipper didn't even seem to notice.  Soon enough they neared the stretch turn.  As soon as they finished the turn, Ghost Hour started gaining ground again, her's and Zip's strides were nearly perfectly matched.  Now they were a 1/3 of the way finished with the final stretch.  Just a little longer, just a little- the girl immediately started loosening the reins, holding enough to stop him from running the track again once they crossed the finish line, but giving him (a little more than) enough to give him his head and let him run.  He needed no vocal cues or to have her squeeze her bottom legs against him, the loose rein was all he needed.  He shot off like a rocket, quickly gaining ground and leaving the white mare, and the other horses in the dust, he was doing what he loved to do, and that was running.

Artist notes:
OH GOD WATCH OUT GHOST!  YOU'RE IN QUICK SAND!
Don't ask why the dirt sucked Ghost's foot but not Zip's

shitty short story ending is shitty

If you say the words horse, race, racehorse, track, or thoroughbred around me, i'll jump through your screen and throttle you

this take waay too long
why yes the background isn't 100% accurate shh h hhhhh i don't want to draw backgrounds rn

Is this how Ghost runs races?  I don't remember.  Is she around 5 during this race?  Who fucking knows.
I changed Zipper's markings (a-fucking-gain) some so don't use his  current ref as his arking ref
i forgot racing terms lmao

btw I wrote the story a little before I went to bed which is why it's shitty
Reference(s): 
nyaorestock.deviantart.com/art…


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