Empire of Mine in the TS Maiden Mile

The day had come where the daughter of Empire Maker, Empire of Mine, would try to prove herself. The filly was carefully brushed, her legs rubbed and her tack polished. As for the filly herself, she knew something big was about to happen. Despite this, she stood quietly, being led from here to there and there again by her handlers as they prepped her, keeping her calm as other horses of her age hustled and bustled to get ready as well. With large and curious eyes she peered around, watching the other handlers and horses as they darted by. As for Aleksandra Volkov, the rider, she knew Empire of Mine would be calm and ready for what was to come. The mare had an amazing temperament and nothing seemed to phase her.

The bay mare was led into the paddock in which Aleksandra mounted her when given the command to do so. Spectators were drawn to the view of the bay mare that was drenched in sunlight, glistening from head to toe as her muscles rippled beneath her soft coat. The attention, camera flashes and clamoring probably would’ve frightened any young horse that had never race- but not her. Slowly, Empire of Mine was led behind the other horses who had been mounted by their rides. Eventually she was handed off to a pony and rider to be led to the loading gate.

It was all routine for the mare as she had practiced and trained many days and many nights at not only her stable back in Missouri but here as well in preparation for her big day. The horses were led through the crowd of people whom began to cheer softly and clap as the large Thoroughbreds passed through. Empire of Mine nodded her head when the clamoring began but that was the gist of it. In only moments that had passed through the crowd and made their way onto the track. Aleksandra held the reins loosely as she trusted the mare with all she had.

So whilst other two year olds became excited and hopped about in front of them, Aleksandra sat quietly on a calm Empire of Mine. The mare’s ears flicked forward as she watched the others horses before her, looking back to see the others as well. Before she knew it she was being walked into the starting gate, which was no vice for her as she calmly walked into the big contraption. There she focused all her attention on the track before her, her ears pinned forward and her eyes wide. The heartrate of both horse and rider began to rise as the time was slowly inching by.

Aleksandra leaned forward, grabbing a small amount of mane and grasping the reins tightly in her hands in prep for the rocket-like power the mare had in store. Her sire was known for his power and his speed, Alek knew Empire of Mine had plenty of her father’s traits. Seconds ticked by—what seemed like a second anyways, it felt like minutes or hours. All became quiet, so quiet that only the breathing of horses and riders could be heard as the noise of crowd died down. The mare was ready and so was Aleksandra- when finally this was realized the buzzer rang and the metal gates slammed open to release a hoard of horses.