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Description

Previously:

“It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.” ~St. Augustine
Season: 8
AUGUST I
August started quite suddenly, as months usually did when you were exceptionally busy. The entire team had their hands full.
Gold Leaf, for all her talent, seemed to be petering out during her morning works, and so Cyrus put her on standby until the cold weather returned, hoping the cooler temperatures would help her out. She was still young, as far as female racers went, and he was still reluctant to retire her despite Lia’s desire to have her as a broodmare. Luckily, the owner (usually) deferred to his judgement where the active racers were concerned.
The rest, however, were doing as well as to be expected. He aimed Aztec at two races in August just for grins: the Whitney and the Pacifica Classica, both of which Aztec had dominated before. Ohm was also set to run a few days after the Whitney, though Cyrus figured that his famous colt had a bit of a better chance at the winner’s circle than the red dragon.
Sure enough, Liam pushed Aztec through the laziest of paces to secure the Pacifica Classica--and its 1.2 million purse--for a second year in a row. Dani, of course, sulked from where she was watching in the jockey’s locker rooms, but she kept her mutterings to herself for once when everyone reconvened in the barn that evening.
Three days later on a dreary, overcast Tuesday, Liam hopped on board Ohm’s back in Charlotte’s hunter green silks to test her mettle once more against a field of allowance runners. Unfortunately, she was once again pinned inside a box, much to both her and Liam’s disgruntlement, and this time she had nowhere to go. In the box they stayed, crossing the wire in a disappointing fourth. Journalists watched in disappointment and shook their heads as they scribbled down their notes.
Liam’s face was a bit droopy on the return to the barn, but Cyrus shrugged it off and patted the jockey on the back hard enough to make him stumble forward a step. Eddie, hovering in the peripheral, just laughed and gestured toward Ohm to bring Liam’s attention back to her.
The filly in question was practically breathing fire. She paced back and forth inside her stall, whinnying ferociously through the slats at Dizzy and Yomi on either side of her as if she was telling them all about her frustrations. For what it was worth, the two other fillies seem to be consoling their friend as best they could; Yomi had her nose hanging over her stall door and was wiggling her lips in Ohm’s direction as Dizzy whickered quietly in between soft grunts. It was fascinating.
Liam eyed the trio, brow furrowed.
“I think,” Eddie said blithely, “a loss against real company will do her some good. She’ll be fighting tooth and nail next time out.”
“I shouldn’t have gotten her stuck in a box again, though. It was a rookie mistake.”
Eddie shrugged passively before Cyrus waved them off, muttering about Charlotte Taggart being more forgiving than most. Then, the team turned their attentions to another horse entirely.
Snowbird was perhaps even more impressive than she had been upon her arrival at Belmont Park a month ago. She was massive and, while not as tall as Canaan, she was even bulkier than her sister--clearly built for speed despite her sire’s influence. She turned heads without even trying.
Dani adjusted her helmet and accepted Eddie’s leg up onto the filly’s back. Snowbird had her teeth bared and was trying her best to take a chunk out of her groom. When she felt Dani’s weight settle along her spine, she pinned her ears to her head and tried to whip around to face off against Dani’s boots. Only her handler managed to keep her in check--barely--and she rounded on him again in retaliation. Dani couldn’t help her eyebrows climbing to her hairline; she was still taken aback at how different Snowbird was to Canaan, even after a month of working the filly in the mornings.
Eddie also looked nervous, which didn’t really reassure her much.
Dani glanced to her left as the groom led them out of the saddling paddock to meet the track ponies. Her gaze collided with another’s, and she pinched her lips together unhappily. Liam, for what it was worth, didn’t scowl back at her, or shoot her a smarmy grin, or… anything, really. He just stared passively for a moment, then glanced down to readjust his gloves.
They were both riding favorites--each of their mounts were tied at odds of 3-1. The bay filly he was guiding into the gate was far smaller than Snowbird, though, and for all her impressive pedigree, didn’t really stand a chance against Snowbird’s power. The catch, of course, was Snowbird’s temperament. She had talent in spades--more than any freshman in years--but she was unruly and unpredictable at best and no one knew how she was going to react during an actual race.
The filly in question did not take to the gate well. She balked at the metal bars and kicked furiously when the gate hands tried to link arms behind her tail and guide her in. She bucked a couple times for good measure, unseating Dani a little and making her lose a stirrup.
Liam’s mount loaded easily, of course.
Finally, between the gate hands’ determination and Dani’s ability to cling like a monkey, Snowbird loaded into her post; the bell sounded mere seconds later and the field surged forth like a great wave.
Snowbird was pissed, though. In her anger, she bolted sideways and collided with the horse on her inside. Dani gasped as her leg was smashed between the bodies and heard the other jockey curse as his filly stumbled. In that instance, Dani knew it was over. No matter what position they crossed the wire in, Snowbird would be bumped back due to interference.
Still, they had to try.
Dani corrected Snowbird’s free-wheeling path and aimed her straight and true. The young jockey could see Liam’s silks bobbing amidst the throng of horses in front of them and she gritted her teeth together determinedly.
It was as if Dani’s energy pulsed down her legs and through the saddle into Snowbird’s bones. The filly stopped her angry pedaling and settled into a determined sprint, dark eyes focused like a bird of prey’s on the flagged tails in front of them. With impressive athleticism, the filly kicked into another gear and stampeded around horse after horse until they were at the front of the pack to take on the lead runners.
A grey filly held onto the lead with determined strides. Liam’s mount was in second.
Snowbird was unable to take the lead.
***
The loss set a fire under Snowbird’s tail. Considering the filly was already breathing smoke, the added fierceness sent her grooms scuttling. She raged inside her stall, tossing her head and hooves about in equal measure as she fought against the universe with every fiber of her being. Thinking a turnout would do her some good, Cyrus commanded that her grooms take her out to graze, but she merely turned her rage against the sky, and the grass, and the poor, decorative flowers. Then in her morning works, she raged against the track, and the gate, and the bit, and every little thing in between. Every time they cantered back to the barn, Dani’s arms ached.
The only other option was another race.
And thus, Cyrus tossed her name into another maiden a mere week and a half after her career debut. The press cried out in shock in their morning articles and blogs, but Dani agreed with her trainer; Snowbird was a force that could not and would not be contained.
This time out, Snowbird refused to let any horse cross her line of sight. She made a violent break for the lead and clung to it from wire to wire. None could challenge her. The six furlong win went down in the books in 1:05 flat with a nine length lead.
If Snowbird hadn’t been the filly to watch before, she certainly was now.
Following her sheer dominion, Serenade’s attempt to claim the Grade I Ballerina was somewhat disappointing as Dani guided her to a simple fifth place. Still, the young mare placed on the board in a race she wasn’t really built for, and Cyrus wasn’t too upset at the loss.
Ghoul then romped away in a simple allowance race, unchallenged, while Storm Chaser claimed the Grade III Longacres Mile.
Then, as Aztec sailed home unchallenged in the Grade I Pacific Classic to a pretty little tune of one million, the world began to wonder: was Maia the only horse that would ever challenge the King?

Shown:
Name: Snowbird
Barn name: Birdy, Snow, That F*cker Bit Me
Gender: Filly
Age: 2
Breed: Thoroughbred
Height: Projected 17hh
Color: Liver chestnut sabino (will gray out), flaxen carrier
Genotype: ee/aa/Gg/nSb/Ff
Markings: 4 long socks, crooked blaze with chin cap
Build: Large and muscular, built more like a stallion than a filly.
Temperament: Vicious and hard-headed, Snowbird challenges everyone she comes across, person and horse alike. She takes no shit but is sure to give it in spades. She is quite possibly the exact opposite of her older sister.
Discipline: Flat racing
Bloodlines: Neverland x Abaddon , Azrael

Art, Characters, and Story (C) me

Next on:

Description

Previously:

“It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.” ~St. Augustine
Season: 8
AUGUST I
August started quite suddenly, as months usually did when you were exceptionally busy. The entire team had their hands full.
Gold Leaf, for all her talent, seemed to be petering out during her morning works, and so Cyrus put her on standby until the cold weather returned, hoping the cooler temperatures would help her out. She was still young, as far as female racers went, and he was still reluctant to retire her despite Lia’s desire to have her as a broodmare. Luckily, the owner (usually) deferred to his judgement where the active racers were concerned.
The rest, however, were doing as well as to be expected. He aimed Aztec at two races in August just for grins: the Whitney and the Pacifica Classica, both of which Aztec had dominated before. Ohm was also set to run a few days after the Whitney, though Cyrus figured that his famous colt had a bit of a better chance at the winner’s circle than the red dragon.
Sure enough, Liam pushed Aztec through the laziest of paces to secure the Pacifica Classica--and its 1.2 million purse--for a second year in a row. Dani, of course, sulked from where she was watching in the jockey’s locker rooms, but she kept her mutterings to herself for once when everyone reconvened in the barn that evening.
Three days later on a dreary, overcast Tuesday, Liam hopped on board Ohm’s back in Charlotte’s hunter green silks to test her mettle once more against a field of allowance runners. Unfortunately, she was once again pinned inside a box, much to both her and Liam’s disgruntlement, and this time she had nowhere to go. In the box they stayed, crossing the wire in a disappointing fourth. Journalists watched in disappointment and shook their heads as they scribbled down their notes.
Liam’s face was a bit droopy on the return to the barn, but Cyrus shrugged it off and patted the jockey on the back hard enough to make him stumble forward a step. Eddie, hovering in the peripheral, just laughed and gestured toward Ohm to bring Liam’s attention back to her.
The filly in question was practically breathing fire. She paced back and forth inside her stall, whinnying ferociously through the slats at Dizzy and Yomi on either side of her as if she was telling them all about her frustrations. For what it was worth, the two other fillies seem to be consoling their friend as best they could; Yomi had her nose hanging over her stall door and was wiggling her lips in Ohm’s direction as Dizzy whickered quietly in between soft grunts. It was fascinating.
Liam eyed the trio, brow furrowed.
“I think,” Eddie said blithely, “a loss against real company will do her some good. She’ll be fighting tooth and nail next time out.”
“I shouldn’t have gotten her stuck in a box again, though. It was a rookie mistake.”
Eddie shrugged passively before Cyrus waved them off, muttering about Charlotte Taggart being more forgiving than most. Then, the team turned their attentions to another horse entirely.
Snowbird was perhaps even more impressive than she had been upon her arrival at Belmont Park a month ago. She was massive and, while not as tall as Canaan, she was even bulkier than her sister--clearly built for speed despite her sire’s influence. She turned heads without even trying.
Dani adjusted her helmet and accepted Eddie’s leg up onto the filly’s back. Snowbird had her teeth bared and was trying her best to take a chunk out of her groom. When she felt Dani’s weight settle along her spine, she pinned her ears to her head and tried to whip around to face off against Dani’s boots. Only her handler managed to keep her in check--barely--and she rounded on him again in retaliation. Dani couldn’t help her eyebrows climbing to her hairline; she was still taken aback at how different Snowbird was to Canaan, even after a month of working the filly in the mornings.
Eddie also looked nervous, which didn’t really reassure her much.
Dani glanced to her left as the groom led them out of the saddling paddock to meet the track ponies. Her gaze collided with another’s, and she pinched her lips together unhappily. Liam, for what it was worth, didn’t scowl back at her, or shoot her a smarmy grin, or… anything, really. He just stared passively for a moment, then glanced down to readjust his gloves.
They were both riding favorites--each of their mounts were tied at odds of 3-1. The bay filly he was guiding into the gate was far smaller than Snowbird, though, and for all her impressive pedigree, didn’t really stand a chance against Snowbird’s power. The catch, of course, was Snowbird’s temperament. She had talent in spades--more than any freshman in years--but she was unruly and unpredictable at best and no one knew how she was going to react during an actual race.
The filly in question did not take to the gate well. She balked at the metal bars and kicked furiously when the gate hands tried to link arms behind her tail and guide her in. She bucked a couple times for good measure, unseating Dani a little and making her lose a stirrup.
Liam’s mount loaded easily, of course.
Finally, between the gate hands’ determination and Dani’s ability to cling like a monkey, Snowbird loaded into her post; the bell sounded mere seconds later and the field surged forth like a great wave.
Snowbird was pissed, though. In her anger, she bolted sideways and collided with the horse on her inside. Dani gasped as her leg was smashed between the bodies and heard the other jockey curse as his filly stumbled. In that instance, Dani knew it was over. No matter what position they crossed the wire in, Snowbird would be bumped back due to interference.
Still, they had to try.
Dani corrected Snowbird’s free-wheeling path and aimed her straight and true. The young jockey could see Liam’s silks bobbing amidst the throng of horses in front of them and she gritted her teeth together determinedly.
It was as if Dani’s energy pulsed down her legs and through the saddle into Snowbird’s bones. The filly stopped her angry pedaling and settled into a determined sprint, dark eyes focused like a bird of prey’s on the flagged tails in front of them. With impressive athleticism, the filly kicked into another gear and stampeded around horse after horse until they were at the front of the pack to take on the lead runners.
A grey filly held onto the lead with determined strides. Liam’s mount was in second.
Snowbird was unable to take the lead.
***
The loss set a fire under Snowbird’s tail. Considering the filly was already breathing smoke, the added fierceness sent her grooms scuttling. She raged inside her stall, tossing her head and hooves about in equal measure as she fought against the universe with every fiber of her being. Thinking a turnout would do her some good, Cyrus commanded that her grooms take her out to graze, but she merely turned her rage against the sky, and the grass, and the poor, decorative flowers. Then in her morning works, she raged against the track, and the gate, and the bit, and every little thing in between. Every time they cantered back to the barn, Dani’s arms ached.
The only other option was another race.
And thus, Cyrus tossed her name into another maiden a mere week and a half after her career debut. The press cried out in shock in their morning articles and blogs, but Dani agreed with her trainer; Snowbird was a force that could not and would not be contained.
This time out, Snowbird refused to let any horse cross her line of sight. She made a violent break for the lead and clung to it from wire to wire. None could challenge her. The six furlong win went down in the books in 1:05 flat with a nine length lead.
If Snowbird hadn’t been the filly to watch before, she certainly was now.
Following her sheer dominion, Serenade’s attempt to claim the Grade I Ballerina was somewhat disappointing as Dani guided her to a simple fifth place. Still, the young mare placed on the board in a race she wasn’t really built for, and Cyrus wasn’t too upset at the loss.
Ghoul then romped away in a simple allowance race, unchallenged, while Storm Chaser claimed the Grade III Longacres Mile.
Then, as Aztec sailed home unchallenged in the Grade I Pacific Classic to a pretty little tune of one million, the world began to wonder: was Maia the only horse that would ever challenge the King?

Shown:
Name: Snowbird
Barn name: Birdy, Snow, That F*cker Bit Me
Gender: Filly
Age: 2
Breed: Thoroughbred
Height: Projected 17hh
Color: Liver chestnut sabino (will gray out), flaxen carrier
Genotype: ee/aa/Gg/nSb/Ff
Markings: 4 long socks, crooked blaze with chin cap
Build: Large and muscular, built more like a stallion than a filly.
Temperament: Vicious and hard-headed, Snowbird challenges everyone she comes across, person and horse alike. She takes no shit but is sure to give it in spades. She is quite possibly the exact opposite of her older sister.
Discipline: Flat racing
Bloodlines: Neverland x Abaddon , Azrael

Art, Characters, and Story (C) me

Next on: