To Take The Victory

Ellie had not had a good start to her career the previous year, raccing in only two races and placing well out of the top three in both. It was hoped, however, that she would use her experience from the previous year to her advantage at the start of her second year in racing. Of course, it was normal for horses to be left who had not yet broken their maidens and all would have a chance to prove themselves and become stars. It was not unheard of for these horses to push on to be sucessful and, for mares at least, it was no big deal anyway. If they failed on the track it didn't necessarily mean that they could not become sucessful broodmares. Some of the best racehorses had come from mares who did not race at all and sometimes it was just down to selecting the right match to create a star.

In her first race of the year, which was for fillies only, she would be facing her stablemate Candid Silver. Silvi was a two year old at the very begining of her career and while she had raced in three prospect races she had not performed as well as some of the others. Now, at the begining of her real racing career, it was hoped that they could overcome the difficulties of a stubborn filly in order to push her over the post in first place.

Wannabe Hero was also down to race at the same distance and surface as Silvi and Ellie and so he had been put down to work with the pair of fillies. Another two year old, the colt was a dirt sprinter and it was hoped that he would prove himself to be talented in the next year. This was just the begining of his career, and it was hoped that in starting early they were giving him every chance at success.

Each horse had been matches to a jockey. For Ellie, it was a continuation of the previous year with her jockey - Jacob Donovan. For Hero and Silvi, it was the first year of riding with their jockeys and the first tests of the quality of their matches. For Hero, that meant Tanya Stratt - a young jockey with a lot of heart and, for Silvi, it meant Tanya's sister Alana. Alana, who the previous year had ridden the beautiful and sucessful filly Afterglow to Grade Four as a two year old. A prestigious honor for any horse.

Jacob was the first to reach the track with his energetic three-year-old Ellie. She tossed her head and fidgetted, pulled impatiently at the reins as they waited for the others to arrive until jacob finally gave in on trying to hold her still and mounted - a struggle in itself as the filly was unable to stand still even for so little a feat. By the time that Tanya and Alana arrived, walking side by side with their given mounts the tthree year old was practically rearing to go and so once they had mounted the three moved the horses toward the gates.

Ellie gates well after an initial struggle with one of the handlers, and stood in the gate constantly fidgetting as she waited for the race to begin. Next, Hero was gated. He struggled a little more due to nerves around the gates but once he had been put in he settled, his mind settling on what lay ahead for he was a competetive young thing who wanted nothing more than to win. Finally, Silvi was gated and proved to be the easiest of the three to do so. She strode into the stall calmly and stood still as she waited for the gates to open.

As soon as the gates opened Hero sped out to take the lead while Silvi settled in everal paces behind and Ellie took a closing position. It was only a short run, six furlongs down the dirt track, but would provide the three with the exercise required to help them run well. Hero set a realtively quick pace, which was matchd by the others but as they rode down the straight he seemed to put some distance between him and the other two However, Ellie soon started to push up and once Ellie was level Silvi also began to speed up. With three furlongs to go Hero was two lengths ahead, Silvi and Ellie battling when the whips cracked.

The speed of the three suddenly showed as they fought for the post. Ellie soared ahead of Silvi who tried to keep up, took over the handsome Hero and continued down the field while Silvi batted with the colt. Ellie took the post with ease, Silvi and Hro battling to the very end of the stretch.