Not a Real Daybreak

Original article written by Louise Bayou posted 8 years 4 weeks ago

The backside of Ruidoso was bustling with excitement as the last of the horses were being hauled in for the Y41 Stewards Cup. The frazzled guards were huffing and puffing as they checked in the army that is the Jeff Cashell Stewards Cup entrants. The Cashell assistant Manuel scrambled to get control of Nightforce, the sorrel colt who was one of the favorites for the Juvenile. As Jeff stepped out of the shedrow he said “Keep a tight hold on him Manuel, he likes to test you”. From across the toe ring Pete Vella watched the procession as the Cashell horses were led in to the barn. Turning around, Pete was greeted by the star of his barn Clairvoyant who was tossing his head for a treat. Reaching in to his pocket, Pete stepped up and handed him a mint. After posting a record speed figure in his last race the mixer world had taken notice of the huge bay with no markings.

Down past the turn in Barn 18 the shavings trailer was just pulling out as the stunning filly Honey Factor was heading out to the track. As fast as she was pretty the Karl Smythe trainee danced at the end of the shank as he tried to get control. The driver of the truck stuck his hand out the window as he went down the small road between the barns. Karl grumbled some not very Canadian words as he walked past Barn 17 and glared at Landon Alexander and Lisa Strummer. Both girls held up their hands and backed away laughing. Landon walked down to the 3rd stall where her colt Makers Antics was living up to his name by hitting his jolly ball against his gate over and over. “Give me that you silly beast” said Landon yanking it from him as Lisa stroked the soft dainty muzzle of her mare Six Fols Mark and shook her head. “How are you going to feel when retire that ole girl?” asked Landon already knowing the answer. “Stop it, I’m not even thinking about that!” Lisa muttered. Both girls whipped their heads around as a shrill whinny went through the barn and Dan Gordon was led around the corner by the impressive Flash Gold Bars who wasn’t happy to have only been allowed to jog this morning. “Whoa there ya hard headed thing” shouted Dan as he tried to get control of his 2 million earner.

At the gap Ramey Furney, Kevin Rivers and Angus Clab all leaned against the rail watching the mass confusion that was going on. “I told her that horse was crazy!” Amy Springsteen seethed as clods of dirt rained over her from the hooves of Strike a Calm who was anything but calm. “I’m so sorry Amy” shouted April Eddy as she tried to help her exercise rider get the 2yr old under control as they came off the track. Nikki Everdeen just managed to slip by with her filly Singing Cowgirl as Strike a Calm let out another buck trying to get her rider dislodged. “Oh man that almost got my camera, be careful!” shouted Nikki. Tom Lin came to the rescue and snapped a shank on the other side “I’ll help you with this girl” he said as he handed off his own mare Little Osage who looked on with calm distain at all the crazy youngsters.

Laura Ferguson walked in to the track café and took a seat off to the side hoping to avoid much attention. Several years ago she decided to try her hand at mixers and hit the ground running with several champions to her credit. Across the room a group of new shooters talked among themselves while glancing over at Laura. Kenneth Prater spoke up “ I say we just leave her alone and maybe she will come talk to us!”. Scoffing loudly Randall Allen muttered “Not bloodly likely, she eats players like us for breakfast man”. Mike Larson and Jon Telford walked back up to the table with a round of coffee and agreed that it was best to just let her be. Grabbing her racing form and coffee, Laura headed for the door. As she got even with the table of guys she stopped “Hi guys, good luck in the SC I see you all have really nice runners” and then made her way out the door. “Jon fell in to his seat with a silly grin “She actually spoke to us!” as the others had a good laugh at the look on his face.

Te Akau Downs and Melanie Lejeune were the last to bring their horses off the track just before it closed. Te sat on her pony as her exercise rider brought Enemy Defeated off the track. “He looks great Te and he doesn’t look like he knows he is a long shot either” said Melanie as she held the shank of her quiet, well mannered gelding Hijo De Piecemaker. Nodding her head, Te said “Hey your guy isn’t a slouch either. His last two races have been great so hopefully we can shock the Sim”. Meghan Mandi walked by just in time to hear that last part and said “I’d like to get in on that shock the Sim wagon as well girls” and they all laughed as they walked down the small road back to barn 12.

Soft singing could be heard as Lori Hamill made her way down the shedrow of barn 1. Stepping in to the office she joked “Regina, don’t give up you day job that sounded a little off key”. Regina Moore looked up from her mound of paperwork and chuckled “Heck I didn’t even realize I was singing”. Nicole Waters and Sten Rino Haakonsen had just finished bedding their horses down and stopped by the office. “Well the way I see it Regina has to sound better than me” Sten said with a smile.

Kyasuriin Matsumoto made a mad dash down the road looking for her pony. She rushed by Richard Breedlove who stopped to chuckle as Kya cursed under her breath about a horse that was always getting lost. Gigi Gofaster had just put her colt Fireaplayen in his stall and ask Richard what all the fuss was about. “Well it seems Kya has a horse missing. Don’t ask me how you lose a horse though”! Gigi giggled and said “Ohhh Tejano’s Quest got lost again… that always happens”.

The morning sun was just starting to heat up as the trainers all made their way out of the track. All the planning and training was done. Now it was up to the horses to do what they were bred for…

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