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Daybreak in Toronto - Part 3

Original article written by The Steward posted 3 years 1 week ago

Ash Tarasin stood quietly in the grandstand, a slender figure against orange seating. Below them on the track, their matched pair of marathon mares, Mezzanine and Million Reasons, cavorted together under the wire.

Ash checked their watch, then looked back at the scene. Mezzanine was playing, throwing her head around and switching leads for no reason, while Million Reasons looked ahead determinedly. Both mares were in prime form and heading into the Steward’s Cup like the champions they were. Training horses like them was easy, and fun.

Training horses like Karazhan was no fun at all.

Ash’s dark bay juvenile colt was tucked safely away in his stall, having galloped before dawn. Ash would have liked to keep him in bubble wrap around the clock, but they knew that was unrealistic. Karazhan was one of eight horses rated “Freak” by the Steward’s Inquiry magazine that would be contesting the Juvenile. One of the freaks would win. Seven others would lose.

One of the rivals, Lee Cara’s Joined Together, galloped past with his head bowed. Lee had campaigned some top class horses, and this was rumored to be his best. And then there was that pesky Jon Xett, with his Come Tomorrow in the Juvenile and his superstar sophomore filly, So Right, running against Ash’s Ladies Route contenders.

Long after Mezzanine and Million Reasons exited the track, Ash finally stepped down out of the grandstand and started the long walk back to the barns. Their heart started skipping nervously on the way; just in case something had happened to Karazhan in the last 30 minutes.

--

“Did you get the invite?” Amy Atkins asked, bright eyed and grinning as she trotted down the aisle towards Tom Lin.

“What invite?” Tom asked in a surly tone. He had not received an invitation of any kind.

“To the Steward’s banquet on Wednesday night!” Amy chirped. “It’s at the hotel across the street. I hear they have an amazing sound system!”

“They do,” Brianna McKenzie confirmed, walking past. “I stayed there once and the noise kept me up all damn night.”

Tom laughed, while Amy continued, “Anyway, they’re going to have the Steward’s Cup races from Ruidoso on the big screen, and free food.”

“Well, I didn’t get an invite,” Tom said, shrugging. “Maybe she doesn’t like me.”

“It’s word of mouth,” Art Kage said, ducking into the aisle. Training had ended for the day, and the barns were busy with horses cooling out and riders cleaning tack while trainers presided over the activity. “Amy is just giving you trouble.”

“Art! Don’t tell!” Amy whined, swatting at his shoulder. Art gave her a menacing look, then turned back to Tom.

“Want to hear a crazy stat? I bred thirteen horses in the Steward’s Cup this year. THIRTEEN! But I only own four of them! I’m either doing something very wrong, or something very right.”

“That’s great, man,” Tom said. “That’s a ton.” Tom’s lone Thursday entry was Maybe Monday, a Steward-bred filly.

“I own one of them!” Amy said sweetly, pointing down the aisle at Heartache Tonight. “Thanks for letting me buy her.”

“Thanks for making me $2 million richer!”

--

Joseph Depaulo looked at the crowd ahead and sighed. When he'd heard this morning that a group of trainers were grabbing lunch together at the Greek deli across the street he'd been excited to join in, but he'd been late leaving the track and now he was last in a long line snaking out the door.

"Long morning?" a sympathetic voice asked. Leigh Ann Anderson was just ahead of him in line, and flashed him a bright smile.

Joey groaned and dragged his hands down his face. “It's the fillies,” he said, referring to Lost in a Storm and Norse Steel. "My Filly Turf Dash runners, I swear they're trying to fight; I can't get them close to each other without them trying to tear down the barn...but they both deserve to run so they're both here." He shook his head and sighed. "I expect that from colts, but not fillies. At least Summertime Crush is a true professional"

"That's good!" Leigh Ann said, though the mention of Joey's brilliant mare made her think of the fiery horse that was waiting for her back at the track. Me in Black was the proverbial lightning in a bottle, a brilliant filly who won Leigh Ann her first Steward's Cup in over a decade just last year. Now she had returned to try and do the rare back-to-back win. The fact that she and Joey were both gunning for that double in the same race made the air awkward and tense, but even with the rivalry they easily slipped back into a friendly conversation.

Already seated at a wobbly table, Izzy Rafferty, Nini Hunter, and Lisa Bennert were absent mindedly eating while going through a stack of printed race records. "You know, it might be better, being overlooked" Lisa said. Her grey filly, Home We'll Go, won the prestigious Louisville Oaks last year, but with so much focus on Royal Decorum and Poker Face, there had been less press coming to her barn to see her Distaff runner.

Nini gave a reluctant nod. "Maybe. Crowds do make Happy Memory nervous; the calmer I can keep her the better." The dark mare had been working beautifully - when she wasn’t trying to pull the exercise rider's poor arms out of their sockets while shying away from the cameras.

Izzy was uncharacteristically quiet. "You know,” she finally said, “Parts Unknown is undefeated this year, and he's 100% under the radar." She wiped her hands on a napkin while a small grin spread across her face. "Maybe I'll make a small fortune betting on him?"

Across from them, a cluster of trainers were picking over the remains of a baklava while chatting. "Paramour's a beast," Rebecca Rose Hepburn said firmly, pointing at Fanta Arcadia. "She's got three kids running this year. Three! How often does that happen? I’d like to see a trivia question on THAT."

Fanta grinned at her. "And don't forget, Luxuria won her Stewards Cup race last year, and Superbia won his race the year before that. Gotta keep the streak alive, right?"

Erin Sanderson sighed and laid her head on the table. "I need a mare like that,” she groaned. “Where do I get a mare like that?"

Next to her, Katie Stepanian nodded. "Me too. Is there a signup sheet somewhere?"

Heather Crawford slowly chewed the last of the baklava. Her hopes this year were wrapped up in another Paramour foal; Lzzy Hale was coming into the Juvenile Fillies Turf with an undefeated record. Owning Lzzy is a dream come true, but it was strange, sitting next to the person who would have owned her filly, if Fanta hadn't graciously loaned out her big mare.

Fanta picked up on her mood and nudged Heather. "You know, I'm rooting for you to win, and not just because you've got a Paramour kid. I really want to see you in the winner's circle."

Rebecca Rose nodded too. "You're overdue. I mean, I'd rather dead heat with you, but you deserve your first win."

A wide grin split across Katie Stepanian's face. "And it's an amazing feeling once you make it. Getting a win with a horse I bred last year will never be topped.” She paused, then added, “Unless Siskin wins again."

Heather smiled back. "If she wins again, you'll hear me screaming from across the track."

Suddenly a loud alarm started blaring, startling the group. Erin snatched her phone off the table, looked at it, and jumped up. "Post draws! We're late, we need to go!" She raised her voice to be heard over the crowd. "POST DRAWS IN FIVE MINUTES"

The deli burst into a flurry of activity, with trainers hurriedly grabbing their belongings and running past the booths and tables. A herd of them charged out the door, galloping off to see how kind the draw was to them… or not.

Last out the door was Joey, clutching the sandwich he got to eat for all of 30 seconds before Erin's alarm went off. He was going to have to eat it on the run, but that's how Steward's Cup week went; there was never a chance to slow down.


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