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Daybreak in Texas - Part 6

Original article written by The Steward posted 13 years 0 weeks ago

Bryan Helmer laid down on his hotel bed, his head swimming. His Corny Fuse had run a huge third in the Appaloosa Championship, and now all he wanted was to go to sleep while contemplating what to do with the paycheck.

As soon as his head hit the pillow, Bryan saw visions of spotted horses storming through his dreams.

--

Single Star Park seemed surprisingly deserted on Thursday morning, a mere five hours before the first post of the day. Danielle Tilley didn’t mind at all, in fact, the peaceful morning seemed a relief after the hectic week. Most of the juveniles weren’t going to the track that morning with the early post time, and it would be another hour before the older horses on the grounds hit the track.

Danielle stepped into the shedrow which she shared with two other trainers who had a lone entrant in the 29th Steward’s Cup. Heather Conn’s runner, The Black Album, stuck a dark head over the webbing as Danielle passed. The trainer rubbed the filly’s forehead before moving to her own horse, Chocolate Rush, a tall handsome chestnut whose undefeated record stood out in a wide-open Juvenile Sprint field.

Los Vargas stepped into the aisle, humming. He smiled at Danielle, still humming, and went to see his colt, Starspangled. More trainers, such as Jack Heissenbuttel and Matt Douglas, soon joined him, and all at once the shedrow was bustling. Horses were being led out to the track from other barns, their hooves clicking against the concrete.

Mundell Racing watched intently as a groom led his nearly undefeated colt, Plot of Stars, out of the stall and down the shedrow. The track veterinarian waited nearby, watching the horses walk and jog up and down the aisle. After Plot of Stars came Look Electric for Nicky Morgan, who jogged the pretty filly by himself. Both horses were given a clean bill of health.

A shrill whinny broke through the quiet camaraderie of the barn, and suddenly a leggy black colt and a whisp-thin trainer rounded the corner, playing tug of war. The trainer, Robin Tan, swept dark hair out of her eyes while the colt, Look Guys, bounced up and down while shrieking his joy at being lose of the stall. “Save it for the racetrack!” Robin demanded, shanking him hard.

--

Peihe Sun stared hard at Bridges to Cross. She felt silly talking to a horse, but the diminutive bay colt needed to know she meant business. “Ten million dollars,” she reminded him. “That is how much you cost. That is a lot. You need to win today.”

The handsome, royally bred bay stared back, uncomprehending. He would be a longshot going into the Juvenile, a race where he should have been the favorite, if he had paned out as a two-year-old.

--

Roberto Prieto hated being in Texas.

He would have much preferred to be in Japan with his star three-year-old, Celebrating, but instead he was in Texas, preparing the undefeated Fate Prevails for the Steward’s Cup Juvenile Turf. Even if he won, Fate Prevails wouldn’t be nearly as sought after as Celebrating, whose entire career was merely a prelude to a future as a stallion.

Also undefeated and also in the Juvenile Turf was Jonathan Bolt’s Afraid to Deal. Bolt was stabled with his two Steward’s Cup horses across the way, closer to the track. He had a grand sweeping view of the clubhouse turn and of the horses jogging around the outer rail. The sun cast a golden glow over the racetrack. The horsemen and women of Single Star Park didn’t taken any time to appreciate the beauty; Jonathan spoke rapidly on his cell phone, calling the farm back home. Afraid to Deal dozed at the back of the stall.

--

Leonard Beagle looked at the two matching purple saddlecloths hanging over the brick outer half-wall of his barn. The white lettering on the towels read 1 and 1A. Behind him, two matching fillies, Winstar and Starspin, stared alertly out of their stalls. Nearby, Wished Away munched on her hay net, content because she wasn’t racing for another day.

Leonard couldn’t ask for a better group of fillies. Pride swelled through his heart.

--

The party venue was already hopping when Nuber Cano and Nathan Sellers walked in. The bar was lined with the trainers drowning their nerves in margaritas, shots or soda. The two guys smiled at all the action. Nathan pointed over to Peter Gleason and Nuber nodded as he left to go chat with him.

Peter was happy to invite Nathan into the group he was chatting with. Steph Lohnro , Shiandra Cattari and Mike Eaton all held up a drink in welcome. They started debating the Distaff field and were assuring Peter that his Oaks winning filly was in with a huge chance.

The mechanical bull, which was the main reason Steward’s Cup President Emily Shields had chosen this particular spot for the party, was whirring to life as Lauren Haggerty had her arm in the air. She was riding surprisingly well for her state of inebriation.

"I knew she would stay on!" Doug Kidwell shouted over the blasting music at Eric Nalbone. "You owe me another drink."

Eric just waved the waitress over and ordered them another round; he had merely wanted an excuse to buy them another round. Lisa Strummer danced over with Rob Kilborn on her arm and they stopped to watch Lauren ride the bull.

"She should come down and break babies for me!" Lisa giggled imagining her Thoroughbreds trying to buck in a perfect circle like that bull. "You going next?"

Her finger landed on the surprised face of Phil Hoeflich.

"Who me?" Phil just shook his head. "The line is that way." He pointed to the right.

Rob left Lisa and jogged over to hop in the line. If Eric was buying drinks for people that rode, he was willing to risk the slight humiliation.

--

"Come on!!" Skippy Bowen was dragging Rose Hepburn by the arm, trying to get her to take a turn around the dance floor with him.

"But I don't know how to two step," Rose whined, reluctantly giving into his pleading and following him out.

"It's easy. If you can count to two you can do it!" He flashed her a large smile and lead her around the huge wooden floor.

Sarah Chase was attempting to dance with Tim Matthews Jr. but he was more distracted by wanting to handicap the races for the next day and kept trying to get her to help him analyze the fields as the two of them hovered close to the bar.

"You wanna talk races?" Stephen Skaggs caught some of his conversation as they swung past his barstool. It stopped Tim in his tracks; he grabbed the nearby stool and ordered a Sprite.

Sarah was off to find a more willing partner. It didn't take her long to grab Norman Architecture and pull him out to finish the song with her.

The dance floor was getting crowded as more and more people filed into the huge bar. Teri Lawrence had partnered with Mike Smith, Paul Heinrich was turning around the floor with Pati Polenchonska and Clinton Jacinto was showing Kira Ravenwood his moves.

--

Outside on the deck, the cooler Texas air was helping some worn out trainers stay awake. Stormy Peak had been up since four am getting her horses groomed. She was lounging at one of the wooden table with Tammy Fox, Sarah Bowen and Nikki Sherman. All the ladies were lamenting about their chances. The fields were full and competitive they all wished for a different year when they thought their horses would have dominated.

Robert Mertz held his beer up in greeting as Rebecca Cass stepped through the doorway to escape the heat that was building inside the bar.

"Rebecca! Seat for you, right here!" He pointed next to him. She meandered over and settled in next to him, setting her coke on the table.

"Wow, it's so much nicer out here." She looked around and noticed a few trainers in a heated discussion at the high top on the corner of the deck. She waved when they looked over.

"Hey, nice to see you! Haven't gotten a chance to chat with you all week." Laura Ferguson left the group she was talking with to sit and catch up with Rebecca.

Kristen Lexcen, Laura Smith and Kimberly Jean waved Laura off and went back to discussing the horses that were in the turf sprints that year. All the women were awed by the competition and they were listing all the reasons why they though the others horses would crush the fields.

"Girls! This is a party! Stop over analyzing things and have fun!" Paul Sellers threw his arms around Kimberly and Kristen and tried to yank them back inside.

The three women just grinned and told him they'd come find him later to buy them drinks. It seemed to satisfy Paul.

--

"I can't believe that she's up there!" Sara Kendall was clutching her stomach as her laughter almost sent her rolling to the ground.

The crowd surrounding the mechanical bull had grown exponentially and now Karen Shields was riding. She was holding on as if her life depended on it, or at least her next free drink.

"She's doing amazing!" Nick Gilmore raised her glass to the woman as the buzzer sounded and the crowd cheered her triumph.

"Hope this is luck for the race." Karen muttered as she slid off. Her balance had been disrupted and she dropped sideways onto the mat. The crowd roared with laughter. Ever the gentleman, Matt Woolfolk leapt up onto the huge padded floor and helped her down.

"I think Eric has your drink already. He's getting quicker with the service." Matt patted her on the back as she went to collect her winnings.

"My turn!" Rachel Sadler practically flew onto the well-used piece of machinery. She'd been standing in line for what seemed like forever. "If I stay on I don't want a drink. I want Mark Geukens to ride it!"

She glanced back at Mark who waved noncommittally at her as the operator flipped the switch. As luck would have it Mark didn't have to worry after a few twists the giant beast dropped Rachel to the floor.

--

Emily Klein was coming out of the bathroom when she ran smack dab into Julie Kluesner.

"The best part in there is that there is no noise." Emily shouted.

"What?" Julie couldn't understand a word, it was like they were standing in a funnel for every bit of noise in the bar. Emily stepped right up to her ear.

"After you walk through that door it's silent."

"Excellent." Julie was ready for her ears to stop ringing.

--

"You ready for another one?" Donnie Hidalgo clanked his bear bottle against Ladonna King's. The sport’s pros had found a nice quiet corner to watch the party for awhile.

"You know me. Always ready for a good time." Ladonna just smiled. She'd been through so many parties but it didn't matter every year was a great time. Every year was something new and different. It never got old only better.


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