Young Blood

Chapter Eleven: At Odds

Churchill Downs was a magnificent track, but Belmont Park was always my home. Being back in the Big Apple was relief when my plane touched down at LaGuardia Airport Sunday evening. The sky was a fading pink as I emerged from the airport with Foxy, heading for her Sonata parked somewhere in the mass of vehicles. I tugged my luggage along drowsily, wanting nothing more than to be in bed.

Tomorrow, I'd be back at my morning job. There was no rest for the horse-racing industry.

Morning would be waiting, too. The demonic filly was still far from setting foot on the track for her first race. When I had told Yuri about her tossing Adam, the trainer grew rather sullen. He made some flimsy comment about her hopelessness, and that had ended the conversation there. Morning had made progress, but proved she hadn't made much.

The following day came about much to quickly. I was still shaking jetlag from my body as I hauled myself over to Belmont, clutching a cup of coffee with double the amount of necessary espresso.

My day started with Gettysburg; Michael Grammer commandeering the daily workouts. He was a few years younger than Yuri, and had successfully ran his own string of Thoroughbreds down at Delaware Park and Monmouth for a number of years. Now he was an underling, but saw more wins than he had working alone. Michael was a hard-working man, but allowed the stable to fall back into a more lax atmosphere while Yuri was absent.

We worked Dreamy Jubilee in her final breeze before the Beaugay Stakes on Saturday. She blazed four furlongs on the grass, running forty-nine flat. Yuri would be pleased to know his mare was performing well. He would travel up to New York on Saturday to saddle several of his stakes performers, Dreamy included. After her victory in April, she was bouncing back to racing with fine performances.

I was feeling more fit in my skin by the time we wrapped things up at Barn 33. The only thing left on my horizon for the day was Morning's workout. I texted Adam before going down the aisle to find the filly. She was in one of the farther back stalls, away from the front-end noise and distraction.

In the shadows of her stall, Morning's coat looked nearly black. She stood in the far left corner, arched neck lowered and ears twitched back sleepily. She looked like a finely sculpted statue in that moment. I could see the healthy outline of rippling muscles under a freshly cleaned coat. The weeks of intense training here at Belmont had done her frame some good, and she was showing the athletic prowess of a well-trained Thoroughbred racehorse.

Upon my arrival, Morning perked up slightly and gave a soft snort in greeting. Her ebony tail swished, and she began stepping across the straw to the door of the stall to see me.

"Hey, beautiful," I murmured, reaching up to cup Morning's muzzle in my hands. I rubbed the velvet surface with my thumbs, planting a soft kiss along her whiskers.

Morning pulled her head back slightly, as though to disdain my public display of affection. I chuckled, patting the Thoroughbred on her cheek.

"You can be such a brat sometimes..." I sighed.

The horse shook her head slightly as though to agree with my statement, the movement tussling her forelock. I grabbed the lead rope hanging outside the stall and clipped it to her black and sky blue halter. Typically Juan would gladly groom and tack up Morning, but I decided it was my turn to put in my dues with the horse.

Taking her to the crossties, I briefly brushed over Morning's slick bay coat. The grooms here already maintained quality in taking care of the horses, and there was only a bit of hay dust and straw marring the filly's coat. Juan was approaching as I pulled a straw out of Morning's tail, the wiry man smiling.

"Ah, the golden child humbles herself to grooming duties," Juan commented chirpily. I laughed at his remark, shaking my head.

"In case you haven't forgotten, all I did was brush horses and muck stalls for four months, Juan," I reminded with a sing-songy voice. "I wasn't always the 'golden child.'"