A Horse From Nowhere

Chapter 20--Can A Present Beat A Storm?

Finally, the day of the Haskell. Christmas Present has had very good works, ands Storm has been having good workouts. There were a few times that he has not been able to beat the times of Christmas Present's workouts, but they are only workouts, right? They are different from then actual races, right? The team thoughts could be proven wrong, though. They may not have been just workouts. They can show something prior to a race. And right now, people weren't counting much on Storm. They were counting on Christmas Present.

In the saddling area, Storm wasn't acting his usual self. He was acting as, you can say, lazy. He wasn't all excited as he usually is. He didn't mind the bridle put on his face and the bit put in his mouth. He didn't care for the light weight of the racing saddle on his back. He was usually jumpy when each of the few things for racing were put on him.

Soon, he was led out of the saddling area and lead towards the paddock, where the jockeys would soon meet them. As he was walking around the circle of dirt in the paddock, he did not have that pep in his step. That prance in his walk. Steven had seemed to almost have to drag him along to keep him moving. But Christmas Present was the complete opposite.

You could barely see the number six saddle towel against Christmas Present's dark black coat. But his coat was glistening with sweat. He was getting himself worked up. His white sock, which had sweat on it, too, looked like pure chrome on him. His blue shadow roll looked good on him.

The horses were ready, but Sara wasn't so sure if Storm was ready. Soon, the jockeys came out, and each were given legs up. Storm perked up a bit with Victor on his back, but not all that much, because it quickly faded. He was led to the track with barely any interest in the race ahead of him. There was energy around at the track, but Storm did not pick up on any of it.

Soon, within ten minutes, the horses were at the gates. Storm loaded up first, followed by the rest of the field, and Christmas Present loaded up last, since his energy was through the roof. As they were walking through the post parade, he lashed out at Storm's tail and actually grabbed ahold of it. Watch it have been shortened now like American Pharaoh's was back when he was racing.

The horses waited for the gates to be opened, and when they did, horses launched out.

"And away they go in the William Hill Haskell, and everyone was off to a great start. Jammin Jazz has went out for the lead, and he is followed by Heart Of Fire. Chasing The Storm is there in third, and he is followed by Lightning's Pass, Christmas Present, Jersey Boy, and Escalator is last of them all. They are spreading out over some ground now, and Jammin Jazz has lengthened his lead to three lengths. As they move towards the first turn, Jammin Jazz will lead them there."

Storm's team watched the race unfold, and Storm was looking good. He looked to be ready to run in the race, but was he really ready to win? The race would show. If he lost, he wouldn't have any "Breeder's Cup Win and You're In" race under his belt. But the Travers would prove otherwise, too, as it is also a race to get into the Breeder's Cup Classic. They moved towards the stretch, but Storm wasn't moving much.

"And down the stretch they come in the Haskell and Christmas Present has striked the front and has drawn away! Jammin Jazz is second! Chasing The Storm laboring late and not moving from his third spot. Final quarter mile, and it was over at the top of the stretch! Christmas Present is still there by seven! Jammin Jazz is second, Escalator just took over third and Chasing The Storm drops back! And as they come to the finish, Christmas Present has won the Haskell by nine and a half lengths in the end! Jammin Jazz was second, and he was followed by Escalator a neck being him in third. Four behind him in fourth was your Triple Crown winner Chasing The Storm, who was followed by Jersey Boy, Lightning's Pass, and Heart Of Fire was last."

The team went to go and collect their now defeated colt. He was sweating heavily, as if he was working hard, but could never make it to the front to win. Just like Seattle Slew, they were both undefeated in the Triple Crown time, but got their first loss just a few races after. When the team approached, Victor dismounted.

"Sorry guys," Victor said. "He wasn't himself. He acted tired. I don't know if it was the older horses from last time, because he has been off of racing for a month with barely any workouts for this race."

"I don't know," Gary said. "He looked good out there, but I didn't even think that he was actually ready to run in the race. His workouts hadn't even been all that great. Hopefully the Travers works out for him. Who knows."

Victor took the saddle, saddle towel and saddle pad and left to go weigh out. A lead rope was clipped to Storm's bridle and he was led away back to the stables, where he needed to get a bath to get all of the dirt off of him.

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Later on in the day, the connections were talking about plans.

"Even if he doesn't win the Travers, there will be no Pennsylvania Derby for him," Doug said. "I don't want him running so close to the Breeder's Cup."

"The Travers is three weeks from today," Gary said. "Do we all really think he will be ready? Especially after the cataract surgery for him?"

"He should be ready," Doug said. "They said it doesn't take long sometimes for recovery. He should be good as new for before he ships down to Saratoga."

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The next day, Luis, Sara, Doug and Gary were waiting for the surgery to be finished. Soon, the vet came out.

"The surgery was a success," the vet said. "Normally we would do this surgery when the horses are foals, but since it wasn't detected until before the Haskell, we aren't ahead and did it. His sight is good. He will be fine and able to see in his next race."

The team nodded their heads, and waited to be able to take Storm back to Monmouth Park for before his next race in the Travers.

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It was all over the news. Storm's now shortened tail because of Christmas Present. Storm's first loss. And also, Storm's cataract surgery. The headlines were actually okay about it.

"The Storm Can See Now," "They Eye of the Storm-He is able to see now," "The First Loss of the Storm," "He's an American Pharoah Repeat-Chasing The Storm's Tail Bitten Down to a Short Length by Christmas Present Before the Haskell"

There were many more headlines, but those were a few of the good ones. People were glad that Storm could see. People were surprised that Christmas Present did what he did to Storm. People had mixed emotions about his run. People just had mixed emotions in a whole.