Rise of a Champion

Chapter Six

The day after Egypt's romp in the FrontRunner Stakes, he was getting lots of attention in the barn.  Grooms were all obsessed with him, as were the exercise jockeys and everyone else who went to the Baffert barn. 

But the others were not getting forgotten.  They were all getting lots of attention.  Cathryn Grace was getting a lot of attention from people, too.  They were the two best horses in the Bob Baffert barn, and Extraordinary was good too.  Bob had so many good horses this year that it was crazy having people always obsessing over them.

Egypt's groom was with him, brushing him down as Bob had came by.

"How's he doing after yesterday,?" Bob asked.

"Doing great," the groom said.  "Doing very great."

"Quick question.  Martin should probably be better by Derby time next year, and he is probably going to want the mount again for Egypt.  And we have all seen how Victor has done lately.  I was wondering if we should keep Victor on him or go back to Martin."

"I mean, it is up to you.  Victor has given Egypt more productive rides, but Martin has been with him since day one, riding in workouts and riding him in a few races.  I would say let him have a jockey who has given him more productive rides, which means Victor, but if you want to go back to Martin, you can definitely go back to him once he is cleared to ride again."

Bob nodded.  He wanted to keep Victor on Egypt for a permanent mount.  Victor had already said that Egypt runs just like his father and is already a great horse that is coming into his own.  But what would Bob do with Martin?  He could ride a couple of other horses in the barn, but he had a close bind with Egypt.  Bob didn't know at the moment, but he would probably figure it out once the Breeder's Cup Juvenile is over.

~•~

Finally, all the preps had been run.  And horses were shipping down to Santa Anita to run in the Breeder's Cup.  Santa Anita had decided to host the Breeder's Cup yet again, and most horses would have an advantage at one of their home tracks of California.

It almost seemed like every single day was rushed.  Horses coming in from all different parts of the world, workouts going on, TVG filming workouts for their show "The Works".  There was so much going on around the track as horses got ready for the big races covering two days.

There was also a lot of buzz going on around the stable areas with the chatter of grooms, trainers, owners and, jockeys and exercise jockeys talking to each other.  The groom's and exercise jockeys were just as excited as the jockeys who always rode in races, the trainers and the owners.

There was also a lot of talk going on between betters and race goers.  They just talked about who they liked to win the races, amd who their favorite horses were.  But then there were some who just didn't believe.

"Egyptian Melody may be the early favorite for the race," one said.  "But can he really go against some of the top class horses that will be running against him?  And will he be able to run outside of California?  Because so far he has never ran outside of California."

"I see your point," another replied.  "But he is only two.  He will get his chance to race outside of California.  Besides, he is by American Pharoah and out of Songbird.  That is one of the best breedings we have ever seen.  I believe he can go to different tracks and beat every horse there.  I believe that he can beat even the best two year olds from out of state here at Santa Anita."

~•~

It was now one week until the big races.  And along with other two year olds, Egypt was out on the track early in the morning at around 5:30 a.m.  And the mornings were still very hectic.  TVG was still filming "The Works" and trainers were still trying to get the last of preps into their horses running in the Breeder's Cup races.

"Breeze him five furlongs," Bob told Victor, who was aboard him for the morning workouts recently.  "I don't want to work him too much, as he does have his biggest two year old race coming up in a week."

Victor nodded and proceeded to warm Egypt up.  And then, at the five furlong pole, he set Egypt into the breeze and Egypt galloped along smoothly, hugging the rail as he galloped along.  And once the breeze was over, Egypt wanted to keep on going, which made it hard for Victor to pull him up.  But Victor finally got him pulled up and led him back to Bob.

"Five furlongs in fifty seven seconds flat," Bob said.  "We will work him two more times before the big race."