Derby Dreams (Acropolis #1)

Chapter 16

Heavenly Hope then became one of Kat's daily chores. She's spent hours with the filly, brushing the coffee coloured coat until it became glossy and smooth and combing out the thin, wispy black tail until it floated without tangles. She gained weight, her hips and ribs no longer stuck out and before long she was beginning to look as good as the young two year olds who hadn't yet developed enough to race. She was an angel to lunge and she was surprisingly fit given the condition in which she was found. The first day of May had dawned sunny and bright, ready for Hope's first workout under saddle. The filly, now down with the other fillies in the stables, hopped excitedly from foot to foot as Kat tacked her up. She'd learnt that she was not beaten, starved or tortured here like she had been in her old home.
"Good girl." Kat led the bay filly out and mounted up easily, slipping her feet into the stirrups easily. Yesterday she'd climbed aboard Hope for the first time and the filly had been a little antsy but now she seemed ready for some fun. Kat had petitioned for the last slot on the work out schedule and the filly would be working solo. She walked quietly enough in the walking ring, occasionally twisting her head to see the horses that were galloping on the track. The gate finally creaked open and the sweated up horses pranced back into the arena. Kat gathered the reins up and nudged the filly over to the gate.
"Do what you like." Her father sighed to her, "Do you need me to watch?"
"No, it's fine." Kat shook her head and let Hope place her first dark hoof on the track. Almost instantly she changed, her calm self suddenly began to shake and the first trace of sweat appeared on her neck.
"Easy." Kat tried to persuade her, "Easy, easy." Hope was upset though, her dark ears were twisting from side to side and her dark legs seemed desperate to escape from Kat's control. Kat kept her cool, she talked sweetly to the filly and rose in the stirrups as Hope transitioned from a disjointed trot to a jolted canter. The filly had her head up and she was tossing her head, fighting the bit and not focusing on the direction her long legs were taking her in.
"Easy my beauty, easy." Kat encouraged but Hope refused to drop her head and continued to try and grab the bit. Kat gritted her teeth in frustration as the bay filly, coated in a dark sweat, finally got the bit between her teeth. She was still a skinny mare in the shoulders but her strength was unbelievable and Kat felt it. The filly had the bit and was running flat out down the straight, her strides may have been smooth but Kat was more distracted by the headlong run towards the rail. Hope's heavy breath could be heard above the thundering of her hooves and Kat knew that her heart wasn't the only one racing.
"Easy Hope, easy!" Kat called in desperation, knowing that she'd have no effect on the filly. They were bearing down on the rail and it was growing taller, more ominous and somehow solider.
"Oh my God," Kat felt the first flash of fear, "Easy, easy!" She broke off in a curse, the filly wasn't going to stop, she was going to charge right through, she would probably kill herself by slamming into a fragment of rail or she'd break a leg-

Kat sailed clean through the air, straight over the rail and landed with a thud. It took her a moment to regain the ability to breathe, she was completely winded and she curled into a foetal position as she tried to figure out what hurt.
"Ow, ow...ow?" Kat felt a relief as she went through her limbs, nothing hurt. Clearly her ow-ing had been premature. She sat up and glanced across the track. Hope was galloping loose down the far side,her head high as the reins fluttered by her side. Kat felt totally unconcerned, the filly could kill herself if she liked.
"You alright?" Her father offered her his hand and Kat took it, pulling herself off the ground.
"Fine. What happened?"
"She dumped you." Her father replied.
"Not funny. How?"
"She halted, you didn't."
"She stopped?"
"Mid-stride. You've got a cowpony there." James afforded a rare smile, "you absolutely flew through the air."
"From forty to zero, I don't think having my heels down is going to help." Kat replied sarcastically.
"True. Donovan was right though, the filly can't half run." Kat sighed and watched as Hope was caught, she waved her hand to a groom to take the filly back to her stall. Hope would have to wait.