The Super Filly

Chapter 17

Caitlyn's POV

After the experience of Duchess hurting herself, resting for 2 weeks, then be in beast mode on the track got me thinking. Why don't we run her once 6 furlongs a week before the race, but other than that let her rest in her stall with the occasional walk around and being realized in the paddock. So for 2 weeks Duchess rested. She didn't like it one bite though. She woke me up at least 2 nights a week or even more, but on the Saturday before the Whitney, we took her for a spin.

"Only 4 furlongs!" I say to Pablo as they are loaded into our plantation's gate. He nods his head. From earlier experiences we knew not to keep Duchess waiting. We counted 5 seconds and opened the gate. She sprang out of the gate as if she was strapped to a rocket. I shouted and clapped when Pablo brought her back around. "Beautiful, beautiful." I say giving Pablo a high-five. He smiles widely.

"WHITNEY HERE WE COME!!!" Jones yells at the top of his lungs. We all laugh and hugs were shared.

That night after dinner, I went to my room to relax. I saw I had a voice mail from Nathan. I hit play.

"Hey, Caitlyn. I saw you entered Duchess in the Whitney. I can't wait to see you again! How long has it been since I last saw you? I don't know, but it has been too long! I can' wait to see you beau- Uh- bye."

I smile at the voice mail. I honestly couldn't wait to see him too, and I fell asleep with him on my mind.

1 week later-Race Day

"Hold the horse! Do your job for God's sake boy!" Jones says sarcastically to Mike who was doing everything perfect. Duchess snorted and "spat" in Jones face. We all laughed. 

"See Duchess defends me." Mike says giving the filly a kiss on the nose. Then he whispers, " What would I ever do without you my lovely Duchess?" She curled her lip up as to smile. 

"What a character." I jerk my head around to see Nathan. He looked handsome in his race day outfit, and I hoped I wasn't blushing. I turned to the others who got the message a walked away. 

"So how are you?" I say continuing to pet Duchess with her head resting on my shoulder. 

"Well, you see, it was going well till Jack and I read in the paper on a good day that a certain filly was entered in the race that Emily was destined to win, and that filly had to be the only horse to ever beat Emily." He says as if he was venting to a close friend. I laugh a little. He looks up, "What?"

"Does that filly happen to be Duchess?" I say. Duchess starts bobbing her head up and down as if to say "well duh it's me". 

He smiles, "Why yes." 

Everything was silent. I just looked at Duchess and traced her face with my finger. Out of the corner of my eye I could tell he was staring. I knew I shouldn't have worn the dress I was wearing. I yanked my head back at him and our eyes locked.

He shook his head and muttered, "Sorry," and began to walk away.

"Nathan, wait!" He looked at me, "Uh... good luck today."

"You too."

I just let him walk away.

When it was 20mins to post I looked over the post positions one last time:

1. I See Giants

 2. First Man

 3. Soreno

 4. Wicked Revenge

 5. Fed Tiz

 6. Prince Sham

 7. Steeletastic

 8. I've Had A Vision

 9. Duchess Of Winter

 10. Unwanted

 11. Emily The First

 I knew I've Had A Vision would be right behind Unwanted, Sham, Emily, and Duchess after seeing him race at King Bishop's. As the minutes ticked on, the worse my nerves got. When it was 15mins to post, the crew came in and finished getting Duchess ready. Afraid I would pass out, I just sat.

"You okay?" Rosie says.

I jump up, "OH MY GOD! Where have you been!!" I give her a hug.

"Dealing with this whole ordeal with my family and my leg. Who is riding Duchess?"

"Pablo."

"That's good. Well I talked to my doctor and it's going to be a while before I can ride again."

"Aw, weel would you like to join me?"

"I would be delighted."

We led Duchess to the paddock and waited for "Riders Up!" Rosie rubbed Duchess down and gave her a kiss on the nose. When we heard the call, I gave Pablo a boost.

 "How does she feel?" I say.

 "Like she did at King's Bishop times 10." 

I agreed she reared about 9 times today and looked like all she wanted to do was run. Rosie gave her a hug, and Mike gave her a kiss on the nose and hugged her one last time before leading her towards the track. I walk to the owner's box with the rest of the crew and watch everyone file onto the track. 

 "Duchess is looking as beautiful as ever!" Someone says behind me. I turn around to see I See Giants owner.

 "Why, thank you." I say.

 "I know my colt won't be winning; therefore I want your strong filly to win." I smile wide and sit back down.

 Pablo's POV

 Duchess bounced her way to the starting gate. After this I'm sure she would get the nickname "Track Bunny" . We were loaded in right before Emily. Duchess started going crazy. 

Ring

The gates swing open. Emily, Unwanted, Sham, and Duchess form a line which was in the order of Sham, Duchess, Unwanted, and Emily. Sham being on the inside and Emily on the outside. I wasn't comfortable and neither was Duchess, but I knew it was best just to not make a move at the moment. Duchess was in it to win it. Sham bumped Duchess and she snorted deeply and tried to break away, but I held her back with a tight rein. On both sides of us, Sham and Unwanted were being commanded to go on, but they weren't budging. I knew Duchess could beat them. The horse I was worried about was Emily. Unwanted seemed to challenge Duchess, but Sham started to fade. Unwanted, with fire in his eyes, fought Duchess. They went back and forth. As we entered the final turn, I saw Emily start to break away. I chirped to Duchess. She pulled her ears back as to say "I'm listening" and started to pull away from Sham and Unwanted. Duchess caught up to Emily easily, and soon, they were neck and neck. As the wire got closer I asked Duchess to pick it up. She started to inch away from Emily, but she seemed unsteady almost felt like she was limping a little; though she just got faster and faster, and started to pull away. All of a sudden I felt like I was catapulted forward and saw the ground. I face planted in the track and pain pierced my lower back, stomach,neck. My whole body was hurting badly, but not even a split second later something heavy and  massive landed on me. Everything went black.

Caitlyn's POV

"GO DUCHESS!" I scream as she begins to break away. Then I see her stumble and fall. Pablo is catapulted and face plants. I saw Nicole almost attempt to stop Emily but couldn't. Duchess flips onto Pablo. It was almost in slow motion to me. After a second Duchess gets up and tries to run for the finish but couldn't.

"She wants to finish." Rosie breaths. Nathan looks at me with horror in his eyes. Tears start streaming down my face, and I run towards the track.

 Once on the track I see Duchess fall again, but she gets back up and hobbles towards the finish. Once she crossed the wire, she falls to the ground. She looked like she was breathing her last breaths. I run over to her and drop to her side. I lay her head in my lap like I once did with her mother and begin to trace her beautiful face as I cry my eyes out.

"She is going to die." repeats in my head over and over again.