"Anna, you're emoting with the star."
"Am not," I muttered between mouthfuls of granola. "Eating isn't an emotion."
"I beg to differ." Jack swung around the stall door and looked in on BD, hovering protectively over his grain. The Thoroughbred kicked out at the wall with a threatening thunk.
Swallowing my last bite, I tossed the granola wrapper at Jack's head. "Yeah, you're a member of the male species. There's only two emotions in that brain of yours, food and-"
"Anna!" Lilac popped her head over the stall next to BD's, startling Jack. BD and I remained unperturbed- she'd been there for a while. "Would you help me with this one boot? It won't cooperate, my hands are slippery from the SWAT I put on this stupid horse."
"Swat?" I asked, entering the stall to see pink gunk covering Lilac's hands and an unruly chestnut gelding.
"It goes on wounds- Lego ran into a fence post," Lilac explained, pointing out a wound. I winced but knelt to straighten the shipping boots, feeling a flutter of excitement. Today was the day we shipped out to Churchill Downs, only a week after the Derby, to prep the small herd of horses for their races. BD was part of said herd, and not just to 'get used to traveling'.
I snapped back to attention as Jack was laughing. "Brilliant, Lego. Absolute genius, that horse is."
Lilac flung a polo wrap at the jockey's head, letting it unravel like a wind-caught ribbon. "It's not his fault he's got a tiny brain. Besides, he's fast."
"Are you going to take that, Anna? Did Lilac really call this dumpy little horse fast, thereby ranking him amongst the great Secretariat, Assault, Bloodless Day?"
Lego was a rather dumpy little horse.
"Oh, stop teasing us and show us how much you really deserve your paycheck. 'Comedian' wasn't in the job description, was it?" Lilac's tone was teasing, but it was unlike her to remind either Jack or I of her status of employer. I glanced between them both, but Jack was laughing and Lilac's eyes were sparkling, and felt a little left out of this inside joke. They'd known each other for years, and no matter how much Piperson Farms felt like home, my six months did not begin to touch what everyone else had.
Lilac noticed my sober expression. "Lighten up, Anna. Jack's job is in about as much danger as the mice in the feed room are."
"You have cats," I said, puzzled.
"They do about as much work as Jack does, though," Lilac grinned.
"I resent that!" Jack exclaimed, but he was already attaching a lead line to BD's old leather halter and leading the stallion from his stall. "Let's get this show on the road."
*****
Churchill Downs was hands... down... one of the nicest tracks I'd ever seen. We arrived about ten minutes behind the first caravan, pulling along two up-and-coming four year olds, and as Ned leaned out the car window to speak to the security guard, I stared around, wide-eyed. The back of the track was lined with green and white shedrows, evenly placed. Everything was nicely trimmed, swept, and clipped. Horses with shining black manes and gleaming brass name tags running smoothly along their leather halters swung their heads over the stall doors, looking around with calm eyes.
I thought of BD and his cracked leather halter and unevenly trimmed mane- my inexperienced hands slipped when he spooked at a barn cat- and felt my stomach churn with nerves. A tall, sleek bay horse walked by, looking every inch a champion. I recognized him immediately. American Pharoah. The 2015 Derby winner. Was this who BD was going against?
A light touch at my shoulder startled me. "Hey, stop wigging out," Jack said softly. His gaze followed where mine had been and lit up. "That's American Pharoah! He won the Derby."
"I know," I snapped. Lilac shot me a look from the front seat, twisted over her shoulder. "Sorry. I'm just nervous."
"You have time to be nervous. Bloodless Day isn't running until day after tomorrow. The horses are settling in tonight, and the four year olds and one filly are running tomorrow. And then-" Lilac paused and Ned chuckled.
"Don't be nervous, Anna. Lilac's dancing with enough of them for the four of us twice over."
Lilac smacked at his shoulder even as the security guard motioned us forwards. The truck started again. "Rude! I am not! Jack was worse anyhow."
"Worse for what?" I asked, taking my eyes off of American Pharoah as the horse turned a corner and glanced at Jack.
He had the decency to look sheepish. "My first race. I was a little nervous for it."
"A little? You practically peed your pants! And your poor horse, which one was it again?" Lilac turned so she was facing backwards, holding onto the shoulders of her seat.
"Undefined," Jack remembered. "What a horse."
"How'd you do? What happened? Did you win?" My eyes were wide, trying to imagine. I was nervous enough with my favorite horse about to race. If it were me riding, I'd be an absolute wreck.
"Uh-"
"I remember," Ned said, turning the wheel. "It was my first month working with you. That little horse came in dead last, right behind the long-shot. Eight lengths behind the leading horse."
I choked on my laughter as Jack sulked playfully. "We won our next race."
"Only because the favorite got bumped at the gate, so you shot that little horse ahead of everyone else. The rest got bogged down in the mud, but Undefined ran on smooth ground. You've only got good in the past year or so," Lilac said, but there was no malice in her voice.
"Not everyone's born on the back of a Thorough- what's that?"
The truck fell silent, listening as Ned bumped around a corner, searching for his turn. At first I didn't hear anything, but then I did, a familiar scream.
"It's BD!" Without pausing for thought or waiting for the truck to stop, I threw open the door and hurtled out, hitting the ground at a run. Dimly, I heard Jack following me, boots crunching on the gravel road, but I was focused ahead. There was the neigh again, deep and defiant, to my right, followed by the shouts of clueless men.
I jerked behind another shed and there he was in all his glory, rearing up and striking at anyone who came near, lead rope swinging heavily against his legs. A chain ran through the halter and against his lips, a practice he would not stand.
Jack cursed, right behind me. "Those idiot grooms! Where's Willifred? He should know better than this!"
"BD!" I shouted, and clapped my hands. Instantly the stallion was still, and then he was in motion again, trotting towards me, shaking his head in annoyance. I greeted him with a pat and set to work untangling the chain from his halter, careful not to let it hit his teeth as he lowered his head, bumping his muzzle against my pocket.
"Nicely done, Anna. Do you have a granola bar in there?"
I stared blankly at Jack for a moment. With a flash, I recognized what he was saying. "Oh! Yes!"
BD nickered as I pulled it out of my pocket and deftly pulled the foil from the granola bar, slipping it into his mouth. He'd calmed down a bit, but he was still breathing without rhythm and there was a hint of wildness in his eyes. Angry, I straightened his cooler. "What happened? What stall should I put him in?"
"One sec." Jack jogged off, and I walked BD in a small circle, stroking his neck and murmuring nonsense to him, smoothing down his forelock and running a finger over his cracked leather halter, lingering on the particularly well-worn cheekpiece, which didn't have a brass plate emblazoned with "Bloodless Day" on it, though every other horse sported their name stylishly against their face.
Instead, my fingers encountered an odd indentation. Puzzled, I pulled BD to a halt. He stood patiently as I put my face closer to his, squinting at rhe cheekpiece.
"Surrender" was stamped into the letter, a hint of black darkening the "n". Was this an omen? An old halter, belonging to a different horse?
The approach of footsteps, still jogging, pulled me from examining the halter. "He's in stall twenty six," Jack breathlessly reported. "I told the grooms to only let you and me handle him, by the way. I can't believe Willifred forgot to tell them."
"Me too." Remembering my anger, I abandoned the halter and released BD's face. Immediately he lowered his head to crop at the short, evenly trimmed grass.
"I'll show you the stall." Jack shook his head in disbelief. "I ran into Lilac and Ned and told them what happened; they said they have the rest of the horses handled."
"Thanks." We walked in silence into the shedrow, passing gleaming horse after gleaming horse and shining halter after shining halter until we found BD's stall. It was satisfactorily bedded down, with fresh water and plenty of hay, so I released him into it, pointedly removing the halter and hanging it up. And instead of popping his head over the door to watch the comings and goings, he strode to the back of the stall, pacing alongside the unlit wall, dark coat blending with it until he was nothing but shifting shadows.
*****
The next day dawned bright and clear. One of the four year olds went into his race as the favorite and ran sweetly, coming in second. The other placed third in his race, and the filly struggled in an upper class field, not even placing in the money. But this was all distant news reported by Jack, who'd ridden the second four year old and then come back to the Piperson shedrow with nothing better to do.
"I'm going to be sick," Lilac moaned, sitting on a haybale. Across the aisle BD's twin looked politely on, ears twisting to catch Lilac's every word.
"No, you're not," I said comfortingly, rubbing her back. "You're going to be fantastic."
Ned sat on her other side, holding one of her shaking hands. "You're alright. There's no pressure on you today, you're just out for another gallop, alright? Goodie's a top class horse. There's nobody better out there for you to have your first race on."
"I'm not good enough for him," Lilac muttered. "Let Jack have the ride."
"Thanks for the faith, but I'm actually not that good of a jockey." Jack leaned against Goodie's stall door, ignoring the hopeful horse's wiggling muzzle, watching Lilac the way one would watch the video of a car crash- somewhat sympathetically, but also curious about who would come out alive, and likely betting on the smallest car just for laughs.
I shot him a glare. "Goodie likes you, and his owner wouldn't trust you if you weren't good. You'll-"
"That's your call, Lilac!" Willifred's voice shot out from the filly's stall, where he was worrying over a swollen hock. "Better get that horse over to the saddling area!"
"I'm not even dressed!" Lilac hiccuped.
"Shoo! You're not supposed to be! I already had Jack take your silks to the locker, go get yourself ready while we get your horse down to be saddled." Ned gave the jockey-to-be a swift kiss and stood, pulling her up with him.
Lilac dashed off, still looking paler than usual. Ned stared after her worriedly, but Jack looked unconcerned. "She'll do great. Come on, you're the official groom for this horse." He tossed a leadline at Ned at the same moment he pushed himself off the wall, a languid movement only self-confident teenage boys were capable of. Ned caught it easily but stared at it for a few moments, as though he'd never seen a leadline before. Then he recollected himself and stepped forwards to take Goodie from his stall.
"Let's get some good spots by the rail," Jack said mischievously. He grabbed my hand, and we ran.
*****
"There she is! She looks a bit calmer now, don't you think?" I anxiously studied Lilac as she rode alongside a pinto pony horse, studiously managing Goodie as he walked, placing his hooves carefully and pointedly on the ground like a parade horse.
Jack was standing at the rail, not leaning like I was, to get as close to the track as possible. "You'll always feel better once on a horse. It's the cure for anything."
I jigged in excitement, eyes only for BD's half-brother and his rider as they made their way up the track, curving towards the starting gate. All too soon they were loaded, Lilac's bright red silks glaring through the bars. Jack spoke, but I wasn't sure if it was to me or himself. "It's a maiden race, but some of the horses have already raced before. Prisoner's Promise looks good, he raced well for his first race and was beaten by a nose. And IDunno is a nice animal.... this is a high-class field. And this is Lilac and Goodie's first race, no one's really expecting much of them. But Goodie is well trained, I don't-"
"Jack," I said. "Shut up."
He obligingly clacked his jaw shut as silence fell over the grandstand. One beat, two beats, three, and....
"They're off!" The announcer cried. He waited a few beats for the horses to sort themselves out, then began speaking in that breathless monologue that auctioneers could only dream of.
Prisoner's Promise, the horse Jack had been admiring, surged to the front, his gleaming black form hugging the rail, tall white legs lightly touching the ground. He was the flashiest horse I'd ever seen. Other, lighter horses, mostly bays and a chestnut, formed a wall that blocked the rest of the way. I scanned the pack anxiously, but So Far So Good was nowhere to be seen. Neither were Lilac's red silks.
Jack swore. "I told her to bring him straight to the front! She's blocked now!"
The horses were rapidly rounding the bend, and still Lilac was nowhere to be seen. I pounded my fists into the railing. "Come on! Bring him up!" I shouted.
"Three furlongs left," Jack worried.
And then Prisoner rushed forwards, pulling away from the pack. Through the hole he created, another horse came up, hugging the rail and flying forwards on the inside.
"It's Goodie!" I yelled, leaping up just as Jack pitched against the railing, leaning heavily on it. "And Lilac!"
It was. They flashed past a furlong marker, only two away from the finish, and reached Prisoner. They entered a battle, both jockeys reaching for their crops. Nose passed nose passed nose. It wasn't a race of twenty now, it was a race of two. Both horses ran powerfully, legs blurring, and then Goodie began pulling ahead. Slowly, steadily he powered away from Prisoner, and then he was past the finish line and clearly the winner.
"He was amazing! She won, she won!" I shrieked, my hands drumming excitedly against Jack. He didn't seem to mind, laughing joyfully.
"Maiden broken in their first race! A damned good run," he proclaimed. "Let's go to the winner's circle."
I dashed away, unable to contain my excitement. Jack was irritatingly slow behind me, but he reached the circle just as Lilac did, sitting proudly on the heaving So Far So Good as Ned led them in. We waited on the outside while they accepted the winnings for the owner, who couldn't make it to the race, and got their picture taken. Then I leaped to meet her as she jumped off, holding Goodie's reins as Ned began to sponge the horse down.
"Did you see that? He was amazing! I was so sure we couldn't get past the pack, and he was ready to tear the reins out of my hands, but I kept holding him and holding him and finally a hole opened and he just tore through. I can't believe we broke our maiden- oh, I have to call his owner, this is incredible!" Lilac finished, taking a deep breath.
She was covered in mud, kicked up from the horses in front of her, but she'd never looked happier. Goodie, too, was streaked in mud and sweat, but he looked rather pleased with himself, as though he knew exactly what he'd accomplished just then.
Maybe he did.
*****
SO SO SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING
Major crap going down. My old barn got dangerous so we had to move and I must say, I'm seriously in love with the new one.
Also training some pons. I've found my own BD in a chestnut quarter horse gelding- stands for Baby Dinosaur.
I have another BD, Baby Dawg. She's a menace but I love her.
Yeah, that's it! What'd y'all think of the Derby? I was team Ocho but that ship sunk. Sigh.
Iggy out