Disclaimer: I do not own the Perry Mason characters. They are the creation of Erle Stanley Gardner. Nor am I making any profit from this fan fiction. Please remember when it comes to the courtroom scenes that I do not have any legal training. All other characters in this story were created in my mind for the purpose of telling it.

My stories follow a timeline but not necessarily the timeline of the show. They are, however, written to stand alone. Also, they are written in the present not when the show took place.

I love horse racing and in tribute to this year's Triple Crown Winner, American Pharoah, I thought it would be fun to put Perry in the middle of a murder case at a horse racing farm!

The Case of the Lazy Race Horse

Chapter 1

1.1

Marvin Latham looked out the window of his office which overlooked the track where all of his race horses were trained. He watched as his jockey, Ethan Logan, on board Latham's Choice, was running the colt's daily workout. It was a beautiful morning in Kentucky. The sun was shining and the temperature was a comfortable sixty-two degrees. Perfect weather for training his three-year old colt.

Latham had known from the time the colt was born that he had a winner on his hands. Latham's Choice loved to run. He was a beautiful black with a blaze that ran down the middle of his head. He had four white stockings and a very heavy tail. Not a big horse, he stood fourteen hands high. What he lacked in size, he made up with a long stride. After having raced eleven races, he was still undefeated. Yet, the talk around the racing world was not about him, it was about a big red horse that lived on the farm right next to Latham Farm...Red Rider.

Marvin had to admit that Red Rider was a beautiful animal with fabulous conformation. He was quite a bit bigger than Latham's Choice. In fact, the red horse reminded him of one of horse racing's greats... Big Red, more commonly known as Secretariat. He was easily as big with a blaze on the front of his head that was just a bit wider than the famous colt's.

Marvin Latham's horse had not gotten the attention he felt he deserved because Red Rider had raced in more races, and was also undefeated. He had already broken three track records and the talk was he could be the next American Pharoah. Hell, thought, Marvin, he could very well be the next Secretariat.

The only thing holding him back was Morgan Stapleton. Marvin had no use for Stapleton. He was unscrupulous and he cared nothing for the welfare of his horses. Winning at all cost was all that mattered to him. Marvin was surprised he had not killed the horse already with the speeds he had been forced to run. He had the jockey run him just as hard as possible, trying to embarrass the other owners with Red Rider's superiority. On occasion, in this sport, a jockey would run a horse so hard his heart would burst. It had not happened in years, but Latham suspected they would see it again soon.

Stapleton always employed the services of Bobby Quintez. Quintez was a young jockey with a great deal of talent. His problem was that he was an impatient fellow. He was only twenty-two years old and he wanted the recognition and reputation of jockeys that had been around for years with far more experience. Latham felt that, in time, the young man could be one of the best... if he was not under the crooked hand of Morgan Stapleton. If he remained working for him, he would only become as crooked as Stapleton himself.

Stapleton had two sons, Aaron and Dean. Both those boys knew their horses but again, the problem was they were taught everything they knew from their father. Now, Marvin admitted only to himself, that some of that was very good. Morgan knew breeding and by studying pedigrees and knowing the strength and weakness in the horses in those pedigrees, he always bred horses that were contenders. Hardly a year went by that he didn't have three or four really good horses out there racing, and winning large purses.

Aaron and Dean Stapleton were the spitting image of their father. Both boys, in their early twenties, were just under six feet tall, with medium builds, dark curly hair and brown eyes. Like their father, they showed signs of becoming just as unscrupulous as he. Between the three of them, they had swindled, blackmailed and latterly stole quality horses from other owners to compliment the already beautiful mares that they had on the farm.

What Morgan didn't seem to know was that Aaron and Dean were tired of their father telling them what to do. They wanted to make decisions on their own. They wanted to run the farm. After all, they felt it had been the horses that they had been able to acquire from others that made the farm as successful as it was. In their eyes, the old man no longer had what it took to run the farm. And, they were tired of the meager salaries he was paying them.

Both those boys were bombs just ready to explode. Morgan would have his hands full when that happened.

"Dad," Toni Latham said. She knew by her father's reaction, that he had not even heard her come in." She was a beautiful young lady, blonde, one hundred and ten pounds, blue eyes, and a figured that turned the head of every male that saw her.

He smiled and reached out to his daughter. She put her hand in his and he pulled her closer to him. "Yes, sweetheart, what is it?"

She reached out and put a stop watch in front of him. "Look at Dover's time. It is his best yet." She was grinning from ear to ear.

Marvin took the stop watch from her hand and smiled. "It is a very good time." The smile disappeared from his face as he gave it back.

"But not good enough to beat Red Rider," she said, reading his thoughts.

"He's a great horse, Toni. He is going to be hard to beat."

"Dover can do it. I know he can. He is a great horse too." She sat down on the edge of the desk. "Why don't you have the confidence in him that I do."

"Because I am realistic. We have a great horse but you have heard of Sham back in '73?"

"Yes, of course, he was the horse that was beaten by Secretariat in all three Triple Crown races. Why?"

"Sham was a great horse too. He just ran up against a greater one."

She looked into his eyes, she could see disappointment there. "And you believe that Dover is the Sham of today and Red Rider is the Secretariat. Is that it?"

"I am saying Red Rider is going to be hard to beat. That is all I am saying."

"Well, aren't we going to try?" she asked.

Marvin Latham got out of his chair and walked over to the window. Latham's Choice was being walked back. He always insisted the horses be walked for a bit after working out. "Of course we are going to try. I just don't want you to be disappointed if Red Rider beats Dover.

"Dover? You know I always let you give them their nic names but Dover? How did you come up with that?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I wanted to name him Perry but you would not let me, remember?"

He walked over to her and placed a hand around her shoulder. "Because I could not let you name him after a crush. You are eighteen years old. Perry Mason is a grown man. He is too old for you."

"He is in his thirties, the prime of his life. He is everything I want in a man. He's tall, handsome and very successful. You always told me to pick a successful man. Well, do you know of a lawyer that is more successful than Perry Mason? Oh, and he is so charming and kind too... and that voice!"

Marvin sighed. On the outside, Toni had grown into a beautiful woman but on the inside she was still a little girl. He wondered when she would get over her school-girl crush on Perry Mason. "Aren't you forgetting something?" He raised his eyebrows.

She frowned. "Della Street." There was a bit of jealousy in her voice.

"Yes, Della Street."

"She is just his secretary," she sneered.

"Just his secretary? I think you know better then that, young lady. Perry Mason is in love with Della Street."

Toni did not like being reminded of that fact. "I don't care. I still think I could get his attention."

Marvin sighed again. "You have to get over this crush, Toni."

She looked down to the floor. "Does that mean you won't invite him to stay with us during the Triple Crown races?"

"What?"

"I think we should invite him!" she said excitedly. "He loves horse racing and we have not seen him in ages!"

"Perry can not just up and leave at anytime, Toni. He is in very big demand." He thought for a moment and said, mostly to himself, "Then again, with all the cases he has solved lately, he should be ready for some rest and relaxation. And we have not seen him since we took Road Racer to California to race."

Toni became very excited. "Then you will invite him?"

"Yes, I'll invite him and Della."

Her voice turned to disappointment. "Do we have to invite her?"

He smiled. "He would not come without her."

"Doesn't she need to stay in Los Angeles and run his office?" she argued.

"Perry has very capable people in his office who can run it while he and Della are away. So make up your mind, it is either Perry and Della or neither." He looked at his daughter with raised eyebrows.

With a pout on her lips, she relented. "Oh, alright, the secretary can be invited." She headed for the door. Under her breath, she mumbled, "Anything to get Perry here."

Marvin's hearing was very acute. He shook his head. He hoped his daughter was not setting herself up for a letdown. He would have to talk to Perry when he got here.

1.2

"Mr. Mason, I really need you to help me out here?" George Damian pleaded.

"George, how many times have I told you to put enough away to pay for the taxes on your investments?" Mason scolded.

"I am tired of working my fingers to the bone and giving so much of it to the federal government. I don't see them putting any time into my business. Why should they collect my hard earned money?"

"Because there are laws saying they can," Mason countered. "I told you last year you were not setting enough aside to pay the government and gave you a recommendation. You did not follow my advice. How do you expect me to help you when you ignore my legal advice. I am sorry, George, but there is nothing I can do. You are going to have to pay the penalties. There is no getting out of it this time."

"What do I pay you for? You are supposed to handle things like this!"

Mason stood up, indicating the meeting was coming to an end. "You paid me for advice and you ignored it. Now pay the government the money you owe... including the penalties. That is the price you pay for not listening to your attorney. On the way out, stop at Miss Street's desk. My recommendations for the rest of the year will get you back on track."

Damien got up and stormed out of Mason's office. Perry shook his head and smiled. When will he ever learn? I give him good advice and he ignores it. Why pay me all that money just to ignore me? He just did not understand his clients at times.

A few minutes later, Della Street opened the door to his office. She had a cat who ate the canary look on her face. "Mr. Damien is not a very happy man. I told him, if he did not like your advice, he could always find another attorney."

"And he declined to do so," Mason surmised.

"That's right. He said there was no better attorney and he was not hiring someone with less talent than you," she said.

"Will they ever learn? he muttered.

Della changed the subject. "Your brother called from San Francisco. He said he was going to be out but would like you to call him later when you get time."

Perry stared out the window. Della was unsure if he had been listening to her. "Perry, did you hear me?"

"Ah... what... oh, yes, call Bob later. Okay, I will." He continued to stare out the window.

She walked around his desk, sat down on the edge of it. "Perry, you have been day dreaming all day. What is the matter? It seems that if you are not buried in a murder case up to your eyeballs, you get bored very easily."

He reached out and took her hand. Gently he kissed the back of it. "You know me too well, Della. My specialty is criminal law. Tax law is boring, especially when I have to fight with a client who ignores my advice."

She stroked his hand. "It is not the first time a client has ignored your advice and it won't be the last."

"I know that. I just wish... "

"Wish you were investigating a murder? Is that it? Would you like me to go out and murder someone so you have a client to defend?" she said, sarcastically. She looked down at him and raised an eyebrow.

When he saw the look on her face, he could not help but smile. "No, you got involved in a murder case once before, and I had to clear your friend in order to protect you. I might not have shown it, but I was a nervous wreck worrying about you."

She cringed at the memory of that case. Her friend needed twenty-five thousand dollars. Della had been out to dinner with Perry, who had sensed something was wrong. When he offered to help, she told him she needed twenty-five thousand dollars, like that (snapping her fingers) no questions asked. She was overwhelmed with emotion when he pulled out his checkbook and wrote her a check, telling her, no questions, no thanks. ** It was a period that she wanted to forget. She had put Perry in a terrible position and had regretted it.

"Then what is it you want?" she asked him quietly.

"I think we need to get away for a bit. Just you and me. Spend some time together, no calls, no murderers and no clients who ignore my advice. Just you and me... somewhere we can enjoy each others company. I just need to get away for a bit."

Della got off the desk and sat down in is lap. "Do you want to take a cruise. It would be very romantic," she said, lowering her voice.

Mason frowned. "There was a time when that would have been my suggestion. Not anymore. As much as I would love to be alone with you in the cabin on a cruise ship, we can no longer go anywhere we are not recognized. We would be on a ship filled with snoops."

Della could not help but chuckle at the thought of everyone on the ship snooping into their private lives. "Okay, then what would you like to do? Borrow your brother's commissioner's cabin for a couple of weeks?"

"No, we have done that. I want to do something we would enjoy but still have time to ourselves."

The intercom buzzed. Della reached forward and pressed the button. "Yes, Gertie."

"There is a Marvin Latham on the phone for Mr. Mason.

Mason smiled. "Put him through, Gertie."

A moment later, a familiar voice came over the speaker phone as Della remained in Perry's lap.

"Marvin! Good to hear from you! How are things in Kentucky?"

"Things are fine. I hope you and Della are doing well. I see you finished a big case clearing your brother's son of murder." *

"It seems there was nothing to actually clear him of," Mason said. "I don't want to talk about me. I see you have another big winner on your hands. When is Latham's Choice going to go up against Red Rider?"

"Soon, I am afraid."

"What do you mean afraid? Latham's Choice can beat him, can't he?"

"I don't know, Perry. Red Rider is a hell of a horse, that is if Stapleton doesn't kill him first.

Perry and Della glanced at one another. "What do you mean by that?" Della asked.

"It's a long story and I do not want to waste my time talking about it. Look, I don't know if it is possible right now, but I was wondering if you and Della would like to come to Kentucky for the duration of the Triple Crown Races? It could be a great time. You could see the Kentucky Derby here, and then go to the Preakness and then on to New York for the Belmont. What do you say?"

Della became very excited. "Oh, Perry! That would be just perfect! We both love horse racing. We could let Jackson run the office until we get back. You wanted to do something both of us love and still be able to spend time together."

"Then it is settled! You get your office in order and then hop a plane to Kentucky!"

"Just a minute, Marvin. There is two weeks between the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, and then there is three weeks between the Preakness and the Belmont. Even if we got there right before the Derby, that means being away from the office for five weeks."

"Oh, Perry! We have no trials going on right now. It would be a wonderful vacation. Please say yes," Della pleaded.

He looked at the excitement on her face. He never could say no to Della. He wanted to argue it was too long to be away, but what the hell. He knew all she would have to do is put that bottom lip out and he would give in. "Alright, Marvin. We will take you up on your offer. Let me get things in order here and we will make flight arrangements to come out. There is just one condition, though."

"And what might that be? Latham asked.

"I want this to be something Della can enjoy. No murders and no murder trials. Agreed?"

Latham laughed. "There is no chance of a murder on the Triple Crown circuit. So don't worry about it. No one is going to ask you to defend them. Just come out and have a great time."

"Alright, your on. Della and I will close up shop and get on a plane to Kentucky."

"That's great, Perry! I am going to show you the time of your life! Call me and let me know your flight arrangements.

To Be Continued...

* Refers to my fanfiction, The Case of the Mock Murder

** Refers to Perry Mason episode, The Case of the Weary Watch Dog.