Disclaimer – I own nothing of RENT, except my original characters. The rest, however, belongs to the wonderful Jonathon Larson. 'Nuff said.
Italics are thoughts and flashbacks.
A/N: After watching the Kentucky Derby yesterday, I came up with this idea.
A/N 2: Horse descriptions:
COLTS:
La Vie Boheme – three-years-old. Chocolate brown with a narrow blaze and two front socks. Is slightly blind in one eye, so he can't be on the rail at all.
SIRE – Sir Squire of Narnia
DAM – Hot Tomato Soup
Trumpin' Charlie – three-years-old. Light gray with four socks and a blaze. Is very temperamental.
SIRE – Sir Squire of Narnia
DAM – Angel Food Cake
FILLIES:
Lady Marmalade – three-years-old. Black with a full blaze and two uneven back socks. Really sweet and a lot of fun to ride.
SIRE – Observe and Report
DAM – XOXO Wicked Elphaba
CloudJumpinRainbow – three-years-old. Chestnut with three socks and a snip at the end of her nose. Is very competitive and is the best filly of her age.
SIRE – Breaking News
DAM – XOXO Wicked Elphaba
Summary: AU: Benny owns his own racing stable and has four horses entered in the Kentucky Derby. When an injury to one of the horses forces it to scratch, what is Benny to do? Takes place in 2010. Rated T for safety.
Genre: Drama/General
Rating: T
CHAPTER ONE
Benjamin Coffin the Third watched the filly before him being worked on the lunge line. He watched the exercise rider on her back – a young man named Paul Davidson – put her through her paces.
"Good Paul. Bring her down to a walk and let's call it a day." Benny called to the rider. Paul nodded and patted the chestnut mare's sweaty shoulder and walked her around the arena, talking quietly to her. Benny smiled and went to check on his other racers.
"Hey guys." Benny greeted the horses in the racing stable as he entered. All sixteen horses put their heads over their stall doors as Benny walked by and gave them treats.
"There you go pretty girl." Paul spoke softly to the horse he had ridden that morning. According to her brass nameplate, her name was CloudJumpinRainbow, but he affectionately called her Rain around the barn.
Paul went to get the other racers that Benny had assigned him to get ready. Benny, however, assigned his head trainer, Seth Green, to watch Paul. Seth nodded and went to watch the young rider.
"Benny! Hey!" Benny heard his name being called. Turning around, he saw his friend Roger Davis, his wife Melina and the couple's children – ten-year-old Angel-Glory, eight-year-old Savannah and seven-year-old Andrew.
"Roger! It's good to see you!" Benny greeted his friend, hugging his friend, kissed Melina's cheek and ruffled each of the children's hair. "I think Brady and Isaac are in the arena, if you want to join them." Benny told the kids. They all ran to the riding arena, talking loudly amongst themselves. Benny noticed how much the kids resembled Roger, except for Angel-Glory. She looked like Melina – black hair and dark brown eyes.
"How are your racers doing?" Melina asked. She was a friend of Benny's from childhood and had met Roger speed dating. It was after Mimi had passed away, but Roger had followed Mimi's advice and had fallen in love with Melina. It turned out that Melina was Mimi's sister, so Melina knew what Roger was going through.
"I have four potential racers that I'm keeping my eye on." Benny told her, leading them to the track. Roger and Melina were half-owners, along with Mark, Maureen & Joanne. Collins was also a half owner, but he passed away suddenly last year, which was hard on everyone.
"Which ones?" Roger inquired.
"Two colts – La Vie Boheme & Trumpin Charlie and two fillies – Lady Marmalade & CloudJumpinRainbow." Benny answered, smiling when Paul came over to them with all four horses in tow.
"They're beautiful." Melina whispered, reaching out to touch one of the colt's face. He flattened his ears against his head.
"Charlie." Benny warned, entering the arena, Roger and Melina following closely behind. Roger ran his hands over one of the fillies hindquarters. She turned to look at him, a sparkle in her brown eyes.
"Benny, which one is this?" Roger asked.
"Lady Marmalade – she's a real sweetheart." Benny answered, checking over all of his horses. He nodded to Paul who put them in their stalls with Roger's help. Paul handed him the colt's lead lines while he handled the fillies.
"You're lucky to be working here." Roger told Paul as he put Lady Marmalade in her stall. He put CloudJumpinRainbow next to her and closed the stall doors.
"I really like Benny – he's like a brother to me." Paul told Roger, putting the colts in their stalls, also closing the stall doors.
"Paul – bring out Count of Monte Carlo – Abby's here to ride him." Benny told Paul, coming into the barn. Paul nodded and walked down the row of stalls until he found Count of Monte Carlo.
"When's race day?" Roger asked Benny as he, Melina and the kids exited the stables. The friends had decided to call it No Day But Today Racing Stable and decided that the colors were white, green and light blue.
"May 1st." Benny answered, smiling at the kids.
"We'll be there." Angel-Glory spoke up. Benny smiled and ruffled her hair. He then waved to his friends as they drove out of sight.
Benny then walked up to the large farmhouse where he knew Alison and the boys were waiting for him.