Disclaimer Same as always.
Speed quickly learned that being a 'home jockey' meant that he rode whatever horse Pops entered in whatever race Pops decided to enter him meant that Speed had to familiarize himself with eight different mounts with eight different leg types and personalities, plus he had to learn how to deal with three mares in heat at different times of the month. Add that to the fact that two of the eight mounts were full-blooded thoroughbreds to whom the term "hot blood" truly did apply, and Speed had quite the challenge. When things got too tough, the young racer called on Dressage champion Trixie Shimera for help.
Trixie was the horse trainer of the ranch and because her profession called for her to be as one with her mount, most of the local jockeys came to her for advice. Speed came to her for training, advice, or just to watch her ride and see her work magic.
Trixie was also a teacher for up-and-coming equestrians. She was finishing up a lesson when Speed rode up on Windu; a dark bay, half-Thoroughbred colt who thought every other horse was going to eat him. Windu was not a big horse as he was only the size of a Mustang (about 14 hands high) but Speed felt Trixie could help boost the horse's self esteem and get him ready for racing.
Trixie greeted the young rider and looked him up and down as she always did when he came to her for training. She clicked disapprovingly and smacked Speed's head with her riding crop.
"No wonder he's freaked, Speed! The poor horse has his head so high that he can't turn it to look at anything around him! Loosen up and give him more rein. There, feel him relaxing a little? You better tell Pops that blinkers on Windu's facemask are a very bad idea. You're doing better posturewise, by the way."
Speed blushed as Trixie continued her inspection.
"Thanks, Trix. You. . . look good too."
The trainer paused, her cheeks flushing just slightly as she ushered her willing student into a gated arena.
"Come on, lover-boy. Show me his paces."
Speed did so and noticed a slight change in his mount's performance. Trixie noticed, too, that Windu was moving smoother and was much calmer since his rider had given him his head.
"Good, Speed! I can see the difference and I know that you can feel it. Now you two can start working as a team. I can show you the ropes but it's up to you to work the magic. You're a natural Speed. It's in your blood and I know you can do it!"
It's in your blood. Those five words sent Speed back in time, when his older brother Rex was still alive. Pops and Rex were having an argument about Speed's future after the seven-year-old beat his brother's rival in a mock race using a Mountain Pony.
That day, the two didn't know he had been listening the entire time. . .
"How could you have been so ignorant, Rex! A pony against a Thoroughbred?! Speed could have been hurt or worse!"
"Speed knew what he was doing, Pops! You can't keep him on Knuckles forever, not when all he wants is to participate in the Baby Stakes with Flotsam! Pops, you should have seen the little guy go. He was working magic!"
Rex's eyes glazed over as he remembered the day's one-in-a-million-chance events and relayed what he had been feeling watching his little brother race.
"It was like that pony and Speed were one, Pops. Yes, the bay pony was shorter and less powerful than big ol' Zoomer, but Flotsam definitely had more heart. Speed stuck to the rail like I told him to and stayed clear of Zoomer's hooves. As I watched him make his move, Pops, I knew. You can take him away from the track, but Speed will race another way."
"How do you know that, Rex? He may find another occupation. One that's safer."
Speed's older brother chuckled, "He never will be happy doing anything but racing. He has no choice."
"Oh, no?! Why is that?!"
Rex gestured towards the stables and said confidently,
"Because all us Racer men have this need. Turf runs through Racer veins. Horse blood blends with Racer bone. The thrill of going fast on a beast powerfull enough to make the ground shake is what we thrive on. 'For generations, the gift of the track has been handed down.' Remember when you told me that? Speed is a Racer so he bears the same gift. He can't help his need for the track. It's in his blood!"
End flashback.
"Earth to Speed! Earth to Speed! HEY!! Sparky said he wants to time Windu. Get going!!"
Speed shook himself back to the present and guided his mount to the starting gate, thanking Trixie and promising to stop by later.
As the dark bay trotted onto the dirt track, Trixie closed and locked the arena gate behind him and perched herself on the fence to watch Speed work. The equestrian champion giggled softly as she watched the jockey trying to coax Windu into the starting gate using every method he could come up with, but failing miserably. Stop fighting him, Speed! She coached silently, The more you pull, the more he'll fight you. Finally, the stubborn colt yielded and entered the gate. The bell sounded and horse and rider bolted out and took off. Trixie was reminded of Speed's very first race, the Baby Stakes. That race had also been the very first time she had seen Speed unleash some of his potential. Trixie had known then as she knew now, that the young man was going to be the greatest jockey in the history of racing. And I love him like crazy!
As Speed rounded the final corner, he caught Trixie watching him and grinned. The Dark Bay breezed across the finish line and the jockey guided his mount to a steady trot as Sparky berated him from the trainers' box.
"You were a minute and a half behind today, Speed!! What is up with THAT?!!"
"Not sure, Sparky. Maybe Windu isn't up to this. I didn't feel him out there. The drive just isn't—it's not there."
There was silence. Then the trainer sighed. "Maybe you're right. Maybe Windu is a claimer. I'll tell Pops. There's a Claims race coming up that we could enter him in."
"Thanks, Sparky."
With a heavy heart Speed guided the colt toward the stables, patting Windu's neck affectionately and murmuring encouragement as he always did after a workout, good or bad.
Trixie watched him go, feeling sorry for the teen jockey. This was the third claimer that week. Speed, like most jockeys, got intimately attached to his mounts and was saddened when he had to give any of them up. Many riders grew hardened to the business of racing and grew accustomed to losing horses they had trained for a long time. Trixie knew Speed would never grow so callous.
There was just too much Rex in him.
Next: Speed's first race, A villainous intro to a familiar yet different SR baddie, and, THE RETURN! Stay Posted Racer Fans! And do REVIEW!!
