THE PRAIRIE WIND FILLY

"Merry Christmas, Alec" Henry muttered, his voice dripping with irony. He looked at Alec grimly before turning back to inspect the filly's foreleg. He could still feel the heat that had radiated from her pastern burning on his palm.

Alec twisted the lead rope in his hands then reached up to pat the filly's steel grey neck consolingly. Looking sorry for herself she turned her head and butted him in the chest with her pink muzzle.

"What do you reckon?" he asked at last.

"Box rest for two weeks at least. We should have thought of this before when we chose her, Alec. Fools, that's what we are! Stupid fools! Rob Walker and his pals were probably patting each other on the back after we left. With weak pasterns we should have realised we'd have trouble."

"Maybe it's just growing pains?" Alec suggested.

Henry shook his head and frowned at the ground.

"This is the third time we've tried to work her and the third time she's come back hobbling. I don't know, Alec. You would think that an old fool like me would have taken this into account."

"It's a pity when she's got so much going for her," Alec said sadly. "What do we do now?"

"Well, it's up to you, Alec. She's Hopeful Farm's, after all. We could get her sound again and send her to the sales next February, let her be someone else's problem -"

"But Henry!"

"Or we could keep her as a broodmare. We can't put her to a stallion until she's a three year old but with her sort of pedigree she'd be a worthy addition to Hopeful Farm's broodmare band."

"We could keep trying, couldn't we? I mean, she's still young, she's bound to strengthen up. That piece of work she did yesterday isn't something we can ignore, Henry."

The old man shook his head again and sighed, his heavy shoulders rising before settling even lower than before.

"She'd be the best filly in training if we could keep her in training."

"So isn't it worth persevering?"

Henry grunted in response and Alec wasn't sure if it was in agreement or not. He knew better than to press it.

"Put her away, Alec. And get some clay on those priceless legs of hers."


The old trainer walked away, not bothering to watch Alec and the slight grey filly stumble across the concourse back to her stable. He let himself into the racing office and went over to the video cabinet. He selected a DVD case and inserted its contents into the player before settling himself into his chair. They had filmed the Prairie Wind filly's first fast workout, thinking - hoping - that they were capturing the beginning of something great. The screen snow-stormed before projecting an overcast image of wintery conditions. The focus blurred and shook before the cameraman righted it and zoomed in on a horse far down the track, almost blending into the murky landscape.

The filly was breezing three furlongs and by the time the camera's focus was right up close she was hitting top gear. Such a small, slight creature she seemed not to touch the ground at all. Instead, almost gliding over the snow-carpeted track like a figure skater, flicking the snow up with her dainty hooves like a model ridding her high heels of a tuft of dirt. He could hear his own voice, removed and distant on the recording, guffawing with excitement. Laughing wasn't something he did very often these days and like an old fool, he had let himself believe that he had a filly at last to rival Black Minx. As the tape ended he lifted the remote to replay the workout.

The filly sure can move when she was sound.

She had run that last furlong in 9 seconds flat.

Maybe Alec is right. Maybe she is worth persevering with. There was still a whole year before her three-year-old season began. She might be stronger then. How could she not be strong when she was the progeny of the Black? The granddaughter of Cyclone?

Again he replayed the recording, hoping with every viewing he could convince himself she was worth the effort. He thought of the smug smiles of Eagle Star Farm after they'd secured the Sharifa filly, like the cat who'd got the cream. If nothing else then surely wiping that smile off their faces was enough incentive to keep her in training?