Chapter 3: Some Things to Mull Over
The sun's rays had just begun to permeate the blanketed sky, but Alec Ramsey was already hard at work, as many were on any stock farm. Their days began long before the sun rose, and ended far into the night; but no man in their business would have it any other way.
Alec, with the help of Tom, had already fed and watered the stallions, and let most of them out into their respective pastures. The broodmares and their foals and weanlings were taken care of by Steve and Mike, the full-time stable hands at the Farm. But the yearlings and older racing stock who weren't quite ready for the tracks were Alec's charge for the time being (usually Billy filled this role).
After he took care of the morning chores for the horses-in-training, he went to Billy's office where the training papers were kept. Billy kept wonderful records, from the horses' health to their fraction times, and he always kept Alec up-to-date on all of the horses' progress.
For instance, Alec remembered that Serenity, a three year old filly, that hadn't reached the tracks yet because of an early injury, had recently worked 10 furlongs in 2:15 under wraps. But he didn't recall that Serenity would become stubborn and almost mean if she wasn't worked every day, or that she always went faster when worked with another horse.
There were 10 horses scheduled for fast works, 6 that needed to continue their long gallops, 5 who were being worked with the starting gate along with their works and 8 others that simply needed to be legged up before given longer and faster works. With 29 horses under his charge, Alec, or Billy, would never have been able to complete all of the horses' training schedules on their own; so they hired 4 other men to help care for and train the young horses.
Scott and Joe were ex-jockeys; Paul had worked around horses all his life and went from stable hand at Hopeful Farm to exercise boy; and Ben was a young aspiring jockey who was learning the ropes along with his charges. Alec had complete faith in Scott and Joe; they rode with the best and knew what they were doing from long hours in the saddle. Paul had a good head and more patience than anyone when it came to the training of young horses, he had been trained by Billy (and with the help of Scott and Joe) and he could be trusted with most of the two and three year olds.
Ben started hanging around the tracks and took an interest in Alec and his horses. He wasn't the first young man that hung around the tracks hoping to learn all they could, and maybe land a job working with horses. Alec took a special interest in Ben and more than a year later Ben started working at the Farm. At first he helped with the mares and the moved to imprinting their foals and finally he starting helping with the racing stock. During the winter season, when most of the racing stock was wintered at the Farm, Ben started to gallop and jog the older horses. He was coming along, and Alec liked his devotion to his mounts, but he still had a lot to learn before he joined him back at the tracks; but Alec knew that one day Ben would be astride some of their best horses guiding them to a win in some of their biggest races of their young lives.
But this morning was unique. He wasn't taking any of the young horses out, the other men could do them and he would help them later; now he was heading to the stallion barn with high hopes and even higher expectations.
Walking down the long aisle, Alec breathed in the fumes of hay, ointment, and manure. All of the stalls were empty, their occupants already outside enjoying their well deserved liberty, save one. As he came to the stall of the lone occupant, Alec grabbed the halter off the peg and slipped inside.
"Hey, old boy," Alec cooed, "Ready to stretch your legs? C'mon let's show 'em boy, you still have all of your speed…. right Legacy?"
The five year old stallion was almost in racing trim. They had slowed his gallops, but he was still exercised every day. He was still in the transition period for retiring racehorses. Eagerly the chestnut stallion followed Alec out of his stall and into the alleyway.
Black Legacy was the epitome of a champion race horse. He was a streamlined racing machine; never taking a wrong step and had a will to win that rivaled his sire. Although as great as a horse he was, Black Legacy was very immature at three. He never even made it to the tracks at two, and during his three year old campaign he couldn't find his stride during races. He would shatter all the records when worked by himself, but put another horse with him and he'd fall to pieces, worrying about what the other horse was doing. By four he learned that if he broke fast and stayed there he needn't worry about the other horses… and that is just what he did.
Soon Alec had Legacy groomed and tacked up ready for the morning workout. Alec knew the chance they were taking in re-training Legacy, because if things didn't work out as planned it would be hard and stressful on Legacy and everyone who had to work with him during a 2nd transition period.
Alec walked him to the ½ mile training track, the stallion stepping lightly and anxiously beside him. The rain from a few days before still kept the track a little wet, it wasn't as fast as it could be, but it was far from slow. It didn't matter to Legacy wet, dry, dirt, or turf, the only thing the big stallion wanted was to run, run, run no matter the conditions.
Leaning on the railing was Scott, Joe, Paul, and Ben all eager to see the stallion work.
"Hey boss," called Scott. "Need any help with him?"
"Nah, he's fine, just a little eager this morning."
Ben said excitedly, "Look at him! He's on his toes and already sweating. He knows that his isn't just a slow gallop this morning, he knows something is up."
"Let's just hope he runs as good as he's acting right now." Paul noted, "Otherwise he'll be hell to deal with later."
"C'mon guys, quit talking so Alec can give him a good work," Joe said grabbing Legacy's bridle, "Here I'll hold him, while Scott gives ya a boost.
Alec settled lightly on the saddle feeling right at home astride a magnificent horse. It was a difficult job deciding how fast to bring back Legacy, go too slow and it won't help the situation much, go too fast and you could ruin the horse. Today the plan was to gallop him out a mile and then turn him loose for a ¼ mile without pushing him, which he should be able to do in an easy 26-27 seconds. He hadn't been worked in awhile and all Alec wanted to do was see how what he would do when he has given a loose rein.
Alec started him at a gallop, letting him out slightly more than he was allowed in the past. His strides came effortlessly and he was constantly asking for more rein. His strides were very long and gave you the impression that he wasn't moving very fast, but the experienced men at the rail knew that Alec was having a hard time holding him back and when he was turned around he would go faster than the 26 or 27 seconds that they had anticipated.
As Legacy came down the homestretch for the final time his strides came ever faster and faster; Alec had begun to release the pressure on his bit, and Legacy was eating up the ground with every stride. Simultaneously all four men pressed the stems of their stop watches as Black Legacy swept past them.
While Legacy was seemingly going race speed, Alec sat perfectly still in the saddle, never pushing his mount; still the black horse gave more and more speed. They rounded the turn, hugging the rail, the black stallion pulling on the bit as Alec picked up the reins going into the turn.
Coming down the stretch Alec was all but standing in the stirrups trying to slow the flying stallion. No one could doubt that Legacy still possessed the speed to race, in fact he was giving all of them the impression that he could go faster than he had ever gone before. As he passed the finish Alec was standing up in his stirrups slowing the great stallion. Black Legacy came to the turn before Alec could turn him around, not carrying a watch himself, Alec did not know what Legacy had just run. He had guessed around 24 and a tick, but he couldn't say for sure, only the men on the rail held that answer.
"What did he do? 24 and a tick it felt like" Alec called out.
"A bit faster than that Alec," Scott said glancing down at his stopwatch and then back to his boss.
"A bit!" cried Ben, "It was closer to 20 than 24!"
"What?" Alec asked incredulously, "He did not go that fast, I would have known."
Handing him his watch, Joe said, "No boss, Ben is right. He went the quarter in 0:21.3."
Walking Black Legacy back to the barn Alec was quiet; never before had he been so off in a workout time. But he never expected Black Legacy to run a 21.3 in a quarter, at least not so early in his training. It was race speed for the fastest sprinters, not an easy work for a retired stallion. Perhaps he was sharper than Alec expected.
Leaving Legacy to Tom and the training to Scott and Joe, Alec went to his office and decided to mull things over.
A/N: Thank you for reviewing (Thomas & Horselover) and in return here is another chapter! I hope you like it!
Oh to answer Thomas Monaghan, I was under the impression that a 12-second clip was a good race time (yes a 12 second clip for sprints can be considered "slow" for the elite), and that a breeze was faster than a gallop but still slower than race speed. Also, it is still early in the year and Black Magic is a two year old, so a time of 47-48 seconds seemed appropriate in my mind… but it was a guess.
Oh and horselover... it's coming!
Please note that some of the horses will be real; and others will be the creation of Walter Farley; and still others will be of my own creation.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters created and used in the "Black Stallion Series" created by Walter Farley and continued on by his son, Steven Farley. I am in no way making any profit in this fictional creation; it is pure "fan-fiction." The names in this story are in no way a reflection of any real person, and any similarities is pure coincidental.