Chapter 306 – Black Ice
When Nathan got back to the trailer, he found Father Mark sitting with Jack, Doug and Marco. He quickly looked around. Jack spoke up without even looking up from what he was going on his phone.
"Andy and Carlo are watching the other group jump." Jack said. "Grandpa went to sit with Gran and them for a bit."
"Thank you." Nathan said.
Nathan nodded, grabbed a cold drink and sat down.
"Okay." Marco said. "Now can you tell me what the big deal about a sire named Black Ice is?"
Father Mark just got wide-eyed and just looked at Jack. Jack and Doug both just started nodding.
"How long have you worked at Coal Creek?" Father Mark asked.
"Maria and I both started in nineteen ninety-seven." Marco said.
"Have you never listened to Manny's stories or looked at some of the old photos over at the track?" Father Mark said.
"Manny had thousands of stories." Marco said. "I only deal with jumpers."
Jack took a deep breath.
"The sire known as Black Ice died four years ago at the age of thirty-one." Jack said. "Legend has it the owner froze enough sperm to populate a small country with Black Ice thoroughbred foals. I know that they have been extremely picky with who they will to be bred to Black Ice. The contracts for those potential foals come with lots of restrictions and stipulations. I also heard that the owners are not above using the courts to punish people who violate the contracts."
"So who owns him?" Marco said.
"I know he stood at The Cole Ranch in California prior to his death." Jack said. "His owner is a bit more of a mystery."
"Why is this horse so special?" Marco asked.
"Black Ice, himself, was a champion jumper." Father Mark said. "American Cup, World Games, Olympics, numerous FEI grand slam wins. But more than that, he came from a line of champion horses. Trace the pedigree back far enough and you will find a sire named Black Toney who sired a famous racehorse named Black Gold. This was back in the nineteen twenties. After winning the Kentucky Derby, Black Gold was sent to stud, but found to be mostly sterile. He sired one foal that was killed in a freak lightning strike. However, Black Gold's win made Black Toney's foal all the more desirable. Black Toney sired a number of horses who had mostly all gone on to produce horses."
"So those two four year old horses for sale come from a famous lineage." Marco said.
"Yes." Jack said. "But it is more than that. And for the record, they are no longer for sale. Anyway Black Ice's sire was a thoroughbred named Black Velvet who was sired by Coal Tuxedo and the dam to Black Ice was Ice Dancer. The only other horse from Coal Tuxedo and Ice Dance was a filly named StarDust."
"Wait, I know that name." Marco said.
"As you should." Jack said. "StarDust was a Thornton Thoroughbred and the horse that put the farm on the national and international map."
"So you want the offspring of the sibling that made your farm a household name in the horse world." Nathan said.
"Yes." Jack said. "Over the years, I know that my grandfather and his father before him tried to buy Black Ice. They knew the genetics were amazing. They not only wanted to own him, but they wanted to breed him. There are any number of descendants from StarDust still at Coal Creek, including Athena."
"Wow." Nathan said. "Are you sure about me having her?"
"Absolutely." Jack said. "Still might like to breed her, but that is a conversation for another day."
"And you seriously don't know who owns or owned Black Ice?" Nathan asked.
"Not exactly." Jack said. "I have a very good educated guess, but don't have confirmation. I know that when you want to deal with the owner, you need to deal with the farm in California. Everything is run through a lawyer and the only name on it is a corporation that is near impossible to trace as it is buried behind trusts and other companies.
Onyx and Smokey Jo were among the last crop of foals born while Black Ice was alive. There are rumored to be a handful of foals born after his death to a select number of dams. But I don't know for certain. My question is how did a small riding academy with no known big names end up with a set of Black Ice foals."
"Maybe they didn't know what they had." Father Mark said. "Or they have connections in high places that they are not disclosing."
"I think they know at least a little of what they had." Doug said. "Because they agreed not to geld them and are not set up to breed them."
"Good point." Father Mark said.
Then Father Mark looked right at Jack.
"What do you mean they are not for sale anymore?" He asked.
"Just what I said." Jack said, with a cryptic smile.
"What did you do?" Marco asked.
"I didn't do anything." Jack said. "Connor and Grandpa John on the other hand. I can't control what they do."
Jack just laughed, got up and went into the trailer to rest for a bit. He wanted to ice his shoulder and sit in the cool air as it was getting warm.
After Jack went inside, the rest of the group looked at each other.
"He is going to own those foals." Doug said. "I knew it the moment that Marco had said something that Jack was going to get them."
"I understand a sentimental reason to get them." Father Mark said. "But really, what is he going to do with them?"
"Breed them." Doug said. "Maybe jump them. They are only four."
"But that is a lot of money for jumpers that he doesn't have riders for." Nathan said.
"The money is not the issue." Doug said. "If Jack wants them, he will get them. They are great bloodlines and would be worth any foals born. Not only for potentially jumpers or racehorses, but for sale as well."
"If you haven't realized." Father Mark said. "Jack doesn't make rash decisions when it comes to business. He has been trying to get his hands on a Black Ice foal for over seven years. As soon as he learned the story of the horse, he became borderline obsessed with getting one of his foals, preferably a stallion. Now two have basically dropped into his lap. I knew that he was going to jump on them the moment you said something about them."
"I know that Jack is not one to make rash business decisions." Nathan said. "But to get two young jumpers when you don't have riders for them is risky. They need to be ridden and worked."
"And having to champion pedigree horses might draw a new jumper." Doug said.
"Good point." Nathan said. "I can see that. But it is still a risk."
"And Jack understands that risk better than anyone." Doug said. "He knows more about horses than most people. If he has already called his grandfather, it is pretty much a done deal."
"True." Nathan said. "I guess I am not used to someone just buying horses because they want them."
"Welcome to my world." Doug teased.
Father Mark enjoyed sitting with Doug, Nathan and Marco. About twenty minutes after Jack went to cool off, Frank joined the group.
"How is the middle group going?" Doug asked.
"Rough." Frank said. "Thirteen jumpers and two clear rounds. Hardest course I have seen in a long time. Lots of time faults, lots of horses in the water. Three that have completely come off their mount."
"Sounds like we are going to have a rough time." Nathan said.
"Trust yourself." Frank said. "I am sure you have been studying the course sheet. I saw the one that James brought up. While it looked like a bunch of turns, it doesn't look all that hard."
"I agree." Doug said. "But the course sheet could be deceiving."
"True." Frank said. "I don't know what it is about this course, but I think the angle of the sun is a big factor. It is bright out there and has lots of light colored rails."
"That would do it." Doug said.
"Cooperstown has always been a hard show." Marco said. "Yes, it is a new riding place that is hosting this year, but many of the same officials. I think it might be one of the hardest regular season courses."
Frank and Father Mark enjoyed spending time sitting with Doug, Nathan and Marco. They had fun visiting and telling stories. Jack came back out and joined them for a bit and everyone noticed the ice pack on his shoulder, but no one said anything. They all knew that Jack was pushing it, but they trusted him to know his own body.
"So you told us about the time you spit red Gatorade all over a competitor." Nathan said. "Any other stories from Cooperstown?"
"Whoa." Frank said. "What is this about spitting Gatorade all over?"
Jack and Doug retold the story that they had shared at the banquet for the Classic. Frank was laughing so hard.
"I can see you doing that." Frank said. "I bet your grandfather was not happy."
"No he was not." Jack said.
"We had to do extra chores for the rest of the summer." Doug said.
"Serves you right." Father Mark said. "I mean my sisters shouldn't have taught you that, but at the same time, you were all old enough to know better."
Jack just smiled that dimpled grin of his.
"Like I said." Jack said. "He had it coming. I just didn't think it would make such a big mess."
"So other stories." Doug said.
Doug looked at Jack and motioned with his head and grinned.
"If you want to tell it." Jack said.
"But it is your story." Doug said.
"But you tell it better." Jack said.
"Fine." Doug said. "So this didn't happen here in Cooperstown, but it is epic. This first summer that we were up here. I think the other story was from the second year. So it was the first summer that we were up here. We had known each other for just about six months. It was one of the first shows that year. It was before the Classic that year, we had come up Memorial Day weekend and this show was the following weekend."
"Oh that story." Marco said.
"I don't think I have heard Doug's version of this." Father Mark said. "I was in seminary at this time I think."
"Yes, you were." Jack said. "This would have been the show June first of twenty thirteen and yes, Father Mark, you were at Fordham."
"So." Doug said. "We, Jack, Lee and I, had gone to the show with Laura and three other jumpers. Andy and James took us. Gran also came up. I don't think the parents were here."
"Where was the show?" Nathan asked.
"Lake Placid." Jack said. "Doug and I were jumping preliminary. Laura was jumping intermediate, but could have been advanced if she had wanted. But she was jumping at the same level as a friend. We also had two younger jumpers along."
"So what happened?" Frank asked.
"We were staying in this lovely cabin and the show itself was at the Olympic site." Doug said. "So this was the night before the show. We came up on Thursday and were going to stay until the show was over Sunday. So we had six jumpers across the seven levels. So Jack got it in his head to try and scare Laura and her friend. But to get to Laura's room, we had to go past Gran's room. Jack was able to sneak past, but I got caught and was sent back to my room with a stern warning."
"Chicken." Jack teased.
"Gran is scary." Doug said. "I barely knew her. I thought she would really spank me."
"She probably would have." Father Mark laughed.
"Told you." Doug said.
"Anyway." Jack said. "I wanted to scare Laura and her friend. I had a clown mask and was going to scare the girls, but when I opened the door to scare them, Laura threw one of her boots at me and hit me square in the face. I ended up having to compete with a black eye and boot mark on my face. I was teased mercilessly."
"Had you been able to see properly." Doug teased. "You might be able to have won."
Jack stuck out his tongue at Doug.
"See what I deal with." Father Mark said, looking at Frank. "Are you sure you want a part of this?"
"I think I am needed here more than we thought." Frank said.
Doug and Jack both stuck out their tongue at Frank.
Frank, Father Mark and Nathan all laughed. About that time Andy and Carlo came back.
"How was it?" Doug asked.
"Five made the jumpoff out of twenty-five." Andy said. "They are working to set up the jumpoff now. Once that is over, they are going to take at least a half an hour break to reset the field for the next level."
"Wow." Doug said. "Five jumpers out of twenty-five."
"I know." Nathan said. "We are going to have to be careful."
In the end, of the five jumpers in the jumpoff, only two had clear rounds and third place had a time fault. While fourth place had a time fault as well as a dropped rail.
