KOSOKU

TURF | 4 FURLONGS

The skewbald colt's two year old season had been an extremely promising one. He had won two races and placed second in his other two races by June, and he was on track to compete in the Breeder's Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint. However, this all was brought to a halt when he came out of the Charming Cup in June. While his looked fine throughout most of the race, he had not managed to "fire" on the homestretch like he usually did. This sparked red flags for his trainer and after the race, his jockey expressed that Kona did not feel right. Therefore, he was sent to the vet for a check up and returned with the bad news; Kona had a slight condylar fracture in his front left cannon bone. After a successful surgery, the surgeon deemed that the prognosis for Kona to return to racing was highly favorable. However, he would need at least six months off with stall rest. This period of time was an utter nightmare for Kona's connections. Due to Kona's love for running, he did not take well to stall rest, as he grew depressed due to not being able to do what he loved. Originally, Alexia had considered retiring Kona, but due to how much stall rest had affected him for this short period of time, she decided that the best decision would be to allow for him to return to the track to do what he love.

Therefore, after six months off Kona returned to the track in January of his three year old year for light work. Immediately his demeanor changed and Kona was instantly a happier horse. Not only was he happier, but he had matured nicely as a three year old. Kona acted as if he had not skipped a beat. He was performing extremely well, perhaps even better than he had the year before. He returned to his blazing fast, feisty self on the track and his lovable carefree self in the barn. Not wanting to push him too fast, Alexia planned to give him plenty of time before his first start of his three year old year. Therefore, she did not enter him in a race until June, six months after he had returned to work on the track. This time period had allowed a lot of time for Kona to mature physically and mentally; he was an improved version of his two year old self. The skewbald colt’s first race of his three year old season was fast approaching and Alexia had high hopes for the short yet speedy colt. While their Breeder’s Cup hopes from last year were no more Alexia had faith that this colt would return to his former self, if not better.

Leading the polite painted colt out of his stall, Alexia internally planned their work for the day. They would breeze four furlongs on the turf track. She was planning on letting him place himself, and wouldn’t be encouraging him to go faster… just letting him go at his own pace. Lexi tied him in the cross ties and began saddling Kona. He looked alert, knowing that they were going to be working today, yet still remained very polite and patient. That’s what Lexi loved about Kona. He was unlike her other racehorses that she had in training currently because he was so calm when you handled him. Most of the horses in the barn that she trained currently would have tried to kill her at least three times before even managing to get to the tying area. Before bridling him, Lexi slipped a sugar cube out of her pocket and held it in her outstretched hand. Kona politely nuzzled it out of Lexi’s hand before nudging her trying to find more treats. When he found none he snorted disappointedly and turned to look at the path leading to the track. Lexi smirked knowing that Kona wanted to get going already.

Lexi mounted up into the saddle without a boost as Kona was already pretty close to the ground. She scratched his white patch on his wither before riding him out to the track. She murmured to herself and Kona in a way, “We are going to take it nice and easy today, alright bud?” She already knew that Kona was going to speedy no matter what she told him, but she might as well try. The second they stepped on the track, Kona turned into a dragon of a horse. He pranced and danced around, wanting nothing more than to take off at a full run down the backstretch. Lexi managed to guide him the opposite direction at a jog which caused Kona to level out a little bit; they would not be running quite yet. Lexi stood in her stirrups enjoying the crisp June morning air as she let the painted colt trot along the backside.

After a couple of times of trying to take off after a horse galloping past him on his inside, they got to the starting point, where they would begin their work. Kona tossed his head, eagerly. Lexi turned him to face the correct direction on the track and Kona responded with a jolt, charging down the backstretch with blinding speeds. Lexi had taunt hold on the reins, allowing him to run as he liked and sitting like a statue over the saddle. Although short, his strides were long and ate up the ground with giant leaps. As they began to come to the end of the turn onto the homestretch, Kona automatically began to pick speed and lengthen his stride even more. Allowing him to go at his own pace, Lexi remained a statue above the spotted blur of a horse. Entering the final furlong, Kona pulled against the already somewhat loose reins and picked up even more speed. Lexi’s eyes stung as the wind hit them and she couldn’t help but let out a small grin. Nothing was better than letting Kona run down the homestretch. As they passed under the wire, Lexi began to pull up on Kona who after a small fight and a toss of the head, gave in.

Jogging back up the track, Lexi grinned and gave the painted colt a nice pat. Yeah, this was going to be his year.