Faster Than Lightning (10 page)
Read Faster Than Lightning Online
Authors: Pam Harvey
‘And they’re racing!’
The crowd stood up and cheered as twenty-two horses leapt from the starting stalls and galloped along the green turf.
Mr Mac trained his glasses on a horse in midfield.
‘Let him be,’ he muttered. ‘Keep him steady.’
Angus stood beside him. ‘Looking good, Dad.’
‘Just got to keep to the race plan.’
Hannah raised her binoculars and stared around at the crowd. ‘Well, at least I got one good thing out of Tash—the binoculars.’
Angus grinned. ‘Doing some boy watching, Hannah?’
Hannah grunted.
‘And Sky Blue’s leading in the straight, followed
by He’s Happening and Decades Ago. Big Fish’s trying hard next to School Days and Canola Flower.’
‘Angus, what’s the name of your father’s horse again?’ Gabby was staring hard at the form guide.
‘Jackie’s Joy. See? Just behind the leaders.’ He glanced down at her. ‘You’re looking at the wrong race. This is race five.’
‘Oh. Do you think horse eight has a chance?’
‘What’s its name?’
‘Double Dingo.’
‘Not a chance. Saw him race two weeks ago. He was so far behind he almost got caught up with the next race.’
Gabby was silent.
‘What’s the matter?’ asked Hannah.
‘Well, he’s a black horse.’
‘So?’
‘I thought, you know, with Lightning Strikes being black, that Double Dingo might be a good horse to back.’
Hannah looked at Gabby in amazement. ‘You put money on a racehorse because of its
colour?’
‘Is there any other way to judge?’
‘And into the home stretch now. Jackie’s Joy coming up from the outside, but Sky Blue holding on to the leader’s position. Canola Flower trying hard.
Jackie’s Joy getting the push from her jockey now and surging on. Yes, it’s Jackie’s Joy. Jackie’s Joy with her nose past the post first, followed by Sky Blue, Canola Flower…’
‘Got it!’ Mr Mac lowered his binoculars and turned to Angus. ‘I knew we had a good horse there.’ He bent down to speak into Angus’s ear. ‘We don’t need to clone a horse to have a winner.’
‘No way, Dad.’
‘I’ll go and see them.’ Mr Mac almost ran down the steps and disappeared into the crowd.
‘He’s a happy dude,’ said E.D. from the bench he was sprawled across.
‘We haven’t had a winner for a while.’ Angus sat down next to Hannah. ‘Seems like we’re on a few winners lately.’
Ling walked over to where Angus was and sat on the other side of him. ‘How’s Sean getting on, Hannah?’
Hannah rolled her eyes. ‘He’s on cloud nine! It’s really nice of your dad to let him keep the foal at your place, Angus.’
‘Well, it was strange, wasn’t it, that it turned out
not
to be a clone. It just happened to have a white snip like Lightning Strikes.’
‘Gale Force,’ said Ling.
‘Yeah. Gale Force. Lightning Strikes. Confusing?’
‘Not to us.’ E.D. put his sunglasses on and sighed happily. ‘We worked it out.’
‘So,’ said Ling, ‘Sean gets to keep the foal?’
‘That’s what the Sarge said. The clones have been impounded as evidence. The other racehorses that were at Bentley’s have been sold. That only leaves the foal. He’s too young to sell. In about four years’ time, Sean will be able to ride him.’
‘He’ll need some lessons first,’ said Hannah.
‘King will be happy about that.’ Angus grinned.
‘What’s going to happen to Tash?’ Gabby flicked her hair over her shoulder, combing it with her fingers.
‘Don’t know,’ said Hannah. ‘She’s in big trouble, though. First of all for being involved in the exhibition robbery, then for illegal cloning, then for going against the animal ethics code, then for—’
‘She’s going to be out of the way for a long time,’ said E.D. ‘A loooong time.’ He sat up. ‘Who’s got any money?’
‘Not me,’ said Hannah. ‘I’ve never got any money. Why?’
‘I feel the need for a pizza. Or ten.’
‘Well, don’t look at me,’ Gabby said crossly. ‘I gave all my money to a complete stranger to put on that black horse. And besides, I can’t eat pizza. I’m racing next weekend.’
‘You’re riding a racehorse next weekend?’ E.D. looked at her over his glasses.
‘I am in a
swimming
competition next weekend.’ Gabby glared at E.D. ‘It’s getting close to the finals.’
‘Are you going to wear black swimmers?’ Hannah said with a straight face.
Ling came to Gabby’s rescue. ‘You’ve got a good chance of winning too.’
‘Yes, I have.’ Gabby nodded. ‘If only Andrea Taylor wasn’t swimming. She’s been so good lately. It’s unusual.’
Hannah put her head on one side. ‘Maybe she’s a clone.’
‘Come on, people.’ E.D. started down the stairs. ‘Pizza at Angus’s. His horse just won so it’s his shout.’
‘Hardly fair,’ said Angus, jumping up and giving E.D. a punch in the arm.
It was Mr Mac who bought the pizzas in the end. He left them to do the dishes and went back
outside to his horses. Angus glanced at his friends fighting over the washing up and followed his dad out. It was just getting dark. King wandered to the fence line, looking golden in the sunset.
‘Hello, old boy. How’s the young one?’
King shook his head and Angus laughed. They’d put the foal in with the chestnut for company, and King spent most of the day trying to keep away from him. ‘He’s beautiful, isn’t he?’
Angus turned to see Ling behind him. He looked back at the foal coming up the paddock to stand next to the big horse. ‘He’s a bit long in the back but he might grow into it.’
Ling laughed. ‘Yeah, but he’s beautiful anyway. What’s Sean calling him?’
Angus shrugged. ‘I don’t think he’s thought of a name yet.’
‘He’s trying.’ Hannah had come out of the kitchen, followed by Gabby and E.D. ‘He spends all day thinking of names.’
‘What about Lightning Two?’ suggested Gabby.
‘Yeah, he does look like Lightning Strikes,’ Hannah said.
‘Nuh, it’s obvious.’ E.D. put his hands in his pockets and looked at the sky. ‘Phoenix.’
‘Phoenix?’ asked Gabby.
‘Yeah, as in that bird that rose from the ashes. Well, this little feller escaped the fire.’
‘I think he’s a lot like Strike,’ said Gabby.
‘That’s a good racehorse name,’ said Angus. ‘Like Strike.’ The foal lifted its head and Angus reached his hand out to him. The young horse sucked on Angus’s fingers.
‘Will he race one day?’ Gabby asked.
‘He’ll be faster than lightning,’ Angus said, smiling.
Bay:
A brown horse with a black mane and tail and black ‘stockings’ on all four legs.
Betting ring:
An area of a racecourse where people can come to check the odds for a horse and place their bets.
Bit:
A piece of equipment that is placed in the horse’s mouth to help restrain the horse.
Chestnut:
A reddish-brown horse.
Cloning:
The use of DNA to make or duplicate exact copies of living things. This is called reproductive cloning. There are also other types of cloning.
Colt:
A young male horse under the age of four.
Dam:
The mother horse.
DNA:
The material inside the nucleus of cells that carries genetic information. The scientific name for DNA is deoxyribonucleic acid.
Form guide:
A booklet that gives people all the information they need about a horse—its weight, wins etc.
Furlong:
A unit of length used in horse races. It is equivalent to about 201.17 metres.
Gelding:
A male horse that has been desexed.
Genetic scientist:
Genes are cells in our bodies that make us the individuals that we are. People who study these genes are called genetic scientists. Another name for genetics is heredity.
Grooming:
Cleaning and brushing a horse.
Mare:
A female horse.
Parade ring:
An enclosed area at a racecourse where the horses walk around in a circle with their trainers leading them. People can come and look at the horses.
Pedigree:
A record of the family of a horse.
Silks:
Each racehorse owner has their own colour pattern for the jockey to wear. This helps people identify the horse and its owner. The silks are the brightly coloured clothing worn by the jockeys.
Sire:
The father horse.
Starting stalls:
A big, movable iron barrier with twenty-four spaces or more for the horses to go into at the start of a race. When all the horses are ready, each stall is opened at the same time to make sure the race is fair.
Stirrups:
A support for the rider made out of metal. This is where the rider’s feet go.
Strapper:
A person who assists the trainer with the care and grooming of a horse. He or she looks after the horse’s equipment and stable too.
Stud farm:
A farm where horses are bred.
Tack room:
A room in which bridles, saddles and other riding equipment is kept.
Thoroughbreds:
A breed of horse that can be traced back to three foundation sires in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century. Thoroughbreds are considered pure and classy.
The Melbourne Cup
- The first running of the Melbourne Cup was in 1861.
- The record for the fastest time was achieved by Kingston Rule in 1990, when he ran the 3200 metres in 3 minutes 16.3 seconds.
- The biggest winning margin is 8 lengths—this happened in 1862 (by Archer) and in 1968 (by Rain Lover).
- Four horses have won the Cup twice—Archer (1861, 1862), Peter Pan (1932, 1934), Rain Lover (1968, 1969) and Think Big (1974, 1975).
- The longest odds for a winner were 100-1 for The Pearl in 1871 and for Wotan in 1936. This means that in 100 races the horse was expected to win once.
- The shortest odds for a winner were for Phar Lap in 1930. His odds were 8-11, which means he was expected to win the race eight times out of every eleven.
- Early horse traders used their hands to measure horses.
- They would count hand-widths from the ground to the horse’s withers—the high part of its back, between the shoulder blades.
- A man’s hand is generally about 4 inches (10.16 centimetres) wide.
- A horse is generally about 14.2 hands—14 hands and 2 inches (5.08 centimetres)—or taller. Anything shorter than that is considered a pony.
- The smallest breed of horses is the Falebella of Argentina. The tallest of the breed stands about 74 centimetres (30 inches) at the shoulder.
- The largest horse ever recorded was a gelding named Samson, bred in England. Foaled in
1846, this horse measured 21 hands 21/2 inches high (2.18 metres) in 1850, and weighed 1524 kilograms—making Samson the heaviest horse as well.
- The average lifespan for a horse is 20-25 years.
- The oldest recorded horse was Billy—he was an English horse who lived for sixty-two years.
- There are over 350 different breeds of horses and ponies.
- The world’s horse population is estimated at seventy-five million.
- The horse belongs to the Equus family. Equus comes from the ancient Greek word meaning ‘quickness’.
- One of the first horses was called a Hyracotherium. It lived about fifty million years ago and was as tall as a fox. It had toes! This horse changed over millions of years to become a modern horse.
- The world speed record for a horse is 69.5 kilometres per hour. It was set by a four-year-old racehorse named Big Racket.
- China not only has the most people in the world, it also has the most horses, with approximately ten million—give or take a few!
- The thoroughbred horse breed originated from the descendants of three stallions: the Godolphin Arabian (or the Godolphin Barb), the Byerly Turk and the Darley Arabian. The three horses were brought to England from the Mediterranean and Middle East in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century and were bred to native mares to produce horses suitable for the racetrack.
- The smallest pony in history was a stallion named Little Pumpkin. He stood 35.6 centimetres (not much bigger than your average ruler) and weighed just over 9 kilograms.
- The longest tail measured was just over 6.7 metres long. It was grown by an American Palomino named Chinook.
- The longest horse mane was just less than 5.5 metres long. It was grown by a Californian mare named Maude.
- If you see a statue in a park of a person on a horse that has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle; if the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle; if the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.
- A horse is considered adult at age four.
- A female horse over four years old is called a mare.
- A male horse over four years old is called a stallion.
- Horses cannot breathe through their mouths.
- When they are lying down, horses expend more energy than they do when they are standing up.
- Horses mostly sleep standing up.
- Horses have two blind spots. One is directly behind them and the other is directly in front of them.
- Adult male horses generally have forty teeth, while the females only have thirty-six.
- You can tell how old a horse is by how many teeth it has. A horse gets all of its teeth by the
time it is five years old. After that, they just grow longer. - At rest, an average horse takes approximately twelve breaths per minute, with each breath containing five litres of air. A horse at a full gallop will take over 150 breaths per minute, with each breath taking in approximately twelve litres of air.
- A mare is pregnant (or ‘in foal’) for eleven months.
- The only true wild horses left on earth live in Mongolia. They are called Przewalski by westerners but are known as Takhi (meaning ‘spiritual’) by Mongolians.
