The Black Stallion's Filly (20 page)

He read the rest of the story on Golden Vanity,
which told of his past achievements that made him the red-hot Derby favorite. But there was only one paragraph that really interested Alec. The writer said, “It's been said by many of us that before acclaiming this chestnut colt as one of the finest young three-year-olds of all time, we should wait until another horse is at his head, pushing him through the stretch. Golden Vanity has shown great speed up to a mile and an eighth, and has never given any indication he couldn't go farther. It might well be that there's no horse around that can get up there to look him in the eye and push him in the stretch.”

Alec turned to other news of horses and trainers and owners. At no other time of the year would newspapers devote as much space to the racing world as they would between now and the Derby. The horse was king! The eyes of the nation had turned upon Churchill Downs, and readers were eager for stories of the Derby hopefuls.

Wintertime and Lady Lee had arrived late the day before, and their pictures were there, along with those of Eclipse and Silver Jet and stories of their latest works. Alec read them all. Then, turning a page, he saw the headline
DERBY SURPRISE COMES EARLY—BLACK MINX
.

There was no picture of her, but the columnist wrote:

Alec left the cafeteria. When he arrived at Barn 10 Henry had finished cooling out the filly and she was back in her stall. Alec handed Henry the morning paper. “You can read this while you eat,” he said. “There's a story on the filly.”

Henry grunted. Taking the paper, he started down the bad.

Alec had a few jobs to do but they were not urgent. His late mornings and afternoons would be spent mostly in waiting and watching. But the days would pass only too fast and before he knew it Henry would be saying,
“You'll go in the Derby with her”
or
“I guess it had better be the Oaks, Alec.”
It would be either race … the Oaks on Friday or the big one on Saturday. He could only ride her as he was told, and await Henry's decision.

Sunday morning he galloped her again. On Monday, as they went to the track a little later than usual, Henry said, “Work her a half this morning, Alec. Then gallop out a mile.”

This was Derby day minus five, and the number of people standing on the backstretch rail had grown with the increased number of horses appearing on the track. Alec walked the filly through the entrance gate to the track, conscious of the many eyes upon them. He saw that the “dogs” were up, wooden sawhorses placed along the inside of the track to keep the horses away from the rail and to prevent marring the fast cushion that was ready for the afternoon's races.

Henry was still beside them. “Jog her up a way,” he said. “Then come back here to me.”

Alec stood in his stirrups as he sent the filly into a
jog. He kept her near the outside rail. Golden Vanity came down the center of the track, working fast. Nino Nella was “blowing him out,” for the chestnut colt was to race the following day in the Derby Trial, the last preparatory race for Saturday's classic.

Before Alec could turn the filly down the track three more Derby colts flashed by, all going at a fast working clip. They were Eclipse, Silver Jet and Olympus—the last being another surprise Derby entry. Eclipse and Silver Jet were ridden by exercise boys, for their veteran riders—Ted Robinson and Dan Seymour—had not yet arrived at Churchill Downs.

On the way back to Henry, Alec heard the clicking of stopwatches as reporters standing on the rail timed the Derby colts. Alec smiled, for gone was the day when Henry could keep the filly's clocking to himself. Everyone would know what she stepped in the morning's work, and it would be reported in the evening papers along with all other clockings of Derby horses. He had almost reached the gate when he saw Wintertime step onto the track. The blood bay colt was reportedly going to run in the next day's Derby Trial, meeting Golden Vanity for the second time; but nothing was official yet, for the Trial entries wouldn't close until that night.

Young Billy Watts sat in the saddle, trying very hard to ignore the attention his mount's presence created. As the trainer adjusted the colt's one-eyed blinker hood, a tall, attractive young woman stood beside him.

Alec moved Black Minx more to the center of the track and gave her the bit to play with. A short distance more and they'd be at the half-mile post and off. Henry
jerked his head toward the reporters who had left the rail to go to Wintertime. Alec winked back at Henry. Were the reporters more interested in Wintertime or in the good-looking young woman—whom Alec had recognized as the owner of the colt? At any rate there would be few watches, if any, on the black filly. He heard one of the reporters say, “We'd like a story and picture of you, Miss Parshall.” Alec gave Black Minx the bit. And just before the filly bolted he heard Wintertime's owner say, “No, thanks. Only pictures of my colt, please.”

Alec sat down to ride, whispering into the filly's ear, “Whoa, girl. Whoa!” His hands worked her mouth, for he could do so easily now without taking the bit from her. As he flew down the remaining part of the backstretch, he kept her in the middle of the track and away from the wooden sawhorses. She swept into the turn, her strides coming faster and longer.

If Alec had had any doubts that the filly was in anything but excellent shape he dismissed them now, for she moved faster than ever before. But he knew, too, that the track was lightning fast, and he must allow for that. As he passed the last furlong pole, he wondered how great her speed would have been if this had not been the last furlong of a half-mile sprint but of a mile-and-a-quarter.

He took the bit away from her just after the finish line, then galloped her for another half-mile. She was worked up but was neither sweating nor breathing hard when he turned her around. On the way back to Henry he caught up with Wintertime, who was getting ready for his work.

Billy Watts turned in the colt's saddle. His bright young eyes left the filly for her rider. “You're Alec Ramsay, aren't you?” he asked.

“Yes.” The filly moved restlessly away from Wintertime.

“I've heard a lot about you.”

“I've heard plenty about you, too,” Alec said.

“You've got a real fine horse there.”

“So have you.” Alec realized that what he had observed of Wintertime on television was all the more obvious now as he sat beside the colt. Wintertime and the filly were of almost identical size and conformation.

Billy Watts was laughing. “We sound like each other's echo. Well, I got to be goin' or the boss will be on me. So long, Alec.”

Henry took the filly's bridle at the barn gate. All eyes were on them and one of the reporters asked, “What'd you clock her, Henry? I guess we missed your filly by a few seconds or more.”

Henry shrugged his shoulders. “I hardly ever clock my horses,” he said, nodding to the tall young woman who stood with her trainer near the gate. She smiled and nodded back, and Henry knew she understood that she'd helped him outsmart the clockers for one morning, anyway.

That evening the newspapers announced the names of the horses who would go to the post in the Derby Trial the following afternoon.

Alec put the newspaper to one side and turned to Henry, who was stretched out on his cot with his eyes shut. “It's getting close,” he said.

“Sure is,” Henry replied, without opening his eyes. “They tell me the downtown hotels are becoming jammed, and that more people are arriving every day. Some of the guys are griping because the prices of everything have doubled. But what do they expect, with the biggest sports event in America about to take place? They're not being overcharged any more
than they'd be any place else with something like this going on. Anyway, folks like to gripe about being overcharged, so they make up stories to take back home. Most of it is just talk, nothing else.”

“I wasn't thinking of that side of the Derby,” Alec said quietly.

Henry opened his eyes for a moment to look at Alec. “Y'mean tomorrow's Trial? Yeah, it could be interesting. Wintertime was pretty sharp out there this morning.”

The room was quiet for several minutes. The filly nickered in the next stall. Alec said, “The Derby Trial is due tomorrow, and the last real works for all of us are soon coming up. It's getting so close I can feel it on my neck.”

“Not nervous, are you, Alec?” Henry asked. Then he grinned. “Not an old veteran like you?”

“Sure I am. Why not?
This is the Derby
.”

Henry closed his eyes. “I know it is.”

“Have you decided anything yet? Will it be the Derby for her, Henry? Or the Oaks?”

“Give me until Wednesday, Alec.”

“Wednesday? Why?”

“I'm going to let you go in a six-furlong race with her that day. Such a short race won't be much of a prep for the Derby but she needs a start to get rid of some of her nervousness.” Henry's eyes were still closed. He didn't know Alec was on his feet. “We'll see how she acts, and then we can decide if it will be the Derby or the Oaks for her. We're in no hurry. We've got until Thursday night when the entries close for the Oaks. That's all.”

Alec said nothing more, but he stayed on his feet until Henry's deep breathing convinced him his friend was fast asleep.
“That's all,”
Henry had said, as if there wasn't anything more to it.

Alec went out for a long walk.

Tuesday morning was heavily overcast and Alec heard much talk of how a muddy racing strip might affect the results of the Derby Trial. It was well known that Golden Vanity preferred a dry track to a wet one. Continued bad weather would also be a factor in Saturday's Kentucky Derby.

Alec galloped the filly two miles, and none of the other Derby colts did more than that. Most of them would be racing that afternoon, and for Eclipse and Silver Jet there would be the public works. Dan Seymour and Ted Robinson arrived from New York, ready to spend the rest of Derby Week with their mounts. Seymour galloped Silver Jet with the ease and experience of one accustomed to riding many a Derby favorite. He had won three Kentucky Derbies, and on Saturday he would be out for his fourth win in ten years.