The Determined One

When we made a point to think about labels to give our horses this year...there was only one word we could use to describe the foal of Dorado and Goldie.

Determination.

Determination, heart, fearlessness, speed, stride and strength. Looey is growing to be our most promising champion, and exceptional animal. His consistency has earned him acclaim, his appearance, admiration, but it is his determination that has always seen him through.

After the Dubai World Cup, Jessica was out of the picture...and will be for a very long time. Her mind, if not just her bones, have taken her out of the picture. Jeremy has returned from his little 'vacation' just in time to watch something amazing take place. We never expected it, and we screamed our emotions into the sounds of the track.

Throughout his third year, Looey won everything placed in front of him...often with froth and a wild look in his blue eyes, his sheer drive forcing him to run the far lane on the outside of the track from his constant position behind the pack, to win...always to win...first with Jessica before her accident, then with Michael, an experienced jockey and known winner. Everything was going well...and our hearts were beating like wild birds within a cage.

The day dawned brightly...the weather, ideal. Looey is in top form, and the world is seemingly aligned in such a way that all things must go right.

The race, the Breeder's Cup Turf, seemed destined to be perfect.

Almost.

Grasping Jeremy's hand tightly in her left, Michelle's whole body was quivering with excitement...as the horses came roaring down the backstretch, something odd happened.

Michael, who was hunched as the others jockeys were, hands up on the horses neck, slumps oddly forwards, his face buried in Looey's mane, hands seemingly held up only by the thick strands.

Michelle could see the big colt stagger a step, wobble a tiny bit, as though trying to keep the small body on his back, a bright eye rolling backwards, ears twitching madly.

Not a second passes as we can see him thinking, that huge head debating, before his long pale ears twitch towards the front, then pin back tightly to his head, velvet lip peeling tight against teeth as the massive colt does exactly what he NEVER does, or has he been known to do.

He considers, weighs, and thinks...because no one else is there to do it for him.

And you know what?

He is very, very good at it.

Digging in, and biting the bit, he makes his move before the turn, using those massive hind legs with great results as he blasts past the trailing horses, the demonic looking perlino colt wildly running along the outside of the track, his rider barely conscious, clutching to milky mane, staying on only by the grace of God.

With a suddenly opening distance between his startled opponents and himself, the colt pushes himself farther, a foreign sense of urgency twisting in that great pumping heart.

With Micheal's blood streaming down his shoulder, he plunges under the wire, four lengths ahead of his nearest rival.

Xiphia's Lost Star has come down from the heavens with a very loud bang.

~

We discovered that night that Michael's family is prone to Osler-Weber-Rendu syndrome, an inherited disorder of the blood vessels that can cause excessive bleeding. In Michael's case, it bled into his brain and nose, causing a stroke and the blood release visible during the race. He is conscious, with numbness in his right side, but he is far more cheerful than one could ever expect, knowing he rode a horse to victory in the Breeder's Cup.

~

Looey will be raced again in his fourth year. We'll have to see how he goes from there. :3

Racing Stats:

2nd year: 3-2-1-0
3rd year: 9-8-0-0