HOME | DD

Description

This week has been really hard/stressful at work and I need a little joy in my life, so I'm posting this early.

TEMPEESSSSSTTTTT

Previously:

“What's past is prologue.”
― William Shakespeare, The Tempest
Season: 10
APRIL
The start of April began with a bang and a half as Overdraw secured the Florida Derby in glorious style in front of over one hundred thousand onlookers. He was beautiful and glistening in his dominion, hide gleaming with sweat, unmarred by any dirt from the track beneath him. At the same time a few states over, an unknown Violence colt named Master of Victory upset the Louisiana Derby at odds of 32-1.
The gauntlet had been thrown down and the team at Black Creek Crossing were eager to pick it up. A mere two days later, Silenus and Dani shipped out to take on the young sophomores out West in the Santa Anita Derby. Si was the classiest colt in the bunch, strutting onto the track during the post parade, all 15.2 hands of him. He was calm, poised, collected, and he put the rest of them to shame just by existing.
Just like in the fall meets before, the spring contenders were crushed beneath Silenus’s proverbial might. As he sailed from wire to wire, once again untouched just like in the Rebel a few weeks previous, some began to suspect that Hemali had sired yet another one. This clencher in the Santa Anita Derby put Si at four for four--undefeated going into the Kentucky Derby.
The first Saturday in May was still a few weeks away, however; the team had the rest of April to finish off before then.
With Snowbird still on the back-burner in Kentucky, Kanelbulle was left to take the helm as the “seasoned” older horse in the barn--though he was far from that. Of the entire string, Q actually touted the most starts, but Bulle was in a class far beyond Delta Quadrant’s. The handsome black colt, ever the image of his sire, was unfortunately not their best runner.
Bulle, however, was quickly making a name for himself in the sprint division. That March he had placed in fourth in the Grade III Tom Fool Handicap, shortly after which Cyrus discovered a nail embedded in his hoof. It was then everyone’s hope that Bulle would handle the Grade III Count Fleet Sprint at Oaklawn far better.
Gleaming, frothing bodies worked into lathers pranced across the track as the jockeys posted through the parade alongside their pony escorts. Bulle had drawn a disappointing outside post--fifteen out of fifteen. He had never started so far wide before. Dani could only hope that the colt would break cleanly and get a safe swerve to the inside in time to take the turn for home with as little distance between him and the rail as possible.
That was not the case, of course.
Bulle broke desperately from the gate, stumbling from the start like a newborn foal before managing to get his feet under him a full three seconds after the break--desperately important seconds that could make or break a sprinter’s chance at the winner’s circle. Dani felt and heard a sharp whuffle push its way out of Bulle’s chest as the four year old struggled the keep up with the field. He was a stalker through and through, preferring a happy second or third place behind the pacesetters so that he could see both his competition fading ahead and the closers coming up along his tail.
Now, thanks to the bad break, he and Dani were dead last, and Bulle wasn’t happy. He tossed his head as dirt clods smacked against his nose. His running movements grew choppy, desperate, heels clicking dangerously as he flailed in a comical rendition of a gallop. The upsetting break, it seemed, was too much for the speckled grey to handle.
Dani pushed and pushed, but a sprint was a make-or-break kind of race and left little room for error. In the end, the pair flopped their way past the finish line in thirteenth place.
***
The pair returned to Gulfstream with low heads and somber attitudes just in time to be packed up once more and shipped out to Churchill with the rest of the racing string. There was no time to mope; it was time to prep for the Derby.
In this hustle and bustle, the sight of a white and royal blue horse trailer rumbling down the shedrow drive and parking in front of Barn 12 went practically unnoticed; as such, only a few press were on sight to scribble quick notes about the three young freshmen unloading down the ramp before the men scurried off to pester Cyrus about Silenus once more.
But the grooms were aware. They stared at their newest charges with widened eyes and slackened jaws. They had been around the block a time or two--they knew greatness when they saw it.
The bright red filly was first--Blood Diamond, Di for short--an ironic nickname that reminded the elders of a dark time in British history. She was a War Front filly with a world class pedigree and the energy to prove it. Her owners, Dani and Eddie, stood off to the side, assessing her movements as she clamored down the trailer ramp and into the grass. She had filled out nicely under Emma’s command, though a bit of pudge around her midsection made Dani think that maybe perhaps Faith had found a new victim to dote on in Hanson’s absence.
The next down the ramp was a small little brown wisp of a thing, but her eyes sparkled with fire. Corazón, the only full sibling to Aztec, had made it to Churchill Downs. Barely topping fifteen hands and not expected to grow much more than that, she was nevertheless clearly a Hemali foal, with a shoulder and rump that bulged and rippled with every step. So bulky was she that quite a few grooms made an under-the-belly check just to be sure they had read her papers correctly.
And then he emerged.
He was a dark steel grey dipped in dripping white, a storm hovering on the horizon of a frothing sea, an image of poise and elegance unmatched by even Aztec himself. His ears were alert and his eyes were brighter than glimmering stars as he took in the new sights and sounds around him. When he glided past, people stared.
But these three portents, however stunning they may be, were the focus of no one in the final days leading up to the Kentucky Derby. Derby Fever had enthralled the nation once more, and Silenus was the heavy morning-line favorite.

Shown:
Name: Tempest
Barn name: n/a
Gender: Colt
Age: 2
Breed: Thoroughbred
Height: Projected 17.2hh
Color: Black sabino (greying out)
Genotype: Ee/aa/GG/nSb
Markings: white legs, white face, large underbelly spot
Build: n/a
Temperament: Very confident and self-assured--perhaps a bit enthralled with his own existence. He is extremely intelligent
Discipline: Flat racing
Bloodlines: Oceanic x Canaan , Neverland

Art, Story, and Characters (C) me

Next on:

Description

This week has been really hard/stressful at work and I need a little joy in my life, so I'm posting this early.

TEMPEESSSSSTTTTT

Previously:

“What's past is prologue.”
― William Shakespeare, The Tempest
Season: 10
APRIL
The start of April began with a bang and a half as Overdraw secured the Florida Derby in glorious style in front of over one hundred thousand onlookers. He was beautiful and glistening in his dominion, hide gleaming with sweat, unmarred by any dirt from the track beneath him. At the same time a few states over, an unknown Violence colt named Master of Victory upset the Louisiana Derby at odds of 32-1.
The gauntlet had been thrown down and the team at Black Creek Crossing were eager to pick it up. A mere two days later, Silenus and Dani shipped out to take on the young sophomores out West in the Santa Anita Derby. Si was the classiest colt in the bunch, strutting onto the track during the post parade, all 15.2 hands of him. He was calm, poised, collected, and he put the rest of them to shame just by existing.
Just like in the fall meets before, the spring contenders were crushed beneath Silenus’s proverbial might. As he sailed from wire to wire, once again untouched just like in the Rebel a few weeks previous, some began to suspect that Hemali had sired yet another one. This clencher in the Santa Anita Derby put Si at four for four--undefeated going into the Kentucky Derby.
The first Saturday in May was still a few weeks away, however; the team had the rest of April to finish off before then.
With Snowbird still on the back-burner in Kentucky, Kanelbulle was left to take the helm as the “seasoned” older horse in the barn--though he was far from that. Of the entire string, Q actually touted the most starts, but Bulle was in a class far beyond Delta Quadrant’s. The handsome black colt, ever the image of his sire, was unfortunately not their best runner.
Bulle, however, was quickly making a name for himself in the sprint division. That March he had placed in fourth in the Grade III Tom Fool Handicap, shortly after which Cyrus discovered a nail embedded in his hoof. It was then everyone’s hope that Bulle would handle the Grade III Count Fleet Sprint at Oaklawn far better.
Gleaming, frothing bodies worked into lathers pranced across the track as the jockeys posted through the parade alongside their pony escorts. Bulle had drawn a disappointing outside post--fifteen out of fifteen. He had never started so far wide before. Dani could only hope that the colt would break cleanly and get a safe swerve to the inside in time to take the turn for home with as little distance between him and the rail as possible.
That was not the case, of course.
Bulle broke desperately from the gate, stumbling from the start like a newborn foal before managing to get his feet under him a full three seconds after the break--desperately important seconds that could make or break a sprinter’s chance at the winner’s circle. Dani felt and heard a sharp whuffle push its way out of Bulle’s chest as the four year old struggled the keep up with the field. He was a stalker through and through, preferring a happy second or third place behind the pacesetters so that he could see both his competition fading ahead and the closers coming up along his tail.
Now, thanks to the bad break, he and Dani were dead last, and Bulle wasn’t happy. He tossed his head as dirt clods smacked against his nose. His running movements grew choppy, desperate, heels clicking dangerously as he flailed in a comical rendition of a gallop. The upsetting break, it seemed, was too much for the speckled grey to handle.
Dani pushed and pushed, but a sprint was a make-or-break kind of race and left little room for error. In the end, the pair flopped their way past the finish line in thirteenth place.
***
The pair returned to Gulfstream with low heads and somber attitudes just in time to be packed up once more and shipped out to Churchill with the rest of the racing string. There was no time to mope; it was time to prep for the Derby.
In this hustle and bustle, the sight of a white and royal blue horse trailer rumbling down the shedrow drive and parking in front of Barn 12 went practically unnoticed; as such, only a few press were on sight to scribble quick notes about the three young freshmen unloading down the ramp before the men scurried off to pester Cyrus about Silenus once more.
But the grooms were aware. They stared at their newest charges with widened eyes and slackened jaws. They had been around the block a time or two--they knew greatness when they saw it.
The bright red filly was first--Blood Diamond, Di for short--an ironic nickname that reminded the elders of a dark time in British history. She was a War Front filly with a world class pedigree and the energy to prove it. Her owners, Dani and Eddie, stood off to the side, assessing her movements as she clamored down the trailer ramp and into the grass. She had filled out nicely under Emma’s command, though a bit of pudge around her midsection made Dani think that maybe perhaps Faith had found a new victim to dote on in Hanson’s absence.
The next down the ramp was a small little brown wisp of a thing, but her eyes sparkled with fire. Corazón, the only full sibling to Aztec, had made it to Churchill Downs. Barely topping fifteen hands and not expected to grow much more than that, she was nevertheless clearly a Hemali foal, with a shoulder and rump that bulged and rippled with every step. So bulky was she that quite a few grooms made an under-the-belly check just to be sure they had read her papers correctly.
And then he emerged.
He was a dark steel grey dipped in dripping white, a storm hovering on the horizon of a frothing sea, an image of poise and elegance unmatched by even Aztec himself. His ears were alert and his eyes were brighter than glimmering stars as he took in the new sights and sounds around him. When he glided past, people stared.
But these three portents, however stunning they may be, were the focus of no one in the final days leading up to the Kentucky Derby. Derby Fever had enthralled the nation once more, and Silenus was the heavy morning-line favorite.

Shown:
Name: Tempest
Barn name: n/a
Gender: Colt
Age: 2
Breed: Thoroughbred
Height: Projected 17.2hh
Color: Black sabino (greying out)
Genotype: Ee/aa/GG/nSb
Markings: white legs, white face, large underbelly spot
Build: n/a
Temperament: Very confident and self-assured--perhaps a bit enthralled with his own existence. He is extremely intelligent
Discipline: Flat racing
Bloodlines: Oceanic x Canaan , Neverland

Art, Story, and Characters (C) me

Next on: