Book Four of the Winning Odds Series: Soon to be a Movie
Page 19
Lucy got her face powdered, hair fluffed, and collar straightened.
“And action.”
Tom stepped back behind the crew.
“How do you think your horse will run today?”
“I uh….” When Junior hesitated, Tom imitated smacking him up the side of the head and motioned for him to start talking.
Junior glanced at him and then looked into the camera. “I think he’ll run good. This is his first time running a route. It’s actually his first time running a race on this track, but I think he’ll handle it well.”
Tom smiled.
“His form shows he likes an off track, but he’s never run a mile before. The track is fast today and we’re going to try to bring him off the pace.”
Tom grinned, nodding and motioning for more.
“This might be our first horse and first race as Thoroughbred owners, but Lucy and I both grew up on the racetrack and I’ve been galloping horses for years. Even so,” he said, looking at Lucy, “this is a big step for both of us. We’re in this together.”
Lucy smiled. “We’re ready.”
“And cut,” Leon said. “That’s a wrap.”
Junior let out a breath. “Whoa. Thank God.”
“That was great,” Leon said. “It sounds like you think he’s going to win.”
“I don’t know about that,” Junior said, wiping sweat from his brow. “Obviously it would be nice, but….”
Leon hurried his crew along and glanced back over his shoulder. “Well, if not, you might want to consider a career in acting. You’re either a natural or you really do think he’s going to win. The camera doesn’t lie. It sees what it sees.”
~ * ~
At the call for the fourth race, Junior brought down Max’s bridle, noseband, tongue tie and Vetwrap. Ben was up at the track kitchen. Dawn had gone home for lunch but said she’d be back in time. Tom had walked over to the office for a few minutes. Gizmo was tacked and ready to go.
Junior thought he had everything covered. It wasn’t until Leon and the camera crew returned that he realized he’d never done up a horse in Vetwrap before. He’d never had to. For “works” in the morning, the trainer or groom always had them done up in Vetwrap or elastic bandages before he arrived. Ponies always wore fleece bandages. He’d done those so many times he could do them in his sleep, but never Vetwrap.
Cameras rolling….
Junior wiped Max down a final time with a soft towel, brushed his mane and tail, and rinsed his mouth. Lucy was standing outside the stall, having just returned from checking on their daughter Julie in Cracker’s Jack’s trolley with Vicky and all the old-timers waiting to watch the race.
“I’ll bring her to the winner’s circle if Max wins,” Vicky had said.
Lucy smiled. “I just want him to finish well.”
Down on one knee, when Junior reached for the Vetwrap and removed the cellophane wrap from the first one, Lucy noticed his hands trembling and crawled under the webbing and took it from him. Junior looked at her, watched as she skillfully did one front leg and then the other as if she’d done it hundreds of times. She had. While he’d galloped horses for years, she was grooming them and getting them ready for the races.
Tom returned just as she’d finished and smiled. She’d done Max up in all fours and had applied run down patches as well. “Are you going to braid his mane again too?”
Lucy chuckled. She’d thought about it.
“They’re just about to run.” Tom took his helmet out of the tack room and put it on as he walked toward Gizmo’s stall.
“I thought I‘d pony him,” Junior said.
“What? You think I forgot how? Are you saying I’m too old?”
“No. That’s not what I meant. I….”
Tom laughed. “Junior, I was just kidding. Lighten up. Okay? I’ve got him.”
“Ooh, I’m loving this,” Leon said under his breath. “Great dialogue.”
Junior put on Max’s noseband and bridle. Lucy did the tongue tie.
“No blinkers?”
“No.”
Tom led Gizmo down the shedrow and out onto the road between the barns. Ben was coming from one direction, Dawn the other. Tom smiled and then got a little choked up. How long had they been a team? And now Junior; a pain-in-the-ass-kid he used to think would never amount to anything. He’d been wrong. “They’re done running!” he said, clearing his throat. “Let’s go!”
Leon had the camera crew zoom in on Tom to capture the look in his eyes as Junior and Lucy led Overdue Max out of his stall. “Jesus,” he muttered. “This is just too emotional.”
Tom took hold of the horse and patted him on the neck.
Ben and Dawn, standing together now, followed along behind Junior and Lucy. Dawn wrapped Ben’s arm in hers. “Is it just me or do you feel like crying? Look at them. They represent the next generation of Thoroughbred racing.”
Ben nodded, barely able to speak. “All my life, I kept hearing and saying it’s just a business. It’s just a business. But it’s not. I never believed that for a moment.” He thought about Meg and their first race, their hopes and their dreams at such a young age with their whole lives ahead of them. “I’m glad I lived long enough to admit it.”
Lucy looked back over her shoulder at them and smiled.
“We’re right behind you,” Ben said. “We’re right behind you.”
Junior glanced ahead to where his father and Lucy’s mom and dad stood waiting to walk over to the paddock with them, to follow along as well.
As they all stepped out onto the racetrack with Overdue Max dancing and prancing, all proud and full of himself, Leon hesitated filming any further. He had set out to do the best documentary he could on the sport of Thoroughbred racing. More importantly, about the people behind the scenes and their horses. He stood smiling as he watched from a distance. “Zoom out. And fade…” he said. “That’s a wrap.”
For information on how to help the women and children of Uganda, visit the following websites:
http://www.beadforlife.org
http://guluhelp.wordpress.com
Also by the author
~ * ~
Call Me Lydia
Maple Dale
Favored to Win
Maple Dale Revisited
The Frog, the Wizard, and the Shrew
Ellie’s Crows
Hannah’s Home
A Thoroughbred’s Dream
Odds on Favorite
Barn 14 ~ Meg’s Meadows
Maple Dale ~ My Forever Home