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UM UM UM UM UM BECAUSE I'M ON AN ACID TRIP AFTER WATCHING INCEPTION AND THEREFORE CANNOT SLEEP.

(Dude, the top totally falls. I live in optimistic belief.)

Looong story ahead, but if you follow me religiously you should probably try to read it because there are important little snippets concerning the human characters scattered throughout. It's so long, in fact, that I've decided to split it up into 2 installments.

This is installment #1.

Continuation of:

Excerpts From Dawson's Private Journal

-December 31, 20 minutes before midnight-
Happy New Year, huh? Snake swung by today with smuggled Brazilian Caipirinha in one of those mixed bottles. Have no idea where he found it, but I love that shit. Going to have some tonight when I sit with Ray. Let the crazies party. I'll be in that colt's stall and we'll have the best night of them all.

-January 20-
Winter break over; Ray started galloping today. He's slow on the uptake, having gotten lazy and fat over the past few months, but damn that colt can run. He's filled out and lost his baby look, and I can only imagine what he'll look like in a few months after lots of exercise. We're going to hone this sophomore into the best damn racehorse possible.

-January 30-
Tried to gallop Ray this morning, but the skies opened up on top of us and the snow slid everything to a halt. Looks like we're headed to Gulfstream.

-February 3-
Finally settled in at Gulfstream. Ray is happy as a clam in the warmer weather, so hopefully he'll pick up his pace. Swear to God, that colt is starting to make Savior look fast.

-February 15-
Ray breezed for the first time since the new year. Muscles moved nicely, good rhythm, great speed. 4f in :49 flat. Not too shabby, eh? The warm weather is doing wonders for this colt

-February 25-
Ray pulled a muscle, so he's out of training for the next two weeks.

-March 11-
Ray's back on track, fully healed and antsy after his mini-vacation. He's speeding up during his morning workouts. It's so obvious this is what he lives to do. Robby has started working him in the mornings, so hopefully he'll debut by the end of the month. I'm looking at the Florida Derby, myself. Why not shoot for the stars, huh? These horses have already proven to me time and again that they're attainable.

***

The day of the GI Florida Derby was just like any other race day at Gulfstream Park. The backside buzzed with energy as trainers and grooms bustled about prepping their runners and the jocks poured over that day's races and compared strategies. That afternoon was all about the sophomores, as the Derby often singled out the major names from the flock. Most people believed that Kentucky Derby winners were found there, in that particular race.

Three major contenders stood apart from the rest of the field. A giant of a colt was the first, already standing at 17 hands with a deep brown coat. His name was Hemali. A son of Pulpit, the colt was slow on the uptake, but once his power was unleashed a head-on collision with a fighter jet couldn't stop him. He had won the GI Champagne the previous year and was the morning-line favorite at 5-2. Then there was Sioux Brigade, a speedy frontrunner by Tapit, who was in all effect Hemali's opposite. His porcelain hide was easy to spot despite his small size. While an impressive sprinter, he was unproven at distances; that didn't stop the crowd from loving him, however, as he had the most earnings out of the entire field.

And finally, there was Azrael. While of decent size and color, with his beautiful mouse-gray coat, he was not fawned over for his looks, nor his resumè. Instead, the fans flocked because somehow the story behind his name had been leaked. No one liked a feel-good hero story better than the fans, and the press knew just how to deliver.

Thus, by the time the call to post sounded, "Ray" had bumped Hemali off his pedestal and claimed the place as the favorite at 5-3.

Robby Dolorez crouched low over the colt's neck and twined his fingers in the still-black mane. The colt had grayed out more and had developed wonderful dapples, but his mane and tail remained as black as ever.

It was a strangely quick race. Taken at high speeds early on by Sioux Brigade, Ray followed only a fraction slower behind him in second, stalking his every move. If Sioux Brigade could hold this blistering pace, Robby would be impressed. It was not the porcelain colt who made his heart race, however. No, it was the black warhorse loping behind the rest of them in last. He needed to time Ray's acceleration just right; if he went too soon, the colt would tire too quick and Hemali would catch them as they faded in the stretch. On the other hand, if they moved too late, they would be unable to get into the right gear in time to fend off the giant's powerful stretch run.

The seconds ticked away, faster and faster to Robby's inner clock. As they hit the turn for home, Sioux Brigade began to visibly tire. The fast pace had worn the sprinter out, and soon his head was even with Ray's shoulder and Robby and Azrael took the lead. The field moved up close behind them, but he wasn't worried--yet.

Then, halfway down the stretch, a monster appeared in Robby's peripheral vision on the far outside. Hemali moved like a hurricane, demolishing everything in his path as those great black legs churned in giant, even strides. Ray had to take two leaps for every one of Hemali's.

Suddenly, it was just the two of them, and the wire was drawing close. They battled for the lead, and for a moment, Ray was in front and Robby began to hope.

Alas, the brutal pace had taken its toll on Lucky Bullet's son. His legs began to shake and Hemali gained ground over him to win the Florida Derby by a length and a half.

***

-April 1-
Ray is damn tired. The FD took a lot out of him--too much. I don't like it. Ling doesn't like it. The very pregnant and hormonal TJ doesn't like it (gah, that woman is about to pop and it's really scary!). He's getting a week and a half off from training to recover, then three weeks to prep for the Derby.

-April 14-
Ray is back in fine form and full of spitfire. Robby breezes with him once a week, and will gallop him every other day the final week before May. The colt is growing more into his own. Hell. I thought he was built before. Now? Now he's a stallion. He's already developed a tiny crest.

-April 15-
Another pulled muscle. He's out of training for a week. Not sure what's going to happen now. If he pulls through and looks good, he'll race. If not, he's skipping the Derby.

-April 27-
Back in business. Headed to the Derby. Strong field this year, but it's that damn warhorse that has us all quivering in our boots. This will be the first Derby I will attend without my tracking anklet. Yeah, that's right. The big boys upstairs clipped it this morning. It's so strange being free...

-May 1-
TJ's in the hospital, shrieking like a banshee in between contractions about how she'll make the Derby come Hell or high water. Now I have a very disturbing image of her jumping up and down in the stands in her birthing gown with a newborn attached to her hip and Rafe struggling to keep Hurricane TJ contained.

-May 2-
Oh god.

I'm a godfather. What the hell? How did this happen? Why me? Why not Ling? I don't know what to do with a baby. Never mind that she's not really mine and that I now have Drew practically hanging all over me when I'm trying to work. I'm a soldier. A murderer. An assassin of the first order. I've taken down over five entire terrorist rings without breaking a sweat, but this baby makes me shake in my boots.

Amelia Rose Ritterson. Dark brown hair, soft as silk, bright blue eyes. Dimples.

I think it's the dimples that got me.

If anyone ever touches her, I'll kill them.

***

Sure enough, TJ was there on Derby day, jumping up and down in the stands with little Lia attached to her hip and Rafe trying his best to make sure the giggling baby didn't fall. Two things were different than Dawson's mental image, however: one, TJ was not in her birthing gown (thank god), and two, Dawson was right there beside Rafe as he tried his best to cover little Lia's cold toes with bunny-shaped baby booties. Four days, and he was already obsessed with the little girl. Heaven help the fools who think to approach her when she grew into her body, because no boy was touching this little angel. If only the men on his team could see him now, they would die from laughter.

Dawson crowed triumphantly as the last little toe slipped into place. In the background, he could hear the bell sound. They all froze and turned to watch the field of 20 surge out of the gate. Robby could be seen holding Ray's mouth, settling the gray into a calm and easy third behind frontrunner Sioux Brigade and a chestnut named Expo. Sixteen horses back loomed the ever-present Hemali. The juvenile Eclipse winner loped easily along, feathery ears flopping back and forth as his jockey spoke sweet nothings and bided their time.

One minute later, the frontrunners had faded and Ray claimed the lead. As always though, it did not last as Hemali moved unchallenged to overtake our colt. This time, however, Ray put up a fight. Our colt dug deep and fought with all his might, struggling past the pain of lactic acid burning his muscles to overtake the black warhorse.

In the end, he didn't make it, and Hemali thundered across the finish line a neck in front with a new stakes record under his belt. Let it be known, however, that Ray broke the record, too, and came off the difficult run in better shape than last time.

***

-May 6-
Preakness ahead, then maybe the Belmont, depending on how well Ray feels come June. He was tired coming off the Derby win, but bounced back surprisingly fast. Word on the street is Hemali didn't fare so well. If that giant skips the Preakness, we'll be unstoppable.

-May 19-
Preakness tomorrow. Hemali's running.

***

The ever present trio broke well at the start of the Preakness Stakes. The crowd nearly broke the attendance record, hype and fandom concerning the sport having escalated over the past few years thanks to the three triple crown winners, Anayehi and Lion's Way, Li and Feebs, and of course the legendary Poltergeist. The greats were all retired now, and the world was searching hard for someone to fill that empty space.

They picked Hemali. However, the giant was not a stand-alone. He was like Affirmed, or Secretariat, or Sunday Silence: with the great warhorse came his ever-present rival, a graying colt by the name of Azrael who lived to run.

As always, Sioux Brigade followed behind in the shadows of their wake. He was not distance material, everyone knew, but had placed well in the Derby, considering, hitting the board in fifth. Thus, he too was saddled in Pimlico's finest on the third Saturday in May. Expo, the chestnut leader in the beginning of the Derby, was absent, along with quite a few Derby names, but just as many remained to challenge that year's top three-year-olds. One such challenger was a small, wiry chestnut colt out of our very own Cordax. He was tiny, but scrappy, and had successfully held his own in the Derby to claim an easy third place. His name was Fighterjet.

And that was the lineup as we knew it. Sioux Brigade led the field through the backstretch, as always, with the ever-present Azrael sitting high and tight behind him. The track and pace were slow for once. This, combined with the slightly shorter race and the fact that Hemali was not in top form after the Derby, gave us hope that Ray might actually win.

The rest of the race was textbook, with Sioux Brigade fading at the top of the stretch, Fighterjet holding his own against the rest of the field but unable to reach Azrael, and Hemali thundering to the front to challenge Ray with all he had.

This time, however, our angel of death prevailed, and buried Hemali in his dust.

***

-May 23-
The nation is abuzz with shock and excitement. They all want to see Hemali and Ray destroy each other in the Belmont. Most see Ray as the intruder and root for Hemali, but some have come to the dark side and are voting for our boy. Don't know what's going to happen. Don't even know if we're going to run. Ray's pretty tired.

-May 28-
We're not running. What's more, neither is Hemali. Apparently the Preakness tore him up pretty bad and he's been given a month off to recover. I think we'll be doing the same.

See you this summer.

Foal Pic and Bio

Racing Season: 3 Year Old

Art and Characters (C) Me

Next on:

Description
UM UM UM UM UM BECAUSE I'M ON AN ACID TRIP AFTER WATCHING INCEPTION AND THEREFORE CANNOT SLEEP.

(Dude, the top totally falls. I live in optimistic belief.)

Looong story ahead, but if you follow me religiously you should probably try to read it because there are important little snippets concerning the human characters scattered throughout. It's so long, in fact, that I've decided to split it up into 2 installments.

This is installment #1.

Continuation of:

Excerpts From Dawson's Private Journal

-December 31, 20 minutes before midnight-
Happy New Year, huh? Snake swung by today with smuggled Brazilian Caipirinha in one of those mixed bottles. Have no idea where he found it, but I love that shit. Going to have some tonight when I sit with Ray. Let the crazies party. I'll be in that colt's stall and we'll have the best night of them all.

-January 20-
Winter break over; Ray started galloping today. He's slow on the uptake, having gotten lazy and fat over the past few months, but damn that colt can run. He's filled out and lost his baby look, and I can only imagine what he'll look like in a few months after lots of exercise. We're going to hone this sophomore into the best damn racehorse possible.

-January 30-
Tried to gallop Ray this morning, but the skies opened up on top of us and the snow slid everything to a halt. Looks like we're headed to Gulfstream.

-February 3-
Finally settled in at Gulfstream. Ray is happy as a clam in the warmer weather, so hopefully he'll pick up his pace. Swear to God, that colt is starting to make Savior look fast.

-February 15-
Ray breezed for the first time since the new year. Muscles moved nicely, good rhythm, great speed. 4f in :49 flat. Not too shabby, eh? The warm weather is doing wonders for this colt

-February 25-
Ray pulled a muscle, so he's out of training for the next two weeks.

-March 11-
Ray's back on track, fully healed and antsy after his mini-vacation. He's speeding up during his morning workouts. It's so obvious this is what he lives to do. Robby has started working him in the mornings, so hopefully he'll debut by the end of the month. I'm looking at the Florida Derby, myself. Why not shoot for the stars, huh? These horses have already proven to me time and again that they're attainable.

***

The day of the GI Florida Derby was just like any other race day at Gulfstream Park. The backside buzzed with energy as trainers and grooms bustled about prepping their runners and the jocks poured over that day's races and compared strategies. That afternoon was all about the sophomores, as the Derby often singled out the major names from the flock. Most people believed that Kentucky Derby winners were found there, in that particular race.

Three major contenders stood apart from the rest of the field. A giant of a colt was the first, already standing at 17 hands with a deep brown coat. His name was Hemali. A son of Pulpit, the colt was slow on the uptake, but once his power was unleashed a head-on collision with a fighter jet couldn't stop him. He had won the GI Champagne the previous year and was the morning-line favorite at 5-2. Then there was Sioux Brigade, a speedy frontrunner by Tapit, who was in all effect Hemali's opposite. His porcelain hide was easy to spot despite his small size. While an impressive sprinter, he was unproven at distances; that didn't stop the crowd from loving him, however, as he had the most earnings out of the entire field.

And finally, there was Azrael. While of decent size and color, with his beautiful mouse-gray coat, he was not fawned over for his looks, nor his resumè. Instead, the fans flocked because somehow the story behind his name had been leaked. No one liked a feel-good hero story better than the fans, and the press knew just how to deliver.

Thus, by the time the call to post sounded, "Ray" had bumped Hemali off his pedestal and claimed the place as the favorite at 5-3.

Robby Dolorez crouched low over the colt's neck and twined his fingers in the still-black mane. The colt had grayed out more and had developed wonderful dapples, but his mane and tail remained as black as ever.

It was a strangely quick race. Taken at high speeds early on by Sioux Brigade, Ray followed only a fraction slower behind him in second, stalking his every move. If Sioux Brigade could hold this blistering pace, Robby would be impressed. It was not the porcelain colt who made his heart race, however. No, it was the black warhorse loping behind the rest of them in last. He needed to time Ray's acceleration just right; if he went too soon, the colt would tire too quick and Hemali would catch them as they faded in the stretch. On the other hand, if they moved too late, they would be unable to get into the right gear in time to fend off the giant's powerful stretch run.

The seconds ticked away, faster and faster to Robby's inner clock. As they hit the turn for home, Sioux Brigade began to visibly tire. The fast pace had worn the sprinter out, and soon his head was even with Ray's shoulder and Robby and Azrael took the lead. The field moved up close behind them, but he wasn't worried--yet.

Then, halfway down the stretch, a monster appeared in Robby's peripheral vision on the far outside. Hemali moved like a hurricane, demolishing everything in his path as those great black legs churned in giant, even strides. Ray had to take two leaps for every one of Hemali's.

Suddenly, it was just the two of them, and the wire was drawing close. They battled for the lead, and for a moment, Ray was in front and Robby began to hope.

Alas, the brutal pace had taken its toll on Lucky Bullet's son. His legs began to shake and Hemali gained ground over him to win the Florida Derby by a length and a half.

***

-April 1-
Ray is damn tired. The FD took a lot out of him--too much. I don't like it. Ling doesn't like it. The very pregnant and hormonal TJ doesn't like it (gah, that woman is about to pop and it's really scary!). He's getting a week and a half off from training to recover, then three weeks to prep for the Derby.

-April 14-
Ray is back in fine form and full of spitfire. Robby breezes with him once a week, and will gallop him every other day the final week before May. The colt is growing more into his own. Hell. I thought he was built before. Now? Now he's a stallion. He's already developed a tiny crest.

-April 15-
Another pulled muscle. He's out of training for a week. Not sure what's going to happen now. If he pulls through and looks good, he'll race. If not, he's skipping the Derby.

-April 27-
Back in business. Headed to the Derby. Strong field this year, but it's that damn warhorse that has us all quivering in our boots. This will be the first Derby I will attend without my tracking anklet. Yeah, that's right. The big boys upstairs clipped it this morning. It's so strange being free...

-May 1-
TJ's in the hospital, shrieking like a banshee in between contractions about how she'll make the Derby come Hell or high water. Now I have a very disturbing image of her jumping up and down in the stands in her birthing gown with a newborn attached to her hip and Rafe struggling to keep Hurricane TJ contained.

-May 2-
Oh god.

I'm a godfather. What the hell? How did this happen? Why me? Why not Ling? I don't know what to do with a baby. Never mind that she's not really mine and that I now have Drew practically hanging all over me when I'm trying to work. I'm a soldier. A murderer. An assassin of the first order. I've taken down over five entire terrorist rings without breaking a sweat, but this baby makes me shake in my boots.

Amelia Rose Ritterson. Dark brown hair, soft as silk, bright blue eyes. Dimples.

I think it's the dimples that got me.

If anyone ever touches her, I'll kill them.

***

Sure enough, TJ was there on Derby day, jumping up and down in the stands with little Lia attached to her hip and Rafe trying his best to make sure the giggling baby didn't fall. Two things were different than Dawson's mental image, however: one, TJ was not in her birthing gown (thank god), and two, Dawson was right there beside Rafe as he tried his best to cover little Lia's cold toes with bunny-shaped baby booties. Four days, and he was already obsessed with the little girl. Heaven help the fools who think to approach her when she grew into her body, because no boy was touching this little angel. If only the men on his team could see him now, they would die from laughter.

Dawson crowed triumphantly as the last little toe slipped into place. In the background, he could hear the bell sound. They all froze and turned to watch the field of 20 surge out of the gate. Robby could be seen holding Ray's mouth, settling the gray into a calm and easy third behind frontrunner Sioux Brigade and a chestnut named Expo. Sixteen horses back loomed the ever-present Hemali. The juvenile Eclipse winner loped easily along, feathery ears flopping back and forth as his jockey spoke sweet nothings and bided their time.

One minute later, the frontrunners had faded and Ray claimed the lead. As always though, it did not last as Hemali moved unchallenged to overtake our colt. This time, however, Ray put up a fight. Our colt dug deep and fought with all his might, struggling past the pain of lactic acid burning his muscles to overtake the black warhorse.

In the end, he didn't make it, and Hemali thundered across the finish line a neck in front with a new stakes record under his belt. Let it be known, however, that Ray broke the record, too, and came off the difficult run in better shape than last time.

***

-May 6-
Preakness ahead, then maybe the Belmont, depending on how well Ray feels come June. He was tired coming off the Derby win, but bounced back surprisingly fast. Word on the street is Hemali didn't fare so well. If that giant skips the Preakness, we'll be unstoppable.

-May 19-
Preakness tomorrow. Hemali's running.

***

The ever present trio broke well at the start of the Preakness Stakes. The crowd nearly broke the attendance record, hype and fandom concerning the sport having escalated over the past few years thanks to the three triple crown winners, Anayehi and Lion's Way, Li and Feebs, and of course the legendary Poltergeist. The greats were all retired now, and the world was searching hard for someone to fill that empty space.

They picked Hemali. However, the giant was not a stand-alone. He was like Affirmed, or Secretariat, or Sunday Silence: with the great warhorse came his ever-present rival, a graying colt by the name of Azrael who lived to run.

As always, Sioux Brigade followed behind in the shadows of their wake. He was not distance material, everyone knew, but had placed well in the Derby, considering, hitting the board in fifth. Thus, he too was saddled in Pimlico's finest on the third Saturday in May. Expo, the chestnut leader in the beginning of the Derby, was absent, along with quite a few Derby names, but just as many remained to challenge that year's top three-year-olds. One such challenger was a small, wiry chestnut colt out of our very own Cordax. He was tiny, but scrappy, and had successfully held his own in the Derby to claim an easy third place. His name was Fighterjet.

And that was the lineup as we knew it. Sioux Brigade led the field through the backstretch, as always, with the ever-present Azrael sitting high and tight behind him. The track and pace were slow for once. This, combined with the slightly shorter race and the fact that Hemali was not in top form after the Derby, gave us hope that Ray might actually win.

The rest of the race was textbook, with Sioux Brigade fading at the top of the stretch, Fighterjet holding his own against the rest of the field but unable to reach Azrael, and Hemali thundering to the front to challenge Ray with all he had.

This time, however, our angel of death prevailed, and buried Hemali in his dust.

***

-May 23-
The nation is abuzz with shock and excitement. They all want to see Hemali and Ray destroy each other in the Belmont. Most see Ray as the intruder and root for Hemali, but some have come to the dark side and are voting for our boy. Don't know what's going to happen. Don't even know if we're going to run. Ray's pretty tired.

-May 28-
We're not running. What's more, neither is Hemali. Apparently the Preakness tore him up pretty bad and he's been given a month off to recover. I think we'll be doing the same.

See you this summer.

Foal Pic and Bio

Racing Season: 3 Year Old

Art and Characters (C) Me

Next on: