Friday, March 5, 2010

Living in a Dream

Dreams are funny little things. The can be overly erratic or unbelievably precise. The can be blurry half images or crystal clear. It all depends on the person. For me, dreams are normally messy and erratic, if I dream at all, but there are rare occurrences that the images playing in my head are so clear and seem so real that it seems like I can hear ever sound, fell every fiber, and smell every scent that permeates the air. These dreams come without warning, and when they do they almost always come true.

For days I have debated on whether to share my latest possible glimpse into the future, because, though it is an interesting dream, some may view it as provocative. But, isn't that my job as a writer? To share something that may possible spark a fire? That is why I feel the need to share this dream.

I do not know the names of the horses competing in the race, other than Zenyatta, nor do I recall the track where the race took place, but I do remember the complete astonishment I felt. The dream began at the top of the stretch, a place Mike Smith would've normally swung Zenyatta out wide to circle the field. However this time, the Hall of Famer, would keep towards the inside, weaving the big mare through the field.

Spotting an opening between two horses, Smith merely needed to shake the reigns. At his cue, Zenyatta began to roll towards the gap, looking like she would make easy work of her over matched opponents. But, right as she was about to shoot through, the gap vanished, forcing the champion to check hard.

Smith began to frantically look for another opening, for the distance between them and the wire was quickly diminishing. To his right another horse had ranged up alongside and was now half a length in front. Smith knew that in order to get out of the box he would need to take Zenyatta back before swinging her into the clear.

By now I can remember the announcer screaming in the background, as Smith sat back asking Zenyatta to drop off the bit, the began to swing her around the cluster of horses.

"Zenyatta is now in the clear and is moving like a freight train on the outside! Smith is asking the big mare for all she has as the field closes in on the wire. Only a few more yards left to run, and Zenyatta........."

The announcer's last words would've undoubtedly been, "And Zenyatta sweeps under the wire, with another magnificent win!" A cheer would've erupted for the stands, as Zenyatta would have proven herself, yet again, unconquerable. However, as the field crossed the wire, only the sound of the rapidly beating hooves could be heard. Everything else had been filled with an unearthly silence. The silence was of complete disbelief. Zenyatta had fallen less than one length short. Zenyatta had lost.......

7 comments:

  1. Well that's one dream I sure hope WON'T come true...

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  2. Sometimes dreams come true and sometimes they do not. LOL

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  3. Actually, this dream has already occurred, LDP, but with a different finish.

    During the Breeders Cup Classic, Mike Smith took Zenyatta up the rail and began threading her through traffic. He was aiming for the hole between Twice Over and I believe, Summer Bird, when Twice Over moved left and the hole closed up.

    Zenyatta had to check a bit off Twice Over's heels, but was agile enough to do that and still get to the outside. She then accelerated and won by a length.

    So, in a way, the first part of your dream has already come true.

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  4. CV,

    The annoucer in my dream was making reference to the BCC, when Smith moved her inside. I didn't use the annoucer's voice as much as I heard it in my dream. I remembering it looking very similar to the Classic, but the difference was when the hole closed up, another horse had already drawn along side of Zenyatta, preventing her from moving to the outside. That is why Smith had to take her back before moving outside.

    Believe me I don't want this to happen, I like both RA and Zenyatta, and from a business standpoint, a loss by either of them would be bad for the set up of the AB.

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  5. LDP,

    The "traffic" part of your dream became reality today, and a lesser horse might have lost.

    I don't know how common it is for a 17-hand Thoroughbred to be blocked by traffic and be agile enough to quickly dive to the rail, run past one horse, then move out and accelerate to pass the frontrunner. But Zenyatta did it.

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  6. CV,

    It did. Smith needs to be more careful, a horse can only overcome so much, no matter how great. Man o War probably had the worst trip of any horse in the history of racing with his lone loss. He broke backwards! Then after making up ground the whole way he gets boxed in. Of course we all know he got out and continued his assult, but he still fell short. Smith rode way to confident and go really lucky that a hole between those two opened up. Had it not he would've been forced to take back and go wide. That is the second time he has nearly caused her to loose. He's getting way to cocky.

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  7. Mike Smith said John Shirreffs wanted Zen to have an easy trip, and Smith said he didn't want to tax her by going wide and making her run harder. He says she can make room if she needs to because of her size. I have no expertise in that area, so I can't say.

    The thing I worried about early in the race was I thought he let her lag too far back considering there wasn't a lot of speed up front. I guess it's my leftover worries from last year's Clement Hirsch.

    I also think they need to work on getting her to break better. Of course, I'm not the one with an undefeated horse. :)

    Not to get off topic, but I read through the whole Macho Again/Anaaba's Creation argument in today's blog, and perhaps *everyone* missed a point, which was Zen's close call in the Clement Hirsch was strictly due to rider error, not whether AC was an "allowance horse." In fact, you pointed that out right in this thread.

    It was only Z's sheer guts and acceleration that got her to the wire on time that day. In the same vein, it was Rachel's sheer guts that held off Macho Again in the Woodward.

    I wish the Macho Again/Anaaba's Creation/allowance horse talk would just go away.

    Assuming Rachel is fine physically after today's race, I actually think she'll come out of it sharper and more fit. I hope she and Zen are in top shape for the Apple Blossom. They'll need to be if they're going to run against Zardana, right?

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