Pre-Auction, part 2

Griffen

wiped the sweat off his brow with a handkerchief. He was getting too old for this. Amelio,

his assistant would have done well enough here. High Chances was talented enough to do well

on the turf without his presence. He had been hoping to be sent to Del Mar to help saddle

and work with the two block-headed fillies–Daddys Pride and Final Tour.

Mares.

But Amelio was at Del Mar and Stella was holed

in at Calder with the two year olds.

He sighed and walked down shed row, his eyes

scanning over the nameplates of the horses. The australian horses looked content, ripping

mouthfuls from their haynets.

Perhaps High Chances didn’t have a chance.

A

phone rang somewhere nearby. It took Griffen a moment to realize it was coming from his

pocket. He’d forgotten to turn off his cell phone after talking with Amelio. They’d

decided to run Final Tour without any equipment again.

He glanced at the caller ID

before reluctantly opening it and putting it to his ear.

“Elliott.”

"Oh. I

didn’t think you’d pick up," the female voice sounded vaguely disappointed.

"Well, I

did. What do you want?"

"A lot of things, you know. I’m calling to see what sort of

runners you want."

“None.”

"Come on, Griffen. You’ve got a barn full of 2yos,

a bunch of 3yos and only a couple older horses. Don’t you think it’d be fun to have a

couple more old timers?"

"No. If you want to waste your money, go buy some pleasure

horse."

“I’ll buy you some nice colts. You like colts, right?”

"Better than

mares."

“Great! They’ll be here when you return. Good luck on Saturday! Bye!”

click

Griffen looked at his phone in vague

disbelief before turning it off and returning it to his pocket.

Women. They were

even worse than mares.