Hi guys,
I finally
decided on a winner for the Starzen contest! It was VERY hard to pick, I even had to get a
second opinion! I was surprised at the quality of writing I was sent and the stories were so
interesting to read! Every story I was sent I read right way and really enjoyed them(I should
give away more horses! lol ) But in the end the winner became…
DRUM ROLL PLEASE
…
…[b]Fatimah of Morning Star
Farms[/b]! Congradulations! I’ll set Starzen for sale to you for $0, just
check the sales page!
AND, I wasn’t planning on doing this, but because I liked everybody
else’s stories soo much I decided that everybody else who sent in a story deserved some sort
of prize. Unfortunatly I don’t have much to give, but I do have 3 high quality stallions
standing at stud and everybody else ([b]Chris, Dave of OK Corral, Gloucester Downs
and Sarah[/b]) can have two free breedings to any one of them either this year or
next. Let me know what months you’d like to book if booking this year and next year the
same goes 
Thanks for a fun and great contest! Turned out great!
Here’s the winning
story:
“REMINISCENT”
The young woman moved through the
crowd, blessing her lineage for her long legs as she lifted her head to look over the top of
the heads. Today she was glad for her height most days she loathed it. Still, if it weren’t
for her height she wouldn’t be here today. Well, her height and the fifty thousand dollars.
She’d have to be prudent, that much was sure. If she could manage to find one good
prospect she could make a start. For weeks she?d combed the claiming races, spoke to her
friends in search of a horse. She?d found one, Right on Cue. She was positive she could turn
into a winner. Now, she just had to make the purchase. She thought her father would have
liked him.
From the moment she’d been old enough to listen, her father had filled her
ears with talk of horses. She had learned breeding like some people learned the bible and her
prayers were for luck and good weather. His words were more valuable to her now than they
ever had been. She wished her father were here, today. Gladly she’d give back the
inheritance, for one more day with him.
A rough elbow and brazen glare helped her slide
into position at the rail between two men. She inhaled deeply. You could smell the excitement
in the air. The din of the crowd played around her as she took a moment to get herself
settled. The claimers were over and it was time for the stakes race.
She looked down at
the racing program. Her jade eyes glanced through the list of horses until she noticed the
name Starzen. She smiled. Starzen had been her father?s favorite, and one of her own as well.
They had both followed his career for the last three years. Certainly this had to be some
omen, a small piece of luck, sent to buoy her spirits.
Her father had taken to Starzen,
after his third place in the derby. They’d watched it together, on the television set that
year, Drinking mint juleps, just the two of them. That was a day she’d been glad not to be
at the track. The overcast skies that had dumped rain the night before, leaving the track
muddy at best. The race had been an exciting duel between Moonopoly and Take Me to Hollywood,
but Starzen had held his position through the entire race. In the stretch run, they’d both
been on their feet, shouting and cheering as they tried to propel Starzen through the mud and
across the wire first. Starzen finished with a show. Until the day her father died, he blamed
it on the mud. She laughed aloud at her memory.
An aged man standing near her gave her
an odd look when she laughed, for what appeared to be no reason.
?Picked your
winner have you?? He asked, his eyes twinkling. She flashed him a smile.
?I have at
that.? She answered, the excitement of the crowd catching her up in the familiar tumult that
made her pulse race.
The bugle sounded, and drew her attention to the track. Soon the
horses would be coming out onto the field for the running of the steeplechase, Hal?s
Hope.
She’d had the pleasure to be at the track, the day Starzen ran his first
Steeplechase. Victory On My Mind might have had victory on his mind, but the stars were in
Starzen?s favor that day. It had been the first of several wins that year; the shift to
fences had been a good one. Her eyes turned back to the track, a small smile on her lips.
One day, she’d own a horse like Starzen, she thought to herself. Maybe even one day,
once he was retired to stud, she’d be able to breed a horse by him. If she did, she’d name
it after her father, or perhaps, she would simply call it, Reminiscent.
wow that is an awesome