The Prize (15 page)

“Georgie!” She heard her name being called above the noise of the crowd and then saw Alice waving frantically at her. She began to edge her way gently through the crowded room, trying not to bump into the waiters who were circulating with champagne and platters of canapés.

Alice, meanwhile, was working her way towards Georgie, but she had been sidetracked by a waiter carrying a tray laden with dainty miniature hotdogs.

“You're only supposed to take one, miss,” the waiter was insisting as Alice grabbed three at once.

“Are you kidding me?” Alice pulled a face. “Have you seen the size of these things? I'll need to eat like a dozen, just to make one normal hotdog. I'm not following you around all day!”

She turned to Georgie. “This place is the best! Come on, we've got a table beside the balcony. We've got fab seats. We're sitting right behind a table that belongs to the Bulgarian crown prince and on the other side is an Arab sheik – they've both got a horse in the same race as Riley.”

Daisy and Emily both leapt up with joy when Georgie arrived.

“Where have you been?” Emily called out. “We were getting worried!”

Beside the girls, a man in a very smart dark suit and tie stood up to greet her too.

“Georgie,” John Conway smiled. She had never seen Riley's dad dressed up before and he didn't look entirely comfortable. “I don't feel right in this monkey suit,” he said running a finger around the neck of his shirt to loosen it. “I shouldn't be up here with the fancy pants. I should be down at the stables with Riley getting that horse of his ready to run. I've been trying to convince Mary-Anne to let me leave—”

“John Conway!” The woman next to him shook her head. “Stop being foolish. Riley knows what he's doing and he's got Kenny to help him. He doesn't need you getting underfoot. You're going to stay here and enjoy yourself if it kills you!”

The woman gave Georgie a broad smile. “It's lovely to meet you, honey, I've heard so much about you. I'm Mary-Anne Conway, Riley's mother.”

“It's great to meet you too,” Georgie said. “I'm sorry I was running late…”

“Not at all,” Mrs Conway said. “The race is another fifteen minutes away – you're just in time. We should head out on to the balcony.”

She handed Georgie a pair of binoculars. “You're gonna need these – we're up so high above the course you could get a nosebleed from the altitude!”

Out on the balcony, the crowds were beginning to gather. Georgie, Alice, Daisy and Emily grabbed a spot near the railing that gave them a clear view out over the track. They were directly in front of the finishing post. Georgie peered down through her binoculars. The track was still empty at the moment, but any minute now the jockeys would be bringing their horses out.

“What colour silks is Riley wearing?” Emily asked.

“The Clemency Farm colours are royal blue with white diamonds on the sleeves,” Georgie told her.

The atmosphere on the balcony was getting tense as the race grew closer, but that didn't stop Alice from hunting down a waiter and commandeering a tray of meringues. “These are just soooo yummy!” she grinned through a mouthful of strawberries and cream. “I love it here! Did I mention how much I love it here?”

Georgie was about to take a second meringue off the tray when the fanfare to announce the next race played over the loudspeaker.

“Welcome back to the racing here at Churchill Downs!” the announcer said. “This is the sixth race, The Firecracker Handicap, and we are about to get underway in just five minutes. And here the horses come!”

There was more musical fanfare and then two grey horses, the ‘outriders', emerged. These horses accompanied the racehorses and were ridden by men in red hacking jackets and velvet hard hats. Following the outriders were the racehorses themselves. Georgie marvelled at the beauty of the horses as they stepped out lightly on to the sandy loam of the track. They were Thoroughbreds, sleek and gleaming, bays and chestnuts mostly. All the horses looked amazing, but there was one horse who stood out from the others. He was enormous – a jet-black horse with a rider in red and gold silks and the number twelve on his blanket. Georgie knew straight away that this must be him – The Rainmaker – the favourite to win the Firecracker today.

“The Rainmaker looks good,” John Conway said darkly. “He's put on some muscle since I last saw him. Maybe that's a good thing – or maybe not. Maybe he'll be too heavy today to go the distance.”

“What position has he drawn?” Mary-Anne Conway wanted to know.

“Near the barrier,” her husband replied. “Riley is on the outside of him. He needs to keep out of his way and keep an eye on him at the same time. The Rainmaker will be the one to watch all right.”

More horses began to pour out on to the track now and the announcer began rattling off names, “Master and Commander, Bullet Proof, Ace of Diamonds, and Regal Rival…”

At the mention of the last name the Bulgarian Prince raised his hands in applause and the woman standing next to him with a giant fascinator on her head, began to shriek and applaud.

“Look!” Alice pointed out to the track. “There's Riley!”

Georgie looked down at the track below them. She could see his royal blue silks with the white diamonds, and Riley strapping on goggles to prepare for the race and keep the mud from the horses' hooves out of his eyes. By the look of Marco though, there wouldn't be many horses in front of him – Georgie had never seen the chestnut gelding in such amazing shape. His muscles rippled in the Kentucky sunshine. His coat had the sheen of a precious metal and his head was held erect as he walked around the track like a cat on hot coals.

“I can't believe that's Marco!” Emily breathed. “He looks amazing.”

“He's not Marco,” Alice held up the race card to show the others. “He's running under his proper racing name – Saratoga Firefly!”

“Well I'm not yelling that out,” Daisy said. “I'm just going to call out Marco.”

“The horses are lining up behind the barrier,” the commentator's voice was tense. “Number thirteen is refusing to go into the gates…”

“That's Marco!” Emily said.

“Typical,” Daisy groaned. “He always has to be the one to cause trouble!”

“No!” Alice said, “Look, he's gone in. It's OK.”

The horses were all in the gates and a silence fell over the track. The silence settled into a tense hush and then the air cracked as the metal gates flew open and the horses surged forward. All except for Marco. Instead of breaking at the gates, the chestnut gelding went straight up in a panic-stricken rear. As the other horses leapt forward Riley was struggling with a horse up on his hind legs. The race was on and they had been left behind.

Chapter Fifteen

C
ome on, Riley,
Georgie's hands were shaking as she trained her binoculars on the barrier.
Get him down!

The roar of the crowd around her was deafening, but all Georgie could hear was the pounding of the blood in her ears as she kept her eyes on the chestnut horse still stuck inside the gates. Out on the track the rest of the pack were already five lengths ahead.

Riley had convinced Marco to put all four hooves back down on the ground, but they were still inside the gates.

“C'mon!” Georgie whispered. It was as if Marco heard her because at that moment he shot from the barrier! They were off!

Riley pressed the Thoroughbred on, instantly picking up the stride, standing in his stirrups in a crouch above Marco's withers, his eyes trained on the backsides of the galloping horses ahead.

Marco's moment of terror in the barriers was now behind him. He hated to be at the back of the pack and all he wanted was to catch up to the others. He threw himself forward into the gallop, his strides eating up the ground. By the first furlong marker the horses were eight lengths ahead of him, but by the second furlong there were just a couple of lengths between him and the stragglers at the rear of the pack.

Riley was doing all he could to urge Marco on, fighting for each stride as he moved the chestnut gelding closer, edging up on the field.

They began to pick off the stragglers one horse at a time, ducking and weaving their way through the ranks, passing the jockeys and their mounts who fell back as they failed to match the ferocious speed of the pack.

Georgie kept her binoculars trained directly on the little chestnut gelding as he fought his way past one horse after another, his strides relentless as he accelerated to reach the middle of the field.

By the time the horses powered into the final turn and began to head down to the home straight Riley and Marco had made an incredible comeback. They were right up there near the front with just seven horses ahead of them.

“Marco must be exhausted,” Emily said, biting her lip, her knuckles white as she gripped her ticket in her fist. “He's run too hard to make it this far. He won't be able to keep up with the pace in the final stretch.”

“Don't give up on him yet,” Georgie said softly. “That horse is far too stubborn to know when he's beaten.”

Riley was bent down low over Marco's neck and the little chestnut began to really flatten out, his strides coming even faster as he charged his way straight through the field ahead of him.

“Here he comes!” John Conway shouted out. “He's doing it!”

They were in the home stretch now and the little chestnut was right up beside the leaders. In a single stride he overtook the Ace of Diamonds and was gaining on The Rainmaker.

“Go, Marco! Go!” John Conway shouted. But just as quickly as the gelding began his run, he seemed to slow down again. He was alongside The Rainmaker, but it looked like he wasn't able to get past him to get his nose out in front.

“He's stalled,” Daisy was aghast. “He's too tired, he can't make the run, they're going to overtake him!”

“No!” Georgie shook her head. “He's not tired. He's playing with him!”

Riley was riding it just the way they'd planned! He was holding Marco back and letting him get a good look at his opponent.

Georgie watched through the binoculars as the chestnut gelding held stride, running neck-and-neck with The Rainmaker. She saw Marco look the big black horse right in the eye. And then, once Riley was certain that Marco had got a good, hard look at his rival, Riley let him go.

This time Marco didn't hesitate. He put on a burst of speed, faster than anything Georgie had ever seen him produce before, and suddenly his strides seemed to quicken to double-time. As he drove forward The Rainmaker was left in his wake. For a half-a-furlong the valiant Ace of Diamonds tried to keep up and match his pace, but then he too fell away, and as they came down to the winning post it was Marco all the way. No one could even touch him as Riley and the little chestnut gelding that no one had ever wanted, the horse that Georgie had bought for a hundred and fifty bucks, crossed the finish line at the famous Churchill Downs to win the Firecracker Handicap by five lengths!

Georgie's throat was choked with emotion and her heart was pounding as she ran down the entrance to the winner's circle.

Standing in the centre lawn, with the camera flashes popping around them, were Marco and Riley. The jockey gave her a wave and Georgie forgot all about the crowds and the TV cameras as she ran to meet them.

“You did it!” She had tears in her eyes as she looked up at him. “You rode it perfectly!”

Riley grinned down at her. “It was just like you said, Georgie! I pulled up alongside The Rainmaker and I let Marco really eyeball him. I could just feel him boiling with fury underneath me. He couldn't stand the thought that this jumped-up giant horse was gonna beat him. After that, all I needed to do was let him go!”

As if to confirm this, Marco gave a snort and stomped a hoof emphatically against the turf beneath him.

Later, Riley would say that Marco took the win in his stride. It was as if the little chestnut always knew he was destined for greatness.

“It just took everyone else a while to realise how special he was,” Riley told Georgie.

Georgie shook her head. “Not you,” she said. “You saw it in him straight away. You believed in him when no one else did.”

Winning the Firecracker didn't change Marco. He was as difficult as he'd ever been. When a reporter and photographer from the
Lexington Herald
came down to the stables to take a picture after his great victory Marco tried to bite the photographer's lens and then turned his rump to the door and refused to turn back round again.

“He's having trouble coming to terms with stardom,” Riley told the reporter. “Give him a while to get used to it.”

Throughout the celebrations that had followed the race, Georgie put her own troubles aside, but that evening, as Riley gave the girls a lift back to the Academy, she finally confessed what she had done.

“Dominic was being a total jerk,” Georgie said. “He wouldn't let me leave. I had no choice but to quit.”

Riley was shocked. “You never told me you had work today. Why didn't you say something?”

Georgie shook her head. “I couldn't tell you. I felt so bad about letting you down all the time lately and I really, really wanted to see you ride.”

“So you got yourself fired?”

“It was worth it,” Georgie was adamant. “Watching you win the race on Marco meant far more than some dumb apprenticeship.”

Riley shook his head. “But when Blackwell gives you a fail mark and you get kicked out of the cross-country class again, then what?”

Georgie had been trying not to think about this. She'd been trying to convince herself that it didn't matter that she would once again be turfed out of Tara Kelly's class.

“Maybe you could go and apologise to him?” Alice offered. “There's always a chance he'd take you back. He still has the big competition tomorrow and right now he's stuck with Kennedy as his groom. That's gotta suck.”

“I thought you said he was riding today?” Riley asked.

“It's a two-day event,” Georgie clarified. “Today was the mid-grade. Tomorrow it's the Grand Prix and the Mirror Jumping.”

“So he's saving his best horses for tomorrow?” Daisy asked.

“Alice is right,” Emily said. “You should go and beg for your old job back.”

Georgie shook her head. “Blackwell's way too arrogant for that.”

“So you're just going to give up??” Riley said. “You're going to let Blackwell win? I don't know how that guy can bear to look in the mirror the way he treats his grooms…”

“Ohmygod!” Georgie's eyes widened. “Riley! You're right!”

“I am?” Riley frowned. “About what exactly?”

Georgie felt her heart racing. She still had a chance to ace her apprenticeship – and prove herself to Dominic Blackwell. But to do it, she'd have to put her all her skills on the line.