The Black Stallion Challenged (22 page)

Flame bumped against the sides of the adjacent stall, but Alec didn’t turn his way. He ignored all the horses in the gate, just as he did the clamoring crowd. All that mattered was the track in front of him. There was a slight haze overhead and a breeze came up from the south, blowing stronger and stronger in his face. He
sat quietly astride his horse. The Black had lost his skittishness and was quiet, too. So was the crowd. Everybody awaited the start of the race.

The gate doors flew open and the bell clanged. Alec shouted at the top of his voice, as did all the other riders. The Widener Handicap was on!

The Black broke easily as the horses plunged ahead. Alec watched the riders as well as their mounts. Apache had outbroken the field but Jay Pratt wanted no part of the lead; he was already holding back to prove it. Willy Walsh sent the feather-footed Mad Wizard to the front, bolting away from the tangled stampede behind him. Jay Pratt kept backing off Apache from the early pace and was fourth as the racing field passed the stands for the first time.

Alec restrained the Black, keeping him in fifth position, where he could see what the other riders would do. Right from the start the masterminding of the jockeys had begun. Willy Walsh wasn’t taking hold of Mad Wizard but letting him go on. Jay Pratt was backing off Apache still more. Nick Marchione had Sail Away just off the pace in second position, putting pressure on Mad Wizard. Pete Edge was scraping the rail, trying to squeeze Bronze Prince on the inside of Sail Away. He was taking a big chance, for Nick wasn’t giving him much racing room. But Pete Edge wouldn’t quit trying. He drove his horse through an opening and alongside Sail Away. The run to the first turn was shaping up as a veritable duel between the two riders while Willy Walsh on Mad Wizard was a stride ahead of them.

Alec watched Jay Pratt and all the other riders up front. He kept sizing them up, almost in the manner of
a boxer studying his opponents. Only Steve Duncan was missing; he was in back somewhere. The Black was striding easily as they approached the first turn. Alec was surprised to find himself within hailing distance of the leaders, for he knew Willy Walsh was setting a sizzling pace for the first quarter of a mile. The Black kept moving ahead and Alec leaned into the turn with him.

They were off Apache’s hindquarters and just outside of him when Jay Pratt let his horse drift out a bit. For a few seconds Alec was uneasy, waiting for some indication that Apache was going to change his path. The two horses were at a “heel clipping” stage. If he’d been a little farther back he could have dropped to the inside of Apache. As it was, in order to go inside now he would have to slow down the Black or gamble that he still had enough room to take him in
over
Apache’s heels. He decided quickly that it wasn’t worth the gamble at this early stage of the race. Both horses might go down if they clipped heels.

He made his decision to stay on the outside of Apache going around the turn. Once they had completed the turn and were in the backstretch he would make his move to the front.

A few seconds later, Alec realized that Apache wasn’t continuing his route around the turn but was floating out still more to the center of the track! Alec waited for Pratt to straighten up his mount, but Apache continued to move out, taking the Black with him! Alec began checking the Black, not wanting to lose any more ground to the front runners. He’d made a bad decision, but there was still time to correct it.

As he took the Black back, almost choking his horse in order to get him on the inside of Apache, Flame suddenly appeared from out of nowhere. He swept by along the inner rail, closing the gap between himself and the leaders. Steve Duncan was in a race!

Alec tucked the Black in behind Flame. Steve was trying to split the flying pair directly ahead of him, but Nick Marchione and Pete Edge wouldn’t let him through. Alec saw Steve settle back in his saddle, content to wait. The Black was flying now, but so were the others. The pace was going to be very swift going down the backstretch.

As the horses moved into the backstretch it was, as Alec had thought it would be, a rider’s battle all the way. Willy Walsh called upon Mad Wizard for still more speed as Nick Marchione and Pete Edge kept pressure on him. Flame was full of run in fourth place, despite the blazing pace. Again, Steve tried to get through between the two flying horses in front of him. Failing, he took Flame back a stride and then loomed strongly on the outside of Sail Away and Bronze Prince.

The Black moved closer to the pack but Alec kept good hold of him and stayed near the rail. It was no time to make a move with the spine-tingling battle going on ahead of him. He would save the Black’s speed and stamina until the jam broke in front. It was still anybody’s race.

Willy Walsh had Mad Wizard still in front, holding on to his slim lead despite the awesome pressure that was being maintained behind him by Pete Edge and Nick Marchione. Willy seemed determined to stay
in front, an ambitious project with a horse that was known to go a distance only if allowed to set his own leisurely pace.

Pete Edge had Bronze Prince right on top of Mad Wizard and was fighting for every foot of ground around the race track. Nick Marchione was just outside them and had gone for his whip. The swashbuckling, powerful Sail Away responded to Nick’s urging and moved more to the center of the track, blocking Flame when he attempted to pass again. Once more, Steve had to drop back to avoid Sail Away’s heels but came on again stoutly from the inside.

Nearing the final turn, Mad Wizard began tiring and Willy Walsh went for his whip. Mad Wizard drifted a little wide and Pete Edge took advantage of the rail opening, sending Bronze Prince to the inside of the flying leader.

But Willy Walsh was not going to give way. He brought his mount on again, moving once more into the lead. It was Willy’s fling at greatness.

Alec gave the Black another notch in the reins and his horse took advantage of it, ready and anxious to begin his powerful drive to the finish. Alec had to make up his mind quickly whether or not to make a move on the turn or wait for the stretch run. A lot depended upon what happened up forward. He didn’t want to have to check the Black as he’d done on the first turn. This close to home it might cost him the race. He’d have to make the right decision fast. He watched the other riders closely. Somewhere behind him was Jay Pratt who would be coming on any second with Apache. Jay had an uncanny sense of pace
and was not a rider to be considered “dead” before the homestretch.

The horses roared into the final bend with a rush. The last quarter mile of the Widener Handicap was coming up and the tension, both on the track and in the stands, mounted. Already it had been as exciting a horse race as was ever run, and once more a big shuffle was developing!

Mad Wizard, on the rail, was holding his lead over Bronze Prince by a head. Sail Away was another head behind and on the outside. Flame was coming on again, trying to get by all of them. The Black was starting to move, and coming up from behind was Apache. This race was not just between the “Big Two.” It could be called the race of the “Big Six!”

There was a deafening roar as Pete Edge went for his whip for the first time.
Whack
, he blasted Bronze Prince in an effort to move ahead of Mad Wizard.
Whack, whack, whack
, he blasted him again. But it didn’t do any good. Pete Edge put away his whip, and Mad Wizard retained his lead by a head going around the turn.

Alec decided quickly not to make his move until he was in the homestretch, for things were popping ahead. When Pete Edge stopped using his whip on Bronze Prince, Nick Marchione went for his. The veteran rider gave Sail Away two hard smacks on the left side in order to get him clear of Bronze Prince’s heels. As a result, he was right in Flame’s path again! Alec saw Steve check his mount quickly and almost go down!

Nick Marchione was switching his whip from his left to his right hand when it flew out of his grasp. That
didn’t stop him. He smacked Sail Away barehanded and the courageous horse responded, inching up on the outside of Mad Wizard. The three leaders pounded around the turn with Flame regaining stride and going after them.

Alec gave the Black more rein and moved up behind Flame, where he’d be able to challenge at the top of the homestretch.

The crowd was on its feet as the horses came off the turn. Once again, Pete Edge went for his whip, trying to get Bronze Prince ahead of Mad Wizard in a desperate lunge. He whipped and slashed at his mount’s hide but Bronze Prince was through. The horse faded quickly despite all Pete Edge could do.

Alec saw the opening left by Bronze Prince on the rail and guided the Black toward it. Instinctively he’d made his decision for the run down the homestretch. He was going on the
inside
of the front-runners rather than around them in his drive for the finish. There would be no time for a second choice or for regrets; the wire was less than a quarter of a mile away. The racing field had now entered the corridor of noise, and pandemonium reigned. Alec sent the Black into an all-out drive. Their final move had begun!

Far on the outside and coming off the turn was Apache, with Jay Pratt rocking in the saddle. They, too, were going all-out during the last stage of the Widener!

Willy Walsh saw the Black forging his way through along the rail, trying to pass on the
inside
of his horse. For a second he thought of whacking Mad Wizard again. It was a temptation to use his whip at this crucial
moment but his cool head advised against it. Mad Wizard was giving this race everything he had and it wouldn’t do any good to hit him. Willy stashed his whip; it would be a hand ride all the way to the finish, regardless of the outcome. With the reins alone he spoke to his horse, his lips unmoving. “Come on, horse,” he said. “Hold yourself together a little longer. You’re not as tired as you think you are. You’ve got me to hold you up. Don’t let this big black bull get by you.”

Willy felt Mad Wizard flatten out still more and move closer to the rail. There was barely room for the Black to get through, and Willy hoped Alec wouldn’t insist upon trying it. He didn’t like to think of Alec going down.

Mad Wizard dug in, his head still in front of the tightly packed group. Willy Walsh fairly lifted his tired mount and hurled him forward! The huge crowd gasped, for it seemed at that moment that the young rider and his horse were going to bring about one of the most spectacular upsets in racing! After setting a record-shattering pace, Willy was coaxing and cajoling Mad Wizard to go the full mile and a quarter and win! It was a peerless riding performance, perhaps equaled in the annals of racing but never excelled. The cheers of the crowd rose to new heights as Mad Wizard lengthened his lead to a half-length with less than an eighth of a mile to go!

Alec knew that the opening between the rail and Mad Wizard was almost too narrow for him to squeeze into but he couldn’t hesitate any longer. He took the Black
over
Mad Wizard’s heels and felt his own leg burn
against the rail.
Close but not down
. Now they were inside where nobody could get them out! The Black made up the length on Mad Wizard in one stride.

Willy Walsh glanced over his left shoulder when the Black came alongside, hard against the rail. “Go get it, Alec!” he yelled, but he didn’t give another inch of racing room or stop hurling his own mount forward.

On the outside of Mad Wizard, Nick Marchione berated himself for losing his whip but kept hitting Sail Away with his bare hand in the fight for the wire. He felt his mount strain every time he slapped him hard. It was as if Sail Away were going to break himself in half in order to get ahead. He had run a long race, a hard race … Suddenly, Nick felt his horse break from beneath him and he knew they were through. Sail Away swerved, bumping into Flame who was coming up alongside. The red horse missed a stride but Steve Duncan steadied him and they went on. Nick Marchione regretted he wasn’t going to be in on the finish. It was going to be a corker!

Alec passed Willy Walsh, their two mounts running shoulder to shoulder. The Black was still dangerously close to going down and Mad Wizard, whipped to a frazzle, continued to display rare courage under Willy’s urging. Alec saw Flame move out on the other side of Mad Wizard. On the far outside of the track Apache was driving for the wire with unbelievable speed, saved by Jay Pratt for these final seconds.

The Black was aiming straight ahead for the wire, but so were Flame and Apache! They raced toward the finish together, sweeping past the green and flowered infield garden. They were within fifty yards of the wire
when Apache quit cold, leaving the “Big Two” to race it out.

The Black and Flame ran stride for stride, shoulder to shoulder, wild as a runaway team! From the stands there erupted a tremendous volume of sound, for it was an overwhelming end to a race that had already proved astonishing in its early speed, its saddle artistry and the courage of its horses. Now, with all that behind them, the champion and the foreign challenger were bringing down the curtain on the Widener in a dramatic rush that defied description. It was as if each horse had been loafing before. Each slammed along, ignoring the other alongside. It was a two-horse, two-jockey battle to the very last stride. It was a never-forgotten struggle, and the shouts of the crowd rose to an unbelievable pitch as the two horses swept under the wire.

An unreal silence settled over the crowd. The Widener Handicap had ended but no one knew who the winner was. Only the official camera held the answer. All that mattered, at that particular moment, was that they had witnessed one of the great races of history.

For the riders, too, it was a moment of silence. They straightened in their saddles but didn’t stop their horses until midway around the first turn. Slowly, they cantered back. They’d had their share of glory in action and, for a few fleeting seconds, the thought of money was forgotten in favor of sentiment.