Chasing the Carnations - Part 5
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I was double checking the girth on the saddle when I heard a familiar voice. "So I heard a rumor there's potential Triple Crown winners around here but I just can't seem to find them."
I placed a hand on Sultan's shoulder and ducked under his neck to find myself face to face with John. He'd kept his promise and found me. He looked slightly different.
John put on a surprised face when he saw me. "There you are!" he exclaimed. "I've been looking all over for you two."
I grinned. "I'm sure you were," I teased. Suddenly it clicked what was different about him. "You cut your hair!" I exclaimed. John used to have dark brown hair that curled over his ears and flopped about. He'd cut it so he kinda looked like a new army recruit.
John laughed.
Sultan turned his head as much as he could to nicker at me. I smoothed a hand down his neck, reassuring the horse I was fine. "It's just John, old man. You know him," I said.
I turned back to the fellow jockey. "So other then the new hair cut, what have you been up to since Friday?" I asked. We hadn't talked since then. I'd been busy and so had he.
"Thinking up diabolical plans for Little Alien," John replied with an easy grin.
I shook my head. "She needs a barn name. Little Alien is just too terrible."
"I was thinking Hermies. Or maybe Mars."
"Hermies?" I waved to Greg, who approached from behind John while making a face at the name.
"Her Royal Highness. Or HRM. Turn that into a word and you get Herm. The next step is Hermies, kinda like the Greek god."
"You're over thinking this, John."
"Bad habit."
"Hey, kids," Greg said.
"Mr. Walker," John replied respectfully, shifting so he could see Greg.
Greg turned to me. "You and Sultan ready?" he asked.
I nodded. "Yep."
After I gave Sultan a light workout, Greg drove me to ABS's New York studios so I could do the sit down interview for 24/7.
I took a seat in the canvas director's chair. The room was large and filled with lots of equipment that I had no idea what it was or did. It was also hot underneath the lights shining down on the set.
A Production Assistant rushed up and fussed with the microphone attached to my shirt. One of the producers had wanted me to wear my jockey silks but I'd refused. Thankfully Tanner Scott, the reporter doing the interview, had sided with me. There was more to me then just being a jockey, that and I was vain enough to want to look good for my first TV interview of this kind.
Tanner sat down opposite me in his own director's chair. He was one of the big names for 24/7, a seasoned reporter with interviews with many big names under his belts, including a few presidents. I probably should have felt intimidated by that fact but instead it elevated some of my nervousness over the whole thing.
Tanner adjusted his own microphone and smiled at me. We'd already been over the basics of the interview, he was going to call me Ashley, I was to call him Tanner, if I didn't feel comfortable with a question I could pass on it, etc. "You're going to do fine, Ashley," the older man assured me.
I wasn't so sure but I gave a small smile back.
Then Gerry walked up. "You two ready?" he asked. His tone was one of 'you better be ready.' Tanner nodded. I followed suit. "Great. Let's get started."
Gerry stepped back, gave a signal and the red light on the camera facing Tanner turned green.
He ignored it and asked the first question, "Ashley, can you tell us tell us what it is like to be you right now?"
If only he'd started off with an easier question. I took a moment to think about my answer and try to tune out the now green light on the camera directed at me. "Well, Tanner, I feel on top of the world, pardon the cliché. I'm only 18 and I've managed to accomplish something some jockey's only dream about. I won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes. I have moments where I wonder whether I'm dreaming and when I'll wake up. But then I go to the barn and greet Sultan and suddenly it doesn't feel so much like a dream anymore."
Tanner smiled, off screen. I knew I'd hit that question out of the park. "So tell us about The Mischievous Sultan."
"He's truly the most wonderful horse I've had the privilege of meeting so far in my life. Everyone wishes and dreams and looks for that horse that is 'the one.' I got lucky and found him early in life."
I could tell when I finished speaking that wasn't quite the answer Tanner had been looking for but he let it go. "What's it like to ride Sultan?"
I paused, remembering the sound of Sultan's hooves as he thundered his way past the finish line, the feel of his mane whipping at my face, the sight of empty track before us. "It's indescribable. There are no words."
Tanner smiled again, this time for the camera. "Why don't you tell us a bit about yourself? How you ended up at No Walkin' Farms."
The rest of the interview went pretty much like that. Tanner asked questions, I answered them. He asked about John but I said I wasn't comfortable discussing a friend. He also asked about Sandy but I refused that one as well. No need to get into a feud with her in the press. |
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