do,â Clint promised.
So they sat at the starting point, both watching Canby, waiting for him to call for the start.
âGo!â the trainer said, clicking his watch.
THIRTEEN
A few miles away, two men were watching Easy Going work around the track. Daniel Farnsworth and Seamus Callaghan watched as their jockey, Tommy Baze, put their horse through his paces.
âHeâs movinâ beautifully,â Callaghan said.
âHe sure is,â Farnsworth said. âThese locals donât have a chance. Our only competition is Sunday Song.â
The two horsesâEasy Going and Sunday Songâhad managed to avoid each other up to now. The Derby would be their first race against each other, and they were getting all the coverage.
âDonât worry,â Callaghan said. âWeâll beat him.â
âWeâd better,â Farnsworth said.
*Â *Â *
At Two Chimneys, owner William Kingston and trainer Ollie Shoemaker were watching Lorenzo Capp run Sunday Song around the best training track in Kentucky.
âLike a freight train,â Kingston said. âHeâs gonna go around that Derby track like a train, leaving everything in his wake, gasping.â
âYes, sir.â
Kingston looked at his trainer and said, âYou donât sound as sure as I do, Ollie.â
âThat Easy Going,â Ollie said, âis some horse, Mr. Kingston. And thereâsââ
âI know that, Ollie,â Kingston said. âBut so is Sunday Song. In fact, Sunday Song is better. If you donât know that, then maybe I need another trainer.â
They had been together a long time, but that didnât stop Kingston from threatening to fire Ollie every time they didnât see eye to eye.
âWell, boss,â Ollie said, âIâve also been hearing some talk about a local horse.â
âWhat local horse?â
âThey call him Whirlwind.â
âI never heard of him. Is he entered in the Derby?â Kingston asked.
âYes, sir.â
âWho trains him?â
âA local trainer named Canby, Ben Canby.â
âI never heard of him either,â Kingston said. âOllie, Iâm not going to worry about a horse I never heard of thatâs being trained by a man I never heard of. Iâve got enough to worry about,â Kingston said.
âYes, sir.â
âJust see to our horse,â Kingston said.
âYes, sir.â
Kingston watched Shoemaker run to meet the jockey and the horse. For a moment he thought he saw a glint of light on a hillside beyond the training track, but then he told himself he was being too paranoid.
He turned to go into the house.
*Â *Â *
In truth, there was somebody watching Sunday Song work, someone watching Easy Going, and even someone with a stopwatch watching Davy Flores put Whirlwind through his paces.
Not to mention the Gunsmith riding on that big gelding of his . . .
*Â *Â *
Clint let Davy take Whirlwind out, holding Eclipse back a bit. It didnât take him very long to realize that he could have run the little three-year-old down anytime he wanted toâbut he didnât want to.
He ran along behind the animal, watching him, liking the ease with which he moved, his fluidity, the muscles bunching beneath his hide, his tail swishing as he ran. Clint wondered if that would happen during the race.
After a couple of furlongs he urged Eclipse on and they caught up to the colt, going stride for stride with him. He could see that Whirlwind knew Eclipse was there, and he increased his pace a bit, even as the jockey tried to restrain him. With that kind of competitive spirit, the horse would do well in the Kentucky Derby, where he would only be facing other three-year-old colts.
Clint eased off on Eclipse, allowing Whirlwind to pull ahead, and he simply paced him from behind for the rest of the workout. When it was over, Davy slowed the animal down, but kept him