Hidden talent

Chapter 4 The racing stable

As Steven walked home Pippins mr. Fliton and Allie switched seats. They started up the car and switched back to the road that led to the track. Allie ran over the whole situation again in her mind. Allie's dad looked at his watch "we can still make it to four races." Allie slowly nodded her head. "Dad , that black horse seemed to be pretty well trained. He started galloping from a walk. So there's a pretty good chance he'll be in the races today. So if we can find out witch race he's in, we'll find the culprit! Dad drive faster!" " I can't there's a speed limit." Allie was annoyed. If that horse was in the next race, they would be bound to miss it. "Dad, we need to go faster!" Allie put her foot on the gas pedal. The car sped up. "Allie, this is dangerous!" Allie rolled her eyes "oh and a masked murderer isn't?" She put her hands on the wheel. "I never said that" replied Allie's dad. She looked at the time. 12:45. The next race started at 1:00. "Good news, I think we'll make it on time. We can slow down." Allie sat back in her seat. "Phew! Any longer and I would have wet my pants!" Allie was hoping he was being sarcastic. When they arrived, it was nearly impossible to find a parking space. They pulled into the parking lot next to the grocery store. It would be about a 5 minute walk to the track, but they'd still make it on time. " okay, so dad, we need to get into the racing stables to look at all the horses. They have you on file as a horse trainer, so they should hopefully let us in. Now, we need to find a black horse with a scratch on his rear. Understand?" Her dad nodded. They went in the direction of the stables. They followed closely behind a bay stallion. "Wow the stable has improved since the last time I was here with Dutch Royal." Allie looked around. It looked like they had added at least 6 more stalls and they now used shavings for bedding rather than straw. She took a good look at the other thoroughbred horses. Deciding on whom to place her bets. "Make way" they heard a stable man say. A large broad shouldered black stallion came strutting down the aisle. Right past them. At first sight he looked to be a dark blue roan, but then she realized he was wearing a dark blue sheet. Allie followed about 2 meters behind the horse to his stall. Before the stable man left, mr. Filton said "um, sir, may I have a look at this horse?" The stable man looked up "why" Allie jumped in "well, he seemed to be shying of discomfort, so I think he may have a pulled muscle or something." The stable man shrugged his shoulders "I suppose you could take a look." Allie stepped into the stall. The stallion looked at her with a weary eye. She slowly moved to his rear. Thoroughbred stallions could be unpredictable so it was best she didn't make any sudden movements. She slowly lifted the sheet half way up his back. She looked at the left first, then the right and, nothing. "Well, he seems to be in pretty good shape to me. Maybe just irritated by a bug." Allie stepped out of the stall. The stable hand walked away. "This isn't the horse we're looking for dad" he smiled. "I could have told you that before you even lifted the sheet." Allie looked puzzled "this is a mare" Allie looked at the horse again. Her face turned red. "Well, let's go look at the other horses again. We may have missed one."They walked back down the aisle. One of the grooms briskly trotted a black horse out of the stable. He was in fully red racing gear. It was hard to tell if he/she had a scratch or not, all the red was messing with her eyes. A jockey placed a helmet with a red and yellow cover on his head. He trotted away to the track. It was too late.