The energy was contagious. It was nervous, giddy, and happy. I crutched over to the jockey's room and put on my light blue and lime green silks. I put my helmet on my crutch and I walked/crutched out of the jockey's room. I found out that I would still need crutches to walk around so I could balance and so there was less weight on my foot, but I got the movement of walking without a boot. I stood next to Else for the picture. I put in my best smile and the camera clicked. Else and I exchanged small talk and good thoughts. May the best jockey win, I thought. I made my way over to the paddock following behind the other jockeys. I crutched over to our saddling station in the paddock. Joey was there briefly and as she walked off, she walked over to me first, " You're sure you wanna do this?" She raised an eyebrow but I just gave a curt nod of my head and Joey exited the paddock. I walked over to Survivor. I patted her on the neck. Then I put my helmet on my head and secured it. I made sure the goggles were still on my helmet, they were, I was set to go. I undid the velcro to my crutches. I handed my crutches off to Tom, who leaned them up against the structure that we were in.

The call we waited for, " Riders Up!" The nerves pulsed through me. Mady gave me a leg up and lifted me into the air. I put my hands on the bay's whithers and mounted. We were led past the grandstand and walked down the homestretch to the gates. We circled a couple times before being loaded into the gate. I held my breath, hoping everything would go smoothly. Luckily it did, and the bell rang.

The gates flew open and I urged Survivor out of the gate. We burst out of the gate and I urged her forward with my hand. Since she didn't like whips, I used my hands, and surprisingly, whips in other jockey's hands haven't spooked her yet. I eased her to the rail, securing fourth place. I let her stay that way through the clubhouse turn. Into the backstretch, I let out a bit of rein, she extended and gained speed and closed the distance. She sped past third and second place. Then into the last turn, it happened. I imagined when she tripped. But I was luckily snapped out of it when she started snapping her head up and starting to slow. A whip caught her attention as it loomed near her, but hitting another horse. I coaxed her more. My vision appeared again, this time, I did what had been a mistake before. I let her loose. She flew by and I saw us fall together. I thought it was the end. But I felt us keep moving. My vision went black and in a blur I regained sight. Bright colors of dirt and grass and people spun by me. And then my vision cleared. We were midway through the homestretch and even with the pacemaker. I tried to give her more rein, but I gave it to her already. I coaxed her by talking. She extended a bit and lengthened her stride. I hit her saddle pad with my hand to get her moving. Then the other rider bumped into us. Pain seared my leg and soon both hands were on the reins and I was talking to her encouraging her. She tried, but it was my fault she didn't have another gear. My mistake came back to haunt me. We crossed the wire, the race is over. Both me and Else looked at each other. We were both surprised it was us at the finish, but we wanted to know who won. I heard the announcer hum the last of his version of the race, " And it's too close to call. Wild Survivor or Sealed Fate!" Both horses were breathing heavy. I sat in my saddle, starting to pull up Survivor my ankle kept throbbing. Both Else and I were taken off the track by our grooms, Tom took Survivor who was soaked in sweat. I felt a slight limp from her and I signaled to Mady and the vet walked alongside us, looking Survivor over. Rachel was there too. She came over to congratulate me and I thanked her but told her to talk to me after and Rachel walked away. We waited for the photo finish results to come in. Fans of Sealed Fate would walk out in shame.