A Day At The Races

I've never been to the races before and this is the big one, The Grand National. "Come on, I want to see the parade." Sherry pushed through the crowd and I tried to keep up. Through the crowd a flash of white. I headed in that direction.

Sad brown eyes stared out of a white face as the horse gave me a pleading look. "Okay Sarah, which horse do you fancy?" Sherry whispered in my ear.

"The white one."

"The grey you mean."

"It's not grey, it's white."

"But it's referred to as a grey. Doesn't stand a chance. I'm putting our money on the black there." Sherry dragged me in the direction of the Tote.

Betting slip clutched tightly in her hand Sherry led me to our place near the rails. The horses lined up, some calm, others turning circles, the white(sorry, grey) laid back to the point of near sleep. BANG! The starting pistol made me jump. My horse pricked up her ears, reared, and took off.

"Coming up to the first fence it's Crazy Horse leading, the pack following, with White Lightening in the rear. Crazy Horse has fallen. Three others are unseated."

I listened to the Tanoy but it didn't make a lot of sense to me. The horses that were left passed us in a flash and went out of sight. "How many fences are there?"

"Lots."

Each announcement came with bad news for someone. As the horses flashed past for a second time I could see white close to the front of the pack of browns and blacks.

"...Black Sabbath has fallen ..."

Sherry turned the betting slip into confetti. A roar went up as the remaining horses neared the finish line, not visible from where they stood.

"Who is the winner?"

"The bookies."

299 words