The start called out across the plantation fields, and the thunder of hooves rolled through the
sugarcane. Eight and a half grueling laps later, the champion of champions was finally crowned.
Saturday night's Guarma Invitational capped off the first season of the New Alexandria Horse
Racing Association by bringing their best riders together to compete for the grandest prize in
racing; the opportunity to be declared the best of the best!
The night's lineup featured a who's who of the racing scene, including three-time winner Deputy
Gabriel Sheperd and NAHRA Vice President Thatcher Ford, twice a winner himself. In fact, other than
Ryan Hastings, who was invited as the association's most consistent competitor, every rider at the
Invitational was a former champion, having won a race during the regular season. With such a stalwart
cast of competitors, there was no doubt in any spectator's mind that this would be a race for the
ages!
A long race, this track had qualifying times upwards of FORTY SECONDS, giving racers plenty of time
to make moves in each lap. Starting on the downhill through the sugarcane, Thatcher Ford had the poll
position atop his thundering nokota Blue. Patrick Cox sat on Duke next to him, with Deputy Shepard
and the stallion Godspeed just behind them on the inside. Michael McGrath and Sabor took the outside
lane in fourth, with Dr. Jaena Shaw in fifth riding the borrowed Baron Von Beefcake, due to Little
Brother's season being cut short at the Flat Iron Lake 500. The final two competitors, Kojak Morozov
(Akurra) and Ryan Hastings (Moxxi) took up the rear to round out the field.
As they raced out of the gate, Mr. Ford took an early lead with Mr. McGrath sweeping around the
outside to chase him through the zigzag of the first turn. As they came around the houses at the edge
of the village in the second turn, Mr. Cox was hotly contesting second place with Deputy Sheperd
battling Mr. Morozov for fourth. Coming around the plantation house, however, Blue had built a
quarter lap lead, commanding the pace ahead of the pack. Mr. Ford carefully built that lead over the
next four laps, though the distant battle for second raged fiercely between McGrath, Cox, and
Sheperd.
As Thatcher entered the fifth lap, onlookers could see that Blue was tired. He eased up on the pace
around the back of the plantation house, trying to give his steed a chance to rest. This strategy was
a calculated risk, as the rest of the pack started to eat away at his large lead. While the
frontrunners closed in, the back of the pack stretched far behind, with Ryan Hastings riding a few
lengths ahead of the struggling Baron Von Beefcake as Ford passed them both entering the seventh lap.
By this time, however, his lead was down to five or six lengths, with Patrick Cox having solidly
taken second and the muscling for third down to Deputy Sheperd and Mr. McGrath. The final lap was
perhaps the most exciting of the entire race, as Duke surged after Blue coming down the back stretch.
Entering the zigzag turn, Mr. Ford had seen his lead eaten away to just a few lengths, and he could
hear Mr. Cox thundering down on him from behind. Cutting through the turn deftly, however, he urged
his faithful mount to a new burst of speed, desperately widening the gap as he tried to hold on.
As the dust cleared away from the final turn, spectators struggled to make out who had managed to
come around in first. With sunlight streaking through the cloud to clear the sight, NAHRA President
Eddie Collins called the race for the season champion, Thatcher Ford! Though the final battle was
hard-fought, Patrick Cox was unable to close the gap and took second in a very solid performance.
Michael McGrath emerged victorious in his seesaw struggle with Deputy Sheperd to take third, with the
latter seizing fourth by a few lengths. Kojak Morozov was quite alone in fifth, and a shocking tumble
on the blind side of the track threw Ryan Hastings from his saddle in the final lap to give Dr. Jaena
Shaw sixth place.
Speaking with the season champion about becoming the second rider to reach three wins, Mr. Ford
claimed that he should have had four in total, having "let" Deputy Sheperd win a previous race at
Caliga Hall. While he stressed his dedication to fine-tuning starts, finishes, and all other aspects
of his racing strategy, our winner gave all credit to his incredible horse Blue. Knowing that the
nokota breed has poor stamina, he focused on pacing himself when Blue seemed out of breath. While his
gamble nearly backfired, he was able to save some energy for the final turn and emerge victorious.
While Mr. Ford always cuts a striking figure atop a horse, spectators took note of his fancy new
goggles, debuted for this race. Calling them "Air Georgias", he said the patent-pending prototype
"showed me the road to victory", giving him better vision of the track as he zeroed in on his path.
In particular, he noted that the zigzag turn required precision turns to cut the right angles,
something he felt gave trouble to the other riders. The track overall was built for speed, and Mr.
Ford named it his second favorite track ever, after Braithwaite.
Speaking with Mr. Ford and Mr. Collins about the future, we learned that the next season would
feature new tracks and a clean slate to qualify for the invitational. Mr. Ford plans to sit out
most of the season, having earned a bid in the next Guarma Invitational with his victory on the day.
With his duties running half of the New Alexandria Horse Racing Association, he prefers to only jump
into a race once in a while, particularly when they need a deeper field than they have present. He
looks forward to challenging the best of the best at the next invitational and welcomes all
competitors to give it their best shot.
Wasting no time, NAHRA is kicking off their next season right away. Join them Wednesday for the
Thadius LeBlanc Memorial at Braithwaite Manor. A dear friend and competitor, this was his favorite
track, one where always performed well, even coming away with a win. Stop by at 10 pm EST to pay
respects to a stalwart of the racing scene, it's sure to be a fantastic event in his memory.
Always the innovators, Saturday will see NAHRA introduce a brand new track at a brand new time.
They're unveiling the Blackwater track at 4 pm EST, bringing new blood into the racing scene by
scheduling some earlier events in the new season. This change will surely increase the tough
competition, bringing the grand racing spectacle to even greater heights in the coming weeks!