The air was electric! There were people everywhere, from the grass to where all the famous people gather, The Bird Cage. I pushed myself through the sea of people, looking for Dad. I headed up to the owner and trainer area, guessing that he would be there.

People were flowing in and out, like a tide that comes and goes. Passing a table with sandwiches, I picked one up, guessing that I would need the energy to survive today. Pushing through even more people, I finally reached Mum and Dad. They introduced me to their friends.

“Hey hon,” Mum exclaimed has she gave me a hug, “don’t you look beautiful?”

“Thanks Mum,” I replied, opening my sandwich, once she released me. “You don’t look to bad yourself.”

“Well I do try,” she answered.

“What about me?” Dad asked.

“You’re getting there Dad.”

We always joked about his sense of fashion, as he didn’t really have one. I took one bit of my sandwich but instantly regretted it.

“Excuse me, I have to go,” I blurted out.

I spotted the toilet sign and walked as quickly as I could towards it. I pushed the door open and found a free cubicle. I sat on the toilet lid, taking deep breaths, but it felt like those dangerous butterflies would fly out of my mouth at any moment.

“Claire?” Mum’s voice rang out in the bathroom. Luckily I was the only one in there. Opening the door, I poked my head out of the cubicle.

“In here Mum,” I whispered.

“Is everything alright?” she asked with a worried look on her face.

“I’m just really nervous!”

“Oh, Claire,” she sighed, “everyone suffers from nervous! I was like that the time your dad brought me to my first race and it wasn’t even one of my horses racing!” She placed a strand of my hair, which had escaped, behind my ear.

“Glad I’m not the only one,” I nervously laughed. “It’s just I feel there is so much pressure on Manny and I. This is our chance to prove ourselves.”

“Claire, look at where you are! You’re in Melbourne and you have a horse in the Melbourne Cup. Trainers older than you are still to achieve that!”

“You know what, you right,” I said with a new found attitude, standing up, “let’s go and win this!”

“Let’s!”

We walked out with our arms linked and our chins held high.
              

                                                                  ~

It was finally time to race. I tried to pretend it was just like another race, but there was no denying that this was the biggest race in Australia. Manny was number 13, which some people thought was unlucky, but he had good odds and was ranked in the middle to win. As I lead Manny around I took in the scene.

The roses around the mounting yard were in full bloom. People were crammed up against the railing, trying to work out who would be this year’s winner. Some would go by colour or name, while others would use statistics. The people went on for as far as the eye could see.

“Ready to go?” I asked Ben as he hopped on. His white face answered my question.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Just have fun out there. We don’t know if we’ll ever experienced this again. Do try to win of course,” I explained, as we completed our final lap. “As long as you follow the plan you should be right.”

“Gees no pressure!”

“Alright good luck!”

I released the clip on Manny’s bridle and watched them ride off. I walked off to the other owners and trainers. The butterflies returned stronger, but I tried to distract myself by watching the screen.

They loaded the horses into the barriers. I watched closely, looking out for Manny. After spotting him, I didn’t take my eyes off. The buzzer went off and they jumped.

“And they’re off,” the man on the speaker shouted.

I listened carefully for Manny, hoping that Ben had him somewhere in the middle and sure enough he did.

"And as they approach the half way mark, it’s Mad Man, followed by Hilltop, Fun Police and Treasure Trove with Grandpa Jack and Man's Best Friend close behind," the speaker blared.

The tension was really beginning to build. Owners and trainers were quietly cheering under their breath and the crowd was beginning to get louder, like a storm rolling in. Seconds felt like minutes and in a race that only went for over three minutes, it felt like a lifetime. It was as though time had slowed and the only thing in the world was the horses racing.

The pounding of the horses hooves grew louder and louder as they approached the finish line. I could feel it through my body, as though the earth below me was moving.

Manny began to edge his way forward, like a cat waiting to pounce on a mouse. He past three horses in the last 500 meters with only Hilltop and Mad Man in front of him.

The crowd started screaming at the horses, willing their one to win. Even I began shouting at Ben and Manny, caught up in everything that was happening around me.

Manny passed Mad Man. The owners now started jumping up and down, as though they were little kids on a trampoline. The crowd grew ever loud, till you could no longer hear yourself think. With 100 meters to go Manny was just a nose behind Mad Man.

Then everything just stopped, as though time frozen. Manny and Mad Man passed the finish line in a blur, with no one able to work out the winner. The crowd stop cheering and it was like everyone was holding their breath. You could have heard a pin drop. Everyone just looked around, wondering if anyone knew who one. We all waited for the winner to be announced.

"In the photo first the winner of this year's Melbourne Cup is," the speaker paused as if they were enjoying the tense, "Man's Best Friend. Congratulations!"

I just froze on the spot not sure if it could really be true. Have I really just won the Melbourne Cup? I though. I willed for someone to pinch me, to wake me up if I was dreaming. At the point it was like someone had pressed the play button. The owners came running up to me, pulling me into a group hug. The realization flooded me and I to started jumping and screaming.

Ben and Manny walked into the winner's circle. The smile on his face was from ear to ear. Even Manny looked pretty happy with himself, holding his head up higher than usual. People yelled out their congratulations as they walked passed and even other jockeys in the race patted him on the back. Ben and my eyes meet and we smiled at each other and Ben winked at me ask if to say we did it!

I let the owners run up to Manny to lead him into the winner's circle. I just stood there smiling, unable to comprehend what has just happened. A new camera in my face brought me back down to reality.

"How does it feel to win the Melbourne Cup?" the news reporter asked.

"It's just amazing! I never thought it would happen!" I exclaimed.

"What's the plan going forward now?"

"Man's Best Friend will probably go for a spell to recover from this and then come back in the summer."

"Thanks and congratulations!"

By this point Mum, Dad and Adam had come down to the winner's circle.

"Well done Claire," Mum cried as she and Dad embraced me in a hug.

"Are you two crying?" I asked

"No no, just something in my eye," Dad replied, trying to sound rough. We laughed as we all knew that he was lying.

Ben came running up to us from his weigh-in and what happen next took me completely by surprise! He picked me up and twirled me around, before kissing me.

The sparks grew stronger than they were ever before, as now we shared a specially memory, a first for us both. It brought back memories of the first time he kissed me in the barn and the promise we made. He was now a successful jockey and I was a successful trainer. Our kiss was interrupted by a loud cough. We broke apart and my cheeks flushed bright red, when I saw who it was.

"I think you might have a bit of explaining young lady!" Dad gasped. My cheeks got even redder.

"Well Ben and I have been going out since my 21st birthday.” I blurted out. “We didn't want to tell anyone though because we didn't want you to stop Ben riding, seeing that his career was still growing."

"Oh my goodness Claire, your father and I would never treat a boyfriend of yours unfairly simply because you are together," Mum explained as she walked up to Ben and gave him a hug. "Welcome to the family Ben!"

"Thanks," Ben sheepishly replied.

"Just to let you know, if you ever hurt my sister's heart, I will hurt you," Adam sternly said.

"I think I might be the one whose heart gets broken," Ben laughed.

"Hey," I said as I playfully punched him. "Well we can stand around all day but I have another boy that I have to congratulate. Come on then."

"Horses will always come first in her life, I hope you know that," I heard Adam say to Ben as I walked over to Manny and his owners.

"Yeah, yeah I know," he laughed. They began play fighting and I could tell they would get on really well.

Manny was still enjoying himself when I reached him. The owners were making a big fuss of him and I could tell he liked the attention. After talking to the owners and a few more photos, I lead Manny back to his stall.

"You did a good job boy," I whispered. "You're name will be forever remembered as a Melbourne Cup winner and hopefully in the future for even more races."

Ben arrived just as I was finishing up with Manny.

"Sorry about early, I was caught up in the moment," he apologized, "it probably wasn't the way you imagined telling your parents."

"That's ok," I said. "At least my parents didn't find out by the screen." I had only just found out that Ben's parents had seen us kiss on the large screens they have around the race track.

"It’s fine," he laughed, "they're happy for us, especially Mum who finally has a daughter, well close enough anyway!"

"True," I laughed. "Well I got an SMS from Georgia and from the use of caps lock, I think she was very excited for us both. She wanted details, but I told her to wait. I have more important things to do."

I pulled him into the stall and kisses him. There was a few wolf whistles as people walked by, but I was enjoying it too much to care. By now everyone knew we were together.

"Don't ever leave me," I whispered.

"As long as you don't leave me," he replied.

"It's a deal!" Manny nodded his head to agree, as though he too was a part of this deal. 

"Alright Manny, you to!"

We gave him a hug and set him up for the night, before walking arm and arm together towards our family.

My life could have gotten any better. I had the best race horse, the best family and now the best boyfriend. The future couldn't look any brighter.

Author's Note: Lucky for you guys, I can't update tomorrow, so I decided to do it today. This is the last chapter :( and I hope you guys like it. There will be a sequel! I've written the plan and started the first chapter, but don't expect it out for a while. If there is anything you want included though, do let me know. I just wanted to thank you all for the support you have given me, I couldn't have done it without you! My first completed book!