“Swell,” Alec answered. “So do the pants and the cap.” He put on the cap and pulled the long peak down over his eyes to show Henry.

Henry straightened the number 3 on Alec’s arm. “They’ll bring you luck,” he said. “They did me.…”

Alec was on his way back from the track when he passed the two jockeys who were riding Cyclone and Sun Raider. They looked much older than they did in the pictures he had seen in the newspapers.

One of them saw him. “Say, you’re the kid with the mystery horse, aren’t you?”

Alec nodded.

“So you’re actually going to ride in this race!” Sun Raider’s jockey grinned. “We thought you were just part of a publicity gag, didn’t we, Dave?”

The other jockey pulled him by the arm. “Come on,” he said, “quit wastin’ time.” Then he looked at Alec. “Better take it easy in this race, kid.” They turned and walked away.

Alec’s anger mounted as he walked toward the stables. Who did those guys think they were, anyway! Just because they were old hands at this game they thought they owned the track.

Henry had the Black out of his stall when he got back.

“All set, kid?” he asked.

“All set.”

The noise from the distance made the stallion nervous. Alec rubbed his neck.

“Just a few things I want you to remember, Alec,” Henry continued. “There isn’t much to tell you about handling the Black—you know more about him than I do. You’re a good rider, and I’ve taught you all the tricks I know—now, it’s up to you to put them in use. Those other two jockeys are the slickest riders in the game. They won’t let you get away with a thing—but they won’t try anything that’s outside the rules; they’re smart but not dirty. They’re out to win, but so are you. Remember you’ve got all the horse under you that they have.”

“I’m sure of that, Henry,” Alec interrupted as he looked proudly at the Black.

“I can’t tell you to hold him back,” Henry continued, “because you won’t be able to. Stay on him and ride like you never have before! If the Black’s the kind of a horse we’ve been figuring him to be, he should win all the way!”

Cyclone was the first out of the barn for the big race. He received lusty cheers on his way to the paddock. He was draped in a flaming red robe and wore red blinkers.

A few minutes later Sun Raider was led from the barn almost wholly concealed in a white woolen blanket. He pranced nervously and his small head turned viciously around. Another cheer went up from the crowd gathered around the paddock rail when they saw him.

Then a hush fell upon the crowd as the Black appeared, covered in his new black robe and accompanied by old Napoleon. Alec held him by the lead rope attached to his halter. The stallion reared and Alec let the rope slip through his fingers until he came down. The Black’s eyes blazed when he saw the other stallions. Alec remembered the fight the Black had had with the chestnut stallion in Rio. He tightened his grip on the rope and walked him far behind the others when they reached the paddock stalls.