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Dad,” Carole mumbled sleepily. “It’s Saturday.”
    Lisa, by now at least half awake, nudged Carole with her elbow. “Hey, wake up,” she said. “We have to get over to the racetrack.”
    “The racetrack!” Carole said, suddenly wide awake. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. “Let’s go!” She glanced down at her watch and gasped. “Is it really four A.M .?”
    Judy was heading for the door. “I’ve got to finish drying my hair. I’ll leave it to you two to get Stevie up.”
    Within forty minutes all three girls were dressed, though still yawning and rubbing their eyes. Judy led them out of the room and downstairs to the parking lot.
    “I still can’t believe I’m awake at this hour,” Lisa groaned as she climbed into the backseat of Judy’s car, clutching her camera.
    Stevie slumped down in a corner of the front seat and fought to keep her eyes open. “I know what you mean,” she mumbled. “And I thought
school
started too early!”
    A few minutes later they were at the track, heading for the Maskee Farms stables. Despite the early hour, the stable area was bustling with activity. The Saddle Club watched as Eddie saddled Monkeyshines with a little help from Blackie, who seemed determined to chew on the ends of the horse’s reins. Then Mr. McLeod and histrainer led the colt out to the track for his final prerace workout.
    “Come on,” Eddie said, noticing the girls watching. “You want to see him work, don’t you?”
    “You bet,” Stevie said.
    Eddie led The Saddle Club to a spot along the outside rail. “You’ll have a pretty good view from here,” he said. He pointed to a group of three horses galloping around the far turn. “As soon as that bunch is finished, Monk will have his turn. Mr. McLeod wants him to work alone today.”
    “What’s he going to be doing, exactly?” Lisa asked.
    “Well, since it’s race day, this is really more of a warmup than a real workout,” Eddie explained. “Monk will just trot for a half-mile or so to loosen up, and then gallop for another half-mile. But he won’t be going at his full racing speed. He’s got to save that for this afternoon.”
    Stevie noticed that there were a lot of other people standing at the rail farther down the track, watching as the horses exercised. “Who are they?” she asked Eddie.
    “Some of them are reporters, some are the owners or trainers of other horses,” he said. “They like to time the horses’ workouts so they can see what their horses might be up against.”
    Carole looked more carefully. “Hey, there’s Deborah,” she said. Just then Deborah noticed the girls and gave them a quick wave before returning her attention to the horses on the track.
    “She looks pretty busy,” Lisa commented. She noticed that Kent Calhoun was also among the group, and wrinkled her nose, remembering his rudeness the day before.
    A moment later she forgot all about Kent as the group of horses on the track finished their workout and left. It was Monkeyshines’s turn. The jockey had arrived and mounted, and he was steering the eager colt onto the track. Lisa got her camera ready. She wanted to get plenty of pictures now in case she couldn’t get close enough during the race.
    If the girls had thought Monkeyshines was beautiful in his stall, they were even more impressed by seeing him in motion. Every move he made was smooth and controlled. Taut muscles rippled beneath his sleek coat as he trotted, then moved easily into a gallop.
    “Wow,” Carole said admiringly as Monkeyshines finished his workout and Eddie led the colt back toward the barn. “He’s so perfect. He really is going to be hard to beat today, isn’t he?”
    “Hey, look,” Stevie said. “Here comes his rival.”
    The others turned to see Garamond stepping calmly onto the track, accompanied by two other Thoroughbreds.
    “Let’s stay and watch him,” Carole suggested.
    “Good idea,” Stevie agreed. “It couldn’t hurt to see the competition in