A Day At The Races

by Tekwolf

Ray was a man that liked to bet. He would bet on anything at all. He once placed a bet on whether his child soon to be born, would be a boy or girl. This bad habit had brought a lot of grief to Ray, but he just couldn't stop. He was an addict. This is what caused his wife to divorce him. She took their daughter and moved all the way to California, where her parents lived. She knew that Ray wouldn't be able to gather enough money to come out there and it was what she had planned. She was through with him and never wanted to see him again. He then lost the lease on his apartment, because he had a run of bad luck at the track and had no money for rent.

Ray was a pitiful excuse of a human being. He had an old car that he was now living in and the clothes on his back. Anyone would have thought that, having fallen this low, Ray would have tried to do something to improve himself. The trouble was, he didn't care. He actually thought that there was nothing wrong with the way he lived. Ray became an almost permanent fixture at the local race track. He would work part of the day at anything that he could find to get a few dollars, then he would make for the track and bet till it was gone. He didn't loose all of the time. Sometimes he even managed to double or triple the original amount, but by the end of the races, was usually broke again.

Ray had established a daily routine. After his daily dose of work, he would head for the track. Once there, he would make his way to the horse stables, to look at the horses. You see, he fancied that he could tell >from the look of the horse, whether it would win or not. No one had an ability like that, but Ray really didn't have a grip on reality anyway. He was soon to be brought back to reality. Although he didn't know it, he was going to start a new career and it was going to be a very profitable one. But not for Ray.

Ray followed his usual pattern. He worked for a local lady, cleaning her yard and after she paid him, he headed for the track. He made his way through the gate and headed for the stables. He looked into most of the stalls, then came to a stall that was usually empty. 'Hey man!" Ray looked around to see who had called him. He heard it again, then realized it was coming from the formally empty stall. "You want the tip of the century, Man? This tip will make you lots of bucks!" Ray couldn't see who was speaking and this bothered him. He should get the hell out of there. "No one was going to rob him though," hr thought," everyone knows that I don't have much." The greed started to get to him. Maybe if this tip was really good, he could hit it big for a change. He walked into the room.

Before his eyes could adjust, someone hit Ray in the head, from behind. He saw flashes and fell to the ground. He lay there moaning. He wasn't out cold, but couldn't seem to clear his head. He felt a sting on his arm and then a warmth flooded up the appendage and spread out over his chest. He was suddenly weak and flee onto his st6omach. Ray found that even though his head was clearing, he couldn't move. He was rolled over and two men began to strip his clothes from him. Ray was horrified. He figured that they were going to rape him, but that wasn't their plan at all. After all they had him stripped, they began to explain what was going to happen.

"You might wonder what we are going to do to you. This is Mr. Conners. He is a pioneer in genetic research. You see, he has developed a chemical, that when combined with genetic material and injected into a host, will cause that host's DNA to mutate into that of the donor." "You may also wonder what part I play in al this. You see, Dr. Conners is out of money and can't continue his research. We met quite by accident and when he explained his problem, I had an idea to make us both rich. We're going into horse racing. You Ray, are going to be our horse!" "Imagine a horse with the intelligence of a human. You will throw races, until the odds against you are very high indeed, then you are going to win and make us all a bundle."

Ray was horrified as what the man had told him sunk in. He fought with all of his mind to move, but there was no response from any muscle. He couldn't even make a sound. He was totally paralyzed. 'By now you realize that you are unable to move. We injected you with a powerful muscle relaxer and you have no choice. Lay there and enjoy it." With that Dr. Conners reached into his case and brought out a huge hypodermic needle. The syringe was filled with a milky fluid. This he bent over and slid the needle into Ray's arm and depressed the plunger. Ray felt fire race up his arm and spread out into the rest of his body. He had hot and cold flashes and oddly erotic feelings. The doctor then made a second injection into the same arm. He explained that this would counter act the muscle relaxer. In a few seconds, Ray could move a little again. As he sat up, things started to change.

His body was itching and he scratched. He noticed that brown hair was pushing out from skin all over his body. His hands suddenly clenched uncontrollably, became numb and were covered with a hard substance as they became hooves. His feet were suffering the same fate. His knees cracked as they reversed themselves. The rest of his legs throbbed and changed. His thighs got thinner and Ray saw something that shocked his worse that anything before. His formerly small set of sexual equipment swelled. His testicles became huge and his penis grew and was covered by a hairy foreskin that attached its self to his stomach.

He breathed out and as his chest expanded, it didn't return. His breathing deepened as lungs expanded and spine lengthened. A formerly flat stomach expanded outward and Ray lost balance and fell over onto his side. His arms, now front legs, shifted as shoulders changed. A sharp pain is his rear, signaled a tail pushing out of his now lengthened spine. Lastly his neck grew, as his face pushed out into an equine muzzle. Sight changed and sense of smell greatly intensified, as the change completed.

Ray struggled with his new body. He felt like he was going to suffocate, laying on his side. He fought his way upright and tried to coordinate four legs. He finally got them under himself and surged to his feet. He stood there panting. The man moved over to him and placed a halter over his head. Ray snorted and pranced backwards. "Hold still," the man told him. "You have to have a halter. All horses do and You're going to let me put on a saddle also." "Now, I know what you're thinking. Why should I cooperate with a man that turned me into an animal?" "I'll tell you why. You can do your best and win us lots of money, then we'll sell you for stud purposes. You'll have a wonderful life as a horse. If you screw us, its off to the glue factory!!!"

Sending a horse to the glue factory, never meant much to Ray before, but he found that now that he was a horse, it terrified him. That bastard certainly knew how to push all of the right buttons. Ray did as he was told. He hated the saddle. It was unnatural and he wanted it off. He fought this feeling. It was the horse instincts trying to take over. "The jockey that we've hired isn't in on our plan," the man told Ray. 'As far as he knows, you are a real horse and you better act like one. Follow those new instincts you have." Ray vowed to himself right then and there, that he would get even with that bastard, one day!"

Everything went as planned. Ray fought the urges of the horse to run all out and the directions of the jockey and finished dead last for the first several races. After that he raced well enough to qualify for the derby. He was way out in the field and the odds on him was 30 to 1. The two men bet everything they had on the derby and left it up to Ray to win. The man once more threatened Ray. "This is the big one. You had better win! Remember, there is still the glue factory. Ray knew that by now he was valuable and there was no way that the man would carry out that particular threat, but as he had had time to think, he realized that a life at stud might not be so bad.

Ray was nervous. The jockey knew his business and Ray found his words were calming. He pranced into the starting gate, then they were off! Ray shot out of the gate like a bullet. He ignored the directions of the jockey and set his sights on the lead horse. He hung of his rear until they were rounding the last turn. He beared down and moved to the inside against the rail. He stretched out with every stride and started to pull away. It seemed that his belly was almost on the ground. He was winning! He was winning! As the finish line flashed by, he looked back to see the other horses were way back behind him. Alright!! He had done it! "Almost Human" had won the derby! It seemed that the man had a sick sense of humor in naming him.

Ray's life changed with that magnificent win. He basked in the glory of the moment. This was the finest thing he had ever accomplished as either a human or a horse. Ray never found out how much his new owner had paid for him. He knew what was ahead for him and looked forward to it. The new owner and the man signed the papers in the stable. As they completed the deal, Ray lashed out with his rear hooves and connected with the bastard's chin. There was a satisfyingly loud crunch and the man collapsed. Ray knew he had a broken jaw and also knew there was nothing he could do about it now. He belonged to another. He wanted a shot at the doctor also, but realized that that wasn't going to happen. His new owner grabbed his reigns and led him to a trailer. He was on his way to a new life. He had finally made an improvement!

End

A Day At The Races copyright 1997 by Tekwolf.