Corey Nakatani at Del Mar ( raymond )

It’s a weird time right now. Hipsters are feeling patriotic, horse racing is woven tightly into the American experience via backdrop for TV shows and now jockeys are gossip fodder!

Equidaily pointed to an item on Corey Nakatani on AOL’s mega gossip site TMZ. Did he beat his wife? Get caught shoplifting? Have plastic surgery? Is there a picture of him spitting out of his car window? No. Apparently he’s annoyed about a 3 day suspension for cutting off another rider.

My guess is someone involved with the production of Jockeys, Win or Die Trying knows someone at TMZ and is trying to get Jocks firmly ensconced in potential viewers’ minds. The item seems right in line with how they’ll be portraying the Jocks.

One of the world’s most famous jockeys is more pissed than a race horse — claiming he’s been saddled with an unfair suspension for allegedly trying to screw up a race.

Judging by the 8 measly comments, they’ve got a long way to go…

Is he a celebrity? Hey, I know a shoeshine guy who lost his wax last week. Maybe you could do a story about him? He once auditioned for a movie and he seems like he could be important. I mean, after all, anyone counts as a celebrity on this site - even some jockey no one has ever heard of except the gamblers.

Ouch.

3 day suspension and he’s crying?? GEEEZ, grow up man. Obviously DMX shud be his role model. Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time!

I would have to agree with that one! But it wasn’t all haters at celebrity “news” central, a couple of “the gamblers” even chimed in!

if any of you played the ponies you would know who nakatani is. has been around a long time and won many races. i’ve never seen him be unsporting but hey, you never know. i’d rather not believe it considering his record.

I saw that race, he didn’t just cut off the horses but he used his horse to ram the other one which was passing him. A 3 day suspension I think is being to nice to him.

Indeed! The other 4 comments don’t seem related to the post at all.

Compare that with a post on GbG fav celebrity Susan Lucci, speculating on whether she’s aging well or surgically enhanced. That item has garnered 60 comments so far but perhaps it’s not a fair comparison. After all, as one TMZ commenter points out, “she’s ERICA KANE bitches!”

Posted by dana on Jan 22 2009    
Filed Under: Internet, Corey Nakatani, 2009, Mainstream Media, TV, Jocks, Marketing, Racing

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

4 Comments »

It’s a mainstream media extravaganza for horse racing these days!

A few weeks ago there was Leverage and the Real Housewives of Orange County.
Already this week there was a CSI Miami episode and tonight features Churchill’s marketing coup of American Idol auditions, no doubt to help bolster some of their new lines of business.

And then there’s the upcoming series Jockeys on Animal Planet. The news has been out about it for awhile but beyond little clips and sound bites we haven’t had a chance to see what they’re gonna do with it.

The wait is over, hat tip to Powercap for finding an embedable promo with some substance. The full site is finally up too… Jockeys, Win or Die Trying.

They weren’t kidding, that’s their angle! We all know danger is a part of the game, we all know breakdowns are a part of the game but I’m not entirely sure I wanna to see 2.5 breakdowns per scene under of the guise of the breakdown being glamorized.

There’s no doubt there’s a market for this angle, as Powercap points out, this series has the potential to “convince that masses that racing is more exciting than team sports and more extreme than the X games”. On the other hand, it also has the possibility of alienating potential fans who might already be uneasy with the danger associated to the game or worse yet, inflame those who already think horse racing is dog fighting for white people (one of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog’s best lines!).

Commenter Gib pointed out the approach of the CSI Miami episode did racing a disservice, reinforcing stereotypes that racing is always fixed (and that CSI Miami is a horribly acted show!). On the other hand commenter Walter pointed out the “out of site out of mind” principle and that having racing front and center can’t be all that bad.

Perhaps this sneak isn’t totally indicative of what’s to come for Jockeys, Win or Die Trying… it is marketing after all. But let’s say the majority of the series is like the sneak peak. Is this good for racing? Some will love it, some will hate it (and us) even more.

I know I’ll watch the show and probably love it, but I’m not going anywhere. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not Animal Planet’s job to market racing but the series won’t exist in a vacuum either. I’m curious to know if you think it will help or harm racing… or potentially worse, do nothing!

Posted by dana on Jan 21 2009    
Filed Under: Poll, 2009, Jockeys TV Show, Mainstream Media, TV, Fans, Jocks, Marketing, Racing

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

10 Comments »

Breaking mainstream media alert… Swifty just emailed me the following:

Also, just saw a promo for CSI: Miami (tomorrow night on CBS)… looks like the whole episode takes place at a racetrack.

A quick trip to the CSI Miami site confirms it:

January 19, 10pm et/pt
And They’re Offed

When a murder occurs during a horse race, Horatio discovers that Ryan has a personal connection to the case.

I’m a little surprised that they don’t have any promo video of the episode on the site, perhaps they will tomorrow? Either way, the episode title is certainly chuckle worthy. I’ll definitely DVR & watch it, thanks Swifty!

You may remember that just last month the show Leverage on TNT had a racing themed episode. Perhaps all of the former turf writers are ending up in TV? However it’s working out, I think it’s a great sign that racing is showing up in the mainstream media with some frequency.

Who knows, people might even remember that racing exists and show up at the track, unless the show scares them in to thinking they might be murdered. I guess we’ll just have to tune in and see!

Posted by dana on Jan 18 2009    
Filed Under: 2009, Mainstream Media, Racing in Pop Culture, TV

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

13 Comments »

Tiznow, awaiting his date with Pepper’s Pride (jeandiva)

Seems like a bit of a nutty news day today. Storm Cat will be starting a new career as a Quarter Horse stallion. While it may seem like an odd drop in class, apparently it’s not unheard of.

Storm Cat, 28, is not the first Thoroughbred stallion to sire foals from Quarter Horse mares. Leading sire Alydar did so when he stood at Calumet Farm near Lexington.

“I was told that Hennessy (by Storm Cat) had two stakes winners out of five Quarter Horse mares,” Waldman said about the deceased stallion.

And taking a jump in class in the shed is the recently retired and undefeated record holder Pepper’s Pride, who’s booked to the talented Tiznow. The internets had something to say about both of these news items!

Filed under “this should happen more often” it was announced again that Proud Spell would be returning to training! Since it happens so infrequently I found it just as exciting the second time it was announced as the first!

From the “Hey, wasn’t I just whining for something like this” department, it was announced that CHRB is launching what looks to be an expansive and potentially thorough pilot study of the synthetics surfaces.

“The plan is to have a team to collect data on a daily basis,” Breed said of the pilot study, which he said would involve CHRB investigative staff, track stewards and racetrack maintenance personnel. He said the collection has already started.

“The idea is to find out what the tracks are doing throughout the year,” Breed said.

A soils scientist/engineer, working with veterinarians and in cooperation with horsemen and racing associations, will test the racing surfaces. Synthesizing the results with current research and studies of tracks in other jurisdictions, standards that can be measured and compared would be developed.

A track steward in charge of safey [sic] would be responsible for seeing that the standards, once developed, are enforced.

According to a staff report, the pilot study will address areas of concern such as permeability, absorption of impact at various temperatures, and the effects of climate change and organic contamination.

I wonder if they knew of the dog that did not bark?

And from the “ghosts of Derby’s past” department, Peruvian mystery horse Tomcito from the 2008 derby trail showed up on the work tab yesterday at Palm Meadows Training Center! Ok, I read it today so it seemed like a news item from today.

You may remember that Tomcito did not have enough earnings to make the Derby and had drop out of the Belmont due to congestion. Since then it’s been nothing but silencio hasta ahora.

Albeit, none of these stories are as nutty as a commercial flight landing in the Hudson River around 48th street with only one injury… now THAT’S nutty!

Update: Tomcito worked again today, just three days from his first work in several months. You guessed it, nutty!

Posted by dana on Jan 16 2009    
Filed Under: 2009, Tomcito, Storm Cat, Research, Breeding

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

3 Comments »

A couple of comments and a post have jarred me back in to the land of wanting to blog about an “issue”. In a comment and then a a post, Joe of Michigan-Bred Claimer rightly questioned, without accusing, the connections of Go Between’s decision not to do an autopsy. He points out that by not getting questions answers about the cause of the death, it leaves room for people to draw their own conclusions. Not really something racing needs any more of.

GbG pal, commenter and photographer Jason expressed outrage over Indyanne’s death in relation to synthetics being touted as the safer surface.

Just a quick caveat before I get started, I try very hard not to be an “either/or” person…. bloggers vs. journalists, fans vs. players, synthetic vs. dirt. These issues are too complex to be boiled down to the kind of name calling or sweeping pronouncements we frequently see in posts and comments as of late. With that in mind, please don’t read this as straight up synthetics bashing.

That being said, I caught myself wondering if Indyanne should become the poster-filly for NOT rushing to synthetic surfaces? It’s the understatement of the decade to say that Eight Belles has become synonymous with racing’s need to clean up it’s safety act and many good things have come out it. Why shouldn’t some good come out of the death of Indyanne?

During my all too brief daily lunchtime twirl around the internet, I happened upon a post entitled “Catastrophic Racetrack Injuries and Breakdowns: The Dog That Did Not Bark” on site called Horse Racing Business by way of Paulick. The post talks about looking at ALL the factors that could possibly be contributing to breakdowns, not just the low hanging fruit.

The author provides some examples of factors not seriously being considered such as weather, field size, temperature, precipitation and distance to name a few.

These kinds of queries are suggestive of potentially fruitful lines of inquiry. They can be quantified and subjected to statistical analysis to search for answers upon which solutions can be based. My guess is that no one variable by itself comes close to accounting for breakdowns, but rather, synergy is involved.

The current approach of addressing safety issues seems somewhat similar to how medicine is practiced, looking at isolated factors without stepping back to determine how they effect one another. Addressing only the surface or steroid use or shoe type doesn’t seem too far off from “take a pill”. And what happens when the quick fix starts to show signs that indeed it’s just that?

If it were up to me, when we think of the loss of Indyanne we would think of the need for data, transparency and cooperation to solve our problems, not reacting quickly so it looks like we’re doing something. Granted, we all want action and results, but we should also be patient enough to have the work done that would yield real lasting results.

Posted by dana on Jan 14 2009    
Filed Under: 2009, Industry, Injury, Racing

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

5 Comments »