TFSIM Breaks Well From the Gate
Brad Hennegan with the proverbial framed dollar bill from their 1st patron & my thumb (Railbird).
While reading my email this morning I got this message from Railbird, “I feel terrible you’re cut off — I must have been standing too close when taking this picture”. My reply was “I could tell when you were taking it that I wasn’t going to be in it… which was fine by me :)”
The cropped version is much better and I LOVE the look on the guy’s face (who’s name I can’t remember… so please leave a comment with your name if you’re reading this!). He’s a friend of John’s from college and the first official patron of the film!
It was a real premier with a celebrity and everything (even though I have to say I don’t know who she is, but she was attractive and well styled!). It was a nice turn out of supporters & well wishers and we were treated to a private screening of one hell of a great film.
I attended with Teresa, Jessica and Mr. Railbird, who’s not a horseplayer, but clearly knows at least a little something about racing by way of being Mr. Railbird! He gave the film the thumbs up as a well made documentary by anyone’s standards, not just for fans.
As we wandered aimlessly through the throngs of horses asses NYU students boozing away the out enjoying a quasi-balmy Thursday evening, we chatted about the film. The three of us Ladies had all seen the film a year ago when it was screened at the Tribeca Film Festival. We agreed unanimously that after seeing it again it made us feel great about racing.
The sense of emotion is so palpable in the film whether it’s the trainers being nervous before a race, family members elaborating on the struggles of the trainers or the inevitable outcome of the fate of Barbaro… you could feel it all. Everyone was all in at every moment and if that’s not a draw I don’t know what is.
Seeing it again reminded me that the first race I ever purposefully watched was the 2006 Preakness. Two weeks prior I was running errands in my neighborhood and walked by a hang out spot that was full of well dressed drunk people in the middle of the afternoon. I noticed there were a hell of a lot of hats. About a block a later it came it me, the Derby.
I had flirted with horse racing prior, occasionally happening upon a race being broadcast and being taken by how absolutely stunning & powerful horses are as athletes, how damn exciting a horse race is and how two minutes is as long as I can pay attention to any sporting event. However, without any guidance I could never find a way into racing as a fan. I knew that the Derby was coming up and wanted to wanted to watch it but by the time I got home I had missed it.
A little later I got text from a friend that said simply “Horses Baby!”. She had put $20 on Barbaro at a Derby Party because she liked his name. For the next two weeks Barbaro was her horse, and she was not alone.
Since I had to hear about Barbaro for two weeks I was pretty tuned into the Preakness. When it came time to view it I needed subtitles. I really wanted to know what the hell they were talking about it but didn’t have a clue. It was obvious that everyone was expecting big things from Barbaro but that was about it.
I don’t remember much about it except for Barbaro breaking through the gate prior to the race and how the announcers intoned that it was not a good sign. I also remember thinking how much more exciting it would be if I knew the horses and what was at stake.
The film captures the hard work of each team, the hope mixed with “wait and see” and the sheer will and effort it takes to get there in a way that any great documentary does… by being there every step of the way, letting the subjects do the work (i.e., their thing) and hanging the story together in away that makes it “real”. It also shows us that the Derby itself is the real star of the film, like a play put on every year where the same actor plays the lead but the extremely talented supporting cast changes. This year’s casting of the Derby is no different.
In hindsight I was right… knowing the horses and what’s at stake does make it MUCH more exciting, then and now.
Posted by dana on Apr 11 2008
Filed Under: Hennegan Brothers, First Saturday in May, 2008, Kentucky Derby, Preakness, Fans, Derby Trail, Barbaro, Racing
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