I’m a little perturbed with all the spin about Stardom Bound being “barely best” beating an “unheralded” field and that her connections should face the “sobering reality”.

I couldn’t sum it up any better than Alan at LATG when he says:

Expecting to read the praises of the gritty win by Stardom Bound in the SA Oaks, I was surprised, and rather disappointed, to instead see it being framed in disappointment.

As Frankel put it, “She only ran 10 lengths farther than anybody else in the race”. Call me crazy, but I think having to overcome a wide, hideous, bumpy trip and still gutting it out to win is a plus, not a minus. But when one gets away on an easy lead with no challenge and wins by several lengths, well that’s impressive.

She’s staying put in my top 10 list for the PDI Index, I liked what I saw. (update: I removed her from my list after they announced she was off the trail. If she were still on the trail she would have remained at #2). Would I rather she had an effortless 6 length win? Sure, but what would she get out of that? The Oaks was probably the kind of race she needed if she wants to step up in to open company, and I hope she does!

But what do you think? Do you agree with Iavarone’s oversimplified (whoops, sorry!) assessment that she could “barely beat the girls” or do think she’s shown she can still get the job done even under adverse circumstances?

As for the last poll, it should come as no surprise that Chantal Sutherland was your favorite jock on Jockeys, Win or Die Trying. But, just like Stardom Bound in the Oaks, it wasn’t a runaway and she had to gut it out for the win! In the beginning it was a battle between Talamo & Gryder, but it didn’t take long for Sutherland & Smith to take over and battle for the lead. All the while Kayla Stra was in the mix and for several days she was on top!

There were a whopping 191 votes, that’s almost double the last most voted on poll (your biggest issue with the Breeders’ Cup) and I didn’t even promote this one! The final tally was 45 for Sutherland, 43 for Smith, 42 for Stra, 27 for Talamo, 26 for Gryder and 8 for Court.

As always, thanks for voting, even if you did you show up from a Google search for “pictures of Chantal Sutherland”!

Posted by dana on Mar 08 2009    
Filed Under: Kayla Stra, Jockeys TV Show, Iavarone, Aaron Gryder, Joe Talamo, I Want Revenge, Jon Court, Mike Smith, Stardom Bound, Chantal Sutherland, Derby Trail, Grrrr, Bobby Frankel, Poll, 2009, Impressive, Racing

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(AvrilLynn)

And it’s not the NTRA’s fault!

On the long flight back from the NTRA Marketing Summit in the fall, I caught an episode of Law & Order that I hadn’t seen (Jet Blue, darling). This is a rarity. The episode centered around a racially motived killing of a black man. The DA’s office didn’t have enough evidence to the make a solid case against the suspect so they were holding off on an arrest until they could make a proper case. The media was roasting them for not making an arrest and to make matters worse, the family of the victim assumed the worst and was going to every media outlet to rant about how the DA’s office didn’t care about them because they were black.

Meanwhile, back at the DA’s office, they were working overtime to try to get enough evidence to make a solid case… sure, they could have arrested the suspect right away but they didn’t want to risk going to trial without proper evidence and a solid case. They wanted to nail the suspect as much as anyone else. In short, they were doing the right thing. Only the media didn’t know it and the family of the victim didn’t believe it, so they forced the DA’s hand to make an arrest before they had all the evidence and guess what happened. It didn’t hold up in court.

Oh, the irony that the DA’s good intentions and hard work were unknown to the public. Admittedly, the DA’s office could have done more to let the people know they were working their tushes off and doing the right thing, but that would take valuable time and effort from them working their tushes off and doing the right thing.

By all accounts “Jockeys, Win or Die Trying” seems to be doing well, I’ve even heard a rumor that there will be a second season. If my traffic growth from searches for all things “Jockeys” is any indication, there’s a lot of potential to generate new fans.

Right after it became clear that the series was not going to only be the breakdown packed jamboree that was the promotion, I started muttering how it would be great to do some promotion for Derby preps during Jockeys.

Last week the Derby prep schedule was announced. Here’s what happened on Twitter 2 seconds after seeing it…

Me: “sure hope they plan to advertise these races during Jockeys, Win or Die Trying”

Others immediately chimed in with:

“I think that would make entirely too much sense to be allowed.”

“No chance anyone gets that bright idea.”

“ESPN has the money to advertise on Animal Planet, right?”

“If not ESPN, then how about the NTRA? Isn’t their mission to promote the game?”

“NTRA pretty much pays to have the shows on ESPN in the first place.”

Tough crowd! This time last year I would have immediately rattled off a post about the missed opportunity assuming that everyone involved was asleep at the wheel. This year I decided I would just send my thoughts directly to Alex Waldrop, subject “You probably already thought of this…”.

As it turns out, indeed they had thought of it AND looked into it. Sure money and available slots for advertising are always issues, and to add insult to injury the preps start airing the week AFTER the series ends. But let’s say there is a second season, and that second season even overlaps with actual racing. Then we certainly could and should plan to do some strategic advertisements on Friday night to “Take Back Saturday“, right? How perfect!

Not so fast, according to Waldrop:

The issue is one of network limitation. Animal Planet will not tolerate an ad that sends the viewer to another network. While exclusivity is a dirty work in the horse racing TV world, it is alive and well in the major network world.

How do you like them apples… something stupid not in racing!

Who knows when the alleged second season would be. Perhaps if there’s overlap with the Derby or the Breeders Cup there could be general, not driving viewers to another network, promotion sending viewers to KentuckyDerby.com or BreedersCup.com where they could find out when and where they could watch.

Waldrop assures me that they will be exploring all of their options. And I believe him, even though I’m sure there plenty of you out there won’t. And I can’t say that I blame you, sometimes it seems like no one is paying attention to the obvious stuff.

In one of his replies, after answering a question he wrote “Running into an NTRA Board meeting for final approval of the Alliance Code of Standards”. After meeting Waldrop et al and seeing them in action, I now assume that they’re doing the right thing… even if they’re too busy doing the right thing to always let us know everything that’s going on.

Posted by dana on Mar 04 2009    
Filed Under: Industry, 2009, Jockeys TV Show, Twitter, Internet, Mainstream Media, Derby Trail, Marketing, TV, NTRA, Racing

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Has the show Jockeys, Win or Die Trying got you thinking about becoming a Jockey? You’re not alone. But how does one go about getting in shape to become a jockey? Where can one practice?

You may have noticed one piece of equipment in particular in the jockey’s room, the Equicizer. It’s basically a mechanical horse. Here Chantal Sutherland and Mike Smith demo one:

Looks like Mike was winning!

Here’s a young man’s first time on the Equicizer, with some help from his coach and plenty of practice he’ll be ready for morning work outs quicker than you can say 4am!

Definitely not as easy as jockeys make it look.

Some aspiring jockeys like to watch classic race replays to get in the mood. Here a young jock puts in a light workout while watching the intro to what sounds like the 2000 Distaff:

Too bad she didn’t do a flying dismount!

Some people have a treadmill in their house, jockeys have Equicizers. Here’s a guy working out in the living room. He’s eventually joined by his roommate who settles in to watch TV:

It looks to me like his roommate interrupted him.

But what if you don’t have an Equicizer or even know where to find one? You’re in luck! This crafty aspiring jockey has assembled a makeshift home version, also known as the Equipillow! And like all good DIY-ers she’s kind enough to show her build process:

Don’t let your lack of access to horses or an Equicizer keep you from your dream… you’ve got pillows, don’t you? You’re gonna need this kind of determination if you’re gonna make it as a jockey!

Posted by dana on Mar 01 2009    
Filed Under: Mike Smith, Jockeys TV Show, 2009, Internet, Chantal Sutherland, YouTube, Jocks

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Hystericalady in the paddock prior to the 2008 Breeders’ Cup (Drew42e)

My friend Google tells me that, in addition to pictures of Chantal Sutherland, that the internets wants to know more about Hysterical Lady, aka Hystericalady. What the internets wants the internets gets!

Hystericalady, featured as Zenyatta’s main and only competition in the Lady’s Secret on “Jockey’s, Win or Die Trying” is no slouch. Of her 23 lifetime races she had 11 wins, 4 places and 2 shows, that’s 74% in the money and a win percentage of 48%. In both 2007 and 2008 she was only out of the money in one race, she turned in solid performances on both dirt and synthetic surfaces and won at both sprints and routes (races longer than a mile).

She’s knocked heads with almost all of the tough filly & mares of her time including champion Ginger Punch, Nashoba’s Key, Tough Tiz’s Sis, Lemon Drop Mom, Octave, Intangaroo and, of course, Zenyatta.

Here’s her Wikipedia entry, Pedigree Query entry and Bloodhorse Profile. While I don’t recall it being announced, I believe she was retired. She was purchased at auction for $3 Million this fall after the Breeders’ Cup by Sheik Mo.

John Ferguson purchased Hystericalady, the most expensive horse of the day as of 5:30 p.m., on behalf of Sheikh Mohammed al-Maktoum. Taylor Made, agent, consigned the mare, one of 11 horses to bring $1 million or more by that point in an atmosphere middle-market consignors ruefully described as more famine than feast.

Hystericalady, a 5-year-old Distorted Humor mare, went through the ring as an exceptional racing or broodmare prospect, leaving her buyer an option to race. But Ferguson said it was “unlikely” Maktoum would elect to run her again, even though trainer Hollendorfer assured him after the hammer fell that the mare is entirely sound. The chestnut daughter of Chilean champion Sacramentada came to the sale off a fifth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic and hit a rare home run in the market.

Enjoy these replays, it’s too bad there aren’t more as she put in a lot of really game efforts.

2007 Humana Distaff (worst audio ever!):

2007 Breeders’ Cup Distaff:

2008 Humana Distaff:

2008 Delaware Handicap:

2008 Lady’s Secret (featured in Jockeys, Win or Die Trying):

2008 Breeders’ Cup Distaff (her last race, and only off the board effort in 2008):

Posted by dana on Feb 10 2009    
Filed Under: Auction, Zenyatta, Tough Tiz's Sis, Jockeys TV Show, Ginger Punch, YouTube, Retirement, Hystericalady, Octave, Race Replay, Racing

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Kayla Stra with her mount prior to a race (yausser)

Hello Googlers! It’s come to my attention (by way of Google) that you might interested in learning more about Chantal Sutherland and Kayla Stra. While you won’t find any sexy, naked or bikini pictures here, I do have some good news!

Both lovely and talented jocks were in the money this weekend and Stra even brought home a 8-1 shot in the 5th on Sunday! What does that mean? It means at least a few of the horses they were riding finished 1st, 2nd or 3rd, also known as win, place and show or “in the money”.

When the jock is riding the winning horse, they share a percentage of the winnings, known as the purse. In show “Jockeys, Win or Die Trying” they make it seem as though the Jockeys take the whole purse, not the case. The jockeys, along with the trainers, take a percentage of the winnings. Of course, jockeys then have to pay their agents a percentage. And in some cases the purse is split up among the finishers.

Thanks to commenter Bob Lee for providing this reference from Chris McCarron’s North American Racing Academy (jockey school!):

Jockeys are paid on a per mount (race) basis. The fees are between $30 per mount and $100 per mount depending on the purse structure at each particular track. Those are the fees jockeys receive if they do not finish first, second or third. The jockey of the winning horse receives an amount equal to 10% of the winning owner’ s share of the total purse. (The winning owner in most states receives 60% of the total purse.) The second place jockey receives 5% of the owner’ s share of the second place purse money. (The second place owner receives 20% of the total purse in most states.) The third place jockey receives 5% of the owner’ s share of the third place purse money. (The third place owner receives 15% of the total purse in most states.) The most successful jockeys can earn over a million dollars a year. The least successful will make less the $20,000 per year. The record for purse earnings in one year by a jockey is $23,354,960.00* set by Jerry Bailey in 2003. *These are the earnings of the horses, not the jockey. As a rule of thumb, a jockey’ s real earnings are approximately 7% of the horses’ earnings.

For example, in the the aforementioned 5th on Sunday, Ju Ju Baby ($18.40) won a $16,300 maiden claimer in which $9,000 went to the winner, $3,000 went to the 2nd place finisher, $1,800 to the third, $900 to the fourth and $400 to 5th-8th (there were 8 horses running in this race). Figure 10% for Stra of Ju Ju Baby’s winnings and some percentage of that for her agent (15-25% maybe?). Worst case scenario she made $675 and best she made $765.

On Saturday Stra also placed (came in second) with long shot Goodlookindude in the 10th, a maiden claimer with a purse of $17,000. She got 5% of $3,000 less the agent’s fee for somewhere between $112.50 to $127.50. While obviously not fabulous money, ya gotta start somewhere and she’s starting to 1) build relationships and 2) get a rep for bringing home long shots . . . both are good.

Sutherland hit the board for 3rd with long shot Victory Pete ($17.40) in the Strub, a Grade II with a $250,000 purse. The winner took home $150,000, second took $50,000, third took $30,000, fourth took $15,000 and fifth took $5,000. So Sutherland’s take was $1,500 less her agent’s fee for somewhere in the range of $1,125 to $1,275.

If you want to keep an eye on how Sutherland, Stra, Mike Smith, Joe Talamo, Jon Court or Aaron Gryder are doing, you can always go to the Daily Racing Form to see the results. Scroll down to Santa Anita and click on a date (or if you don’t see Santa Anita, look for Hollywood Park or Fairplex… these are the southern Cali racing circuit tracks). Here are the results for this past Saturday and Sunday. If you want to find out when they’re racing, check out the entries!

In other Lady Jock news, I noticed over the weekend that there’s another new racing film called The Boys Club about hall of fame jockey Julie Krone. There’s not a ton of detail about the production but it says that it will be filming on location in 2009… does this mean we’ll the cast and crew at Belmont and Saratoga? I hope so!

There’s also Jock, the Movie in production, or perhaps even post-production, about the first generation of women jockeys. And let’s not forget Female on the Horse, a site that features hundreds of interviews with female jockeys.

But if you just wanted to look at pictures of Sutherland and Stra, you can do that too!

Posted by dana on Feb 09 2009    
Filed Under: Kayla Stra, Aaron Gryder, Joe Talamo, Jon Court, Jockeys TV Show, Mike Smith, Fans, Chantal Sutherland, 2009, Racing

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