Cryptic notes from the crib
......................................
Winners (and also rans)
......................................
Yoshito Yahagi
Horse trainer
Yahagi san rides Contrail, winner of yesterday’s Japan Cup, to retirement.
https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/255243/contrail-bows-out-with-japan-cup-win Respect all around and a positive image for horse racing that makes gimmicky and slotty races driven by greed and ridiculous amounts of prize money plus constant talk of “the punt” look and sound like the tacky chump change that it is.
Here is what the advertising and marketing of horse racing should be- something with an emotional attachment and not another lazy piece of artwork featuring riders seemingly plodding inside a soup bowl. Please.
As our friend Josh Rodder wrote, “A privilege and honour to call Mr Yahagi a friend. Wonderful horseman and the way Japan honour the horse is something we here in Australia could learn a lot from”.
Well said @gurujosh
......................................
Deane Lester
Australia’s foremost racing analyst. Should be in the Racing Hall Of Fame.
......................................
Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges
CEO Hong Kong Jockey Club
Sure he gets paid the very big bucks, but the buck also stops with him, and we sometimes take his efforts for granted.
If not for his leadership skills, the man many of us know as “E.B”, the HMS Hong Hong Racing Bubble would have sunk in 2019 when the local droogs took to the streets and brought this city to a screeching halt.
Still, through his efforts, horse racing carried on and gave Hong Hong a much needed respite from the toil and trouble.
The world might not be out of the woods yet whereas Hong Hong has constant challenges to meet. But there’s still “E.B” to meet these head on.
He might bow, but he doesn’t bend. And he’s no fool.
......................................
Born To Ride
Jessica Rae Springsteen
American equestrian star
Daughter of Rock star Bruce Springsteen and wife Patti Sciaffa.
......................................
Coming soon: “Is It Rolling, Bob?”
They are the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s most effective street marketing team- the handful of passionate local racing fans who attend every single race meeting and stand there for hours on end shooting around 50 photos of everything leading up to and including each race.
All these photos are then uploaded onto Facebook and Instagram.
These photographers are not gamblers nor do they ask for any money for their work. This work is to them a hobby and done for the love of the game.
One can’t help but think of certain senior racing executives who are paid millions to...well, we don’t really know why- but we do.
In the meantime, as a salute to these hobbyist racing photographers, especially Wallace Wan and Donald Lee, below, a documentary, tentatively and cryptically titled, “Is it rolling, Bob?” is being produced starting next month that focuses on them.
Produced by a small independent group of filmmakers and creative types with years of experience in every facet of advertising and marketing and closely connected to a global streaming service, the racing and, more importantly, the non-racing world, can get to know all about them.
They’ll be able to understand how very differently the Chinese racing media thinks compared to the English racing media, what motivates these photographers to do what they do and, as we like to say, “Next steps”.
Below are examples of some of Wallace and Donald’s most recent work...
......................................
......................................
Swimming with The Sharkie while on Gatorade
To those outside of the racing bubble, being a tipster in racing is a pretty weird career decision. It’s not exactly like deciding to be a doctor or a plumber or even a lion tamer. But everyone is free to follow their own dreams.
As for racing’s tipsters and how deep into the game one is, some we accept, others we tolerate and most we delete. Why complicate an already complicated pastime that’s meant to be fun.
Those tipsters, however, given platforms to just prattle on and on and on and with no direction of home are tough to stomach. One has to wonder who their fairy godmother might have been.
At least for us- and we’re all different- two pretty high profile racing tipsters from the land Down Under with the above effect on our psyche immediately come to mind: Gator and the Sharkie blah blahs.
Their nattering not only adds to the image of horse racing being an old person’s pastime understood by an ageing audience, it also shows just how much those involved in horse racing differ from country to country and culture to culture and with extremely few common denominators and with little or no room to grow.
......................................
The need to tweet...
Going on Twitter to tell the world that you’ve won 3 percent of a $200 Quaddie.
......................................
Dr Hunter S Thompson at the Kentucky Derby
......................................
The Dead People’s Racing and Sports Radio station whose main sponsor- The Tobin Brothers- promises listeners a fond Adieu as they celebrate lives.
An interesting sponsorship deal and media buy. A marriage made in- ding dong- heaven.
......................................
Here we go again: Playing The Mental Health card
It’s become too easy and all too predictable: It’s a trend we can do without. If a high profile sportsperson is caught with their pants down, or coke out, what’s pulled out is the mental health card, and the world is asked to please understand and give them room to breathe. It might also offer management time to regroup.
This is not to say that there isn’t stress involved, especially if having been carrying the weight of guilt and other problems that have yet to be made public- like being blackmailed by a serial thief.
More seriously, what all this crying wolf does is take away from the seriousness of a disease that’s crippled many not protected by celebrityhood and highly paid enablers.
Mental health issues are not like the common cold. There can be much work before being whole again.
Celebrities constantly using the Get Out Of Jail Free card might be a clever tactical diversion- but it also doesn’t help those out there and asked to fight this silent enemy alone.
......................................
Who’s known as the Drama Queen Of Pretentiousness And Shallowness of Australian horse racing? It’s a she, ok.
......................................
To be continued....and continued and continued and...
Comments