Santa Anita Starting Gate Crew in HBO Pilot "Luck"

The Latest Filming News from Santa Anita.

Santa Anita's starting gate crew waiting on set.

Now in its fifth week of filming on location at Santa Anita for the pilot series "Luck," the HBO film crew is utilizing Santa Anita's stellar starting gate crew quite a bit these days. I caught the guys relaxing between takes and apparently enjoying the action. Although it's a lot of "hurry up and wait" on the set and the days are incredibly long, the gate crew appeared to be holding up quite well.

This week, director Michael Mann has been out on the racetrack overseeing racing shots from a camera truck that speeds around the track in front of the field of horses and jockeys.

Director Michael Mann (third from right) gives instructions to jockey actors.

Mann on the camera truck preparing for a live race shot.

The gate crew (left) - an integral part of the movie's race scene.

When they're not filming an actual starting gate scene, the gate crew is there as part of the natural "background" in the racing shots. On race days, most of the crew wraps up work on the movie location by late morning then heads across town to Hollywood Park for their "real" jobs on the starting gate. All I can say is, don't let it go to your head, guys!

Jockey Joe Talamo on his Way to Kentucky Derby

Talamo at Clockers' Corner, Santa Anita, April 27, 2010.

A crew from ESPN was out at Clockers' Corner Tuesday morning to interview jockey Joe Talamo before he headed to Churchill Downs to ride Santa Anita Derby winner Sidney's Candy in the 136th Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 1.

Talamo spoke about the thrill he experienced last year when, at the tender age of 19, he made the trip to Louisville to ride in his first Kentucky Derby, only to experience the ultimate disappointment when his mount, I Want Revenge, the early favorite, was scratched before the race.

ESPN crew sets up for interview with Talamo at Santa Anita.

Talamo is incredibly gracious and well spoken and seems always to have a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye. We look forward to watching segments of his interview during ESPN's coverage of the Derby. Here's wishing him the best of racing luck this year!

Mobile Horse Racing Fun? Yah, There's an App for That!

Screen shot of an iDerby Quick Race board.

I have been asking for months, "Why doesn't someone come up with an easy iPhone app (application) about horseracing?" It seems like there's an app for everything these days, so why not something that can help market our great sport to a new, young audience who may know nothing about it? Everyone in Thoroughbred racing seems to agree that one of our problems is our failure to attract a new fan base of young people to a sport that often seems complicated and intimidating for a novice. With millions of people now playing all sorts of games on their iPods, phones, and computers, there is great opportunity to reach out and introduce them to horseracing. I think iDerby may be just the ticket!

As soon as I heard about iDerby I downloaded it. I don't have an iPhone, but it works just great on my iPod Touch. I love the simplicity and ease of setup, and the graphics are pretty awesome. I set up my own three-horse stable, chose the color of each horse, named each one, chose my silks, and I was ready to compete in the progressive series of "cups" with each of my runners. Of course, my top runner is named Country Tough, after my favorite "real" horse! He's already won four of the five "fruit cup" races and has moved up to the flower circuit.

The game's race mode is quite challenging and fun. There is actually some strategy involved during the races, with touchscreen buttons to "hold" or "whip" your horse and an option to move towards the rail or outside of the track by tilting the screen. Here's a video to give you a quick look at a race:



So let's spread the word about this cool new app and look forward to similar innovations that will help move our great sport of horseracing forward in the technological age!