Big upset, some great TV
Horse players and racing industry players alike have something interesting to do between races this season — our own soap-opera like TV habit that could be called "As the Race Track Turns." It's a real-life show on the Animal Planet Friday at 9 p.m. eastern that features a behind-the-backstretch-rail, in-the-jockey's-room, in-the-bedroom-closet, look deep inside horse racing called "Jockeys," for short, "Jockeys: Win or Die Trying," on the website.
The series opened Feb. 6 with two 30-minutes episodes back to back.
Few sports have kept fans at whip's length like horse racing horses popping into and out of gates, then being hustled off for some R and R and drug testing; jockeys hustling in and out of their quarters; gussied-up owners and trainers reciting speeches from Kentucky Derby and Breeder's Cup days.
Until this series galloped up, you might have had a better behind-the-scenes look at Congress.
"Jockeys" is something like "Hard Knocks" on HBO when, most recently, Cowboy owner Jerry Jones gave viewers an inside look at screwing things up again.
Just look at what you get with the revolving world of "Jockeys:"
Romance!
This beginning of the series is set at the most recent Oak Tree meet at Santa Anita and opens with the viewable Shantal Sutherland moving into Mike Smith's condo and taking over his closet space. This relationship is shown to be simultaneously loving and humorous. When Chantal is feeling low about where her riding career is going in LA and is thinking about moving back to Seattle, Mike Smith reassures her that he would be fine there in his condo and closets all by himself, his eyes seeming to twinkle as though he were on a stakes horse with an uncontested lead.
Tough guys!
Jockey Garrett Gomez is suggested to be an argument just waiting to be heard.
Danger!
Narrative over some of the most terrifying spill footage points out that an average of two jockeys a year die on the race track.
All racing action is up close and spectacular, and beautifully edited.
A loose horse shown running blind with fear through the backside barn area was particularly frightening.
Any fall off a race horse is brutal. Seeing, through the eyes of a loved one, as a jockey goes under a horse, and hearing a spouse or a parent ask of what had been a blur around the first turn, "Who was it?" puts your $2 wager in perspective.
Underdogs!
Joe Talamo, a kid-jockey from Louisiana, a state that is the national leader in producing kid jockeys you've never heard of, gets hot at Santa Anita and puts up some high-dollar win prices on front-running rides and seems to give some serious thought to whether he could be the Lord's gift to thoroughbred racing.
Kayla Stra, a woman jockey from Australia, can't get a ride on much except what seems like a rodeo stock. She does have the live quote of this or any other real-life sports show when she says that winning is better than sex.
Drama!
Jockeys coexist in a common room with lockers next to one another. Imagine Ray Lewis having as a locker buddy Ben Roethlisberger before a playoff game matching their teams.
Imagine sharing a laugh and then going out and trying to run somebody upside the rail; imagine two jockeys coming back to tea after a life-threatening incident.
Hard times!
New jockeys are similar to NFL rookies, except jockeys don't get paid unless they win. Some jockeys new to a meet are treated like swampers.
A jockey finishing out of the money gets paid a flat ride rate of, say, $50 or $75. After expenses, even a veteran jockey running seventh and almost being stomped could clear about $18.
Arriving at the track at 5 a.m. to work horses free of charge is routine.
Beauty!
Zenyatta in the morning is something else again.
Cliffhangers!
The preview for the next episode showed two jockeys fighting on the track.
Another jockey addressed the weight issue, about how difficult it could be for a guy to walk around weighing 106.
Whereas: So what's in it for the bettors?
The inference that a good handicapper knows as much as anybody in the game, inside out.
Confirmation that this is far and away the most exciting sport.
And insight on the body language of humans in the game, which can translate into bucks.
Write to Jay at jaycronley@yahoo.com.
