The Battle of the Exes: a Frank look at sex
August 9th 2011 05:23
Frank returns to share with us more of his equine journey of discovery. This time Frank looks at gender in racing, though not an examination of the difference between colts and fillies, but more so a look at the marketing of sex and sensationalism in the age of celebrity and reality television. And given that Mike Smith and Chantal Sutherland are stars of reality television, as well as stars on the racetrack, his focus appears appropriate. - editor.
The Battle of the Exes
words and photography by Frank Rodrick
How embarrassing.
I show up at the track today and the first person I see is Ace Photographer and my former fiancee, Daphne. Right behind her, I am horrified to see, is a huge banner proclaiming The Battle of the Exes. You've got to me kidding me. I am not emotionally prepared for this. I mean, it was a tough breakup; it was a personal matter and here it is, broadcast in front of the entire world. Reality TV for the twisted prurient interest of the moronic masses. Can’t it be enough that we’re here to do a job, and do it well? Does everything have to be about sex???
I suppose so.
Just to be cute, I suppose, and to give us two photographers something to shoot, the track arranged for a match race between a male and a female jockey. A Del Mar match race tradition that started with the magnificent Seabiscuit and Ligaroti in 1938 and now has devolved to this, a cheap gimmick to attract the masses. Here’s the female jockey, Sutherland, being interviewed. Am I just cranky or was the reporter’s size a factor in her employment?
Here’s the guy jockey, some dude named Smith. I hear he’s famous for something.
Daphne and I head down to the track and take our places. I’m tense, all nerves alert, crouched behind a Canon 7D with a 70-200 L IS USM zoom lens. Daphne, using her father’s 1972 Polaroid Land camera, is relaxed; the center of attention with her Cover Girl looks. Always the babe gets the attention. I momentarily commiserate with Smith. The gate opens, the horses launch down the track. Here are our shots out of the gate, first Daphne's:
. . .and then my considerably more professional shot:
Unfortunately, that was about as close as Sutherland ever got. Here’s my shot way back on the homestretch, about the last time both horses would fit inside my lens:
Daphne, always focused on men, ignored the Big Picture and took this closing shot of Smith at the finish line:
Both jockeys were quite good-natured about the entire farce, taking it with good humor and in Smith’s case, considerably chivalry. He claimed it was just his luck to ride the better horse. Really, Mikey? Then why not swap horses and try again? Mister Hall-of-Famer. Here are our shots of the after-race scenes, first Chantal. . .
. . .then Smith the Gentleman thanking his horse. . .
. . .and back to the very gracious Ms. Sutherland signing a poster for a fan. She had a lot of fans there, as did Mike, and it seems the whole crowd enjoyed it hugely. Except your sulking reporter. Does anybody care about the horses involved?
Both jockeys were great about playing along with this nonsense. Anything for the sport, I suppose. It’s a shame we have to stoop to this level to get the gate up, but maybe all those TV viewers who came to see Chantal will get hooked on horse racing, just as this rookie photographer did. Maybe.
There were other races that day, and your Humble Reporter was there to report. Here's the 7th race, an allowance/claiming race, one mile on the all-weather track. $65,000 purse with a pretty nice bonus for Cal-breds. There seems to be a lot of that going on her at Del Mar--bonuses for the locals. I suspect there are rivalries beyond my comprehension with states Back East. Right out of the gate I notice Daphne has managed to do something to my camera:
Yep, definitely Daphne. Here's the homestretch, with Tyler Baze on Hopeful Union coming up strong and looking to me like he's going to take it. I suspect Agapito Delgadillo on Hakuchi is feeling pretty confident, too. But Garrett Gomez on the inside will bring Wild Rose in for the win, and Joseph Talamo, out of this shot on Ambitoness, will sneak up to take third. Wish I'd caught that part.
And finally, the other Big Event of the day: the 41st Running of the Best Pal Stakes (Grade II). $150,000 guaranteed. 6 1/2 furlongs on the PolyTurf, Rafael Bejarano on Creative Cause favored to win. That's sort of a no-brainer. I'd favor Rafael on a cow. Here's where the race ended, when Creative Cause took the lead from Joel Rosario on I'll Have Another about halfway down the homestretch.
Normally Mister Unflappable, Bejarano for once shows that maybe winning a horse race requires a little effort.
And finally, here's the winning Creative Cause's trainer Mike Harrington. Trainers--what a scam. Training a thoroughbred to run has to be about as hard as training a dog to eat biscuits. But he does win a lot, and has been for 30 years. I'll have to look into this further.
The Battle of the Exes
words and photography by Frank Rodrick
How embarrassing.
I show up at the track today and the first person I see is Ace Photographer and my former fiancee, Daphne. Right behind her, I am horrified to see, is a huge banner proclaiming The Battle of the Exes. You've got to me kidding me. I am not emotionally prepared for this. I mean, it was a tough breakup; it was a personal matter and here it is, broadcast in front of the entire world. Reality TV for the twisted prurient interest of the moronic masses. Can’t it be enough that we’re here to do a job, and do it well? Does everything have to be about sex???
I suppose so.
Just to be cute, I suppose, and to give us two photographers something to shoot, the track arranged for a match race between a male and a female jockey. A Del Mar match race tradition that started with the magnificent Seabiscuit and Ligaroti in 1938 and now has devolved to this, a cheap gimmick to attract the masses. Here’s the female jockey, Sutherland, being interviewed. Am I just cranky or was the reporter’s size a factor in her employment?
Here’s the guy jockey, some dude named Smith. I hear he’s famous for something.
Daphne and I head down to the track and take our places. I’m tense, all nerves alert, crouched behind a Canon 7D with a 70-200 L IS USM zoom lens. Daphne, using her father’s 1972 Polaroid Land camera, is relaxed; the center of attention with her Cover Girl looks. Always the babe gets the attention. I momentarily commiserate with Smith. The gate opens, the horses launch down the track. Here are our shots out of the gate, first Daphne's:
. . .and then my considerably more professional shot:
Unfortunately, that was about as close as Sutherland ever got. Here’s my shot way back on the homestretch, about the last time both horses would fit inside my lens:
Daphne, always focused on men, ignored the Big Picture and took this closing shot of Smith at the finish line:
Both jockeys were quite good-natured about the entire farce, taking it with good humor and in Smith’s case, considerably chivalry. He claimed it was just his luck to ride the better horse. Really, Mikey? Then why not swap horses and try again? Mister Hall-of-Famer. Here are our shots of the after-race scenes, first Chantal. . .
. . .then Smith the Gentleman thanking his horse. . .
. . .and back to the very gracious Ms. Sutherland signing a poster for a fan. She had a lot of fans there, as did Mike, and it seems the whole crowd enjoyed it hugely. Except your sulking reporter. Does anybody care about the horses involved?
Both jockeys were great about playing along with this nonsense. Anything for the sport, I suppose. It’s a shame we have to stoop to this level to get the gate up, but maybe all those TV viewers who came to see Chantal will get hooked on horse racing, just as this rookie photographer did. Maybe.
There were other races that day, and your Humble Reporter was there to report. Here's the 7th race, an allowance/claiming race, one mile on the all-weather track. $65,000 purse with a pretty nice bonus for Cal-breds. There seems to be a lot of that going on her at Del Mar--bonuses for the locals. I suspect there are rivalries beyond my comprehension with states Back East. Right out of the gate I notice Daphne has managed to do something to my camera:
Yep, definitely Daphne. Here's the homestretch, with Tyler Baze on Hopeful Union coming up strong and looking to me like he's going to take it. I suspect Agapito Delgadillo on Hakuchi is feeling pretty confident, too. But Garrett Gomez on the inside will bring Wild Rose in for the win, and Joseph Talamo, out of this shot on Ambitoness, will sneak up to take third. Wish I'd caught that part.
And finally, the other Big Event of the day: the 41st Running of the Best Pal Stakes (Grade II). $150,000 guaranteed. 6 1/2 furlongs on the PolyTurf, Rafael Bejarano on Creative Cause favored to win. That's sort of a no-brainer. I'd favor Rafael on a cow. Here's where the race ended, when Creative Cause took the lead from Joel Rosario on I'll Have Another about halfway down the homestretch.
Normally Mister Unflappable, Bejarano for once shows that maybe winning a horse race requires a little effort.
And finally, here's the winning Creative Cause's trainer Mike Harrington. Trainers--what a scam. Training a thoroughbred to run has to be about as hard as training a dog to eat biscuits. But he does win a lot, and has been for 30 years. I'll have to look into this further.
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