tivo is wonderful
The best investment I ever made - record anything at any time, skip through the ads, instant replay. It’s all done with a couple of clicks of the remote - Off course, prying out of hubby’s hand will take longer than setting the tivo to record.
I really liked lasts nights episodes… I thought focussing on Kayla Stra was done well…it is very tough being a female rider, and I thought it showed her struggles in a very realistic light.
My husband and I just kept shaking our heads over JC’s wife… I dont know her personally, but she sure didnt come across as being very supportive of him!
[QUOTE=Acertainsmile;3880690]
My husband and I just kept shaking our heads over JC’s wife… I dont know her personally, but she sure didnt come across as being very supportive of him![/QUOTE]
I didn’t think JC’s wife came across very well, but I also thought JC himself came off like a petulant child in the episode. His fit over losing a race was immature, and his comments about always riding well but having ‘crappy’ horses really left me with a bad taste. He’s old enough to know better, and if he can’t find respect for the animals who are out there also trying on the track, he should get a new line of work.
…his comments about always riding well but having ‘crappy’ horses really left me with a bad taste.
This comment by Jon Court surprised me! It’s the horse’s job to run and, if they leave the gate, they all do… It’s the jockey’s job to listen to the instructions from the trainer (who, hopefully, knows how the horse runs best) and put their horse in the proper position to win. 
Failure to do so does not constitute failure on the horse’s part… Winning is not something the horse owes the jockey–it’s something the jockey (who has the more highly evolved brain) owes the horse… :uhoh:
I can understand JC feeling that way after a losing streak but it occurs to me that’s something that a jockey should never verbalize, least of all, when a camera is on him/her… :uhoh: I can’t help but wonder if that remark is going to cost him “good” horses in the future because it makes him sound like a thankless twit…
[QUOTE=iloverocky;3880792]
I didn’t think JC’s wife came across very well, but I also thought JC himself came off like a petulant child in the episode. His fit over losing a race was immature, and his comments about always riding well but having ‘crappy’ horses really left me with a bad taste. He’s old enough to know better, and if he can’t find respect for the animals who are out there also trying on the track, he should get a new line of work.[/QUOTE]
I agree. At first I sympathized with his frustration–though I did wonder why he left Kentucky if he was on such a roll here, does anyone know?–but that comment really turned me off. If I was an owner who had used him in the past, presumably on a “crappy horse” I certainly wouldn’t ride him back. I wonder if that publicly aired attitude will end up costing him rides.
Since the taping of the show, Jon has moved back to KY (I think). He was on the lower end of the scale as far as mounts and worse is what the bugs and Kayla ride. He’s right. They do ride the horses that Gomez, Solis, Smith, etc won’t. They have to pay their dues and as for Jon, his business had just fallen of. He has paid his dues eons ago. You can’t ride bad horses for the Jenny Greens of the world and think that running up the track is going to help develop a load of good business. You might have the most personable agent in the world, but if you keep running up the track, you are screwed. And will continue to ride for the low percentage people who never or rarely win a race that isn’t bottoms. And Kayla and Jon are riding for the same people on bad horses. If you aren’t riding for Sadler, Mullins, Mitchell… all of the high percentage guys you are in trouble. OR at least do like Pedroza does and capitalize at Pomona every single year!
As for the relationship with Jon and his wife. I know him well enough to know she’s not always on the recieving end of good conduct. Not abusive, just bad behaviour. Small man syndrome… Or racetrack syndrome… criss cross
I find the posts about the “slick” editing rather humorous – last night (in the later episode, I think) there was a second or so of full frontal nudity in the locker room. Go AP. :winkgrin:
[QUOTE=Andrew;3865340]
That was the only good thing about the show… seeing Zenyatta!!![/QUOTE]
I agree…what a mare! 
By the way … flashback to 11/11/2007: Hollywood Park barn notes
JOCKEY KAYLA STRA SAVORS FIRST U.S. VICTORY
Kayla Stra rejoiced after recording her first United States victory aboard longshot Flying Bearcat in the eighth race Friday night.
Stra, who turns 23 on December 3, was born in Australia and began her career there before moving to California this summer.
“I was born in Adelaide but my parents moved to Fountain Valley until I was five before returning to Australia,” explained Stra. “My father used to race motocross bikes.” Kayla was more interested in horses. “I left school when I was 13, and went on my own,” continued Stra. “I started out on a farm, and later rode at Morphettville in Adelaide. I also went to Melbourne, Victoria and New South Wales.”
Stra said she won 220 races in Australia, highlighted by the $125,000 Marion Stakes at Morphettville on Navy Shaker for trainer Gordon Richards, under whom she was an apprentice.
“But I always wanted to come back here to ride and win as much as I can,” said Stra, who moved to Del Mar on August 28 to begin familiarizing herself with local horsemen.
Her 13th start in this country proved to be a lucky one as she booted Flying Bearcat to a half-length $30.40 upset for trainer Jennie Green. Stra said she has also been exercising horses for trainers Matthew Chew, Howard Zucker, Jeff Mullins and Clifford Sise.
And from almost two years ago … 23 May 2006 Australia Wide on ABC2: Q & A with Kayla Stra
Kayla Stra: The things I really like about being a jockey would have to be working with the animals. I’ve always loved being with them. Just being on a horse and being able to canter along with them and enjoy the feeling and the relaxation of being with them … it’s just beautiful. Early mornings I suppose once you’re up and walking around out of bed it’s not so bad. I just like waking up, seeing the sunrise and being there with 'em all the time.
[QUOTE=caffeinated;3863197]
And if you haven’t seen his old late-night QVC videos, you really should.
“catsak” is probably my favorite.[/QUOTE]
My favorite was the inflatable football helmets he put on and then banged his head against the wall, because “What else are you supposed to do with these things”…
I watched, a little dismayed at how the whole Mike/Chantal thing is being set up for drama, her moving in, him being unenthusiastic and complaining about her closet space, the looks from her over dinner. I anticipate some creative editing.
Also glad they touched on the bulemia, and I wondered what would happen if the whole racing world just changed the weight limits to a more reasonable weight that wouldn’t require starvation and bulemia for adults to maintain an illogical weight, would the industry suffer that much?
[QUOTE=AiryFairy;3884623]
I wondered what would happen if the whole racing world just changed the weight limits to a more reasonable weight that wouldn’t require starvation and bulemia for adults to maintain an illogical weight, would the industry suffer that much?[/QUOTE]
As the widow of one jockey and the wife of another, both of whom struggle(d) to make weight, I have to say that it would be very beneficial to the sport as a whole if the weights were raised to a more rational level.
As a trainer, I also agree that the weight issue needs to be looked at more. I would rather ride a heavier, stronger jockey on my horse, than a weak, unhealthy one. I am going to get a better ride, each and every time.
I thought this past Friday’s double-header episode was much better.
It did convey the difficulties of being young, effectively alone, and battling uphill in the sport by anyone starting out. You do feel for those ‘non househould name’ riders who are at such a huge meet with lots of money to be had but really just for the top 4 riders. Everyone else is just barely getting by, essentially getting only mounts others don’t want, constantly hustling for rides, etc
They still could’ve condensed - without watering it down - the two episodes into one solid 1 half hour episode including room for commercials …
More on jockey Jon Court here; he seems to be just slightly off the national radar with being “a name”. I’d admit I don’t recall him myself but I’m by no means any be-all authority with racing whatsoever!
Some past good mounts with household names (e.g., Perfect Drift and Leroidesanimaux) but a newer rider like Julien Leparoux, for example, has come to this country and in a short time eclipsed him and many other long-time riders.
With Kayla for example you wonder if trying to break into such a hard jockey colony is the best way to approach it - or should you follow what an Inez Karlsson did and make a name for yourself at another less glam track as she did at Hawthorne. Inez opened a lot of eyes and made a name for herself.
Jan 19, 2009 “Here for Eclipse Awards, Karlsson Might Stay Awhile”
In regards to Gulfstream
Karlsson is self-effacing and pragmatic about working at Gulfstream and sharing a locker room filled with current and future Hall of Famers like Edgar Prado, Kent Desormeaux and John Velazquez. She’s hoping to pick up some business before Hawthorne re-opens in March while gaining experience in the tough company.
“I’ve got a long ways to go, but if you’re going to learn how to ride, this is the place to be,” she said. “These are the best riders in the world and it’s a completely different ballgame down here.”
Karlsson says she’s already been well received by her fellow riders and is prepared to raise her game to another level after leading the nation in apprentice earnings in 2008.
“Everybody has been very nice and has talked to me about what to expect,” she said. “But I know how tough this is. Some places I can go in a race and follow a guy on the inside when I know he’s going to drift and open the rail. There are no guys like that here. That rail isn’t going to open every time.”
Saw this on http://www.drf.com. I still haven’t managed to see this show and Hovdey isn’t making me want to invest in TIVO. :lol: I did laugh outloud at his idea for the blacksmith show “Bending Over.” :lol:
By Jay Hovdey
ARCADIA, Calif. - If it’s Friday, it must be time for another installment of the “Jockeys” reality series on Animal Planet, and there’s not a darn thing anyone can do about it.
This was a chance, though, to check in with cast member Jon Court, who shifted his tack from Santa Anita to Oaklawn Park this winter in hopes of laying a foundation for a return to his Kentucky roots this spring. Court, who has been active in the reformation of the Jockeys’ Guild, looked upon “Jockeys” as a way to raise awareness of his profession. For dramatic purposes, Court, a winner of the George Woolf Award, has assumed the role of the veteran at the end of his career, scuffling for one last hurrah.
“Some of the guys in the show were worried about their image, and I can understand that,” Court said. "I am too. But at 48, I felt a little more at ease about embarrassing myself. Believe it or not, though, a lot of people think that what they’re seeing is actually A to B. I tell them the show is reality, but . . . "
The list of “buts” is long - last week, among other things, a piece of a race at Fairplex Park was cut into an Oak Tree event - but fans of the show don’t really care. As far as the jockeys involved, they all were willing participants in the process of trying to make reality more interesting than it already is.
For instance, there was Court’s temper tantrum after losing a race, complete with censored bleeps.
“Me throwing that fit took three takes before I got it right,” Court said. “They would say I was smiling while I was mad. Another time I didn’t get the lines right. They asked me if I could go back to a certain place or a certain time in my life, and that’s where I got it - Louisiana Downs. I was a young man, impatient, trying to make things happen, trying to make magic where there was none. I can reach back into those archives and bring them right to the forefront.”
Method acting, they call it, and the next thing you know Court, Kayla, Talamo and the rest of the cast will be lining up to jaw with James Lipton on “Inside the Actors Studio.”
“They wanted me to throw my helmet,” Court went on. “They said, ‘Jocks throw helmets, don’t they?’ I said that’s true, but in the two and a half decades I’ve rode, I never did. And with these new helmets, you don’t want to be throwing them around, maybe hitting a nail, or bouncing it off something and breaking something. You’ve just trashed a $300 helmet. I said, 'How ‘bout I knock over all them boots?’ Boom, got it on the first take. Man, did I feel special.”
While Court has yet to do much damage at Oaklawn, it’s hard for any jockey to walk around Hot Springs this time of year and not get a nod. Especially one who appears on something other than HRTV or TVG.
“They do treat you good here,” Court said. “In New York, L.A., or Miami, if somebody looks at you twice, you get nervous. Here, if they give you a second look it’s to throw you a wave.”
Court does not know what is going to happen through the rest of the series. How would he? He was there. In the meantime, if “Jockeys” sells, why not go for another racing reality show, starting with a spin-off about the men and women who hustle their mounts?
“Spinners” is all about jockey agents - their lives, their loves, their passionate dedication to moral relativism. F. Scott Ftizgerald wrote that “the test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.” By those standards, agents are the racetrack equivalent of chemical engineers. The show would follow such well-known characters as Fats, Black Heart, Snake and The Hat - their actual, given names - as they navigate the treacherous pages of the condition book and wait for Frankel to call.
Or how about “Nails,” which can take us deep into the world of the racetrack blacksmith by tracking the exploits of the grizzled Irish genius Tommy Haffacent and the new kid on the block, Bobby “Tongs” Thompson. Haffacent, sort of a Barry Fitzgerald with lower-back pain, has shod 35 of the last 40 winners of the Kentucky Derby, but he’s struggling to keep pace with the modern technology represented by Thompson, who has perfected the radical “spit-shine” style of racing plate application and never misses a chance to shove it in the old guy’s face. (Originally pitched to Bravo as “Bending Over.”)
And finally, “Piles” could be offered to RFD-TV in a heartbeat. We’re talking big rigs and the strong men and women who drive them, bearing the muck of a thousand Thoroughbreds down busy interstates, disposing of the nuclear waste of the racing industry. Is the job dangerous? You bet. Lonely? Oh man, such blues have yet to be sung. Waved through weigh stations, shunned at truck stops, haunted by the EPA, these are bona fide heroes of the highway. Come ride in the cab and live the life of the road with Large Marge and Artie “Airbrake” Halberstam, who becomes famous for his catch phrase, “Don’t look in there.”
It will all feel so real
.[/QUOTE]
Very amusing article by Hovdey. :lol:
And a good reminder about how even “reality” shows are scripted somewhat to make them more “interesting”…
All in all, though I will keep watching. Fun to see a sport I love get some recognition.
Agreed, good article
Grace Gryder
Did anyone watch last night? Why would an owner name a promising filly after a jockey’s daughter, then not let him ride? Do any of you who are in the know about this clue me in? Thanks
re: Grace Gryder
For what it’s worth (after Jockey’s was finished filming) she raced Nov 28, 2008 - Race 6
in the Grade 3 Miesque Stakes and finished dead last with Joe Talamo up. What comes around …
It IS the trainer’s prerogative to ride whom ever they want regardless of who the horse is named after.
Stein isn’t exactly an outstanding individual. Though, I’d ride Joe over Gryder as well and have
The show is not that appealing. I thought it would get better and it hasn’t. 75% of the show is either “coming up” or rehashing what happened before the last commercial or them showing the same ambulance clip 300 times in a row. whoever produced this program should be embarrassed.
Is it just me or does Kayla Stra walk like a duck?
The double entendre in there is making me giggle. So how was it? tee hee
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