Posts Tagged ‘bo derek’

By Bradford Cummings
Just four and a half years ago I was working as a barista at a Starbucks in Louisville, Ky., trying to get a break after an acting career cut short and yet just a few days ago I had the pleasure of finishing a 13-day, 7-“city” tour with who I believe is one of the preeminent thinkers in the Thoroughbred industry. As they say, only in America.
 
And it was our beautiful and remarkable country that served as an appropriate backdrop to a trip that so easily could have gone wrong. The idea for a fundraising “drive” across country to the Breeders’ Cup was hatched two weeks prior to our visit with Keeneland, the first stop on the tour to raise money through Breeders’ Cup Charities to benefit the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund and The V Foundation for Cancer Research. In that time, five of six racetracks, TVG and the Breeders’ Cup all quickly rallied around the cause and captured our vision. Tens of sponsors were called and agreed to shell out $2,000 each. And two guys who have a general liking for each other but have opposite views on the world (what type of person continues to root for a team that hasn’t won the World Series since Teddy Roosevelt was President?) successfully completed 13 days in a car together and are still on speaking terms and managing a growing business.
 
Each day was an adventure. Spending part of our day with Tom Leach, while not a big deal for this Louisville Cardinals fan, served as great fodder for my many poorly misguided University of Kentucky friends. Getting to meet the father/son duo of Randy and Brandon Meier at Hawthorne made it clear that when this sport is in the family, it stays in the family.
 
The pain in my thighs two days after the bouncy ball race at Remington Park did not last as long as the emails I still receive laughing about the YouTube video featuring that giant man racing people half his size. The drive to Hobbs, N.M., was a long and arduous one (on a side note, don’t stay at the Motel 6 in Amarillo) but led us to a perfectly small racetrack not pretending to be anything more than it is.
 
Going from the outhouse to the penthouse, we finished the stretch run of our trip through Phoenix and to Las Vegas where the truly spectacular Wynn Hotel accommodated us. We were unsuccessful in our betting there, but our nights of rest there were much needed.
 
And of course, the Breeders’ Cup was topnotch. I’ve been to several major sporting events yet this event was by far the best. The racing was dramatic, the corned beef sandwich was delicious and I got to meet Bo Derek. Oh, and as one of our Facebook followers said, the mare that won the feature at Santa Anita on Saturday gave quite a performance, too.
 
But the real magic was in meeting the jockeys at each stop and hearing their stories. They ranged from the tragic to the inspiring, often depending on where they were on their journey back from the brink.
 
I can’t remember a more heart-heavy day than when we visited Michael Straight’s hospital room in Chicago. To see a young man who was on his way to accomplishing his vision for his life get it all stripped away, crushed the dreamer in me. He was understandably emotional about what had happened to him with even the idea of moving hospital rooms setting off his ire. And yet through my tears and heartache, I left his room knowing things would be okay for Michael because he is blessed to have such an amazing set of parents by his side. And though I didn’t meet his twin brother Matthew, I know that relationship will never be strained. Whether he walk again, whether he ever rides a horse, Michael Straight will come out of this tragedy with a strong purpose for his life.
 
In Oklahoma City, we met Jo Hays, who will most likely be in her wheelchair for the rest of her life. She was paralyzed in an accident at Remington Park so for her to revisit the scene of the accident must cause her to go through emotions you and I will never understand. And yet she too is blessed with a supportive family network including a strong, quiet husband and several beautiful children. You could see the spirit in her eyes and just how grateful she was for what she had. And yet there was the pain of knowing she could never get back on a horse, at least not a fast one (her words). But pain is not entirely a bad thing for I imagined it is pain that keeps her going on some level, keeps her motivated to enjoy the life she has been given.
 
Dennis Keehan, who we had the pleasure of meeting at Hawthorne in Chicago, may not have had the support system of others on our journey but his spirit and love for humanity was clear. (Of course, your opinion of someone you share fried green beans and cheese balls with will always be slanted to the positive.) A 64 year-old man, Dennis had already gone through the struggles of accepting the cards dealt to him in his life and had come out the other side a person our industry can be proud of. It is my sincere hope that he has a chance to talk with jockeys like Michael Straight and Julia Brimo, recently injured at Keeneland, as they work their long road back in recovery.
 
And of course, who could forget Stacy Burton and Jan Hortyk in Phoenix. Turf Paradise management was less than supportive for the fundraising cause, though they did buy us lunch. We decided to reimburse them for the cost; perhaps they can use that money to improve the backside we heard nightmares about. 

These two dynamos—Stacy and Jan–were enough to put a smile on any face. Stacy defines fighting spirit, having worked her way back from a brain injury and paralyzed lower half to walking on her own again. She spends seven days a week in rehab, still working to get as close to all the way back as she can. And despite a slow speech pattern suffered from a stroke she had during the beginning of her road back, she has a sense of humor and quick wit that was both surprising and uplifting. But her recovery could not have been possible without the love and support of Jan, who has been there every step of the way in Stacy’s recovery. While I found it disappointing Stacy’s parents weren’t more involved in her life, Jan serving as her caretaker is truly a divine intervention. Our country would be better off if we were all a bit more like her.
 
But any story about the PDJF should begin and end with a tribute to Nancy LaSala. Few organizations are fortunate enough to have her brand of talent and energy leading their cause. Whenever we needed something to make our trip easier, Nancy was on the spot. Every disabled jockey we spoke with sang her praises without hesitation. Dennis Keehan put it best when he referred to her as ‘lightning’. Having someone like Nancy in charge should reassure all who want to give to this cause that their money will be used as effectively as possible.
 
The stories of these disabled jockeys along with the 60 or so others we did not get the pleasure of meeting need to be told. We as an industry must shine a light on these permanently disabled athletes who willingly participated in a dangerous sport—because they loved it, and still do. Sadly, one consistent theme we noticed throughout our trip was how the jockeys felt like second-class citizens in horse racing. When discussing synthetic tracks, several stated that while people thought about the well being of the horse, no one considered what it would be like for a jockey to land on what some of them said was a hard and unforgiving surface.
 
Ultimately, this is why we chose the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund as one of our charities. We believe the horses need to be taken care of and found homes after their careers in racing are over. We hold horse welfare issues close to our hearts. But things have gotten a little backwards in our thinking as of late with over 50 horse related charities and only a handful of groups concentrating on the jockeys that risk their lives every day. We have forgotten about the people on the back of the horse and what happens to them if tragedy strikes. In an ideal world, there is enough support to go around but if given the choice to only help animals or concentrate solely on people, I will pick a human being every single day of the week.
 
They are our brothers and sisters.
 
They deserve our support.
 
They received it over those thirteen days.
 
And that, my friends, is very good news.

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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Saratoga typically dominates the racing scene in late July and August, so it was good news for Del Mar that the West Coast track had its opening a week earlier than the Spa this year, putting it in the national spotlight at least for a few days.

And a very good debut  it was, with the largest opening-day crowd in history – despite an increase in parking and admission prices, soaring gasoline prices and a spiraling economy. A stubborn TVG (do they have any friends left in the industry?) continues to make it difficult for fans to wager online, and that factor had to contribute to a 10% drop in handle.

Last year’s problems with the newly installed Polytrack (the afternoon heat softened the wax, making it more like mushytrack) seem to have been corrected, and the race times in the afternoon are several seconds faster than they were in 2007. Just as important, the track is safe – so far. But horseplayers can’t be blamed for holding back a bit on their Del Mar wagers if they’re uncertain about the kind of track they’ll be getting. More closers than front-runners seem to be winning, but the track is playing fair.

Speaking of playing fair (or not), why did the controlling members of the Breeders’ Cup board of members and trustees gang up to keep NetJets founder Richard Santulli off the 14-member operating board of directors in a recent election? Santulli is a highly respected businessman who brings everything to the table you’d think the Breeders’ Cup board needs. Apparently, however, he lacked the one thing the controlling members wanted: a nodding head.

One fellow the controlling board members favor is Terry Finley, the founder and president of West Point Thoroughbreds, a successful racing partnership. The week after Finley was re-elected to the Breeders’ Cup board, the organization teamed up with West Point in a creative promotion  for the popular ESPY Awards on ESPN that gave all the participating celebrities and athletes the opportunity to redeem a free share in a West Point horse and enjoy a free, VIP trip to the Breeders’ Cup championships. West Point in turn would be able to promote the celebrity/athletes as a West Point partner. No matter how innocent the choice of West Point may have been, it’s amazing no one within the Breeders’ Cup saw the potential to read this as another good ol’ boy deal of “we’ll scratch your back if you scratch ours.”

A guest editorial submitted to the Paulick Report by Kentucky Congressman Ed Whitfield is sure to have heads shaking with disagreement in some corners over Whitfield’s proposal to amend the Interstate Horseracing Act of 1978 to address some of the issues the industry is struggling with, including medication. Kentucky’s newly configured racing commission and the California Horse Racing Board took steps this past week to regulate anabolic steroids, and that’s a good thing, but Whitfield’s efforts may be gaining momentum in Congress.

A Paulick Report reader called it typical for the “land of fruits and nuts” when Calilfornia Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed former actress Bo Derek  to the California Horse Racing Board, but what’s wrong with having someone whose life is largely committed to the protection of animals (horses in particular) on a governmental board that regulates horse racing? We weren’t the only one to call the appointment a “10.”

Interesting that on the same day the Paulick Report was writing about the death of print coverage of horse racing (at least in the Los Angeles Times, the nation’s fourth-largest newspaper that axed its two racing writers) , Jess Jackson was stimulating interest with an online poll asking the public to help him guide Curlin through the rest of his racing career. Sure, it’s a gimmick, but it’s a smart one that got a lot of people talking about racing’s biggest star instead of racing’s biggest problems. Within a couple of days, more than 10,000 people had voted in the poll. Go here  to vote or see the current results of the poll.

Anyone else wondering what’s up at the Downs? Churchill Downs, the publicly traded company cut a couple of dozen jobs  this past week in the wake of a falling share price. CEO Bob Evans hasn’t pulled a rabbit out of his hat yet, and neither has the team of techies he put together in California’s Silicon Valley to develop new products and ideas. Confrontations with horsemen over distribution of account wagering revenue haven’t been productive to Churchill Downs or the industry. 

By Ray Paulick

Copyright ©2008, The Paulick Report

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Enough with the titillating shots of Bo Derek from the movie "10" or the Playboy cover and photo spreads - not to mention that semi-nude, bareback publicity photo from "Bolero." That was nearly 30 years, for God’s sake. 

Well, how about just one great shot of Bo from her acting days, especially if it’s related to horses? After all, her 2002 autobiography was entitled "Riding Lessons: Everything That Matters in Life I Learned From Horses." 

The appointment of Bo Derek to the California Horse Racing Board by her friend, Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former actor and one-time anabolic steroids-abusing bodybuilder who is now governor of the Golden State, is certain to draw derisive laughter from some corners of the Thoroughbred industry. But that’s not fair: Bo knows horses.

She may be a high-school dropout , but there’s a lot about horses - especially Thoroughbreds — that you don’t have to go to school to learn For example, horses shouldn’t be abused , and shouldn’t be shipped thousands of miles to be carved up and served on someone’s dinner plate in Belgium.

Bo Derek has lived an exemplary life on behalf of our equine friends. She breeds and owns Iberian horses, and has been a longtime advocate for horses and other animals through her work with the Animal Welfare Institute. She has been around racing for a number of years, and not just to have her picture taken on Millionaire’s Row on Kentucky Derby day.

A couple of years ago, Ms. Derek was a guest of honor at Darby Dan Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, for a fund-raiser involving one of the farm’s stallions, Perfect Soul. The horse’s owner Charles Fipke, the Canadian diamond miner and adventurer with a very good eye for fillies, arranged to have the proceeds from 10 seasons to Perfect Soul divided evenly among three charities of Bo Derek’s choosing: the Animal Welfare Institute, Galapagos Forever Fund and the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation. It was a good publicity ploy, helping drive interest in the stallion for his second year in the breeding shed, but the bottom line was she did it to raise $150,000 for a good cause. I’m sure she’s raised that much and more for additional animal welfare causes, using her celebrity as a magnet.

I was starstruck at the Darby Dan event, circling around Ms. Derek every chance I had and waiting for the right time to introduce myself and ask if I could get a souvenir snapshot of this ageless beauty from "10" with my daughter. When I built up the nerve to ask, she put me completely at ease, and even suggested that I might want to have my picture taken with her, too. She was, as Darby Dan owner John Phillips pointed out today while recalling the reception, "a very genuine person."

On the way home that night, my daughter made me feel really old. "Who’s Bo Derek?" she asked. "She’s really nice." I explained her early movies and the impact she had on young and old men but should have said simply: "She’s a horse lover."

I would be very surprised if Ms. Derek is up to speed on the many more technical aspects that the California Horse Racing Board is required to study and regulate. That’s OK, they’ve got lawyers for that. I very much doubt there will ever be anyone on this board who has a greater interest in protecting the welfare of horses.

The appointment of Bo Derek by Gov. Schwarzenegger was a perfect "10." 

By Ray Paulick

Copyright ©2008, The Paulick Report