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bigmack
11-30-2008, 11:43 PM
I very much enjoyed watching and recommend seeing this DVD. 3 hours of a nice little ride.

I had never heard of it though bumped into it on Netflix.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41cFTNn4tbL._SL500_AA240_.jpg

Follow the adventures of Pleasantly Perfect, the Tin Man, Redattore, Kudos, Ile de France and Brisquette: six equine competitors under the expert care of top trainer Richard Mandella. In anticipation of the 2003 Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships, filmmakers Bill Yahraus and Robin Rosenthal spent a full year filming the horses, riders, owners and veterinarians who played a part in this famed competition.

Though the focus is on the 2002 racing season and Breeders' Cup of trainer Richard Mandella, the 3-hour documentary reaches the finish-wire at the 2003 Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita Park, where he won a remarkable four races.

The DVD is split into a trio of one-hour segments, with the focus on three runners - Redattore, The Tin Man, Pleasantly Perfect - with other equine athletes - Kudos, Cagney, Ile de France, Brisquette, Listen Indy - being highlighted through their morning workouts and afternoon races.

Niko
11-30-2008, 11:49 PM
I bought it before I subscribed to Netflix...it is a nice video and worth renting or buying if you're a horse racing fan.

DanG
12-01-2008, 09:22 AM
Never heard of it Mack; thanks for the tip!

What a great year to have all that Mandella footage in the can.

ghostyapper
12-01-2008, 09:25 AM
That was a great documentary that I really enjoyed. I was a little disappointed because I originally thought it was the 03 season they followed him but overall it was very entertaining.

JustRalph
12-01-2008, 10:54 AM
I think they run it on TVG or HRTV every once in a while.............. I am sure I saw it on one of them

jfb
12-01-2008, 02:34 PM
I enjoyed this video. Nice production quality, Mandella is one of my favorite trainers - like the way he brings horses along.

Solis was still the barn go-to guy when they filmed it . Feels a little uncomfortable to watch that aspect now. I still do not understand what he did that made some of his good barns drop him.

Mineshaft
12-01-2008, 05:56 PM
I think they run it on TVG or HRTV every once in a while.............. I am sure I saw it on one of them





It was on HRTV but only for an hour i think. maybe 2 hrs but no more than that. The DVD is 3 hrs so were missing some stuff by no getting the DVD

bigmack
12-01-2008, 06:24 PM
For what it's worth, here's 3 clips:

http://www.ponyhighway.com/clips/otm03.mov

http://www.ponyhighway.com/clips/otm02.mov

http://www.ponyhighway.com/clips/otm01.mov

& 1 clop:
http://www.old-dairy-online-saddlery-shop.co.uk/acatalog/clop_cod.jpg
:rolleyes:

PaceAdvantage
12-01-2008, 06:59 PM
bigmack, thanks for posting this...I was not aware of the existence of this docu...

pony highway
12-05-2008, 12:31 PM
Ah, finally... Bigmack invited me to log in and it took a while to get "authorized." I'm Robin Rosenthal. My husband Bill Yahraus and I made On the Muscle. Bigmack asked me what it was like shooting the documentary.

Needless to say it was a phenomenal experience. We spent more than a year in the Mandella barn, going 4 to 5 mornings a week, sometimes more, and in the afternoons when "our horses" were running. We started out with a list of a dozen horses to watch. Every week the list changed as horses went out to layup facilities, got claimed, or didn't quite live up to their potential. Our goal was always to narrow down to about six horse "characters" and their stories, which we did, but can you believe when I look over the various lists, Pleasantly Perfect was never on one. He really was a dark horse. We used to call him The Director, cause he had a corner stall right by where the exercise riders hung out and cleaned tack, so we'd wind up there often at the end of a morning, and PP would be listening and watching so intently, so we gave him that nickname. And then we joked that he really was the Director because when he couldn't go to the Breeders' Cup in 2002 at Arlington because of the medications guidelines differences between the states, it was like PP said, "No, you can't end your series there. I have a better ending for you." And boy he sure did.

Another favorite of mine, who didn't get to be a full fledged "character" cause we just had too many, was Johar. A magnificent animal. I always felt like he charged the air around him with electricity.

Mandella is truly one of the greats. So much integrity, and an exemplary horseman. We keep four horses at home (trail horses), and learned SO much from him. We treasure our ongoing friendship with him.

Our experience at the Arlington Park 2002 BC was really memorable. To be there in the morning, out in the dark and the rain, and see The Tin Man first balk at the overhead wire, and see how Mandella tried to school him a little but not too much, and then watch him prop in his race, was unforgettable, and heartbreaking. We've known The Tin Man since he was a two-year-old, and actually followed him back to Arlington summer before last when he tried to repeat his win in the Million.

Don't know if you all know we won an Eclipse Award for the series, and going to that banquet was a thrill too. Hard to imagine we were complete no-nothings when we started. We knew a little something about horses but very, very little about racing. Only what any amatuer sitting in the stands would know, and that's not too much. What a journey.

I would be more than happy to answer any questions anyone has.

Toss_DeLoser
12-05-2008, 05:56 PM
On the Muscle.

VERY well deserving of that Eclipse Award.:ThmbUp:

bigmack
12-05-2008, 06:15 PM
Great to see you here. Did you know it would be 3 hours in length when you embarked on the documentary? Also, I'm curious to know what type of digital camera you used.

Fantastic job! It was refreshing to see inside a barn void of much in the way of ego, particularly in light of RMandela's accomplishments.

pony highway
12-05-2008, 06:27 PM
The camera was a Sony PD150, from before everything went HD. We're now using the Sony Z1U HDV, which bumps up quite nicely to HD, and is a 16x9 format instead of 4x3.

As far as the 3 hours, no, we weren't originally planning on that. We would have had to be nuts. We were thinking a feature length 90 minutes like our previous doc, or maybe 2 hours at the outside. But we had committed ourselves to a screening in the paddock at Del Mar, and when we saw how much territory we still needed to cover after we cut that first hour (which of course was longer than an hour at first) we knew we were in deep water.

We tried to make each hour self-contained as a story, and still have the three hours make a larger story arc as well.

bigmack
12-06-2008, 05:29 PM
I guess I could just PM you but how did you find the task of distribution. Is a project of this subject matter tough to move in volume?

pony highway
12-07-2008, 01:38 PM
It depends on what you mean by volume.

We distribute it ourselves, and approach it as a niche product, selling to racetrack gift shops, catalogs like Bloodhorse and Meerdink, websites like DRF...even to the American Museum of Natural History gift shop where the giant exhibit "The Horse" is just wrapping. up. That will go to the Field Museum in Chicago next and we'll be in that shop too. You have to think of every possibility.

Of course we've had it on our own website since the beginning, and we get the most $$$ back from those sales cause its retail instead of wholesale.

On the Muscle order page (http://www.ponyhighway.com/order.shtml)

Eventually we branched out with a sort of middleman distributor, which is necessary for Amazon and Netflix and even public libraries. Small fries can't sell directly to Netflix.

We've sold just about 5000 DVDs so far. Not too shabby. Doing the distribution ourselves has allowed us to reimburse ourselves for what we spent, and is necessary for independents like us to make the next movie.

Plus, it has been a lot of fun and we've had the pleasure of interacting with our viewers instead of having someone else handle all that.

Bigmack, it sounds like you've got a movie in mind. ;)

DJofSD
12-07-2008, 01:59 PM
PH, how many hours of footage did you acquire?

Who did the editing and what did you use to edit and produce the feature?

Any humorous out takes we can see for a couple of chuckles?

Gallop58
12-07-2008, 02:01 PM
After following a barn for a year, what was your take on the attrition (injury rate) you witnessed?

"Every week the list changed as horses":
"went out to layup facilities," X%
got claimed, X%
or didn't quite live up to their potential X%
vs stayed in the barn for most of the season .0X%

With your list of dozens at the start, how many got injured, how many paid their way, etc.

I ask, because these types of stats are impossible to get, and from my experience and observations, the statistics are grim, grim,grim...

here's my guess:

"went out to layup facilities," 70%
got claimed, 5%
or didn't quite live up to their potential 5%
vs stayed in the barn for most of the season 20%
Made money for their owners (1/4 of the 20%)= 5%

pony highway
12-07-2008, 02:17 PM
PH, how many hours of footage did you acquire?

Who did the editing and what did you use to edit and produce the feature?

Any humorous out takes we can see for a couple of chuckles?

Abut 245 hours. Crazy.

Bill Yahraus, my husband and filmmaking partner, did most of the editing. I did a little. We worked on Final Cut Pro in DV, then bumped up to DigiBeta for mastering. Went to outside professionals for the score (the amazing Charles Gross) and audio mix.

Wish I could oblige with funny outtakes but the show has been long gone from our editing system. All full up with other projects now.

pony highway
12-07-2008, 02:42 PM
After following a barn for a year, what was your take on the attrition (injury rate) you witnessed?

"Every week the list changed as horses":
"went out to layup facilities," X%
got claimed, X%
or didn't quite live up to their potential X%
vs stayed in the barn for most of the season .0X%

With your list of dozens at the start, how many got injured, how many paid their way, etc.

I ask, because these types of stats are impossible to get, and from my experience and observations, the statistics are grim, grim,grim...

here's my guess:

"went out to layup facilities," 70%
got claimed, 5%
or didn't quite live up to their potential 5%
vs stayed in the barn for most of the season 20%
Made money for their owners (1/4 of the 20%)= 5%


Interesting questions.

We never made any kind of statistical study, but strictly off the top of my head, I'd put the number that went out to layup facilities much, much lower than you, like maybe under 10%. You've got to keep in mind that this was Richard Mandella's barn. Injury rates were very low. He watched those horses with eagle eyes. Little problems were caught very early before they could become injuries, so a rest doesn't necessarily mean an injury. Sometimes it could even mean just a mind break. See Ile de France in the film take the water treatment at Farrell Jones' place.

By "not living up to their potential," I meant more "storywise" in the context of the kinds of stories that make a good film--not just their place in the barn. So for "filmic" reasons that would be a bit higher than your guess.

Staying in the barn for most of the season, the vast majority, as it turned out. We just didn't necessarily have our eye on them at the beginning. Just look at The Tin Man. Pleasantly Perfect, Redattore, even Kudos. All raced for many years out of that barn. The Tin Man being the most exemplary example of keeping an older horse in happy, running form for a lot of years.

As for claims, it's tough to say but Mandella's horses were generally running at a higher level, so not too many lost that way.

I couldn't say how many made money for their owners. But we didn't run out and buy a racehorse after making the series.

DJofSD
12-07-2008, 03:01 PM
PH, I see Bill spent some time at KQED. Ever meet Jacques Pepin?

pony highway
12-07-2008, 03:10 PM
No, DJofSD, Bill never crossed paths with Jacques Pepin. Too bad. We both love to cook and love good food.

bigmack
12-07-2008, 03:16 PM
the amazing Charles Gross) and audio mix.

He has put together some nice scores. I see he scored Turner & Hootch. Good enough for me.

No film aspirations from my camp though it's of interest to see how a niche film is produced & distributed. 5000! Nicely done.

Have you toyed with 24 frame cameras to lend a more film-like look.. Or is HD the preferred as you can always run the footage through Magic Bullet to generate a celluloid look?

pony highway
12-07-2008, 04:05 PM
One of Charles Gross's most wonderful scores is for the movie Country (Jessica Lange & Sam Shepard). Windham Hill artists George Winston et al. Gorgeous music. Bill edited the movie.

We've had no need for 24P or a film look yet. But you're right, with HD you can go anywhere.

Are we getting too far off topic?

DJofSD
12-07-2008, 04:24 PM
Getting off topic -- not for me.

Think I'll go pop that sound track into the CD player right now -- I can't recall when I listen to it last.