View Full Version : Eased/Distanced
jballscalls
12-15-2008, 03:09 PM
Got a question for you guys, see if we're on the same page and if anyone knows the exact definitions please chime in.
Watching a race and as the leader begins to fade through the stretch, the announcer says "So and So being eased out of the proceedings" But as he said that the jock is whipping and pushing the horse.
My question is, i thought that eased meant that a horse was basically not asked for any run, and if anything was being pulled up. Is that a correct definition or am i mistaken.
And also what is the defintion of distanced. Is it when a horse is being put to task but is just so far back that there is nothing else to say in the comment chart?
We had these discusssions before on the roof, so curious what you guys interpret these words as meaning.
thanks for any input.
robert99
12-15-2008, 03:59 PM
These guys have their very own misunderstandings of language. From a UK understanding, the announcer has said the horse is being eased out of the way to let horses with a real chance through so that they are not impeded or put at risk. He did not say "eased up" which meant the rider also stopped pushing/ riding his horse forwards to obtain the best possible placing within the (presumed) rules. An easy winner may "ease up" and still win - an injured horse may be eased up to save it from damage, but it has still done its best.
ralph_the_cat
12-15-2008, 04:27 PM
pulled-up means the jockey is going to come to a stop...
eased means the horse is taken in hand and slowing down, but often jogs/gallops across the wire...
eased is normally more related to the horse running out of wind and the jockey just eases him to the wire, where as a sore horse gets pull-ed up...
Distanced just means the horse gave the other horses a big lead and never tried to catch them... its a nice way to say "struggled" or "dull try" or "far back"
one thing that always bugged me with the public and not so much the pps/form... was the term "broke down"... the charts are usually pretty good at listing whether the horse broke down... where I come from broke down means the horse had to be euthanized... pulled up and vanned off means the horse survived... Weekly I hear people say that its so sad so and so broke down, because unless its a well-known horse the public never gets info on it... meanwhile it survived and just got vanned off...
jballscalls
12-15-2008, 04:32 PM
Early in my career i said a horse 'broke down' in the call, becuase it did. but i was told quickly by numerous folks that that wasnt a good word to use in a racecall. so now i just say went wrong or has pulled up or something along those lines.
boomman
12-15-2008, 04:46 PM
Early in my career i said a horse 'broke down' in the call, becuase it did. but i was told quickly by numerous folks that that wasnt a good word to use in a racecall. so now i just say went wrong or has pulled up or something along those lines.
balls: This is still one of the toughest aspects of our job (along with whatever emotions we're feeling when we see it happen, which speaking personally is pretty tough on me). We have a responsibility as announcers to let the public know that the horse is out of the race, without IMO being overly graphic. I would agree that using the term broke down is not a good idea, what I say is so-and-so is being pulled up out of the race, eased in the back (if that's appropriate) are we have a rider down on so-and-so, then continue as best as I can with the race call. Over my 25+ years of calling, I have (as you might imagine) witnessed some horriffic spills........I lower my voice as a form of respect to the tragedy and try to simply report the completion of the race in a low tone for the public. I am then extremely careful as to reports of injuries other than transport to the hospital, etc.
Boomer
TimesTheyRAChangin
12-15-2008, 06:30 PM
I always understood 'distanced' to mean more than 25 lengths.
Y'all,
The mythology when I was in the placing stand was 99 lengths.
I was told by an Equibase chartcaller that 'back in the day' the beaten length field in the main frame computer record was only two characters so that when a horse lost by a combined total of more than 99 lengths they must be listed as distanced in the chart comments.
As far as I know, this is just an urban (track) myth but it sounds plausible to me.
Dan H
12-15-2008, 08:47 PM
According to the list at:
http://www.equibase.com/products/cc-comments.cfm
Eased
A situation when a horse is well behind the leaders and his rider has determined that he is hopelessly beaten and allows him to gallop along under no pressure.
Distanced
When a horse is badly outrun (generally 25 lengths or more behind the next closest finisher) but still finishes the race.
Dan H
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