Tuesday was a slow night at Colonial as usual.
I had to write an advance for the Da Hoss Stakes that would run that Saturday. Again, I picked through past performances and got that done pretty quickly. It's nice working on the top floor with the Equibase guys because Keith, the man who makes the morning line odds for Colonial, always interjects some good points about the horses. We sat for awhile and talked about how tough of a race it was to handicap and for him to decide on the morning line.
Afterwards, I had to think up some questions for the "Are you smarter than a Hooters girl?" competition that would be held on Saturdays' Hooters Day. Most of them dealt with horse racing (how long a furlong is, what a weanling is, who last won the Triple Crown), but I also had to interject some Hooters questions (where the first one was opened, the names of the hot wing sauces, which racetrack doesn't have a Hooters nearby). I also had to count out the wristbands for the PokerFest that would be held on Friday.
I was supposed to work the PokerFest Friday, be at a Hooters in Williamsburg Saturday for the escorted motorcycle ride to the track, and then finish out the Hooters Day at Colonial, but I was in my hometown in PA for a funeral instead. As far as I know, everything went smoothly this weekend and the July 4th weekend looks super busy.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Day Eight: Fathers' Day
Sunday was Fathers' Day, so Colonial Downs decided to honor some military fathers by inviting the fathers and their families into a suite in the Jockey Club and giving away a recliner after each race.
The day started with printing out thousands of entry forms for the recliners and getting them to guest services, a task that had to be repeated throughout the day since so many men entered.
About 11 o'clock, the three limos with the military families inside pulled up and Molly and I introduced ourselves and led them to their suite. Molly was to be with them for the entire day, escorting a family to the winners' circle for each race.
I had the job of collecting all the entry forms from the boxes on each of the floors and getting them to the winners' circle just before each race. After the winners' circle presentations, Darrell and I were on camera with a military father and his family as they were interviewed and then drew a winner for the recliner giveaway. It was constant running around for me since I had to collect entries on four floors and the races were so close together.
Near the end of the day, Nick Hahn called me and needed the recordings of the interviews I had gotten the previous day. He was on deadline for the Blood Horse, one of the biggest publications in the industry. Unfortunately, he wasn't at the track and I couldn't get an MP3 for him, so I had to stay late and transcribe all the interviews. Much of it was inaudible because of the wind and because Leparoux is a soft-spoken Frenchman, but I sent him a pretty good list of quotes from the day.
Afterwards, I had to get together 80 general admission tickets to deliver to a radio station near my home the following morning for a giveaway they were doing. I also had to write a script for some news stations to use with the tapes Molly was delivering -- most sports desks at the news stations don't know horse racing, so I had to make the main talking points apparent so they would be more likely to use the tapes that night (which they did).
The day started with printing out thousands of entry forms for the recliners and getting them to guest services, a task that had to be repeated throughout the day since so many men entered.
About 11 o'clock, the three limos with the military families inside pulled up and Molly and I introduced ourselves and led them to their suite. Molly was to be with them for the entire day, escorting a family to the winners' circle for each race.
I had the job of collecting all the entry forms from the boxes on each of the floors and getting them to the winners' circle just before each race. After the winners' circle presentations, Darrell and I were on camera with a military father and his family as they were interviewed and then drew a winner for the recliner giveaway. It was constant running around for me since I had to collect entries on four floors and the races were so close together.
Near the end of the day, Nick Hahn called me and needed the recordings of the interviews I had gotten the previous day. He was on deadline for the Blood Horse, one of the biggest publications in the industry. Unfortunately, he wasn't at the track and I couldn't get an MP3 for him, so I had to stay late and transcribe all the interviews. Much of it was inaudible because of the wind and because Leparoux is a soft-spoken Frenchman, but I sent him a pretty good list of quotes from the day.
Afterwards, I had to get together 80 general admission tickets to deliver to a radio station near my home the following morning for a giveaway they were doing. I also had to write a script for some news stations to use with the tapes Molly was delivering -- most sports desks at the news stations don't know horse racing, so I had to make the main talking points apparent so they would be more likely to use the tapes that night (which they did).
Day Seven: Turf Cup Day
Saturday was a pretty good day at Colonial. We had a ton of scratches in the stakes races, but we got a decent crowd of 5,000 or so. Molly was responsible for taking care of people down at the trackside party while I stayed in the Press Box with the media since I was better able to answer questions about horse racing.
I got the media passes ready in the morning for everyone coming -- reporters from the Thoroughbred Times, Daily Press, Eclipse, etc. -- and made sure that I had enough programs and media guides ready for them. I did regular office duties, made an ad, and did whatever else Darrell needed for much of the day until the first stakes race, the Buckland.
For the Buckland, I took the tape recorder down to the winners' circle and recorded the interviews that Nick Hahn did with the winning connections. I also did this for the All Along Breeders' Cup Stakes and the Turf Cup, in addition to recording the interviews of other reporters.
In between the stakes races and after the Turf Cup, I headed back to the Press Box to start writing the press releases. Darrell and I ultimately decided it would be best to combine all three of the races into one press release since the main headline of the first two stakes races was that the leading rider in the country, Julien Leparoux, won them both after picking up the mounts at the last minute. The press release can be viewed here.
I got the media passes ready in the morning for everyone coming -- reporters from the Thoroughbred Times, Daily Press, Eclipse, etc. -- and made sure that I had enough programs and media guides ready for them. I did regular office duties, made an ad, and did whatever else Darrell needed for much of the day until the first stakes race, the Buckland.
For the Buckland, I took the tape recorder down to the winners' circle and recorded the interviews that Nick Hahn did with the winning connections. I also did this for the All Along Breeders' Cup Stakes and the Turf Cup, in addition to recording the interviews of other reporters.
In between the stakes races and after the Turf Cup, I headed back to the Press Box to start writing the press releases. Darrell and I ultimately decided it would be best to combine all three of the races into one press release since the main headline of the first two stakes races was that the leading rider in the country, Julien Leparoux, won them both after picking up the mounts at the last minute. The press release can be viewed here.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Day Six: All Along and Buckland stories
Tuesday was probably the first time I felt like I really did something right at this internship. Darrell needed two one-page stories done on both the All Along Breeders' Cup Stakes and the Buckland Stakes to go to press that night, so I got started immediately. I got the odds on Equibase.com and picked through them, going through each horse's past performances. Both stories can be viewed here and here. He called the stories "great" and changed maybe five words between the two of them -- I could have choked on my coffee when he told me that.
After the stories were sent in, I got to work on the ad for the Official Drink of the Virginia Derby Contest. It was a lot of text for an ad and Colonial was having some problems with one of the entrants dropping out and coming back in with a new name, but it was finally done after a very stressful evening for Darrell and I.
I finished the official program and sent the entries/results before heading home late that night.
After the stories were sent in, I got to work on the ad for the Official Drink of the Virginia Derby Contest. It was a lot of text for an ad and Colonial was having some problems with one of the entrants dropping out and coming back in with a new name, but it was finally done after a very stressful evening for Darrell and I.
I finished the official program and sent the entries/results before heading home late that night.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Day Five: Turf Cup Preparation
Sunday was a really good day at Colonial. The draw in for the $500,000 Colonial Turf Cup (Gr. II) was happening on Monday night, so it was a guessing game on Sunday as to who was coming. Darrell was going to write the story Monday night for the draw in and wanted to know the background of each horse by then, so he handed me the past performances of each horse they thought would possibly be going and told me to write a paragraph on each. They can be seen at the bottom of this page. That took the whole day, and I finished up just as Darrell was calling and telling me to write a press release. "I don't know what happened today. Nothing," he said. "I don't know what you'll write it on. But write something." Great, I thought.
Molly hadn't done anything all day and was so bored watching me type away, but she wanted nothing to do with the writing. So I got to typing on a really short story about Maggie Wolfendale winning her first race as a trainer and sent it out to the media. It can be viewed here.
Molly hadn't done anything all day and was so bored watching me type away, but she wanted nothing to do with the writing. So I got to typing on a really short story about Maggie Wolfendale winning her first race as a trainer and sent it out to the media. It can be viewed here.
Day Four: Van Clief
Saturday didn't go too well due to minor difficulties, but it happens.
It was $00.25 Fan Appreciation Day, so I first had to cut up the flyers I had made so they could be handed out before the gates opened. I then had to edit an ad for the Virginia Derby 5k Run I had created my previous work day because of a name change and send it out to some organizations. After that, I got in contact with the track photographer about sending the photos he had taken for the Inside Track tour to me and recruited people to sign up for the hot dog eating contest. Immediately after a pretty disgusting display of hot dog eatingness (including jockey Craig Gibbs - what a sport), I returned to the press box to watch the ninth race, the $50,000 Daniel Van Clief Stakes. The press release I wrote can be viewed here. I'm not sure why the "drew much excitement" line is in there, but it should've been taken out as Darrell called it "hokey." I'm learning fast. After sending the press release to the media and the results/entries out, I was off.
It was $00.25 Fan Appreciation Day, so I first had to cut up the flyers I had made so they could be handed out before the gates opened. I then had to edit an ad for the Virginia Derby 5k Run I had created my previous work day because of a name change and send it out to some organizations. After that, I got in contact with the track photographer about sending the photos he had taken for the Inside Track tour to me and recruited people to sign up for the hot dog eating contest. Immediately after a pretty disgusting display of hot dog eatingness (including jockey Craig Gibbs - what a sport), I returned to the press box to watch the ninth race, the $50,000 Daniel Van Clief Stakes. The press release I wrote can be viewed here. I'm not sure why the "drew much excitement" line is in there, but it should've been taken out as Darrell called it "hokey." I'm learning fast. After sending the press release to the media and the results/entries out, I was off.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Day Three: Oakley Stakes
Sunday was the start of my writing duties for Colonial.
My first job of the day was to format and send the photos I had taken from the Inside Track to Ryan, the webmaster, to put on colonialdowns.com. After doing that, Darrell had a handful of ads for me to create that would go in the program and go out to various organizations. The most important one deals with Hooters Day and the Ride for Athletes, so I had to create a motorcycle ad for the event and find various clubs and stores to send it to who would be interested. That, along with the official program, took up most of my day.
I really had to pay attention to the eighth race, the Oakley Stakes, however. Darrell wanted me to write my first press release. I don't have a copy of it with me, but it went pretty well. He changed the first sentence around a bit, but I don't think it was too horrible. I really don't like press releases, however...
My first job of the day was to format and send the photos I had taken from the Inside Track to Ryan, the webmaster, to put on colonialdowns.com. After doing that, Darrell had a handful of ads for me to create that would go in the program and go out to various organizations. The most important one deals with Hooters Day and the Ride for Athletes, so I had to create a motorcycle ad for the event and find various clubs and stores to send it to who would be interested. That, along with the official program, took up most of my day.
I really had to pay attention to the eighth race, the Oakley Stakes, however. Darrell wanted me to write my first press release. I don't have a copy of it with me, but it went pretty well. He changed the first sentence around a bit, but I don't think it was too horrible. I really don't like press releases, however...
Day Two: Inside Track
Saturday was a decent day at the track. At around 12:30, I had to go to the winners' circle to meet with the mock Inside Track tour group to take photos of the whole thing. Most of the people were from the frontside of the track with the exception of three guys they found to bring along for free. It was a pretty nice tour, but nothing I hadn't seen before and the guide didn't really know what she was talking about. We talked to trainer Stephanie Nixon before she went out and won a race, watched them break from the track kitchen patio, saw them run around the far turn, stood inside the paddock, watched a race from the winners' circle, etc. I will say, though, that it was pretty nice taking a photo with jockey Jonathan Joyce, one of my favorites. And there was also a horse that broke through the starting gate right in front of us, which isn't something that happens every day.
The tour took up most of my day. As the races came to a close, I met Molly in the winners' circle. She had been with the wedding couples all day who were in the running for a wedding hosted by Colonial, so we saw the winner being chosen before heading back up to the press box. We waited for the remainder of the races to finish, did the daily duties of marking an official program (the guys who work for Equibase print out the race results so we can mark in a program the finishing position of each horse in case we ever need it in the future), and sent out the results and entries for the next day to the papers. After confirming that each paper got the entries and results, we were able to leave.
The tour took up most of my day. As the races came to a close, I met Molly in the winners' circle. She had been with the wedding couples all day who were in the running for a wedding hosted by Colonial, so we saw the winner being chosen before heading back up to the press box. We waited for the remainder of the races to finish, did the daily duties of marking an official program (the guys who work for Equibase print out the race results so we can mark in a program the finishing position of each horse in case we ever need it in the future), and sent out the results and entries for the next day to the papers. After confirming that each paper got the entries and results, we were able to leave.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Day One: Media Day
June 3 marked my first day as an intern at Colonial Downs, and it was a pretty exciting one.
After getting lost for a few minutes (and somehow ending up on the roof instead of the top floor), I ran into my internship coordinator, Darrell Wood, and he led me to the Press Box that I share with the other intern, Molly. He went over a few details about the day and then set us free so Molly could show me around the top floor (which has an amazing view of the track) and go over what she'd done since she'd started about two weeks ago.
Around 10:30, we had to leave to meet Darrell at the Virginia Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association building for Media Day. After setting everything up and getting a decent turnout of about twelve news stations and papers, we watched some of the interviews being done outside. Darrell (Director of Marketing), Tyler Picklesimer (Director of Racing), and Ferris Allen (leading trainer at Colonial) were all interviewed by several different people, and Darrell mentions in this video most of the talking points we stressed to the writers that day. He pointed out that it was alright to tell everyone the same things this time since they were looking for general footage on opening day, but that we needed to uncover different stories to sell individually to news stations. Molly and I have a few ideas started and are trying to track down some facts on them.
Throughout this time, Molly and I took four different media groups to the backside to get footage of the racehorses. Since it was about 2pm and training ends at 10am, the barns were pretty dead and we weren't sure we'd be able to find anyone to pull a relaxing horse out for us. Molly had encountered some people who didn't want to deal with the media at all, but we eventually found a nice married couple shoeing some horses for Hamilton Smith's barn and we repeatedly went back to them for video. Mr. Paulk of the Richmond Times Dispatch spent a lot of time with us at the barns and seemed to be enjoying Molly and I's discussion with the farrier on the way the media views the sport and incidents like Barbaro's breakdown. His video can be seen here.
After all the media left, we went back to the Press Box and waited for a call from Equibase to tell us how to send entries and results to different newspapers daily. Apparently, the guy who used to be in the Press Box was laid off last year and he was the only one who knew how to do this. However, we got that all figured out and sent Friday's entries to the papers before going home.
Because none of the Hampton Roads news stations showed up for Media Day, Darrell asked me to go to four different stations and drop off an informational packet and video footage of last year's VA Derby. Since it was after hours, it was difficult to get this to people working there, but I got it done.
I realized early on that it's going to be a bit difficult for me to change my mindset during this internship. It was announced during my orientation that Rachel Alexandra wasn't going to run in the Belmont, which I think is fantastic because there's no way she would have lasted 1 1/2 miles, but Darrell was so disappointed because that would have meant the colt vs. filly rivalry that brings people to the track. It's also a bit weird that the only person on the business side I've encountered who knows anything about racing is Darrell.
I'll be going back on Saturday to hopefully do a test run of the Inside Track, a $300 tour that lets fans go on the backside, see some of the offices, stand next to the starting gate as a race starts, etc. I can already hear all the interesting and weird questions I'll have to answer...
After getting lost for a few minutes (and somehow ending up on the roof instead of the top floor), I ran into my internship coordinator, Darrell Wood, and he led me to the Press Box that I share with the other intern, Molly. He went over a few details about the day and then set us free so Molly could show me around the top floor (which has an amazing view of the track) and go over what she'd done since she'd started about two weeks ago.
Around 10:30, we had to leave to meet Darrell at the Virginia Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association building for Media Day. After setting everything up and getting a decent turnout of about twelve news stations and papers, we watched some of the interviews being done outside. Darrell (Director of Marketing), Tyler Picklesimer (Director of Racing), and Ferris Allen (leading trainer at Colonial) were all interviewed by several different people, and Darrell mentions in this video most of the talking points we stressed to the writers that day. He pointed out that it was alright to tell everyone the same things this time since they were looking for general footage on opening day, but that we needed to uncover different stories to sell individually to news stations. Molly and I have a few ideas started and are trying to track down some facts on them.
Throughout this time, Molly and I took four different media groups to the backside to get footage of the racehorses. Since it was about 2pm and training ends at 10am, the barns were pretty dead and we weren't sure we'd be able to find anyone to pull a relaxing horse out for us. Molly had encountered some people who didn't want to deal with the media at all, but we eventually found a nice married couple shoeing some horses for Hamilton Smith's barn and we repeatedly went back to them for video. Mr. Paulk of the Richmond Times Dispatch spent a lot of time with us at the barns and seemed to be enjoying Molly and I's discussion with the farrier on the way the media views the sport and incidents like Barbaro's breakdown. His video can be seen here.
After all the media left, we went back to the Press Box and waited for a call from Equibase to tell us how to send entries and results to different newspapers daily. Apparently, the guy who used to be in the Press Box was laid off last year and he was the only one who knew how to do this. However, we got that all figured out and sent Friday's entries to the papers before going home.
Because none of the Hampton Roads news stations showed up for Media Day, Darrell asked me to go to four different stations and drop off an informational packet and video footage of last year's VA Derby. Since it was after hours, it was difficult to get this to people working there, but I got it done.
I realized early on that it's going to be a bit difficult for me to change my mindset during this internship. It was announced during my orientation that Rachel Alexandra wasn't going to run in the Belmont, which I think is fantastic because there's no way she would have lasted 1 1/2 miles, but Darrell was so disappointed because that would have meant the colt vs. filly rivalry that brings people to the track. It's also a bit weird that the only person on the business side I've encountered who knows anything about racing is Darrell.
I'll be going back on Saturday to hopefully do a test run of the Inside Track, a $300 tour that lets fans go on the backside, see some of the offices, stand next to the starting gate as a race starts, etc. I can already hear all the interesting and weird questions I'll have to answer...
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