Darley Flying Start Conference, Kentucky
"Selling the Magic"
It was showtime in the cinema of the Kentucky Horse Park visitor centre for the Darley Flying Start trainees on Thursday, July 15th. The trainees had a chance to brandish some of their communication skills and creativity for the 2010 Darley Flying Start Conference, entitled “Selling the Magic.” The challenge given to the trainees was to pitch movie ideas on the horse industry to an audience of “well known Hollywood directors and producers” who gathered in the cinema of the Kentucky Horse Park visitor’s center.
The subjects for the movie pitches were:
Will Mayer - Chip Woolley/Mine That Bird
Scott Calder - Chris McCarron
Chris Armstrong - Cigar
Katherine Williams - Holy Bull
Jennifer Zhou - D. Wayne Lukas
Jenny Barnett - Julie Krone
Ludovic Cornuel - Charlie Whittingham
John Jessie - Steve Cauthen
Veer Vikram Singh Tomar - Laz Barrera
Victoria Leonard - Spectacular Bid
Mike Wilson - John Henry
The trainees sought to convince the audience as to why their movie pitches would be suitable for general release, many of the trainees using well known actors and producers. Veer Vikram Singh Tomar chose Daniel Radcliffe to play jockey Steve Cauthen, and gave his reason for the choice as: “If he could ride dragons in Harry Potter he will be able to ride in this one!”
The trainees emphasised the qualities of their subject character’s background story or experiences that made them so compelling. Katherine Williams described the fairy tale aspect of Holy Bull being left to trainer Jimmy Croll when his longtime client Rachel Carpenter died. Jenny Barnett described Julie Krone’s drive to succeed as “anything but smooth….She was a kick-ass girl who learned to beat the boys at their own game”. Mike Wilson identified the 1981 Arlington Million victory as the “moment John Henry became a legend.” He engaged the audience early on with the emotional story of John Henry, the man.
The proposal voted the winner by the distinguished group of producers was pitched by Victoria Leonard of New Zealand. Her proposal for the story of 1980 Horse of the Year Spectacular Bid, was an animated movie that told the story of a non-descript horse and his friendly stable companion, "Shakey", the Tennessee Fainting Goat. Her presentation included her own illustrations of "Shakey" watching his friend "Bid" training and racing, and hindering the plot of some evil lead ponies who ran a backstretch gambling ring. Vicky nomimated Johnny Depp, who has Kentucky roots, to be the voice of Spectacular Bid and Ben Stiller to be the voice of Shakey the Goat.
The conference was attended by over 100 guests including Joe Osborne (Steven Spielberg), Olly Tait (Alfred Hitchcock), Geoffrey Russell (Oliver Stone), Clifford Barry (John Ford), Ed Bowen (Spike Lee), Chris McCarron (himself), Dr. Dave Fishback (William Wyler), Evan Hammond (William Friedkin), Joe Miller (Ethan Cohen), Ray Paulick (M Night Shyamalan) and family members of the trainees from New Zealand (Vicky Leonard), Kentucky (Will Mayer), California (Mike Wilson) and Virginia (Katie Williams).
Darley Flying Start manager, Clodagh Kavanagh said, “ I’m delighted that the new horse park venue and cinema were well received by the conference audience. The trainees’ movie pitches stirred emotions recalling some of the great American horses trainers and jockeys. The deserving "Oscar" winner voted by the audience was Vicky Leonard’s animated comedy starring Spectacular Bid and his sidekick friend, a Tennessee fainting goat.”