GLORY and Regret

Every now and then I'll flick through the channels and happen upon some sort of little cinematic gem, most often on Turner Classic Movies. This morning while having my initial cup of coffee (yeah, it takes a whole coffee village some mornings to make things happen) I made the fortuitous decision to check TCM's schedule for the day. To my great surprise TCM was showing a horse related movie that I not only had never seen, I'd never even heard of it. That doesn't happen too often, so I refilled my cup and sat down to watch Glory, from 1956.

Let me say straight off that this is not great cinema we're talking about here...it was a comeback vehicle for then grown up nineteen-year-old Margaret O'Brien. Also in the cast were two great character actors, Charlotte Greenwood and Walter Brennan.

You know the basic story...there's a talented horse who is owned by a small breeder and at some point during the story said small breeder will have to sell (or run in a claiming race) the freakishly talented yearling or two year old before the horse has a chance to change all their lives by winning the Derby. There's also the requisite romance between the charming Margaret O'Brien and the son of a wealthy breeder down the road. Class differences ensue and boy and girl travel the rocky road to love and equine happiness. In the end, it is a rag-tag syndicate made up of farriers, grooms, and hot walkers who come up with the $1200 entry fee that enables Glory's, well, run to glory. (A small musical interlude to showcase Ms. O'Brien's vocal abilities is also included as is a wonderful scene with a mean girl who Ms. O'Brien dismisses with a riding crop!)

So many things were fun about this film, though. First, it's about a filly (named Glory, obviously) and the long and winding road to winning the 1955 Kentucky Derby. There are references to the amazing Regret as well as other historic horses and the filming was done on location at Keeneland, Churchill Downs, and Calumet Farms so there were bucolic long shots of horses running in the fields. Walter Brennan reprises the role he played so often with Gary Cooper in films...a little shady, a little down and out, but with odd wisdom that emanates from his big and generous heart. And then there's Charlotte Greenwood, who is a riot. In addition to being the owner/breeder of Glory, she's a dyed-in-the-wool Brooklyn Dodgers fan who listens to the games, reads their box scores in the papers and calls them "dem lovely bums." She dreams of leaving horses and Kentucky bluegrass behind for her beloved Brooklyn and a place near Ebbets Field. (Ya gotta love Hollywood.) Finally, there's the actual 1955 Kentucky Derby film. The filmmakers used footage of Swaps (with Willie Shoemaker up) vs Nashua (Eddie Arcaro up) as the race between Glory and a rival colt.

Needless to say, I enjoyed every hokey minute and I'd likely even buy the DVD or VHS tape of it to add to my equine film library, but it doesn't seem to be available on home video. So here's a little taste of the film...
Original 1956 trailer for Glory.

And because it's just too much fun to look back at great fillies...here's a nice little look back at the amazing Regret.

Jackson Adamant: No Breeders Cup for Rachel

Jackson Adamant: No Breeders' Cup for Rachel | BloodHorse.com

I'll admit to a couple of things here:

1.) I'm thrilled that two of the most exciting horses out there right now are fillies--major kudos to both Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta (and their respective connections) for the class with which I think they handle these two athletes.

2.) I'm fascinated by the turf vs dirt vs poly debate.

Since I've only ridden horses on your general and basic ground (read as dirt, grass, bridle paths) I'm very curious as to the pros and cons of the dirt vs polytrack discussion. I was at the New England Turf Writers banquet a couple of weeks ago and even when querying the most experienced horse people, no one could really say what the benefits of one was over the other or how if really impacts the horses.

Understandably (and just as humans have preferences for various types of tracks/surfaces when they run) some horses are more comfortable or confidant on one surface than another. I get that. What I don't get is what the X-factor is for arguing against the polytrack.

It seems to me (begging the pardon of Monsignor Habiger for the use of his opening line) that the safety and well-being of the horse is paramount. So if polytrack isn't any safer for the horses...what is it for? Did the officials in California jump to conclusions when they put the surface down at their tracks?

There are still catastrophic injuries to horses and jockeys and I haven't seen any evidence that the poly surfaces mitigate that fact at all. Rather, what I do see are the European (especially UK and France) courses being much safer for horse and human alike. In many cases the races themselves are over long distances (albeit on grass) and even in jump-racing the horses seem to fare better over longer hauls then some horses do here in the US.

I'm partial to turf racing, something about the lush green grass and the way the horses move over it. And the sandy, wide turns of Belmont, well, I love 'em.

All this to say that I understand fully Jess Jackson's decision to not run Rachel on the poly track at Santa Anita. Although she's proven she can run on it (she did, after all, win the Kentucky Oaks in great style on the polytrack) he clearly feels it's not her best option. Too boot, I'm thrilled that he wants to keep her running for another season, giving us all more opportunities to see her compete. I fully support (for whatever it may be worth, LOL) the choice to do what's best for the horse. It is after all, about the horse. She's a highly trained, highly skilled athlete and to all appearances that is how she is being looked after. I hope that's the case because she's special, in the same way Ruffian and Regret were special. (Photos at the top are of Regret and Ruffian, respectively.)

I for one will be glued to the television this weekend for The Haskell at Monmouth, not just to see Rachel, but some of her fellow competitors. She'll face Belmont winner Summer Bird as well as Papa Clem and some other talented boys. Should be a wonderful race!

For a little further reading--and really good reading at that--go to Steve Haskin's article on European vs American racing. Even the follow-up comments are educational and interesting.