Backstage Pass to the Derby, by Tara Cochran
May 5, 2007
For the 2004 and 2005 Kentucky Derbies, I had the opportunity to work for Churchill Downs and NBC, respectively. Needless-to-say, after previously having a backstage pass to the greatest two minutes in sports, I knew that I could not simply go as a spectator this year and be satisfied. Early in the year I began knocking on doors to see what positions were available during this time. After an exhausting, and what began to seem fruitless search, I was offered a position as a spotter with the Television Games Network, better known as TVG. I was in.
So what exactly is a spotter? Simply put, a spotter assists the camera crew with locating their subjects of interest. In this case, the subjects were the horses entered in the Kentucky Oaks and Derby during their morning workouts. This footage was used for a show TVG produces called The Works. Until this past week, I was unaware of exactly how much work goes into the final product viewed by a television audience. While I am still not 100% knowledgeable of the entire process, allow me to give you a brief look into a typical morning I had as a spotter, which I hope will give you better insight into the television production process.
In order to get everything organized prior to the track’s opening, workdays for most of The Works production crew began by 5:30 a.m. Walkie talkies in hand and sleep in our eyes, we would proceed the backside. Runners, as they are called, went to the designated horses’ barns to check when they were scheduled to go to the track while myself and the other spotters staked out our posts at our designated gaps on the racetrack. (I was fortunate enough to be assigned the gap closest to the stakes barn, Todd Pletcher’s Barn and D. Wayne Lukas’ barn, so at any given time, there was a graded winner passing by me.) For the most part, due to the use of designated saddle towels for the Oaks and Derby contenders
and the information obtained by the runners, spotting simply required a watchful eye.
With our team work and use (or overuse some would argue) of walkie talkies, we were able to communicate to the three cameras positioned in the grandstand and two on the ground, which horses were coming onto and leaving the track, as well as their location on the track itself. The runners would also get the workout times of the Oaks and Derby contenders and the names of their riders, which were
denoted on the show. Also during training hours, interviews, which were to be shown later in the day, were conducted. Once training hours concluded, the camera crew, spotters and runners returned to the production trailer in the area known as the television compound, where the on-air personalities had already arrived to get their make-up done, analyze the footage shot that day and rehearse their lines. By
11 a.m. Eastern time, the show rolled. After that, live race coverage began. Before I knew it, it was 5:30 a.m. again.
While my role as a spotter accounted for only a tiny fraction of what it takes to make a television show run
smoothly, like anything in business, everyone’s role plays a vital part in the success or failure of a product. I feel confident in saying that the shows were a success. My experience certainly was a success. I was able to meet people that I have always admired in the industry, gain more knowledge and insight into racing, and due to my backstage pass to the morning workouts, I had faith that my money on
Barbaro was in the right place.
Thanks, TVG! I’m already looking forward to working with you for Breeders’ Cup in November!
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