HORSE RACING COMMENTARY: Documentary offers inside look at people involved in horse racing

Documentary offers inside look at people involved in horse racing

By JEFF NAHILL - Staff Writer | Friday, April 18, 2008 8:15 PM PDT ∞

In horse racing, the thoroughbreds are the stars in the afternoons. But the people involved are the real stars.

Whether they be a groom, a hot walker, a trainer, a jockey, a valet, a racing official or an owner, there are thousands of stories at the race track. That's what makes the sport so interesting, and that's what directors John and Brad Hennegan have captured in the documentary "The First Saturday of May."

The movie, which opened Friday in 20 cities across the country including San Diego's Landmark Hillcrest, follows the path of six Kentucky Derby hopefuls in 2006. And the Hennegan brothers hit the Pick Six because one of the stars of the movie is Barbaro, who won the Derby but was later euthanized after suffering an injury in the Preakness.

"What we wanted was to find some stories," John Hennegan said by cell phone on Friday while navigating the busy streets of New York City to get to his movie opening. "It helped if the horses were good, but we wanted the combination of story and decent horse. We think we got some good story lines."

The brothers followed 12 to 13 horses that year and shot more than 500 hours of film before whittling it down to 96 minutes. Southern California-based trainer Doug O'Neill mostly made the cutting room floor, "but he laughed about it," Brad Hennegan said this week on a teleconference.

"At the end of the day, we wanted the best stories," said John, who was around race tracks his entire youth since his father was an official with the New York Racing Association for 37 years. "Some of them we got on a little bit later, but we were on Barbaro in January of '06. People were still mispronouncing his name at that point.

"We were going to be happy if one of them made it (to the Derby) and were surprised when more than one of them made it."

Beside Barbaro and trainer Michael Matz, others featured are Southern California-based trainer Dan Hendricks (a former Torrey Pines High student) and Brother Derek, and trainers Kiran McLaughlin (Jazil), Dale Romans (Sharp Humor), Bob Holthus (Lawyer Ron) and Frank Amonte (Achilles of Troy).

One of the movie's most heartbreaking moments is when Achilles of Troy suffers an injury in a Derby prep, thus ending Amonte's lifelong dream of going to Kentucky.

But there are plenty of happier moments, too.

"Somebody who doesn't know which end of a horse bites could go to this movie and enjoy it," said Mac McBride, director of publicity for the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club. "They just get inside people so well. These guys grew up at the race track. They knew where to point the camera.

"A racing fan would absolutely love it. Absolutely enjoy it and would get insights into the Derby they've never seen before. But just your Average Joe off the street could look at it and enjoy it and be entertained. It's a winner. They did a feel-good racing movie."

The Hennegan brothers have received awards from various film festivals (Savannah, Tribeca and Austin).

"After years of working for 'the man,' we realized we wanted to do our own thing," John said. "We wanted to do a movie and we decided to do it on what we know best: horse racing. We wanted to do 'Hoop Dreams' at the race track."

"Hoop Dreams" was a critically acclaimed documentary about two Chicago youth basketball players.

"We didn't reinvent the wheel," John said. "It's a character study of people going after a goal.

"A woman came up to me at one of the film festivals and she said, 'I knew nothing about horse racing and now I want to go to the track.' We'll tell anyone who will listen that this is a movie about people that is set at the race track."

And the Hennegan brothers hope it's received well by the public this weekend.

The movie was backed by Todd Wagner and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban's Truly Indie program.

"If you have a big weekend, then you're invited back for the next week," John said. "Our next week is the week before the Derby when America pays attention to racing for once. Pretty soon you're up against 'Indiana Jones' and 'Iron Man' and that's game over.

"Some man at a screening said you should advertise more and I said very nicely, 'Do you see that billboard for "Iron Man"?' He said, 'Yeah.' I said, 'That billboard cost more than our whole movie.' "

But in the end, "The First Saturday in May" is more than just about making dollars and cents. It's about people.

Contact staff writer Jeff Nahill at nctnahill@aol.com or (760) 740-3550.

What: Movie, "The First Saturday in May"

Length: 96 minutes

Where: Landmark Hillcrest, 3965 Fifth Avenue, San Diego

When: Saturday and Sunday, 12:10 p.m. (matinee), 2:40, 5:10, 7:40 and 10:10

Notable: Co-director Brad Hennegan will hold a question-and-answer session after Sunday's 12:10 p.m. showing.

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