To Play the Game

So I was working the red carpet for the TOBA awards dinner Saturday Sept. 8th.

I was really inspired by the winner of New Owner of the Year. Jeff Bessa was interviewed on the red carpet, and gave a great speech on how he used The Racing Game and TOBA to get started in the Thoroughbred Industry.

You can watch that video here.

What does it take to race and play the game?

I have always wondered what it took to get involved in the industry, to start a breeding program and develop training regiments. After learning a lot from listening to all the interviews of the red carpet, listening to the speakers at the dinner, and doing some research here and there I have come to this conclusion.

This wonderful sport is accessible to anyone who does the research and holds dedication at hand. This could be good and bad, with some people in the game that might not be such a great presence, but it's great to hear how people were race fans and just had to find out if they could get in this industry.

When I read stories of the business men who own Underarmor or Vitaminwater for examples, then see how they want to help the sport or be involved, that excites me. I do have a slight capitalist streak in me, so I enjoy reading about business men who are young and making wise investments, yet are willing to try out a dream of improving the variety in our industry, which I think could grow stale if not injected with new energy and fresh perspectives.

The TOBA dinner itself was a real treat, post the camera shooting. So here is a shout out to Matt Goins and Carlos, who are amazingly talented photographers, and awesome guys to talk and joke around with Matt Carothers and his great interviewing wisdom and all the organizers of the event, especially Pete, Erin and Jennifer, also the crew who I was on duty with.

What a experience and how neat to hear and meet the faces I have read and heard about over the year or so. They just all seem to be genuinely passoinate about the horse industry.