{A Day at the Races}

I had so much fun doing this story! It was dynamic and visually rich with a ton of

good nat sound just waiting to be captured. I got some good video! And that always

makes for good TV.

Cool part from filming --

The starting gates were around the far side of the track and could not be seen from

the gallery and finish line. I asked if I could go over there to get a shot of the horse

coming out of the gates, and they were happy to help. They had me jump on the back

of a truck with the handlers and the videographer from the track. I set up my camera

and got one shot as the horses blew through the gates. They move so fast, there is only

time for one! So, we'd jump back in the truck to ride around to the finish. When the next

race started 20 minutes later, I rode to the starting gates for a second shot (so I could

edit a sequence together).

You get to go to and do some pretty cool things when you have a camera in your

hand. I love that part of this business!

The owners of the horse track are hoping to get the go ahead to build a recino --

that's a racing casino -- soon. It's up to legislators to decide if they get it. But the

track has offered Arizona 45% of the profits. They say that's much higher then the

1-8% they get from most casinos. Track owners say it's an offer the state should

consider as part of their solution to the current budget crisis.

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UPDATE: Evelyn remade this story in Spanish to go into Spanish newscast they do

every other week. She did a great job, and I was happy my footage get some extra

mileage! CLICK HERE to see her version.