Hoss Talk

Two brothers with family ties set out in July 2004 to fulfill a lifelong dream. They wanted to make a film about horse racing that would make it cool for twentysomethings to enjoy.

Their plans were to produce a documentary on the ins and outs of horse racing, as viewed through the eyes of those involved with the sport.

Saturday night those images can be seen when Brad and John Hennegan's outstanding 1st Saturday in May makes its Canadian debut at the Vancouver Film Festival.

Their film focuses on six horses whose owners are trying to make it into the Kentucky Derby -- the story of people trying to fulfill the dream of one day competing in the grandaddy of all races.

Unlike so many big-screen movies, their documentary reveals the realistic side of horse racing.

"In cinema, horse racing suffers from Hollywood cliches of gambling, race fixing, and snobs, and all this stuff, and we really wanted to shatter all those illusions and reveal the real racetrack," Brad Hennegan said from California.

"We really wanted to shatter all those illusions and come at it from the real racetrack, showing our audience it is real people working there who make it such an exciting sport."

Shot on a small budget of approximately $100,000, they traveled to racetracks in California, Arkansas, New York and the Emirate of Dubai.

Returning to the studio they had over 500 hours of footage to view.

"The editing was the most fun and also the worst at the same time," said Hennegan. "Just getting all those hours down to 97 minutes was a challenge."

Among those six Derby hopefuls profiled is popular Brother Derek, owned by Albertan Cecil Peacock and trained by Dan Hendricks.

"We wanted to focus on horses with a legitimate shot at making the Derby. Also important was for us to have trainers that would allow us to follow them and put microphones on them at 4 a.m."

Among the rewards of 1st Saturday in May a screening the Tribeca Film Festival in New York.

"Ironically on that first Saturday in May they were showing our film. And we were fortunate to be named runner-up out of 148 films for the audio award. That was quite the experience," Hennegan said.

The movie is about people and it just happened to be set at the racetrack.

It is a great watch for viewers of all ages and all sports.

Saturday's screening at the Vancouver Film Festival is at 9:30 p.m.

It's also to be shown Tuesday at 1:30 p.m., and Saturday, Oct. 6 at 10:30 a.m.

For more information visit www.henneganbrothers.com.

CLASH OF THE PACIFIC

A record 17 horses will be featured in two races tonight at Fraser Downs in Surrey in the first of two elimination legs leading up to the Clash of the Pacific to be run Friday, Oct. 5.

"We are tremendously pleased with the horses competing," said David Aldred of the B.C. Standardbred Association. "It's going to be a spectacle."

Tom Wolski can be seen on Citytv's Sport of Kings on Saturday mornings at 11 a.m.

twolski at shaw dot ca

Source: Vancouver Province