HBO's "Luck" suspends filming w/ horses after 3rd horse dies

[The Tin Man]

Well, it was a shot of Barbaro winning the Derby, not breaking down in Preakness, and the premise of the particular LA Times story was that racing is a dying sport partly due to contemporary society's lack of appetite for seeing horses hurt. Hence the analogy to the demise of Luck, ultimately due to horses...getting...hurt and dying.

On the Eight Belles photo, that was way off base and poor taste, but it was Deadspin, which practices a more hard core, shock value style.

Now I want to see someone do an in depth story on Mr. Chew, and his 50 horses of Luck.

Chew does currently have horses race on this circuit ... I don't think it's a very big stable, but he has some.

[second_glance]

Chew does currently have horses race on this circuit ... I don't think it's a very big stable, but he has some.

http://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbT...o.cfm?eID=2194

[Epiphany]

Which may or may not be related to the fact that Frank allegedly hated the show:

There may also have been future problems with shooting at Santa Anita, Luck's primary filming location. Frank Stronach, chairman of the Stronach Group, which owns Santa Anita, said Wednesday he had wanted to end the relationship with the show. "I'm just disappointed because it puts sort of an ugly face on the whole point of horse racing," he told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune. "We're not going to participate if horse racing is shown in such a bad way." Stronach had planned to meet with the producers, Santa Anita Director of Special Projects Pete Siberell told TVGuide.com. "[Stronach's] people in Toronto wanted me to set up a meeting with Michael Mann and David Milch to talk about the show. That was [Tuesday], when all this hit. We were going to have a meeting to talk about it because he was concerned about the direction the show was going."

A spokeswoman for HBO replied: "We have no knowledge of any such conversation."

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Luck-HBO...n-1044949.aspx

Priceless. Frank claiming he would have put Luck down if HBO didn't? He happily whored out SA for the series, and there is no WAY in hell he didn't know what the show was about in the first place. Sleazy move to distance SA from it now? Oh, yeah. Good Luck with that, Frank.

Oh, I just can NOT wait to see the BC deal with SA without Avioli in between.

[Epiphany]

My god, this is so much creepier than the actual show ever was. Milch could not even write this line...

Said jockey Chantal Sutherland, who also had a role on the show: “It’s sad, not only for the actors, but for the horses as well. They were actors, too. They’re out of a job and have nowhere to go. It’s too bad.”

http://www.santaanita.com/stablenote...-ed-golden-229

More dissecting:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/16/ar...from-peta.html

[algobbi]

Priceless. Frank claiming he would have put Luck down if HBO didn't? He happily whored out SA for the series, and there is no WAY in hell he didn't know what the show was about in the first place. Sleazy move to distance SA from it now? Oh, yeah. Good Luck with that, Frank.

Oh, I just can NOT wait to see the BC deal with SA without Avioli in between.

I thought I read somewhere that the BC didn't want to have Stronach in control of future negotiations.

[The Tin Man]

My god, this is so much creepier than the actual show ever was. Milch could not even write this line...

Said jockey Chantal Sutherland, who also had a role on the show: “It’s sad, not only for the actors, but for the horses as well. They were actors, too. They’re out of a job and have nowhere to go. It’s too bad.”

Trust me ... Chantal was trying very hard to break into the Hollywood scene ... She had some assorted appearances in the series and I'm sure is TRULY very bummed that her chance may have passed.

She's VERY ego-centric and self serving. Sure she's pouting up a storm right about now and taking it personally.

She's not sad for the horses or other actors ... She's sad for herself.

She sucked in it anyway.

[Epiphany]

Trust me ... Chantal was trying very hard to break into the Hollywood scene ... She had some assorted appearances in the series and I'm sure is TRULY very bummed that her chance may have passed.

She's VERY ego-centric and self serving. Sure she's pouting up a storm right about now and taking it personally.

She's not sad for the horses or other actors ... She's sad for herself.

She sucked in it anyway.

The upside for you is she is getting old, and won't be wanted in Hollywood when she is done riding, and she did suck. Terrible actress.

[LifeAtZen]

The upside for you is she is getting old, and won't be wanted in Hollywood when she is done riding, and she did suck. Terrible actress.

She must have been very unremarkable, because I don't even remember seeing her. What episode was she in?

[Pronzini]

Very interesting. Thanks.

The consulting firm McKinsey & Company said as much recently, noting that only 35 percent of Thoroughbred racing fans considered themselves "proud" fans, compared to 66 percent for other sports.

This sport is sooooo effed up.

No it's not. A day at the races is still a fun day. I'm arranging for a bunch of people from work to go to Santa Anita this weekend and there is a lot of excitement about that even from people who haven't been for years and know its going to rain.

But I gather not every one here ever actually goes to the races.

[Man o' Taz]

Maybe they never should have named the show "Luck", because that precipitated only bad luck, or maybe something was awry in the handling of the horses.

Two tweets from Jay Privman:

"Just spoke to AHA rep. Said death rate on Luck "unprecedented." Said 1 horse died in last 5 yrs in TV, film, commercials before Luck."

"More from AHA rep: no horses died filming Seabiscuit, Secretariat, War Horse. Only death last 5 yrs was on film "3:10 to Yuma.""

Certainly a sad truth, but I think they used this as an excuse to cancel the series. If this was getting the ratings and making $$$s for HBO and others, and while unfortunate, I do not think there is any doubt the series would have continued.

[saroman]

Yea. it's too bad the series is being shut down. While I never saw an episode, this is the kind of media attention that the general public goes nuts over. What? 3 horses died? That's terrible and they should shut that show down! Accidents with horses happen on a daily basis. FCS, someone I show with...her horse flipped over in a wash stall, cracked his head and died. I could go on about more horse deaths that have happened to friends and barns I've boarded at, that the general has no clue about. It's an accident and it happens; it happens on horse farms everywhere. I bet the general public does not know about the horses breaking down and dying left and right at Aqueduct. Of course not because it's not on TV and the media has not played it up to the general public and the general public does not follow the sport (except when it's TC time). It is unfortunate that 3 horses lost their lives, and I find it sad anytime a horse loses it's life to an accident. But with horses, it goes with the territory.

I'm not sure I understand your point. It reads like a rationalization for putting horses at risk so humans can be entertained and (in the case of racing at least) make a profit. Your last couple of sentences remind me of the infuriating comment always made by the connections after a fatal breakdown on TV: "It's a tragedy, but it's part of the game." Some game! Personally, as the years go by I find it harder and harder to love both horses and horse racing.

[saroman]

No it's not. A day at the races is still a fun day. I'm arranging for a bunch of people from work to go to Santa Anita this weekend and there is a lot of excitement about that even from people who haven't been for years and know its going to rain.

But I gather not every one here ever actually goes to the races.

And what will the reaction be from your group if there is a fatal breakdown and a horse is euthanized on the track? Will it still be a fun day? I'm guessing from your perspective, yes.

[TapitsGal]

my lesson horse last summer spooked at a car that backfired.He was in the washrack at the time and he reared up,fell over backwards and smashed his head....we had to put him down on the spot....is PETA going to come after me now?My point is,as sad as this is,accidents happen

[Pronzini]

And what will the reaction be from your group if there is a fatal breakdown and a horse is euthanized on the track? Will it still be a fun day? I'm guessing from your perspective, yes.

That is ugly. Wow being you must really suck.

[Jeff]

Personally, as the years go by I find it harder and harder to love both horses and horse racing.

Maybe now is a good time to leave, then.

Given your comments to Pronzini regarding a trip to the track with friends, I think my suggestion feels even more on target than I first thought.

[second_glance]

my lesson horse last summer spooked at a car that backfired.He was in the washrack at the time and he reared up,fell over backwards and smashed his head....we had to put him down on the spot....is PETA going to come after me now?My point is,as sad as this is,accidents happen

Had this been the only incident, the series wouldn't have been canceled. But it wasn't the only death on the set. Moreover, the deaths of the other two only became widely known fairly recently. And 3 dead horses out of a string of 50 seems like a high number.

[The Tin Man]

The upside for you is she is getting old, and won't be wanted in Hollywood when she is done riding, and she did suck. Terrible actress.

Well ... Maybe with her "potential" acting career probably over, she'll move her tack!

One can only hope.

[The Tin Man]

She must have been very unremarkable, because I don't even remember seeing her. What episode was she in?

Lots of them ... She basically played the "jumping up and cheering girl along the rail" during races.

She had very few words.

[The Tin Man]

And what will the reaction be from your group if there is a fatal breakdown and a horse is euthanized on the track? Will it still be a fun day? I'm guessing from your perspective, yes.

Gotta admit ... This is an odd thought process.

My experience is that newbies tend to be really turned off and affected by breakdowns. I would expect that would be the case.

It's only degenerate gamblers who really aren't affected by them.

[The Tin Man]

That is ugly. Wow being you must really suck.

Gotta admit that saroman's take was really odd ...

Have a great day at the races with yours friends Pronzini! I'll be there too!

Sucks that it's gonna likely rain like a mother though.