Did anyone watch the Melbourne Cup on HRTV

[SlewsMyHero]

Great coverage by 7 Sport in Australia simulcast on HRTV. A huge crowd of over 100K at Flemington. It's amazing how different their TV coverage is, compared to how our networks cover racing. One thing I really liked is the emphasis they put on the gambling. Odds are shown and updated constantly. As soon as the horses crossed the wire, they show a graphic with the top 3 finishers, with their win and place odds from the 3 tote companies. They don't waste time with interviewing people. All the attention goes to the horses and riders. The riders are even introduced to the crowd like the starting lineups before a basketball game. I was really impressed with what I saw. Hopefully I'll get to see a Melbourne Cup in person some day. ESPN and NBC could learn a thing or two from the Australian coverage.

[SlewsMyHero]

True. There were some fluff interviews, but they were prior to the Cup race. From 30 minutes to post to the gate, it was all about the runners and jockeys. They also showed tote odds of the top 4 runners during the the running of the race. Hello ESPN, people do actually bet on these contests and might want to see the odds more than once or twice during your coverage.

[ArlJim78]

I watched it and agree that it was good coverage, more informative and helpful for real racing fans.

One thing that made me laugh was the speech given by the trainer of the winner of the Cup. This guy was hilarious, telling stories, making jokes. He came with prepared material!

One odd thing ocurred that I didn't understand during the after-race speeches. Everyone gave their speeches and gave thanks from a large podium filled with people, the owners, trainers, racing officials, etc. But when it came time to hear from the jockey they cut to an auxiliary microphone that was set-up separately on the grass not more than 20 yards from the main podium where he was basically standing all by himself. I thought I heard them say that this was done for security reasons so I kept trying to figure it out, for whose security?

[Heels1989]

Didn't get to watch all the coverage. But of the couple of races I watched, I was really impressed with some of the camera angles/work. The one camera on the turn heading into the stretch was my fav. Ground level, right on the rail. Great shot.

[Travis Stone]

Was this a simulcast feed or their equivalent of our ESPN coverage?

[SlewsMyHero]

HRTV picked up the coverage from the Australian TV network that covered the race. ESPN's racing coverage is a joke compared to what these folks produced.

[magic_idol]

Originally Posted by ArlJim78

I watched it and agree that it was good coverage, more informative and helpful for real racing fans.

One thing that made me laugh was the speech given by the trainer of the winner of the Cup. This guy was hilarious, telling stories, making jokes. He came with prepared material!

One odd thing ocurred that I didn't understand during the after-race speeches. Everyone gave their speeches and gave thanks from a large podium filled with people, the owners, trainers, racing officials, etc. But when it came time to hear from the jockey they cut to an auxiliary microphone that was set-up separately on the grass not more than 20 yards from the main podium where he was basically standing all by himself. I thought I heard them say that this was done for security reasons so I kept trying to figure it out, for whose security?

The spread of EI to keep the jock away from public because he just got off the horse.
EI can be spread from horse to person to person to horse quite unreal security at the mo because of it in the two other states there is no racing & the good horses werent even allowed to go to the cup

[ArlJim78]

Originally Posted by magic_idol

The spread of EI to keep the jock away from public because he just got off the horse.
EI can be spread from horse to person to person to horse quite unreal security at the mo because of it in the two other states there is no racing & the good horses werent even allowed to go to the cup

OHHH yeah, that makes sense. I didn't even think of that.
for the life of me I couldn't figure it out.
I thought maybe he was a dangerous character or something to that effect.

thanks!