Watch the 147th running of the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 1 from 12 to 2:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN and from 2:30 to 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC. Full coverage is also available on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app.
Jeanne Rosenberg stumbled into co-writing her first screenplay and it set the stage for a movie career.
Film critic Leonard Maltin joked that Jeanne Rosenberg was an “accidental screenwriter” when he introduced her at TCM Classic Film Festival’s screening of The Black Stallion in Hollywood last year.
A graduate of USC Film School [now USC School of Cinematic Arts], Rosenberg had planned on a documentary film career, until a script analysis she wrote on her favorite childhood book, The Black Stallion, changed everything.
After graduation, she learned the movie was in the making with Carroll Ballard directing. A horse lover from her earliest memory, Rosenberg was determined to wrangle a meeting with Ballard when the film was in preproduction in Canada.
“I called and said, ‘I’m coming your way. Maybe I’ll just stop in. Do you mind?’ I was flying from Los Angeles to the Midwest. They were in Toronto,” Rosenberg says.
“We were supposed to meet for coffee one morning. He was late. I was making notes on a napkin. He showed up, grabbed the napkin out of my hand, and kept the notes.” Then came a life-changing phone call: “Carroll would like you to come back. We need help on the script.”
“It was total chaos when I arrived. Melissa Mathison [who would later write ET: The Extra-Terrestrial] got off another plane,” says Rosenberg, “We met and became this writing team as we were about to shoot. Carroll hadn’t committed to a screenplay. All the actors were there. Everyone! Carroll liked to keep everything open and see what developed. He was driving everyone crazy, of course,” Rosenberg says laughing.
“There were times when we would actually write in the evenings and hand pages to Carroll ahead of time. But usually we were right there [on set] hunkered somewhere in the grass, or in a chair, ripping off pages and throwing them at Mickey Rooney, who would scowl and scowl and then do it. We were writing on set virtually moments before the cameras rolled.”
Rosenberg remembers talking with Carroll about the scene where young Alec, played by Kelly Reno, first sees retired jockey and racehorse trainer Henry Dailey (Mickey Rooney, in a role that would earn him an Oscar nomination) in the big barn.
“Carroll wanted something dramatic. Honestly, I didn’t know that much about narrative filmmaking at that point and I write this scene where Henry’s lurking through the barn, through the shadows, but when it’s the reveal he has a gun in his hand. I show it to Carroll and he goes, ‘No, no, no!!’”
The rewrite worked: “Instead of the gun,” Rosenberg says, “Henry has shaving cream all over his face. It was scary and then, here is this cantankerous, maybe dangerous guy, with shaving cream all over his face!”
A true equestrian, who owns and competes on reining horses, Rosenberg flashes back to when shooting began on 7.7.77, a date emblazoned on her mind.
“We shot the second part of the movie first. I was in Toronto,” she explains. “Part of my job on set was really to protect the horse relationship. I kept reminding Carroll that no one can get close to The Black except for Alec. No one else can lead The Black. I know we lost that a little later in the story, but I was constantly reminding him.”
Meanwhile, her equine education expanded. “I’d never seen liberty work before. I had never seen a trainer stand and raise his arms and get the horse to rear on cue, to go from A to B, and go to a mark. It was extraordinary. It really took my mind somewhere else, made me see whole new possibilities.”
And she got schooled in patience and frustration. “Carroll kept refusing to let us write the island sequence. Of course, we did it anyway,” Rosenberg says. “I did not go overseas. Melissa was there. I know it was really hard and really gorgeous. A tough shoot, the kind of shoot that Carroll Ballard loves, out there in the elements with a much smaller crew. Everyone pitching in to carry gear — here, there, and over rocks.”
It was an extraordinary visual experience captured on film. “That’s what Carroll wanted to make. He has an amazing eye and is quite a storyteller.”
“There are so many angles — high angles and low angles and tracking shots — so many things that are so much easier now. Just send the drone out or put the camera on the cable. It was so hard then and they did it so well.”
Here’s an interview by my friend Elizabeth McCall at the Turner Classic Movie festival this summer. A wonderful screening of the Black Stallion film at the landmark Egyptian theater in Hollywood.
The movie was introduced by gifted screenwriter and equestrian wonder woman Jeanne Rosenberg and the renowned TCM film critic and historian writer Leonard Maltin.
Take a listen and drift away … back to riding alone on the beach!!
Back from the road and it’s always good to be home!
With the wild days of “Wild Horse Tales” (www.HorseTales.org) and all the fabulous stunts the horses and their riders have done over the years – thought we should spend a minute talking about care and safety.
It goes without saying you should know your horse, that you should feed and groom them regularly, have them checked by a vet, and always inspect your tack before and after riding. Maintaining the heath and condition of your horse is important to both of you! Prevention of injury is the most important thing you can do, always. My Dad and I put together a little book about this years ago with his writing and my photos. Still have a few of them for sale if you want to take a look.
If however you do find your self in an emergency and you need to care for an injured horse here are a few tips from our friends at www.animalorthocare.com
4 Tips for Caring for an Injured Horse
Any horse owner who has had to handle an injured horse before will tell you that it can be a challenging ordeal, especially if you have no experience or guidance on the matter. Horses are huge, heavy animals that can do a lot of damage if they fall onto something or accidentally kick an object or person. You don’t want to put yourself in danger or run the risk of worsening the injury by improperly handling or treating the horse, so it’s imperative that you do your research and have the right help on hand to make sure you’re in the best position to provide top-notch care. With that said, here are four things every horse handler should do when they have an injured horse.
1. Seek Veterinarian Assistance and Advice
It’s always best to get a professional opinion on an injury, even if you think it might heal on its own. Try to find a vet that has extensive experience in dealing with horses. If the horse with a severely injured leg or its leg needs to be amputated, you may need to consult with a horse prosthetics specialist to restore the animal’s mobility in the long-term. Regardless of what needs to be done, you’ll feel much better knowing that you’re following the advice of a trained and knowledgeable horse vet instead of going it alone.
2. Be Gentle When Cleaning and Treating Wounds
The reaction you’ll get from a horse will vary greatly depending on the horse’s personality, the extent of the injury, and how well you know and handle the animal. However, as a general rule of thumb, you should try to apply no more than 7-15 pounds of pressure per square inch when cleaning wounds. That’s about the amount of pressure generated by a strong spray bottle. Thus, spraying the wound down and gently patting off the water is the best technique.
3. Approach the Injury Carefully and With Help
Handling an injured horse on your own is never a good idea, and it’s also important that you’re careful about how you approach the horse. If you startle the animal, it could further hurt itself with its reaction or it could respond aggressively and injure you or one of your assistants.
4. Allow for Adequate Rest
Last but definitely not least, giving the horse adequate time to rest and heal is essential. Although walking and other forms of physical therapy may eventually be necessary, in the beginning, sufficient rest should be the primary focus.
Keep Close Watch for Troublesome Symptoms
Finally, once you’ve done all of the above, it’s important to follow up with a vet as necessary. If the horse begins showing any signs of infection or other serious symptoms such as fever, fainting, strange behavior, or lethargy, try to have an emergency vet visit organized as soon as possible. Addressing problems as they arise will prevent the horse from having to deal with an injury that is aggravated or worsened due to postponed treatment.
Tomorrow will be another exciting Kentucky Derby, maybe not the American Pharoah triple crown … but you never know!
The 2016 Kentucky Derby will be held on Saturday at Churchill Downs at 6:43 p.m. ET.
Nyquist stands as the current favorite, with a 3–1 chance to win this year’s Derby. According to the odds, Exaggerator will pose as Nyquist’s toughest challenger on Saturday, as the horse has 8–1 odds to win the race. Mohaymen, Gun Runner and Creator all have 10–1 odds to round out the top five horses, at the moment.
Trojan Nation, Oscar Nominated and Laoban have been given the worst odds out of the 22 horses in Saturday’s race, as they each currently have 50–1 odds to win.
But then there is always a possible upset;
The ultimate spoiler is Oscar Nominated, at 50-1, trained by Mike Maker. He won the Spriral last out on Polytrack at Turfway, but has not run on dirt. All prior starts on turf as his sire, Kitten’s Joy, is the most prolific U.S. turf sire presently. Turf form translates to Polytrack often as it did for him in the Spiral. Should he win, the winner’s circle presentation with the Ramseys will be classic. A Kentucky family that loves their racing at every level. While Mr. Ramsey’s dream is to win a race at Royal Ascot and collect a trophy from the Queen, we here in Kentucky love it win he wins a race on a muddy track and then leads his horse into the winner’s circle barefooted. The Ramseys LOVE the game.
