Californian Begins TVG/Fox Sports Net TV Series
by Blood-Horse Staff
Date Posted: 6/9/2004 12:55:04 PM

The first "Road to the World Thoroughbred Championships on TVG/Fox Sports Net" show of the season will air Saturday from Hollywood Park in Los Angeles. The show will air on TVG and will be simulcast on Fox Sports Net 2, Fox Sports New York, Fox Sports South and the Sunshine Network from 8:00-9:00 p.m. EDT, and will feature the Grade II, $250,000 Californian Stakes. A field of six is expected for the race, including Buckland Manor, Choctaw Nation, Ender's Shadow, Total Impact, Nose the Trade and Wild and Wicked.

As a production enhancement, TVG will use the Wescam XR™ camera technology, which will enable it to offer a steady, up-close view of the entire Californian field during their run on the backstretch. This is made possible because the Wescam XR has continuous pan, tilt and roll capability that is unlimited and unrestricted. The camera is stationed on a truck and moves along with the race.

"It's the same technology used to shoot several of the scenes in the movie Seabiscuit," said TVG vice president and executive producer Tony Allevato, "and the effect is to make viewers feel like they're part of the race."

The series will include five monthly, one-hour shows airing from June through October. The programs will present races from five different tracks representing most of the eight Breeders' Cup divisions that comprise the 2004 Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships, to be held this year on October 30 at Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie outside Dallas.


In addition to the Californian, a 1 1/8-mile race for older horses that is part of Breeders' Cup Classic Division - Powered by Dodge and the Nextel Breeders' Cup Distaff Division, other shows in the series will feature such key Breeders' Cup preps as the Summit of Speed from Calder Race Course in Miami (July 10); the Clement Hirsch Handicap from Del Mar (August 8); the Woodward and Man o'War Stakes from Belmont Park (September 11), and stakes races from the Oak Tree at Santa Anita Meet (October 9).

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