KET - KET presents Thoroughbred, a film about horses and the people who breed, sell, race and love them

KET presents Thoroughbred, a film about horses and the people who breed, sell, race and love them

For Release: 2010-02-11 11:50:00

Directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Paul Wagner, Thoroughbred travels from Central Kentucky to Dubai to capture the beauty of the breed, meet the people whose lives revolve around this legendary creature, and explore the Thoroughbred world’s history and tradition. This new KET production, narrated by Emmy-winning actress Kathryn Walker, airs Monday, March 8 at 8/7 p.m. CT on KET as part of TeleFund 2010.

Thoroughbred opens at Aqueduct’s “backside,” where viewers are introduced to an eclectic community of grooms, jockeys, trainers and owners as they prepare for the races. These charismatic characters are joined by gamblers, breeders and journalists, who give viewers a glimpse into the fascinating, intense and sometimes heartbreaking world of Thoroughbred racing. The excitement at Aqueduct reaches a fever-pitch with a thrilling come-from-behind win for I Want Revenge at the 2009 Wood Memorial Stakes.

The program also travels to the serene quiet and beauty of the picturesque Three Chimneys Farm, located in the heart of the Bluegrass, where Preakness and Belmont winner Point Given is introduced to Cerise, a speedy brown mare who meets with breeder Arthur Hancock’s approval. Throughout the program, Hancock discusses his storied family history of breeding and racing Thoroughbreds, including Kentucky Derby winner Sunday Silence.

Then, viewers are transported to the Arabian desert, where the origins of the Thoroughbred are explored and one of the industry’s titans –– Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, ruler of Dubai –– oversees extravagant stables and the richest series of horse races in the world. The program accompanies Sheikh Mohammad back to Kentucky to Keeneland’s September yearling sales, where no one flinches as the bidding zips into the millions at an astonishing pace.

“The film takes you into the hidden world of the Thoroughbred –– the places, the people, the history and culture of America’s oldest sport,” says Wagner. “Although it focuses on the year of racing, breeding and sales leading up to the 2009 Kentucky Derby, our hope is that we’ve created a timeless film, as relevant in ten years as it is today.”

Thoroughbred culminates at Churchill Downs for the 2009 Kentucky Derby. During the preparations and celebrations of Derby week, owners share their hopes and disappointments, and horses seem to revel in the spotlight as everything comes down to who stands in the winner’s circle.

As the excitement of the Derby passes, the program ends with a new beginning and new potential: the birth and wobbly first steps of Cerise’s foal.

“Thoroughbred is the first production funded by KET’s Endowment for Kentucky Productions, which was created to promote the production of educational, cultural and historical programs about Kentucky,” says Craig Cornwell, executive producer of the program. “There is no more fitting first story for this endowment than the story of the Thoroughbred.”

Thoroughbred is a KET production, produced and directed by Wagner. Thoroughbred is funded in part by grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Alltech, Keeneland Association and KET’s Endowment for Kentucky Productions, including: American Electric Power Foundation/Kentucky Power, the late Mr. Hilary J. Boone Jr., Mrs. W.L. Lyons Brown, Brown-Forman, Mr. and Mrs. Alex G. Campbell, Carrie Cinnamond, Cralle Foundation, Thomas P. and the late Clara Dupree Sr., Mr. and Mrs. Oakley & Eva Farris, Mr. and Mrs. Owsley Brown Frazier, Mr. and Mrs. John R. Hall, Harper Industries, Ms. Laura E. Heddleson, Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Heuser, Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels, Humana Foundation, Marshall Charitable Foundation, the late George and Mrs. Ellen Rieveschl, Mr. Allen R. Carter Strickler, Warren Rosenthal Foundation, Anonymous.

Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

More information about KET programming and education services, as well as how to support KET, can be found at www.ket.org.

About the KET Endowment for Kentucky Productions
Thoroughbred is the first program produced through KET’s Endowment for Kentucky Productions. The Endowment was launched in 2004 with a $500,000 challenge grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The Endowment reached its original goal in 2007, and, in keeping with the NEH’s aim of preserving local stories, Thoroughbred was at this time announced as the first production to be funded through the Endowment. The proceeds from this $2.25 million endowment will continue to provide KET with secure funding for a variety of future educational, biographical, cultural, historical and public affairs programs about Kentucky.

About producer/director Paul Wagner
Paul Wagner is an Academy Award-winning, veteran filmmaker with a 30-plus film portfolio spanning the gamut from documentaries to narrative forms. Wagner previously produced the Signature series profile on George C. Wolfe for KET. That program was broadcast nationally by PBS and garnered Program of the Year honors from the National Educational Television Association.

Contact: Amanda Dawahare

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