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<\/dt>\n- Christian Barba tests Kentucky Downs’ new cable camera, shown at top of photo. (MIKE KANE)<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n
FRANKLIN \u2014\u00a0Those watching Kentucky Downs\u2019 races through the all-turf track\u2019s simulcast feed should notice a significant improvement this meet with the addition of a cable cam running the length of the stretch, a drone camera covering much of the backstretch and additional fixed cameras.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are really grateful for the owners\u2019 investment in new, upgraded simulcast products and technology,\u201d said Ted Nicholson, Kentucky Downs vice president for racing. \u201cWe know that 99.9% of our audience is watching our racing on television and want to make sure that we recognize their support of our meet by improving the quality of our production.\u201d<\/p>\n
David Loignon is Kentucky Downs\u2019 simulcast production point man, with a background that includes working for TVG, FOX, X Games and Formula 1 after years spent working in the video presentation for Churchill Downs Inc. and for Louisville television stations.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a completely different look at the races,\u201d Loignon said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be much closer, much better visuals. You can actually see what\u2019s developing throughout the race.\u201d<\/p>\n
The video challenges over the unique Kentucky Downs course are many for creating a cohesive production that allows horseplayers to see where their horse is during a race. Kentucky Downs is not flat or asymmetric. There is no grandstand upon which to fix cameras. The course has changing elevations, an unusual right-hand bend that becomes the sweeping left-hand far turn, along with a slight dogleg in the stretch.<\/p>\n
But Nicholson and Loignon believe technology has provided the solutions.<\/p>\n
Kentucky Downs is using a cable camera produced by Defy Products out of Tempe, Arizona, which Loignon said is the same company the New York Racing Association uses at Belmont and Saratoga.\u00a0Its span is 3,000 feet, running throughout the Kentucky Downs homestretch \u2014 starting at the tree line beyond the far turn and finishing on the other side of the paddock \u2014 making it the second-longest cable camera in North America behind Belmont Park, he said. The cable cam is capable of speeds up to 70 miles an hour.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll use it coming out of the last turn, so I think it will be a pretty amazing shot with the horses sweeping out of that turn on the cable camera,\u201d Loignon said. \u201cWe\u2019ll run it just past the eighth pole, roughly, then we\u2019ll pick it up with the normal finish pan camera. It\u2019s not logical to use a cable camera to finish the race. It\u2019s always going to be a little in front or a little behind, so you can\u2019t be exactly on the wire when the horse hits. You need a stationary camera positioned right at the wire to shoot the finish, or people might have a misconception of who won the race.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat this is going to do is eliminate those head-on stretch shots that people are used to watching here, where you can\u2019t see the side. With this, you\u2019re going to see every horse, exactly when they\u2019re making a move and how they\u2019re making a move. You\u2019re going to have a really great view of what\u2019s happening in a race.\u201d<\/p>\n
Loignon said similar dynamics will be in play on the backstretch with a drone, whose pilot will be stationed on the roof of The Mint Gaming Hall at the top of the stretch. The drone will be operated by San Diego-based Pony Chasers, which shoots horse racing for NBC Sports and FanDuel TV, among others.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to actually be the live production pan camera for the backstretch and follow the horses above and right next to them,\u201d Loignon said. \u201cThat\u2019s going to take the horses from just after gate break through the beginning of the far turn. At which point, we\u2019ve added another camera to the outside of the track at the half-mile pole in the corn field. That\u2019s going to take them through the far turn, then we pick up the cable camera.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kentucky Downs will be utilizing a total of 10 cameras, including two in the paddock. Loignon\u2019s video crew increased from 19 to 25 for this meet. Directing the production will be John Powell of International Sound. Loignon said Powell and he will spend Thursday\u2019s opening card working out the best way to use the cameras.<\/p>\n
\u201cI definitely have an idea in my head how I think it\u2019s going to go,\u201d he said. \u201cBut you can\u2019t really tell until you start seeing horses running on a track and the camera angles and what works best. By halfway through the first day, we\u2019ll probably have it down.\u201d<\/p>\n
Simulcast viewers also will notice a new graphics package created in cooperation with FanDuel TV\u2019s graphics team.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey redesigned with our input,\u201d Loignon said. \u201cI think it\u2019s going to be really amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steal Sunshine shoots for first grass stakes win in Tapit<\/strong><\/p>\n
Michael Iavarone \u2014 best known as one of the principal owners of 2008 Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown as well as a prominent character in the Netflix docuseries \u201cRace for the Crown\u201d \u2014 likes a stage. So after purchasing 100% interest in Steal Sunshine, the plan turned to running the 6-year-old horse in Thursday\u2019s $500,000 Keeneland Sales Tapit Stakes on Kentucky Downs opening card.<\/p>\n
Iavarone became enchanted with Kentucky Downs when he owned part of Next Shares, whose first stakes victory came in the 2018 Old Friends, the forerunner of the Tapit Stakes.<\/p>\n
\u201cMike Iavarone \u2014 who I\u2019m training for now, really nice guy, knows the game, has had a lot of success out here \u2014 likes to point his horses for this meet,\u201d Florida-based trainer Bobby Dibona said Wednesday morning after Steal Sunshine trained over the Kentucky Downs course. \u201cHe had bought out the primary owner recently, so he\u2019s been targeting this meet for quite a while. Especially, we wanted to see how he turfed. And when he turfed so well, then we were targeting this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steal Sunshine was second by a neck in a June 15 Gulfstream Park allowance race, his first turf start since he was eighth in his racing debut 29 races ago. It also was his first start since finishing fourth in Dubai\u2019s Godolphin Mile (G2) 2 1\/2 months earlier.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was looking for a prep race for the summer, just to set the stage,\u201d Dibona said. \u201cI always thought he would turf. He debuted on the grass, and then had never seen it again for years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Why?<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, I was winning everything on the dirt,\u201d he said. \u201cI didn\u2019t really see any reason to go back. When you win a stakes, I wasn\u2019t looking to change it up. But I thought this was the time to see. And he ran so well, and I didn\u2019t really have all the screws tightened down. The horse that beat me a neck (Beach Gold) came back and won the $250,000 stakes at Ellis Park and is a really nice turf horse. So I wanted to keep him on the turf, and we\u2019ll see where it takes us.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Tapit at a mile and 70 yards is for horses that have not won a stakes in 2025. Luis Saez will ride Steal Sunshine, who races in the name of Iavarone and his wife, Jules.<\/p>\n
Steal Sunshine might be 20-1 in the morning line \u2014 the 9-2 favorite in the field of 14 is Cameo Performance \u2014 but not in Dibona\u2019s mind.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a nice race. We both looked at it pretty closely,\u201d Dibona said, referring to Iavarone. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t want to trade places. We\u2019re very optimistic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steal Sunshine has raced against some of the best dirt competition in America and beyond. His seven wins out of 29 starts include winning last year\u2019s Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Mile, a stakes in which he was second this year behind top older horse Mindframe.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe hasn\u2019t dodged anybody, faced some of the best,\u201d DiBona said. \u201cMindframe, we almost had him. Sometimes he compromises himself at the break, but we\u2019ve been working on that. His last start he broke real well. Hoping he\u2019ll break clean. But he\u2019s been with White Abarrio, Mindframe, Raging Torrent, all the top guns.\u201d<\/p>\n
If Iavarone is familiar with Kentucky Downs, it\u2019s Dibona\u2019s first time at the undulating turf course.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like I\u2019m in the movie Field of Dreams,\u201d he said. \u201cThe corn\u2019s across the street. But it\u2019s nice. The people have been nice, the weather is beautiful. I think we\u2019ll have some fun (Thursday) and enjoy our time here.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cable cam, drone to provide dramatic difference in KY Downs video Published 10:07 pm Wednesday, August 27, 2025…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":379354,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4107],"tags":[1071,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-379353","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-racing","8":"tag-racing","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115104382017219342","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=379353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379353\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/379354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}