Information about racing

[oleos93]

Not sure if anyone has mentioned this, but you can not ride your own horse in a race.

[ElPrado]

That's correct. You can train your horse, but you would not be allowed to ride it. No way, ever. It's against all rules in all the states.
You could bring in a romance angle between her and a jockey...

[Sailor Kenshin]

I think I saw at least one jock who might have been owner/rider. Or maybe trainer/jock?

I mention this because it raised our eyebrows: "I didn't know you could do THAT."

I forget her name; it was at Aqueduct or Belmont.
_________________
Somebody bet on the gray!

[DDT]

Sailor

It may have been a horse owned, trained and ridden by Clyde W. Martin, I think the rule about riding goes to you cannot have a horse entered in a race and ride another horse in the same race that is not owned or trained by the rider. You can own, train and ride in Delaware, and you must be able to do it in New York because old Clyde has done it several times that I know of.

DDT

[Sailor Kenshin]

[DDT]

Sailor

I did a little checking and it is okay to own, train and ride your own horse in DE, PA, MD, NY, WV, FL and LA. I believe most racing jurisdictions in North America permit it.

DDT

[Sailor Kenshin]

Thanks. If I come up with the jock's name I'll post it.
_________________
Somebody bet on the gray!

[dreamer]

Good, I don´t have to change anything then. Hopefully.
Would she be allowed to ride her own horse in the Kentucky Derby?
But if her dad owns the horses, even if just on the papers, would it be okay for her to ride her horses everywhere then?

I´m not very good with cities. obviously. I thought they would live in a small town. She will have a part time job at a diner, and that´s pretty much it when it comes to restaurants. Any suggestions?

[DDT]

dreamer

As long as the paperwork is in order, with current trainer's and jockey's license and owner's status, you can own, train and ride in any sanctioned race in North America open to licensed jockeys.

The only suggestion I have is to keep the racing information at a minimum, the story is about the success or failure of the girl, not racing, the main focus should be on the girl, unless it is about the horse, then you should acquire all of the racing information you can. It is very difficult to write or talk about a subject you know very little about.

Good luck with it.

DDT

[Bast]

[Sailor Kenshin]

[pfrsue]

It's your story, dreamer, and if it makes you happy, go for it. But, the best way to sell a story (and maybe I've mentioned it before) is to write something new, or at least to put a new twist on a formulaic story.

Give me a few hours and I could probably come up with several stories and movies that have been released that have the girl+horse+prestigious race theme. Look up the Thoroughbred series by Joanna Campbell if you don't believe me. And I'm going to guess by your forum name that you've seen Dreamer, the movie too, which is another story about a girl and a horse beating the odds...even though she didn't ride it. In National Velvet, the girl did. It's a formula story, tried and true, but you have to come up with something that hasn't been done before, if you want to sell it.

Also, while your English is excellent, if you're really determined to write a story set in the United States, and if you want to try to sell it in the United States, it would be to your advantage to have an American read it and advise you on the use of language before you submit it for consideration. Americans use a lot of slang and have different accents that have to be taken into account when you write. As I said, your English is excellent, but it's not perfectly suited for what you're trying to do.

Please don't think I'm criticizing. I'm just trying to help and save you from a few mistakes I made when I was starting out as a writer.

[dreamer]

Sailor Kenshin. Yeah. I thought they would live pretty near a race track, but still not live really close to a big city. A suburb maybe? So they would have to drive an hour or something to get to the track.
I haven´t done much checking about race tracks so I don´t know where they are and how close to big cities they are.

DDT. The story is mostly about the success or failing of the girl, and her and her love interest. But I still need some information about racing, otherwise I could never make the story real.

pfrsue. I have something new. Or at least I think I have something new. Saying it`s about a girl struggling to make it in racing, yes, there could be a lot of movies/books you can think of. But I hope I do have something different. I have read some of the Joanna Campbell`s books so I know what you`re saying.
I haven´t seen Dreamer. I chose it simply because I am a dreamer.
I`m good in English, and getting better, but I`m not 100 % sure when it comes to grammar sometimes. I have an American guy helping me a little, I can ask him questions about writing the script, and he has offered to read it to check grammar and spelling. I will probably have some people closer to me read it to, to see if they like it.
I don´t think you`re criticizing.

Sure, there are people who would say that I would never make it or I shouldn´t even try. But I am going to try. I believe in my story. And nothing will ever happen if I don´t try. I do live in the wrong country, but for once I`m not going to let that stop me. Living in the wrong country doesn´t mean I can`t write a good story. It just mean I have to think a little about the language.
And hopefully, I will find people who think it`s good enough and want to work with it. If not, at least I tried...

[Sailor Kenshin]

For now, why not pick a state, and someone who lives in that state might be able to tell you about the racetracks and suburbs there.
_________________
Somebody bet on the gray!

[dreamer]

Yeah, that`s a good idea.
I found a list of race tracks listed by state.
So... Maryland, Kentucky, New York or Illinois.


How often do you think a horse can race and how long do you think it should be between two races?