Comments on: An Archivist’s Take on Partymanners

By: Dan M.

Dan M. — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 23:14:31 +0000

As a document-imaging/database paratechnical and racing fan since age 12, I would love to be part of this. It should be ambitious. A database with every past performance line since 1900 is within the realm of possibility.

By: beaneater

beaneater — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 17:28:09 +0000

A good article, and timely in that I had recently been perusing for videos of old races, and not having fun with what I found. All the comments made here are good as well. The thing that struck me about not finding much video was how horse racing, as an industry, is always trying to reinvigorate the sport, and find a new audience. When we can find a select few grainy Youtube videos of only the greatest horses, is it any wonder people aren't drawn to the Sport? For goodness sakes, ESPN broadcasts of people playing poker is more open to the public than horse racing!

By: Cangamble

Cangamble — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 13:15:32 +0000

I'd love to see Woodbine have a data base for old races from the 50's,60's,70's, etc. And especially Greenwood (RIP).

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 00:11:11 +0000

The Keeneland Foundation started rounding up old film and video images almost two years ago to provide one central repository and save a lot of footage that would otherwise be lost.
The project is ongoing.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 23:28:59 +0000

Wonder what happened to all the Bay Meadows video or any other of the defunct tracks.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:38:58 +0000

Actually, digital file-based preservation is the best way to archive/save this content forever, provided the original isn't too degraded already.
The technology available for archive/playout servers is pretty astonishing and low cost relative to the early days. And don't forget: if you upload content to social networking sites, you relinquish ownership of that version of it. Privately branded sites with VOD/streaming capability would be the way to go.
How you make the business case (ringtone model, pay per download/race) is up to the "owners" or librarians. Maybe grants or underwriting from the JKC or other racing alphabets.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 19:41:56 +0000

Secretariat's racing footage is so grainy I can barely see him.

By: Steven

Steven — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:39:26 +0000

Good post, important issue. A logical candidate to spearhead a preservation effort might be the Keeneland Library. We donated DRF's historical archive of newspapers to them when they opened their new facility a few years back.

By: dana

dana — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:01:09 +0000

If Minor wants to save racing, creating something along the lines of "The Society for the Historical Preservation of Horse Racing" might not be a bad start… and I can think of two excellent archivists and a couple of history buffs who would be the perfect team to help make that happen!

By: Colins Ghost

Colins Ghost — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:41:22 +0000

Great post! Businesses do not think in terms of history. They are, by far, the toughest entities to do the right thing by their historical records. NYRA, MAGNA, etc. who hold historical films and videos likely believe that they have a business reason to retain material but have no idea how to properly take care of it. Add to this, the limited number of research institutions who have the collecting focus or resources to take on significant collections of film and video. While the Keeneland library would be the ideal home for racing films and video, one wonders if they have the capacity to take on – what I am sure – would be a monumental (and expensive) project At the very least, let's hope that NYRA and other racing entities take some preservation actions before its too late.