America's Best Racing Series Earns Honor
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Photo: ABRFilms
Kevin and J.B. McKathan
America's Best Racing (ABR), a multimedia fan-development and awareness-building platform of The Jockey Club, was honored Nov. 20 at the fourth annual EQUUS Film Festival in New York City as the Equestrian Series Award winner for its 2016 production of "Triple Crown Training: Where American Pharoah Learned to be a Racehorse."
The film festival highlights and rewards the diverse and creative efforts of storytellers of the horse world who pay artistic homage to the horse through films, documentaries, videos, commercials and shorts from around the globe.
The America's Best Racing series, which was presented and sponsored by Fasig-Tipton, chronicled the success story of the McKathan Brothers Training Center where American Pharoah prepared in 2014 prior to his history-defining Triple Crown and Breeders' Cup Grand Slam achievements of 2015 and the instrumental role that Marion County, Fla., plays in the development of young, hopeful 2-year-old Thoroughbreds. The series was directed, produced and filmed by ABR Films and shot on location in Citra, Fla., at the McKathan Brothers Training Center.
The four-episode original series took the viewer on a journey into Marion County and explored why this successful, limestone-rich region has become the go-to nursery and primary education facility for young, upstart Thoroughbreds. Along the way, viewers were introduced to Kevin and J.B. McKathan and Chris Alexander, their farm manager, as well as the process and preparation that talented and precocious 2-year-old Thoroughbreds undergo while under the care and tutelage of the McKathan brothers. The series concluded with an introduction to American Cleopatra, the full sister of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah.
The award-winning series can be viewed here: