Am I mistaken, or does this video indicate that Talamo didn’t use the whip to guide I Want Revenge to win the 2009 Wood Memorial?
Pretty impressive, IMO, since the team was dead last for a while after a slow break from the gate. Plus, they had to cut through the crowd for their stretch run.
Anyway, you can keep up with the latest bulletins from the team via Twitter.
Not only is his jockey Joe Talamo using the service, but so is the Kentucky Derby contender himself . I Want Revenge is tweeting, too.
According to recent posts, the horse has been enjoying some tasty bluegrass after his recent arrival at Churchill Downs to prepare for The Big Day.
A scroll down the posts on the Derby contender’s Twitter homepage look plausible, but the nagging voice planted by my journalism-school professors makes me wonder – are these posts really from the horse’s connections?
For one thing, there’s no website in the bio. But Talamo doesn’t have a website, either.
I pretty much take it for face value that a 19-year-old guy would use Twitter. Which would make my j-school profs laugh.
Yes, Rhonda – the government’s here to help us. And, of course, you can just eat one potato chip. And, yes, the fast horsey uses Twitter.
But why wouldn’t a Derby contender’s connections use Twitter to build a fan base for the horse?
It’s a free online presence. A way to keep fans posted with timely updates.
The breezy nature of I Want Revenge’s tweets seem to cater to more casual race fans. So far, there’s been nothing about workouts, which hardcore race fans would lap up.
So the fun and chatty approach may be crazy-like-a-fox promotions, after all. Serious race fans have been following the team’s performances. A personable Twitter presence makes racing fun.
And where’s the growth potential? With the casual race fans.
Still, not even Funny Cide’s connections had a website up for him as he headed into the Derby. The official site’s first post pertained to the past Derby winner’s summertime Haskell bid.
I keep trying to pin down user stats for Twitter. A blogger cites a recent whopping 14 million user stat. But I can’t corroborate that.
That rumble you hear is ghostly laughter from my old j-school profs. If you can’t corroborate it, don’t post it.
Except it’s all too plausible. And it all makes sense from a marketing standpoint.
And so Twitter is new media making a break from the pack and leaving older media outlets in the dust.
Tags: I Want Revenge, Joe Talamo, Kentucky Derby, Twitter
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