by Dean A. Hoffman

Dean Hoffman

Columbus, OH — Harness racing has a very exciting opportunity to get some real national exposure to millions of Americans when the movie Shannon’s Rainbow is released next year.

The film is about a teenage girl who falls in love with horses and discovers the mother she never knew in the process.

It’s to be filmed at The Meadows and driver Dave Palone and track announcer Roger Huston will be prominent in the film. And, yes, it’s about harness racing, not Thoroughbred racing.

About four months ago, Frank Johnson, producer of Shannnon’s Rainbow, sent me a copy of the screenplay for the movie. It’s a joint effort by writers John Mowod, Larry Richert, and Linda Morris.

I read over the script and liked the story, but I pointed out to Johnson that there were a lot of scenarios and comments that just didn’t make sense in a harness racing context. Some of the problems were places where the script just got a bit too Hollywood for my taste.

Some parts were simply ridiculous: In fact, there was a scene in which a harness race was started by firing a gun. That might work in a track meet, but how you would like to be driving a pacing filly in a race started by firing a gun?

There were spots where the dialogue didn’t ring true, and Johnson said that he would see that the script was changed.

Included in the script are some calls by Roger Huston and whoever wrote that part of the script knows Roger’s style dead-on. I’ve had the pleasure of listening to Roger call races for four decades or so and the script captured his race calls perfectly.

Movies aren’t made overnight, of course, and Shannon’s Rainbow won’t be released until 2009. That gives harness racing plenty of time to plan to capitalize on this opportunity to use the movie to promote the sport. After all, what’s the last movie you saw with a harness racing theme?

I can see tracks hosting screenings of Shannon’s Rainbow or even scheduling promotional appearances by the leading actors. I can see t-shirts, posters, and other items related to Shannon’s Rainbow for sale at tracks. It’s a golden opportunity and it may do for harness racing what the Seabiscuit book and movie did for Thoroughbred racing.

Plus, it would particularly appeal to a female demographic which is certainly not horse racing’s strong suit.

The role of Shannon will be played by Julianne Michelle, the 23-year-old New Jersey-born actress who won the “Best Young Leading Actress Award” in 2006. She’s got a long list of acting credits in her career starting from when she was a young girl.

Her mother will be played by Claire Forlani, 36, the British actress with almost two decades of film credits.

You’ll undoubtedly be hearing more about the movie as the shooting progresses and as plans are made for the release next year. The interim gives us plenty of time to capitalize upon the movie for the benefit of everyone in harness racing. It could be the biggest promotional boost for the sport in decades.