"Luck" looks like a winner

It takes the new HBO series "Luck," which opens with Dustin Hoffman's character being released from jail, no more than about three minutes to get to the racetrack, and when it does it's immediately apparent that this will be nothing like the typical horse racing movie or television show. The show connects right out of the gate with its authenticity, with shots of horses galloping in the morning, steam cascading from their mouths and nostrils, gamblers filling out Pick Six slips and a larcenous trainer chewing out his apprentice jockey for running his mouth about how well a particular horse is doing.

The motion picture and television industries have always used large helpings of artistic license when it comes to racing, choosing hokum over the real thing every time. That may be because Hollywood guessed that horse racing unfiltered isn't all that interesting or is too confusing.

Created by David Milch, among other things a prominent racehorse owner, "Luck" refuses to lower itself to that level. Here, you get the real thing, which, during the pilot episode, includes scenes of a horse breaking down and being unsympathetically destroyed on the racetrack. The television version was every bit as gory as the real thing.

Milch and company are gambling that the racetrack world, combined with their acting, directing and writing talents, will make for compelling television. That doesn't exactly make it an odds-on favorite, but the first episode certainly suggests that they may be on to a winning formula.

That's not to say that "Luck" broke sharply from the gate. Not a whole lot happened in the first show. The Luck pilot was more about introducing the characters, the plots and subplots and establishing the racetrack (all the track scenes were filmed at Santa Anita) as the heartbeat of the show.

But it did manage to leave you wanting more. It looked more like a talented late-runner, slow to get into stride in the first eighth of a mile, patiently handled down the backstretch but ready to explode in the stretch with a winning move.

The lead character is Hoffman's Ace Bernstein, who, upon being released from jail for crimes that aren't yet readily apparent, makes getting back into racing among his first priorities. He's shelled out $2 million for a horse and will run him under the name of a beard, his chauffer. He also has his eye on taking over the failing track and turning it into a casino.

Yet, the Hoffman character is shuffled a bit into the background in the pilot, which seems a bit odd since the show is supposed to revolve around Bernstein. That may simply be because Milch and company needed a lot of time to introduce the other characters, of which there are many.

Nick Nolte plays the old school, crusty veteran horse trainer who can't wait to get to work in the morning because he has an unraced horse with freakish ability. John Ortiz is Turo Escalante, a talented trainer who likes cashing bets more than he likes winning races. Richard Kind is the disheveled, stuttering jockey agent Joey Rathburn. We get a brief glimpse of Ronnie Jenkins, a veteran rider who has a drinking problem. Gary Stevens has the role.

The most entertaining parts of Episode 1 came not from Nolte or Hoffman, but from a quartet of down-and-out gamblers who somehow manage to team up on a winning Pick Six ticket that pays $2.6 million. For a day, these losers are winners, and you know it will never last.

There was a lot going on all at once on "Luck" and it played out in a world that had to be confusing to the non-racing fan. With Luck making no effort to dumb things down so far as racing goes, the racetrack ways, environment and vernacular probably left the typical viewer constantly left saying, "Huh?" Walking this fine line between reality and the risk of having things go over everyone's head may be a constant challenge.

Racing fans will love this show because it's all about something they love. To be a success, "Luck" will have to appeal to everyone else, or at least a decent sized fraction of everyone else.

I doubt Episode 1 got anyone hooked. It wasn't that good. But it didn't have to be. It was more about whetting appetites. Plus, it has a terrific team of actors and, in Milch, one of the most talented minds in his business. It has the right network behind it. Just about everything HBO does is tremendous.

And it has horse racing, which, we know, has the elements of intrigue, excitement, beauty and naughtiness. This should work.

Bill Finley is an award-winning racing writer whose work has appeared in The New York Times, USA Today and Sports Illustrated. Contact him at wnfinley@aol.com.

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