Short Men, Horses, and Russian models

I saw this morning that Foxwoods Casino has recently signed an agreement with The Hong Kong Jockey Club allowing simulcasting of our esteemed horseracing outfit's horse races. Now, I've only been to the races once, but it seems to me that the operation has more than enough pomp, glamour, and residual colonial stuffiness to lend to Foxwoods.

My sole visit came about when a friend asked if I wanted to go see her horse in action. She had come into ownership of the animal through her father whom, having reached his Jockey Club enforced horse quota, started buying horses for his six children. Upon arrival we were duly ushered into the VIP viewing box and passed into the loving care of a meaty, red-faced New Zealand horse trainer. The man did a fantastic job of taking care of us. Endlessly patient with my ignorant questions, he explained to us the basics of horseracing: breed origins (mostly New Zealand and Australia), female jockeys (many in New Zealand, none in Hong Kong), jockeying as a career (very profitable, esp. in Hong Kong), and other such succulent factoids (as was the case that day with my friend's horse and jockey, it is not unusual for the race to be the first time when horse and jockey meet--so much for "Sea Biscuit").

We were also introduced to the jockey, a small wirey Frenchman with a cartoonishly large nose and Cheshire smile to match it. Smart as his whip he strutted about flinging witticism at whoever cared to catch them. His calm, solidly self-assured cockiness was not the kind one usually associate with men of short stature--that bravado that is both used as a distraction from their height and a defense mechanism against the unfair discrimination that has undoubtedly been dealt them throughout their life. It got me to thinking--I am hard pressed to come up with another profession where a man is so publicly celebrated for being short. Certainly there are instances where men have achieved fame (Hitler) and fortune (Tempelton) despite their height, but for it? These men, at least in Hong Kong, can make a very fine living and most find themselves circulating in the upper echelons of HK society, a barely legal Russian model on either arm. Someone needs to spread the word.