One to Win

1989
Helen Thorington
A short, humorous, audio art work that recreates a single event in a horse-racing day. Presented from many perspectives, including that of the horse, One to Win carries the listener quickly from one location to another—the announcer's booth, the betting hall, the racetrack, the horse's stall—as it presents the victorious race of Cold Spot, a bay gelding from Yukon by Smart Helen. The sounds range from the hushed movements of horses alone in their stalls to the tremendous visceral heave of their lungs as they plunge toward the finish line. Commissioned by New Music America '89, Miami.