eric, very cool shot! i love the composition, specially the look not only on the jockey but also on the horse. the combination of motion blur and grain ceratinly add to thye dynamics here. however, i think i would've toned down the grain. just a bit. and maybe increase the contrast. again, just a bit. this would separate the top of the horse's head from the dark background.
i find it interesting that the horse's tongue is out and flapping around. in "standard" horse racing they use a gizmo to hold the animal's tongue in and keep it from flapping around. although, thinking about it, i'm wondering why. i guess every bit of aero performance counts ;^)
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