Horse racing results for the past year will matter when it comes to determining the winners of this year’s Equus Awards which will be held at the Theatre of Marcellus in South Africa.

The Equus Awards recognizes outstanding riders and horses for the past season. This prestigious ceremony is hosted by the Racing Association and Gold Circle Racing. More than 400 spectators composed of racers and special guests are expected to attend the event which takes place later this year.

Several performances from popular celebrities are also expected to take place with television presenter Aiden Lithgow serving as the master of ceremonies.

Here are the awards for the taking: Champion two-year-old colt, Champion two-year-old filly, Champion three-year-old colt, Champion three-year-old filly, Champion older male, Champion older filly or mare, Champion sprinter, Champion middle-distance horse, Champion stayer, Horse of the year, Breeder awards, Champion apprentice, Champion jockey, Champion trainer, Champion owner and Merit Awards.

Two categories have been added, this time to honor journalists for excellence in electronic and print media. The winner will get R30,000 in cash. In order to be eligible, the entries must be works published between August 1, 2008 to July 31, 2009.

The casino and horse racing betting scene in New Jersey is facing tough challenges against neighboring states that are reporting an increase in gaming revenues.

The industries within the state are still undecided on how to save the struggling four horse racing tracks. The officials from these venues have been proposing the installation of electronic betting parlors to augment income.

These establishments with electronic gaming machines are now called “racinos” and neighboring states have been offering these services to patrons.

“Racinos” may have difficulty establishing itself in New Jersey considering that major casinos in Atlantic City might protest this sudden development.

Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association of New Jersey President Thomas Luchento stated in a recent meeting of operators that the decline in horse racing betting is due to lotteries and casinos. To offset the losses, part of casino revenues has subsidized New Jersey’s tracks for the past five years. The subsidy still takes effect until 2011.

As of now, “racinos” is gaining popularity throughout the country. There are now 36 such establishments in the country and it is expected to reach 45 in six years time.

The organizers behind the upcoming Alltech FEI European Jumping and Dressage Championships have decided to give the players and spectators a preview on what to expect in next year’s Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games next month. The 2010 competition will take place at the European Championships where all FEI disciplines (8 categories) are going to be featured.

The Alltech World Equestrian Games Gala Night will be staged on August 28 in the middle of the 2009 dressage competition. Participants will have the chance to see the competition venue in Windsor, Kentucky. There will be contests where winners can get up to 10,000 pounds in prize money.

Simon Brooks-Ward, event director, said that next month’s competition and the 2010 dressage events are considered important moments for equestrian sport. He said that it is a perfect time to encourage enthusiasts to attend these competitions because they’ll get to see the finest players at their best.

150 players from 32 countries have been invited to the 2009 Championships. Several major sponsors have made their commitment to provide ample financial support to make this competition successful. The deadline of entries has been set on Monday, July 27.

Three out of four dressage riders have been revealed to represent the British team at the upcoming Alltech FEI European Dressage and Jumping Championships which takes place at the Windsor Castle. The competition will run from August 25 to 30, 2009.

The selected British dressage team riders are: Laura Bechtolsheimer, Carl Hester and Emma Hindle.

Bechtolsheimer will be riding Dr. Wilfried Bechtolsheimer’s Mistral Hojris, Hester to ride Donald McTaggart’s Liebling II and Hindle to ride her won horse named Lancet 2.

The three dressage riders were ecstatic to be part of a prestigious competition.

Bechtolsheimer said that this year’s competition is more special because it is going to be staged in the country which means that they get a lot of crowd support. Hester, on the other hand, expressed his excitement for the competition saying that he’s been training hard for the past few weeks.

Hindle agreed with her teammates saying that competing in front of the home crowd is going to be “amazing.” The young rider recently competed in Aachen and went home with the bronze medal.

The fourth and last member of the British dressage team will be announced by the end of this month.

An East versus West Horse Racing Handicapping competition was launched last weekend between New Jersey’s Momouth Park Racetrack against Minnesota’s Canterbury Park. This is one of the first multi-track competition wherein the three best players after the contest will participate at the National Handicapping Championship in Las Vegas early next year.

Monmouth Park marketing manager Sophia Mangalee revealed that the national challenge will be giving away more than $1 million in cash prizes to the winners. She added that the grand winner will definitely be going home with a lot of money.

Players are given the opportunity to bet for the win, show, place, exacta, superfecta and trifecta, something that is unusual compared to other handicapping competitions. Basically, there’s “no-holes-barred” on this event which makes it very interesting.

This will also serve as the first time that players from different tracks compete for glory. In the past, players within Momouth Park racetrack compete with each other. This time, the playing field has expanded.

More racetracks are going to be invited in future challenges due to the phenomenal success of last weekend’s contest. The players only need to shell out $400 to participate with $100 used for entry fee.

Sixteen-year old Kortney Cleveland of Menifee County clinched the California High School Rodeo Association state barrel racing title held from June 16 to 21 at the Californian city of Bishop.

Barrel racing horses and the riders converged in this prestigious event. In the end, it was Cleveland who dominated overall at the finals with recorded time of 52.882 seconds for the three runs she conducted. She placed first in the two runs and third in the other.

In an interview, the young rider shared that it took a lot of effort on her end during training and she’s glad that it all paid off. Aside from her passion in barrel racing, she’s also an active student at the Calvary Chapel Murrieta High School where she’s currently on her junior year.

For winning the aforementioned event, Cleveland will take part at the National High School Rodeo Association (NHSRA) barrel racing finals from July 17 to 25 in Farmington, New Mexico where thousands of participants all over the country will converge and compete.

The top finalists in state competitions usually qualify for the national finals. Joining Cleveland are sisters Macy Devenport and Destri Devenport who clinched runner-up berths in the competition.

The proponents and supporters of the racetrack slots bill are now looking forward to next year’s legislative elections for the reversal of their proposal’s fortune. According to reports, the Kentucky State Senate committee rejected the bill that could help the struggling horse racing industry in the state.

Kentucky Equine Education Project, a main lobbying group for the horse racing industry, is actively promoting the inclusion of slot machines in racetrack in order to entice the public to continue patronizing their operations.

Patrick Neely, the executive director of the said group, said that the elections matter next year since the voters should support the officials that would support the horse racing industry that’s currently being hit heavily by the global financial crisis.

Most of the Republican members of the State Senate are aware of these plans by the group considering that they were the ones who voted against the passing of the bill.

House Speaker Greg Stumbo said that the senate is currently controlled by Republican officials and that he’s aware that if the bill will be brought up for another vote, the rejection will still win since these officials are against the installation of slot machines in race tracks.

The best possibility that the bill will push through is that there would be more Democrats winning in the next election.

A horse rider from New Hampshire in the United States clinched a prestigious dressage event held recently.

Keene resident Jocelyn Wiese and her horse Lamborghini clinched the Brentina Cup title which was held at the US Equestrian Foundation’s Dressage Festival Champions in Gladstone, New Jersey. The competition was open for riders ages 20 to 28. Wiese is currently 21 and her horse is 13 years of age.

The young rider is a junior at the University of Maryland. She stated in an interview that she’s going to the right direction of becoming a major force in the dressage horse racing events.
Dressage is a challenging equestrian sport wherein the rider and the horse execute a series of movements. This sport is said to be the oldest equestrian event.

The 21-year old revealed that she started riding horses at the age of three in their humble family farm. She then focused her attention on dressage contests. She considered her recent triumph as the biggest one yet and she’s looking forward to compete in national and international competitions in the future.

Wiese and Lamborghini have been working and competing together for the past five years.