Investing in the Thoroughbred’s Future continued...
several decades. Alan Lohman joins the Loch Moy team this summer as Course Designer, and judges include Streett Moore, Mike Rooks, and Pamela Landis. When asked about why she chose these judges in particular, Abbott described them all has having “grown up on T oroughbreds” and felt they would know best how to choose the entries that exemplify the qualities of a fi ne T oroughbred show hunter. Abbott is excited to be part of an eff ort which has encouraged more T oroughbreds to get back into the show ring, and has included classes and divisions for the more advanced hunters in her prize list, in hopes of attracting top professionals to support the show.
Down the Stretch Furlongs to Fences competed against
Hurricane Sandy last year and won by several lengths. Manager Penny Woolley said they had some scratches, but that not many competitors were deterred by the threat of incoming weather. Its second annual event takes place this year on September 7-8. T e venue, Fair Hill in Cecil County, needs no introduction; it has been entertaining top-class equestrian sports since 1934. When asked why they would host a T oroughbred-only horse show, Woolley said, “a team of us at the [Fair Hill] Training Center have been talking about it for a long time.” Concerned about and interested in where T oroughbreds end up after their racing careers are over, they wanted to create an event that would showcase the talent and athleticism of the OTTB and help bring back the awareness of the T oroughbred as an other-than-racing competition animal. Only those who showed in the mid-Atlantic in
the ‘60s and ’70s remember when the Maryland Pony Show (now the Maryland Horse and Pony Show) was held in the infi eld of the racetrack at
the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium. So it is fi tting that one of Maryland’s oldest and most prestigious hunter and jumper events has joined the T oroughbred Alliance Show Series. Now in its 69th year and held at the Prince George’ s Equestrian Center in mid- September, it is the only show in the series not just for T oroughbreds, but off ers a T oroughbred Hunter division and a T oroughbred Hunter Classic, from which points for the winners will count toward the year-end TASS awards.
Series Eligibility & Year-End Winners
“We did hit a bit of a stumbling block,” TASS co-founder Bev Strauss said, about how year- end points would be awarded. “Every show liked what they had to off er and everybody liked what other shows had done diff erently,” Fran Burns explained, “so we needed a way to group overall performance in some way other than by division.” T e result is a series of twenty-one awards that will be given at a series end event, for which details are not fi nalized, but will likely take place in early 2014 at Laurel Park. Fourteen of the awards are for the horses, broken down by sex, breeding, and experience. Six awards are given to riders, based on age and status (amateur versus professional). One award, T e Equiery Overall Maryland Resident Owner/Rider Award, will be given to the highest point-earning Maryland resident who owns and rides the horse he or she competes. Finally, the Richard Bennett Memorial Sportsmanship Award will be awarded in memory of the long-time manager of Woodstock Farm in Chesapeake City, who died recently, leaving a legacy of kindness, good humor and horsemanship. According to the TASS website regarding series award eligibility,“horses must be shown
under their registered Jockey Club name. While each member show may have diff erent requirements as far as entering non-tattoed thoroughbreds, in order to be eligible for TASS Year End Awards, horses must be tattooed or have proof of registry according to Jockey Club TIP (T oroughbred Incentive Program) guidelines.” In addition, “horses must compete in two or more member shows, and must be nominated prior to the fi rst show in which they are entered.” Additional information about eligibility and nominations, as well as nomination forms for both and horses and riders, can be found at
www.thoroughbredalliance.org. It is important to note that an actual Jockey Club TIP number is required for eligibility in the TASS. Pride in the T oroughbred horse and in
giving back to the T oroughbred horse is what grew these shows, and also what grew them into a points series, and a great sense of camaraderie and like-mindedness among the management teams, volunteers, competitors, and sponsors are what have kept them growing. Who knows if the American T oroughbred will ever be the dominant breed in the show ring again– but maybe that isn’ t the point. T e tide has turned. People are investing in the Off - T e-Track T oroughbred. T ey are researching their new partner’ s bloodlines and boasting about numbers of starts and monies earned. T ey watch race videos online and buy win photos from their pensioner’s day in the sun before age, soundness, or lack of speed brought his racing career to a halt. T ey honor their pasts. T ey delight in their presence. And best of all, they have given them a future.
See website for official contest rules and details
COUNT Y
28 | THE EQUIERY | MAY 2013
800-244-9580 |
www.equiery.com
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