By Janet VanBebber
I realize that you won’t see this article for several days, but I began writing this submission on the first day of Fall. As a horseman, I always likened this season to a hook horse turning for home. The finish line for the year is within our sight. We’ve wrapped up the yearling sales, and next year’s foal crop will be arriving in just a few months. But before shifting our attention to mares waxing, we still get to experience fantastic Grade 1 racing contested at major tracks across the country. The AQHA Racing Challenge Championships, the Texas Classic, the Champion of Champions, and the Deuce – just to name a few. I’ll be on hand for each of them! When I trained, it was my favorite season – having pointed the best equine athletes entrusted in my care for the opportunity to run further down the racetrack. After all, we have Quarter Horses, right??!!
Even before joining AQHA, my all-time favorite race at the classic distance of 440 has always been the AQHA Racing Challenge Championship. It is the feature race of the ten AQHA Racing Challenge Stakes contested on October 18th at The Downs at Albuquerque, and this year’s running promises to be good one. This is the second of three consecutive years that Paul Blanchard and his team will be hosting our event, and we appreciate their generosity in contributing an escalating amount to the purses, allowing for a very lucrative night. It’s too early to know how the entries will go, but we can look forward to the participation of an array of stellar athletes, including the likes of 2024 Champion 3-year-old colt, Mystic Paint.
If you can’t be at the New Mexico track in person, we hope you will tune in to the entire card on Q-Racing Video. You can access the platform at AQHA.com/racing where on the landing page is a tab that will take you to the platform. We partner with RTN to offer video streaming – both live and replays, and your monthly subscription supports AQHA racing programs. Know that we appreciate your loyalty to AQHA!
In the days preceding the AQHA Racing Challenge Championship card, we will be hosting the AQHA Racing Conference. For more information, go to AQHA.com/Racing/Challenge Championships/schedules. We draw for the races on Wednesday, October 15th – which you can watch live on Q-Racing’s Facebook page, and then we host a racing workshop on Thursday, October 16th. On Friday, October 17th, we conduct the AQHA Racing Committee meeting. The meeting will be held in the Sierra Ballroom at the Embassy Suites in Albuquerque, and is slated to start at 8am on Friday, October 20th. There is a full agenda that includes a fantastic line-up of speakers, including representatives from racing commissions, the USDA, and racetrack executives. Come listen to discussions on the following topics, and take advantage of the opportunity to ask questions and engage with the speakers:
- How Are Tracks, Affiliates, and Regulators Working to Stop Those Seeking An Unfair Advantage?
- Unregulated Racing: The Risk It Presents to Us and What Is Being Done About It?
- Disease and Other Threats in Horse Racing: What Is Being Done, and How to Mitigate Risk?
- Using Micro-share Ownership of Racing Quarter Horses to bring new interest to the sport
We believe these topics are all extremely relevant to our Quarter Horse industry and are pleased to have well-respected speakers to present each subject. All our gatherings are open to interested parties, beyond those who are connected to participants or who sit on the Racing Committee. To join us, you merely need to register. Call (877)222-7223 to do so.
Another component of the AQHA Racing Conference that is very dear to my heart is the Youth Racing Experience. This event began in 1998, and is held in conjunction with the AQHA Bank of America Challenge Championships each year.
Those selected for the national program receive an all-expense-paid trip to get first-hand experience in the racing industry. They will be matched with professional racehorse trainers to allow them to experience daily life in a racehorse barn. In the afternoons, the youth will attend informational sessions on various aspects of the racing industry from jobs such as stewards and announcer, to the starting gate, jockeys room, test barn, as well as attending the AQHA Racing Committee meeting. This year we are pleased to host 8 youth participants.
These youth will not only garner a priceless education in Quarter Horse racing, but also will be competing for scholarships. The scholarship winners will be announced Saturday night, October 18th, at the conclusion of the National Youth Racing Experience. AQHA is excited to announce an increase in the total amount of scholarships offered to the participants to $11,000, allowing all eight of those competing to go home with a check. The funding for the scholarships has been through private donations from Racing Committee members, and I am eternally grateful for their support.
Kids 16-18 are eligible to compete, and if interested in pursuing next year’s National Youth Racing Experience visit www.aqha.com/youth-racing-experience.
In addition to the eight finalists in the Youth event, there will be five students from the University of Arizona’s Race Track Industry Program (RTIP) on hand to experience opportunities like what is offered to the youth. I am thrilled that a group of RTIP students are again joining us, as it further enhances our opportunity to impact the next generation’s interest in Quarter Horse racing.
We in the AQHA Racing Department work hard to further our industry. Activities such as the AQHA Racing Challenge, the Racing Conference, and the Youth Racing Experience are among our efforts to do so. I hope you can attend, and if you do, I would love your feedback afterwards. I want to make the most of every opportunity, and you can help me in that endeavor.
