Monthly Archives: February 2010

Since 1924, horses aged five years and older have been participating in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, trying to capture this prestigious title. It is one of the most challenging and popular events on the jumps racing calendar, hosted by the Cheltenham Racecourse, and forms part of the Cheltenham Festival. This year the Cheltenham Gold Cup will be taking place on 19 March 2010, and trainer Paul Nicholls has already chosen an extraordinary team to participate in the festival. One of the names that stands out amongst his selection is previous Cheltenham Gold Cup winner, Denman.

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The La Canada Stakes was inaugurated in 1975, and is an event that is hosted by the Santa Anita Racecourse every February. Held for mares and fillies that are four years of age, the La Canada Stakes race is a Grade II event. It forms part of the La Canada Series, of which the other two races are the El Encino Stakes and the La Barea Stakes. Winning all three races seems to be an achievement that is not easily come by, as only three fillies have been able to take the title since the inception of the series, namely Got Koko in 2003, Mitterand in 1985 and Taisez Vouz in 1978.

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Each year, three year old horses from across the world gear up to take on the prestigious Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing. The Triple Crown consists of three races, and winning all three is an honor that is rarely come by. It consists of the Belmont Stakes, the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes. The last horse to have won the Triple Crown was Affirmed in 1978. Other winners include Sir Barton (1919), Gallant Fox (1930), Omaha (1935), War Admiral (1937), Whirlaway (1941), Count Fleet (1943), Assault (1946), Citation (1948), Secretariat (1973) and Seattle Slew (1977).

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Last year all everyone could talk about was how great it would be to see the best fillies in action against each other. But just as racing fans began to lose hope that they would be able to witness a showdown between Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta, Oaklawn Park Racecourse has put an offer on the table that most horse owners would not refuse. Unfortunately, the owners of both these magnificent horses are not easily swayed by purse money, yet there have been positive responses from both camps, making the faceoff between Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra a very good possibility.

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The land on which Aintree Racecourse in England now stands once belonged to William Philip Molyneux, who was the second Earl of Sefton. It was Molyneux who founded the prestigious Aintree Grand National. It is said that the first race was run in 1836, with a spectacular horse by the name of The Duke winning the event for two years consecutively. Since its inception the Aintree Grand National has grown into one of the leading events in the National Hunt horse racing industry.

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