Arabian horses are one of the oldest breeds in the world, with fossil evidence suggesting they date back as far as 4,500 years. Having originated on the Arabian Peninsula, these magnificent horses have been taken around the world, wherever humans have been involved in trade and war. They are good-natured, high-spirited, alert and willing to learn, making them very useful as working animals and excellent for racing. They are exceptional in the discipline of endurance racing, and perform superbly in many other equestrian disciplines. Because of all their desirable qualities, Arabians have been used to improve other breeds, and today Arabian bloodlines can be found in virtually every breed of riding horse. But the pure Arabian bloodline has also been preserved and they continue to make their mark in the horse racing world today.

At a the recent Abu Dhabi International Book Fair book entitled Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival Year Book 2012 was launched by Shaikh Sultan Bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan. The 300-page book chronicles the annual Mansour Global Arabian Racing Festival, highlighting the role these beautiful horses play in horse racing today. Based in Normandy, France, the Wathba Stud Farm, owned by HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is home to pure-bred Arabian horses.

Established in 1971, the New Jersey Sire Stakes Program promotes the breeding of standardbred horses in the state of New Jersey by, among other measures, offering lucrative purses to winners sired by registered New Jersey stallions. The program guarantees a minimum of seven races per annum for two- and three-years old colts and fillies – trotters and pacers – in each class. Among these events are the prestigious Sire Stakes Premier Division, Sire Stakes Green Acres Program and the Babic Open and Filly Pacers with a combined purse of more than $2.6 million.

Competitors in the New Jersey Sire Stakes Program must have been sired by a New Jersey stallion registered with the Standardbred Breeders & Owners Association of New Jersey and is required to conform to the New Jersey Sire Stakes rules. To become eligible for the Green Acres and pari-mutuel programs, a foal meeting the requirements for competing must be nominated to the Sire Stakes by May 15.

Other news for New Jersey horse racing is that Monmouth Park will be opening for its 68th season on Saturday 11 May 2013, having been saved from failing a year ago. The $1 million Haskell Invitational taking place on 28 July has a new sponsor in William Hill – a leading betting and gaming company. In the event of sports betting being legalized in New Jersey, William Hill reportedly aims to develop and operate a sports book at Monmouth Park. The first two weeks of Monmouth’s schedule will feature Saturday and Sunday racing, with a Memorial Day program on May 27 and the rest of the season running on a Friday through Sunday schedule.

The Ballydoyle maestro first won the Epsom Classic in Galileo in 2001 and he struck again 12 months later with High Chaparral, but he’s had slim pickings since.

That was until last year when Camelot duly did the business as favourite, and it must be short odds that O’Brien achieves back-to-back successes for the second time as he has three highly credible contenders:

Battle Of Marengo – best current price 8/1 Skybet

Won his last three starts as a two-year-old in impressive fashion, including a Group 2 at the Curragh in September when beating a decent type in Trading Leather.

This season he’s come out and won the Ballysax Stakes, a recognised Derby Trial, and it’s worth pointing out that the four Ballydoyle-trained winners of that race this millennium were Fame And Glory, Yeats, High Chaparral and his sire Galileo; all top class horses who won 21 races between them

Like all the stable’s three-year-olds, he can be expected to improve as the season progresses and he looks an ideal candidate for the Derby with the better ground at Epsom sure to suit.

Mars – best current price 7/1 Boylesports

Reportedly seen as the stable’s top juvenile last season, although he was restricted to one run on the all-weather at Dundalk due to his preference for fast ground. He duly won that in impressive fashion and was immediately made favourite for the Derby.

The Dundalk race was over 7f but being a son of Galileo he’s bred to be suited by middle distances, and he should have no problem getting a mile and a half at Epsom.

He is due to reappear in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket in early May and is currently trading at around 7/1 behind red-hot favourite Dawn Approach. A big run there will see his Derby odds slashed further and he could well turn up at Epsom as the stable’s No.1 hope.

Kingsbarns – best current price 9/1 Stan James

Yet another son of Galileo and he’s clearly inherited plenty of his sire’s talent judging by his runaway success in last season’s Racing Post Trophy. That Doncaster contest has flagged up several Derby winners down the years, including last year’s dual Classic hero and stablemate Camelot.

Unfortunately Kingsbarns will not bid to emulate Camelot by winning the 2000 Guineas, having met with a setback earlier this spring, and that is a huge blow to his legions of ante post backers.

Thankfully, it’s not a serious injury and the colt is already back in work and cantering, with a run in one of the Derby trials on the agenda. If O’Brien can get him back to the sort of form he showed last autumn, he must have every chance in the Epsom Classic, although he’s only ran on soft ground so far and therefore needs to prove he can handle quicker conditions.

Don’t count these out!

Just for good measure, O’Brien looks to have at least another two possible challengers for Epsom glory in the shape of Indian Chief (25/1 William Hill), who won his maiden on soft ground at Leopardstown recently and is expected to do much better on a faster surface, and Foundry (20/1 Sky Bet), who looked a real galloper when trouncing his rivals on his sole start last autumn.

Written by Nigel Ridgway from EpsomDerby.org

Following his strong Santa Anita Derby victory, Doug O’Neill-trained Goldencents has earned a spot in the Kentucky Derby. Ridden by Kevin Krigger, the 13-2 shot crossed the finish line with a time of 1 min 48.76 sec – a length and a quarter ahead in the $750,000 purse race. Krigger proved more than competent in the race and made history by becoming the first black jockey to win the Santa Anita Derby. After chasing Super Ninety Nine for the better part of the race, Krigger swung Goldencents to the outside on the final turn, overcoming the challenge from Flashback to take the victory. In a post-race interview, the 29-year-old jockey from the US Virgin Islands said he feels good and can finally say that he’s on his way to the Derby. Should he win the race, Krigger will become the first black jockey to win the Kentucky Derby since jockey Jimmy Winkfield’s win in 1902.

O’Neill trained I’ll Have Another, the winner of both the Santa Anita Derby and Kentucky Derby in 2012, and has expressed his confidence that Goldencents has what it takes to win in the upcoming race. Horses Goldencents may be up against at Churchill Downs include Revolutionary, Verrazano, Orb, Normandy Invasion, Itsmyluckyday, Vyjack, Will Take Charge, Palace Malice, Uncaptured, Rydillic, Departing and Oxbow.

Secretariat (1970-1989) made only one appearance in Canada, but it went down in horse racing history and put Woodbine Racetrack in the international spotlight. Running against older horses in the Canadian International Stakes, Secretariat won the race – the last of his successful career, during which he won 16 of his 21 career races with a total of $1,316,808 in earnings. Other honors received by American Triple Crown winner Secretariat include Horse of the Year as a three-year-old, as well as Eclipse Awards for American Champion Male Turf Horse and American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse.

As the son of Albatross, out of the mare Niagara Dream, Niatross was unbeaten in 13 starts and was named Harness Horse of the Year in his two-year-old season. He went on to win 37 of the 39 starts in his harness racing career, with earnings totaling $2,021,213. He went down in history as the first Standardbred to win $2 million and the first Standardbred to break the 1:50, 1:51 and 1:52 barriers.

Nominees for the 2013 Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame are:

Standardbred Male Horse: Admirals Express, Blissful Hall and Rocknroll Hanover

Standardbred Female Horse: B Cor Tamara, Eternal Camnation and JCS Nathalie

Standardbred Trainer-Driver: William Gale, Carl Jamieson and Wally Hennessey

Standardbred Builders: John B Ferguson, Dr Ted Clarke and William Rowe

Standardbred Veteran Horse: Albatross, Artsplace and Niatross

Standardbred Communicators: Harry Eisen, Doug Harkness and Bill Galvin

Thoroughbred Male Horse: Peaks & Valleys, Soaring Free and Mt Sassafras

Thoroughbred Fillies and Mares: Apelia, Sealy Hill and One for Rose

Thoroughbred Jockeys/Trainers: Sid Attard, JG Lavigne and Phil England

Thoroughbred Builders: Jim Sabiston, WD Graham, John Sikura Jr.

Thoroughbred Veteran Horse: Dahlia, Secretariat and All Along

Thoroughbred Communicators: Bruce Walker, Wally Wood and Curtis Stock

The constitutional amendment being proposed (LR41CA) will now be put on the ballot for voters to decide, and will still go through two more rounds of consideration before possible approval. The debate on the merits, or otherwise, of allowing historical racing at race tracks in Nebraska has been going on for some time. A similar bill, put forward by Sen Scott Lautenbaugh of Omaha last year, was passed, but vetoed by Gov Dave Heineman. An attempt to override Heineman’s veto failed. Lautenbaugh is determined to see this new proposal through, noting that lawmakers need to help the horse racing industry, as it has been struggling for a number of years now.

Horse racing venues in Nebraska include Fonner Park in Grand Island, which has been operating since 1954. Located just off Interstate 80, Fonner park is a year-round facility hosting a variety of events, include the thoroughbred race meet between mid-February and mid-May. The highlight of the meet is the Bosselman/Gus Fonner Stakes race, carrying a purse of $75,000, which will be held on April 27, 2013. Horse racing at Fonner Park is a festive affair, with craft shows, entertainment, family-oriented activities, competitions and give-aways. The simulcast program at Fonner Park features racing from New York, California, Kentucky, Florida, Louisiana, Texas, Illinois, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Iowa and Arkansas. It is altogether a possibility that historical horse racing may become a feature of this thoroughbred racing venue in Nebraska.

In a career that started in 1983, Calvin Borel has won 286 stakes races and has the distinction of being the only jockey in US racing history to win the Kentucky Derby three times in four years – his victories being on Street Sense in 2007, Mine That Bird in 2009 and Super Saver in 2010. Borel has notched up 4,999 victories in his career, with purse earnings of $120,044,775.

Chris Antley has a record of 3,480 wins, including 127 graded stakes races and 293 overall stakes victories, with purse earnings totaling $92,261,894 during a career that started in 1983 and ended with his death in December 2000. He won the Kentucky Derby twice – with Strike the gold in 1991 and with Charismatic in 1999.

2007 was a fantastic year for Garrett Gomez, who notched up a record 76 victories in stakes races. He also has no less than 13 Breeders’ Cup wins, was the winner of the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey in both 2007 and 2008, and the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award winner in 2011.

In a career that lasted from 1967 to 2005, Craig Perret won 4,415 races, totaling earnings of $113,837,299. He won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey in 1990, the same year he won the Kentucky Derby with Unbridled. In 1987 he won the Belmont Stakes with Bet Twice.

With his career starting in 1982, Alex Solis has won 4,938 races, with earnings of $230,959,903. His wins included 319 graded stakes and 629 overall stakes, and he has won three Breeders’ Cup races.

The results of the voting will be made known on April 26, with the induction ceremony taking place on August 9 at the Fasig-Tipton Sales Pavilion in Saratoga Springs. The ceremony is open to the public, offering horseracing fans the opportunity to participate in this prestigious event.

The study will be carried out by Lexington-based drug-testing laboratory, HFL Sports Science, which will analyze blood and urine samples taken from horses being treated with isoflupredone, with the goal of establishing the rate at which standard doses of the corticosteroid are metabolized. The KHRC’s equine medical director, Dr. Mary Scollay explained that this analysis is likely to provide information which can be used by regulators to define both threshold levels and withdrawal times for isoflupredone.

Blood and urine samples for the study will be gathered by the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium – a national group funded by the horseracing industry to formulate medication policies. The findings of the study will most likely form the basis of recommendations applicable to all racing jurisdictions. Because of the increased use of isoflupredone, it is under consideration for being added to the more than twenty medications that are deemed to be allowable therapeutic medications.

The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission regularly funds studies through its Equine Drug Research Council to ensure the industry keeps up-to-date with current trends. The three standardbred and five thoroughbred racetracks in the state of Kentucky are licensed by the KHRC and individuals involved in the horseracing industry must be licensed by the commission.

When the New York Horse Racing and Agriculture Industry Alliance was formed at the beginning of 2012 it was with the purpose of securing support and protection for racing and agriculture in the event of amendments to the constitution of New York State to permit full-scale casinos to operate. At the time the group noted that it was the first time in history that representatives of breeders, horsemen, farmers, and the agricultural industry had formed an alliance. The alliance includes the Empire State Harness Horsemen’s Alliance, Harness Horse Association of Central New York, Finger Lakes Horsemen Benevolent Protective Association, Harness Horse Breeders of New York State, New York Farm Bureau, Monticello Harness Horsemen’s Association, New York Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc., Saratoga Harness Horseperson’s Association, New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, Standardbred Owners Association of NY, and Western NY Harness Horsemen’s Association.

Back in February 2012, Dean Norton, President of the New York Farm Bureau noted that while studying new ways of stimulating the economy in New York State, it is important for authorities to weigh decisions in the light of preserving and protecting industries that already generate tens of thousands of jobs. Therefore, any move toward allowing full-scale casino gambling must include provisions to support the existing horse racing industry.

A report released in October 2012 entitled New York’s Equine Industry: Vital to State’s Economy noted that the equine industry has a $4.2 billion effect onthe economy of New York State, with ‘equine commerce’ resulting in $187 million in state and local taxes. There are more than 150,000 horses in New York and the thousands of horse farms, riding stables and trainings centers in the state preserve up to 1.3 million acres of open space.

First up it was the turn of Darlan, who simply destroyed his rivals in the Christmas Hurdle, prompting bookmakers to promote him to Champion Hurdle favouritism, and he was quickly joined at the head of the betting by Hurricane Fly, who recorded the 13th Grade 1 victory of his career when landing Leopardstown’s Festival Hurdle.

While it’s easy to pick holes in the Christmas Hurdle form (the slow pace wouldn’t have suited some), it’s more difficult to crab the performance of Hurricane Fly, who produced a slick round of jumping to dispose of Unaccompanied by seven lengths, but does that mark him out as a prospective winner of the Festival showpiece?

Many would say “yes” to that but there are genuine grounds for thinking his current odds of 7/2 are overestimating his chances of regaining his Champion Hurdle crown, and these five reasons why that won’t happen might even have you looking elsewhere for the winner:

1. He was all out when beating Peddlers Cross in the 2011 running of the race and at the age of nine, he’s unlikely to have got any better. Besides, there have been only three winners aged nine or older in the last 30 years.

2. The competition looks hotter than 12 months ago, when he was beaten at odds-on, with progressive types such as Grandouet, Darlan and Zarkandar all set to take him on, not to mention last year’s winner Rock On Ruby.

3. He won his Champion Hurdle on ground that was officially “good” but he’s done most of his winning on very deep ground in Ireland and he may need those conditions these days, if only to slow the others down.

4. It’s debatable what he has achieved in landing the odds on his last three starts as he has beaten just nine rivals in the process, and many of his victories have come in moderately paced contests. Back at Championship level and in the hurly-burly of the Champion Hurdle, he could well be taken out of his comfort zone.

5. He’s far from guaranteed to run up to his best form at the Festival, as he showed when beaten in the race last season, and even his trainer Willie Mullins concedes he is a difficult race to keep right, saying after the Leopardstown race: “I’ll be happy if we can get Hurricane Fly there in the same sort of form he is in now.”

Article contributed by Nick Wilby

Nick Wilby writes for Cheltenhamfestival.net, an award-winning horse racing news website.