“Know your major: Horse racing (People's Daily)” plus 3 more |
- Know your major: Horse racing (People's Daily)
- County approves new horse racing agreement Play Video (KTVQ Billings)
- Horse racing returns on April 10-11 (Douglas Dispatch)
- Horse racing spans the globe (Orange County Register)
| Know your major: Horse racing (People's Daily) Posted: 23 Mar 2010 07:26 PM PDT  Students have their horseracing course. Photo: Courtesy of Li Yaonan Riding the Lucky Horse City (LHC) straightaway in Wuhan at 60 km/hr, horse racing junior Qin Yong was the first of his class this semester to experience the thrill of his major. "I had been waiting for that moment a long time, but when I actually got on the horse, I told myself to calm down and take advantage of every second to practice," said Qin Qin is one of 22 student-jockeys learning to gallop at Wuhan Commercial Services College (WCSC). Beginning in 2008 with three focus majors (stable management, competition management and jockey training), the program, run in cooperation with LHC owners Orient Lucky Horse Group, is the first in China offering a horse racing degree. China derby "We considered that horse racing is now an industry of rapid development and there is a growing job market," said Li Yaonan, a teacher in sports department of WCSC, adding that the average yearly salary for a jockey is 150,000 yuan ($21,970). New horse tracks have popped up throughout China over the last decade in part due to an official push by the government to develop the sport. Although there were reports of China loosening gambling laws as licenses were being granted, gambling still remains illegal. Domestic horse racing profits mostly through ticket sales, recreational riders and tourist groups, says an Orient Lucky Horse spokesman, one of the first companies licensed to develop horse racing in China. Trotting to class Of the 1,000 applicants to the three-year program's first class, only 98 were admitted as horse racing industry majors. According to Li, besides taking the national college entrance exam, students also must meet height and weight requirements, as well as pass provincial athletic exams, testing long-distance running, high and long jumps. Their scores are then combined with that of the college entrance exam. Class for second-year horse racers takes place at the Lucky Horse City Racecourse in Wuhan, one of the largest comprehensive horse racing centers in China, where students spend the next two years learning how to ride. Stable blues Dong Min, one of only five girls of her class, recalled her first days at the field. "We didn't even ride for the first month, but were each assigned four to five horses to look after," Dong said. Everyday, Dong works with her classmates in the stables to feed the horses, shovel manure, wash and walk the horses in the field, as well as learn the basics of setting a saddle. "Horses are our future partners. Only by knowing their personalities and habits can we cooperate well with each other when racing," Dong said. However, it is not always easy to cooperate with a 500 kg thoroughbred racehorse. "A horse is never completely tame," Dong explains. "They bite sometimes when we feed them and when we walk the horses or prepare to set their saddles, they break free and we have to go chase them down." "This happens more with the girls since we're not as strong. And even if the horse is in a good mood, it might step on your feet," she added. Regardless, being together everyday has made students very attached to their trusty steeds. "Our horses are our babies. One of mine is especially cute and unique because the moment she wakes up, she shakes her head," Dong said. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| County approves new horse racing agreement Play Video (KTVQ Billings) Posted: 23 Mar 2010 04:58 PM PDT  Posted: Mar 23, 2010 2:28 PM
BILLINGS- Yellowstone County Commissioners approved a new horse racing agreement, Tuesday morning, for the 2010 season. Under the new deal, summer horse racing will not conflict with MontanaFair at MetraPark. Competitors will also have limited use of the barns during the fair as well. The deal also calls for increase in stall rate from $1 a day to $1.50 a day. The commissioners are pleased to have horse racing back at MetraPark.
Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Horse racing returns on April 10-11 (Douglas Dispatch) Posted: 22 Mar 2010 10:29 PM PDT Horse racing is returning to the Cochise County Fairgrounds. Fairgrounds Manager Karen Strongin announced last week enough state funding has been allocated this year allowing her to put on one weekend of horse racing.Strongin said the dates she was given were April 10-11. "We plan to have a nice variety of Thoroughbred and Quarter horse races," she said. "The track has been maintained and we're excited to be able to bring the races back to Douglas this year." The El Moro de Cumpas trials will be held in Douglas that weekend with the finals to be in Sonoita for the second straight year. The Sonoita Derby Trials will also take place in Douglas as will the John Ray Memorial. Strongin is hoping to have at least 10 races each of the two days. With the economic situation the way it is there will be no increase in the price of the admission or the cost of the programs. A St. Patrick's Day dance is scheduled for this Saturday (March 20) from 8 p.m. to midnight. Money raised will be used for the upcoming horse races. There will be door prizes and green beer. Tickets are $5. "This board is determined to continue onward with all the traditions we have here," Strongin said. "We're like everybody else … in a funding crunch." Kingman has cancelled its horse races this year and Safford is running just one weekend like Douglas. Safford will run this March 20-21, then Strongin said there will be no races the next two weekends. Douglas will have its races; there will be no racing April 17-18 with Sonoita running April 24-25 and May 1-2 which is Kentucky Derby weekend. Strongin says what happened last year was beyond her on anyone's on the boards control and they would have loved to have had the horse races but with the timing of the state budget cuts that was just not possible. "Our legislators are working really hard for us," she said. "They don't want to see this go away either. … They just had to wait and see what kind of funding was going to be available for the fourth quarter period. "We want to race, we will race but we had to wait to hear from the state as to if any funds were going to be available to help us put on these races. We weren't sure if there was going to be any funding at all." Some of the money from the state is also purse money, Strongin said. The fairgrounds manager said she met individually which each of our state representatives and explained to them how important this event is for this area and they were able to come through for her this year. "This event is very important for this area," she said. "People around here really like the races and look forward to us having them each year. … But it takes a lot of money to put this on." Some horses are already starting to work out on the track. Strongin expects most of them to arrive around April 1. Strongin says she is also looking for race sponsors and volunteers. "If anybody in the community wants to volunteer to help do something out here and they don't have a criminal background, we would love to hear from them," she said. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Horse racing spans the globe (Orange County Register) Posted: 22 Mar 2010 01:22 PM PDT Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
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