Page 12 - September 2018

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Jennifer K. hancock
by Jennifer K. Hancock
BURGART TO REMAIN ANNOUNCER FOR LOS ALAMITOS THROUGH 2019
Los Alamitos
racing fans, who
were dreading the
impending retirement
of track announcer
Ed Burgart, breathed
a collective sigh of
relief when the track
announced that the
voice of Los Alamitos
Race Course will be
heard calling races for
the night racing action
through the end of
2019 calendar. Burgart announced his change of plans during a live interview on TVG’s “The Quarters.”
“I had a great conversation with Ed Allred, the
owner of Los Alamitos Race Course, and I’ve signed an agreement to remain here for another year,” Burgart said. “I’ll take time off during most of February, March and September. With the extra time off, my wife, Marsha, and I will be able to travel a little more, but I’ll still be able to call the majority of the big Quarter Horse races here.”
Burgart, one of the leading ambassadors of Quarter Horse racing in the nation, became the voice of Los Alamitos in 1981 after the retirement of legendary race caller Bobby Doyle. Thirty-eight years later, Burgart
is widely regarded as the top Quarter Horse racing announcer in the country and the sport’s premier Quarter Horse racing handicapper.
“What did it for me was California Breeders Champions Night and all of those great horses and big races,” Burgart added. “I really love the sport, and I’m looking forward to being here another year. I also have to credit and thank my wife, Marsha. We had a long conversation, and we agreed for me to do this.”
Burgart, 66, will also remain as the morning-line maker at Los Alamitos Race Course and will continue to provide his commentary in the nightly Los Al racing program.
A graduate of UCLA with a bachelor’s in
political science, Burgart began his employment at Los Alamitos Race Course in 1977 as the radio-TV coordinator for the track. His first duties included broadcasting race results to various radio stations, including KNX, and coordinating interviews of Quarter Horse personalities with various racing media. In 1978, Burgart began publishing the Quarter Horse Report, a handicapping publication sold at Los Alamitos during the Quarter Horse racing season.
You can hear Burgart during live nighttime racing at Los Alamitos, which continues on a Friday through Sunday schedule until Dec. 16.
WYOMING TRENDING UPWARD
Wyoming revenue is moving in a positive direction. The Cowboy State is leading the way with new technology and revenue as a way to restore the viability of the state’s horse racing industry as well as securing some economic stability for the state. The revenue from the Historic Horse Racing terminals helped boost live horse racing events in Wyoming, supplement bigger incentives for horse breeders throughout
the state and bring a revenue source to the State of Wyoming and Wyoming municipalities.
Historical Racing revenue for Wyoming municipalities for the first six months of 2018 (Jan. 1 - June 30) reached more than $2.7 million to distribute back to cities and counties where the historical racing terminals are located.
Wyoming is one of only four states in the nation permitting the public to bet on historical races
using self-service terminals at off track betting sites throughout the state. Historical racing is a method
of pari-mutuel wagering, where patrons wager on previously-run horse races through new technology, that not only permits a patron to place a wager on the machines but also to view the official race results and display entertaining video and/or animated displays.
“A lot of hard work has gone into bringing this to fruition, and it has been a team effort from all parties. It is amazing to see the landscape of live, flat-track horse racing change so drastically in Wyoming,” stated Charles Moore, executive director of the Wyoming Pari-Mutuel Commission.
BRAZILIAN RECORDS
The American Quarter Horse Association and its Brazilian affiliate, Associação Brasileira de Criadores de Cavalo Quarto de Milha, are working toward increasing the value of American Quarter Horses worldwide. Through a joint effort to record the performance of registered American Quarter Horses in Brazil, AQHA has recently started to record race results for races held at Jockey Club de Sorocaba in Avare near Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Results are reportable for all eligible, drug-tested races and will appear not only on a horse’s past perfor- mance lines or performance records, but also contrib- ute to the progeny records for its sire and dam.
The first race recorded in this process was the
July 14, $26,799 GP Presidente Da ABQM Derby, which was won by Special Gold MedalBR. Trained by M. Arteman and ridden by A. Arteman, the sorrel stallion races for breeder Erico Braga. Special Gold MedalBR is by Gold Medal Jess and out of the Straw- fly Special mare Dominique Special SA. He covered the 400 yards in :19.328.
ThE MonTh in rEviEw
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SPEEDHORSE, September 2018
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