Page 12 - Speedhorse, October 2021

AQHA RACING UPDATE
“These statistics offer unrefuted evidence that people love the Racing American Quarter Horse, and that sure delights me!”
A POSITIVE IMPACT ON OUR BUSINESS
On Labor Day, we had the potential to celebrate a historic event: the first Triple Crown winner in 40 years.
Although that did not become a reality,
the chance that it might did stir up a lot of excitement about our industry. The surge in engagement we saw on our different AQHA platforms was phenomenal, and all of us who love this business reap the rewards. Positive exposure for Quarter Horse racing is gold, right? On Facebook, Q-Racing posts about the Triple Crown reached over 800,000, and videos related to the topic had nearly a quarter of a million views. Twitter recorded 95,000 impressions. These statistics offer unrefuted evidence that people love the racing American Quarter Horse, and that sure delights me! Shout out to AQHA’s Andrea Caudill for doing a good job of managing the effort.
There is indeed an excitement in the air, and that enthusiasm was also reflected in
a very strong Ruidoso Select Yearling Sale. Walt Wiggins reported to me that Ruidoso’s sale boasted an increase of 40% over 2019 numbers (taking 2020 out of the equation
due to COVID). As someone who still has a broodmare and brings the resulting offspring to the yearling market, this too makes me happy.
Speaking of making me happy... it’s time for the Bank of America Challenge Championships and the AQHA Racing Conference. It’s my favorite event.
The Challenge Championships are the culmination of a yearlong effort, and
I am excited about it every single year.
The Regional Challenge Stakes and the ensuing Challenge Championships were
a big part of my stable, and the AQHA Champions I trained all participated in
the program. Last year, two winners of Challenge Championship races, Madewell and Danjer, went on to be awarded with AQHA Champion honors themselves. As
of this year, the Bank of American Racing Challenge exceeded $100,000,000 in purses awarded since it began in 1993! In short,
it is a big deal, and I am delighted to still have a role in it. Malynda Reed, AQHA Race Department Manager and Manager of the Racing Challenge, shares my passion for the program. In collaboration with the host track, she and I work hard to bring you these races and we hope you will be
at the Downs at Albuquerque on October 23 to watch them. If you can’t, tune in to Q-Racing Video!
A prelude the Challenge Championship race card will be the AQHA Racing Conference, October 20-23. The full schedule can be found at www.aqha.com/seating-and- registration. There are many activities you might be interested in, but don’t miss the AQHA Racing Committee meeting. While organized for the Racing Committee, the meeting is open to any interested parties and always involves engaging dialogue and great information about our industry. Be there and participate! See page 76 for more details.
I’ve said it before, but it’s worth repeating: if you have a vested interest in the Quarter Horse Racing industry, you need to be at these meetings. Come learn from our presentations, ask questions, offer your own feedback, and have a positive impact on the trajectory of our business. We not only welcome you, but we also need you. While I work hard each day
on behalf of Quarter Horse racing, I need an army of people such as yourself to be the boots on the ground and bolster our endeavors. Hope to see you in Albuquerque!
I want to give a shout out to the AQHA Challenge Championships’ Corporate Sponsors: Bank of America, Adequan, John Deere, Q-Racing Video, Nutrena
and Wrangler. Without them, this premier event would not be possible. We enjoy generous support of the AQHA Racing Conference, too, and wish to thank The Downs at Albuquerque, FDD Dynasty Syndicate, Indiana Grand Racetrack and Casino, StallionESearch, and Andreini and Company for their sponsorship. If you see representatives from any of these entities, please tell them that you appreciate them. Through the resources they provide, we
are able make it all happen. We are indeed blessed to have their support.
I will close with my normal well wishes to each of you. I pray you stay well and able to enjoy your horses. There is an exciting roster of races offered this fall...if your horse is entered - best of racing luck!
October 2021
by Janet VanBebber, AQHA Chief Racing Officer
Be there and participate! See page 76 for more details.
10 SPEEDHORSE October 2021