© Racing Victoria

Racing Victoria has bolstered its commitment to retired racehorses making the transition into a dressage career by signing on as a sponsor of the 2016 Barwon Equestrian Dressage Series (BEDS).

The series, which is hugely popular amongst both pony club and adult riding club members, operates across seven individual events between June and November, beginning with next month’s Drysdale Leopold Dressage Championship at Elcho Park.

Thoroughbreds are extremely versatile athletes and possess superior athleticism and intelligence than many of their rivals, making them the ideal dressage mount, particularly in the introductory and intermediate levels of the discipline.

As part of its support for BEDS, Racing Victoria will offer Off the Track Prize Packs to riders of the Best Performed Retired Thoroughbred Racehorses across both Pony Club (Grades 1-3) and HRCAV (Advanced – Level 3) at each of the seven events.

Horses competing at multiple events in the series will accumulate points based on their performances and there will be an embroidered trophy rug awarded to the Best Performed Retired Thoroughbred Racehorse across the entire BEDS in each of the seven classes.
 

To be eligible for the Off the Track sponsorship, thoroughbreds must be registered and verified on the Australian Stud Book.
More information about the Barwon Equestrian Dressage Series is available here.

This article first appeared on the Racing Victoria website and is reprinted here with their kind permission. For more on the Off the Track program please visit http://rv.racing.com/the-horse/off-the-track