• 2009 National HBPA Winter Convention Dates Announced•
The Winter Convention will be held at the Marriott Hollywood Beach in Hollywood, Fl January 29 - February 2, 2009. This convention is being hosted by the horsemen at the Florida HBPA.
Events include a golf outing at the Don Shula Golf Club, an afternoon of racing at Gulfstream Park and a SuperBowl Sunday Party also at Gulfstream Park. For more info please see the Calendar link on this website.

• Seasons, Art Auction to Benefit TCA•
Thoroughbred Charities of America will conduct its 19th Annual Stallion Season and Art Auction Friday, Dec. 5 at the Keeneland Entertainment Center in Lexington.
The cocktail party begins at 6 p.m., with artists’ donations from London to California. Included in the silent auction are halters from top race horses including Storm Cat and Big Brown, John Deere vehicles, a six-person golf car and Caribbean vacations.
A live auction will be conducted by Fasig-Tipton volunteers during dinner, with including stallion seasons including Big Brown, Bernardini, Elusive Quality, Hard Spun, Street Boss, Tapit, and Tiznow. Also to be auctioned are a Dubai World Cup tour, two Porsche Carrera’s, Triple Crown race tickets and an original work of art by Andre Pater, “Study of Hard Spun." The Jimmy Church Band will perform afterward.
Four-time Eclipse Award winning trainer Todd Pletcher will be honored with the TCA Charity Leadership Award and Dot Morgan, rounder and executive director of New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program, will receive the TCA Industry Service Award.
The Stallion Season telephone auction begins Dec. 1. For details and reservations call Liz Harris: 859-312-5531 or visit www.ThoroughbredCharities.org.

• Better Talk Now to race at 10•
Barring anything unforeseen, the $4.2 million-earner Better Talk Now will be brought back to race as a 10-year-old, trainer Graham Motion confirmed Friday.
Motion said Better Talk Now, who finished eighth in the Breeders' Cup Turf, gets turned out every day for a couple of hours at the Fair Hill Training Center. He will resume training just after Christmas with a return to the races pegged for the spring.
"He looks terrific. I see no reason not to bring him back," Motion said. "I'd love to win a Grade 1 with him next year; that would be our goal."
Motion said that one race he would definitely try to make next year is the Grade 1 Manhattan at Belmont, a race Better Talk Now won in 2007. Better Talk Now has gone 0 for 9 since then, including a trip to Dubai, where he finished ninth in the $5 million Sheema Classic. Motion said Dubai will not be on Better Talk Now's 2009 schedule.

• Jockeys Injured in Turf Paradise Spill •
Jockeys Carl Williams and Alberto Higuera were released from John C. Lincoln Hospital after suffering injuries in a spill during the running of a race Sunday at Turf Paradise.
Williams, 44, of Atlanta, Georgia, suffered a bruised left leg. Higuera, 51, of Ocu, Panama sustained a broken collar bone. Both riders were released from the hospital late Sunday evening.
The spill occurred during the running of the ninth and final race, about a quarter-mile from the finish line. Williams’ mount, LS Sunrise suffered a fatal aneurysm and collapsed, throwing the rider to the ground. Higuera, who was aboard Arizona Twist and trailing LS Sunrise, was unable to unable to avoid the fallen horse and went down. Arizona Twist was not injured.