FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

AMRA – 017

Date: February 26, 2003

Contact: Kate Snider

Phone: (916) 263-3047

Black Ruby and Taz

TVG Rivals of the Year

Sacramento, California - Racing mules on TVG? And as part of a Horse Racing program? You bet! On February 17, TVG Horse Racing Network and "The Blood Horse Magazine" sponsored the Viewer’s Choice Awards of Horse Racing. Twenty-one awards were presented in various categories of horse racing.

After another year of battling it out on the California Summer Fair Circuit, Black Ruby and Taz were voted winners of the Rivalry of the Year Award for 2002. In the 2002 race season Black Ruby and Taz raced against each other a total of nine times. This earned them the nomination for the year-end award and the rest is history.

The competition between Black Ruby and Taz first aired on TVG during the Pleasanton race meet at the Alameda County Fair. The rest of the summer, each time they ran against each other, TVG carried live coast-to-coast coverage of their races. This is the first time mules have been nominated for this honor.

Black Ruby, Taz and the rest of the mule-racing herd will run again beginning in June at the San Joaquin County Fair. If you have a chance, come to a Northern California Racing Fair and watch a mule race in person, or watch and wager at your nearest satellite wagering facility.

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