Saddlebred Video Webcast Once Again Offered for 2009 All American Horse Classic

Lexington, Kentucky – The American Saddlebred Horse Association (ASHA) website will once again provide a live streaming video webcast of the 2009 All American Horse Classic (AAHC), set to take place beginning Tuesday, September 8 through Saturday, September 12, in Indiana, at the Indianapolis State Fairgrounds.

Registration to view the webcast may be completed via the ASHA website, here. The fee to view the Webcast is $15 per day/location. A discount is available to ASHA members, resulting in fees of $12 per day/location. Additionally, there is a discounted package purchase available for $68 if all days are purchased at once. Members can receive even further discounts on this package, taking the total price for all days to $54. The license purchased to view the webcast is exclusive to each location and computer on which it is purchased, meaning that viewers must watch the webcast on the same computer at the same location each time.Credit or debit card payment is accepted on-line. A broadband, DSL or cable modem Internet connection is required to view the webcast. A dial-up Internet connection is not sufficient.  Additionally, there is a help page available on the video page that provides answers to frequently asked questions. For technical information, please contact ASHA Technology Manager William Wood, Jr., at [email protected].

The All American Classic to follow has been designated a Regional Championship competition by the American Saddlebred Horse Association (ASHA), and was the United Professional Horsemen’s Association National Honor Show for 2008.  Held at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, the All American is the site of the American Saddlebred Registry’s Sweepstakes program, with total estimated purses of over $220,000, an increase of over 5% from a year ago, with an 18% increase in the Four-Year-Old section alone.  Total purses in Indianapolis are expected to reach over $700,000, including the American Hackney Horse Society Limited Breeders Stakes, the Indiana Saddlebred and Hackney Futurities, UPHA Classics for Saddlebreds and Hackneys, plus added monies from the Registry’s Grand National program.  For further information, including post entries, contact Secretary Judy McNamara at [email protected], or Manager Claire Panke at [email protected].

The Indiana spectacular is almost synonymous, however, with the All American Weanling and Three-Year-Old Cups.  The latter will award an all-time record in riches of over $172,000 in one American Saddlebred class, exceeding the previous record amount awarded last year, and the champion in that event will leave the ring with over $53,000 on Friday evening, September 11.  Of the 115 three-year-olds eligible to compete, only one will claim the largest prize in a single class ever offered in the breed.  The All American Cup for weanlings will itself award over $130,000, with over $38,000 going to the champion weanling.  For more information on the All American Cup, and to see the 600 Saddlebreds eligible for the All American Cup, visit www.allamericancup.org, or contact Jim Aikman, by email at [email protected], or by telephone at (317) 862-4341.

 Any pay-per-day revenue above expenses goes toward Saddlebred promotion, investments in new technology and enhancements to the ASHA website.