Beach Frolic, Shastye and Highclere among shortlisted nominees for TBA Awards

The TBA has announced the shortlisted nominees for its annual Flat Breeders' Awards evening, which is sponsored for the first time by bookmaker Fitzdares.

The evening, which celebrates British breeding success from the 2020 Flat racing season, will be hosted by Gina Bryce and will take place on Tuesday, July 13 at Chippenham Park, near Newmarket.

In a first for the longstanding event, shortlisted nominees have been announced ahead of the ceremony, which will feature a total of 14 awards presented, including the prestigious Andrew Devonshire Bronze and Dominion Bronze.

Two new awards have been added to the evening for 2021. The Filly of Merit Award, given to the breeder of a British-bred filly who has had significant success on the racecourse in 2020, and the Barton Stud-sponsored Industry Merit Award, which recognises those in the industry who are making progress through their business, role or personally to expand the reach of the British breeding industry, by increasing engagement, involvement or developing innovative concepts to develop and improve the thoroughbred breeding sector.

The Filly of Merit Award will be won by Angel Power, Frankly Darling, Indigo Girl or Liberty Beach, while the other new award boils down to Culworth Grounds (for social media), Highclere Stud (innovative stallion terms), Laragh de Burgh (sale videos) or Nick Bradley and Sam Hoskins (stallion syndicate).

In addition to a quartet of stallion statistical awards, the H J Joel Silver Salver shall be presented for Broodmare of the Year, the Queen’s Silver Cup for Leading British-based Flat breeder, the TBA Silver Rose Bowl to the Flat Breeder of the year, the Langham Cup, which is awarded to the small breeder of the year, and the TBA Silver Salver, which is a special merit award.

Beach Frolic, Night Gypsy, Roodeye and Shasyte will fight out the Broodmare of the Year Award, while the Stallion Special Merit Award will be between Outstrip, Zoustar, Heeraat, Mayson, Adaay and Dutch Art.

Chippenham Park: due to play host to the TBA Awards in JulyCredit: Tba

The perpetual Charlie Langton bronze, along with a cash prize of £2,000, will be presented to this year’s winner of the TBA Stud Employee Award, which is sponsored by New England Stud. Shortlisted candidates also receive a £250 cash prize. Nominees for this award will be announced closer to the awards evening.

The evening is also the stage on which the European Breeders’ Fund Stallion Special Merit Award is presented. The award showcases the achievements of British-based stallions, highlighting the milestones and achievements of those that may otherwise go under the radar based in purely statistically driven awards.

Commenting on the awards, TBA Trustee Anita Wigan said: “With the 2020 Flat Breeders’ Awards Evening having had to be staged virtually, the 2021 evening makes a welcome return to its usual format.

"We are thrilled to welcome Fitzdares as our headline sponsor for this event and are thankful for their support of the British breeding industry.

"The evening has been bolstered with the addition of the two new awards and we wish every shortlisted nominee the very best of luck and look forward to welcoming breeders to the evening on July 13.”

Fitzdares CEO, William Woodhams, said: “Fitzdares is delighted to be sponsoring the TBA Flat Breeders’ Awards Evening. Last year we witnessed some spectacular victories on the racecourse and it is great to be part of an event which acknowledges those successes with the people who were involved with the horses from the very beginning.

"We look forward to celebrating the best of the British thoroughbred breeding industry, the horses and people, on what promises to be a very special evening.”

Featuring a drinks reception and dinner ahead of the awards ceremony, tickets are priced at £80 per person. Tickets can be booked through the events page of the TBA website www.thetba.co.uk.

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