Vegas Magazine - Niche Media - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/61759
The Arabian Breeders World Cup puts the spotlight on South Point's groundbreaking equestrian center and Las Vegas's first-class ranches (including Wayne Newton's!). PLAY HORSE by MELISSA ARSENIUK H is name is Mariachi, but people may soon be calling him The Comeback Kid. Following a 15-month hiatus that included his big move to Las Vegas, the six-year-old stallion returns to the ring this month in his adopted hometown. The stakes are high and the competition will be tough, but Mariachi's new owner, Sannene Garehime, says the odds are in their favor. The site of his comeback: the South Point Arena & Equestrian Center, where on April 19 to 22 top breeders from all over the world will descend on Las Vegas for the sixth annual Arabian Breeders World Cup, one of the very top competitions for these magnificent animals. (Says Las Vegas Arabian Horse Association president Don Triolo, "It's absolutely breath- taking to see.") "The halter trainer, Gary McDonald, thinks Mariachi's chances are outstanding," Garehime says of the trainer in charge of posing and presentation. "Gary showed Mariachi as a two-year-old champion. He wouldn't want to show him anymore if he didn't think he could win." "Winning is in his blood. He was sired by Marwan Al Shaqab, a three- time world champion stallion that right now holds the record as the leading sire of champions five years in a row at the World Arabian Horse Championships." Two years after Mariachi captured a title in his very first show, his brothers and sisters won four championships, a reserve championship, and 33 Top 10 titles. Those winning genes are no coincidence: Arabian horse breeding is something of an exact science. All of Mariachi's reproductive "work" is done at Desert Pines Equine, but not the old-fashioned way. Instead, vegasmagazine.com 113 Winning at the spectator-friendly Breeders Cup, hosted by the nonprofit Arabian Horse Breeders Alliance, could increase a stallion's value and influence bloodlines for generations to come. Mariachi will step into the spotlight as the very first Arabian stallion from Las Vegas to be shown at the prestigious event, and Garehime believes Mariachi has history on his side. "He won the first four shows he was ever in," Garehime says. photography by judith wagner