Wednesday, September 30, 2020

The FHBPA Scholarship Program



Currently based in Miami, Florida, Amancio Alonso is an active participant in the horse racing industry and owns multiple race horses. Amancio Alonso is also a member of the Florida Horseman’s Benevolent Protective Association (FHBPA), which offers a range of charitable programs that include an annual scholarship program.

The FHBPA scholarship program provides funding for post-secondary studies to students who maintain good academic standing with their schools. The scholarship is annually renewable, and is available to students who come from households that earn less than $75,000 per year. In addition, applicants must be in an approved horse-related field (or be a dependent of someone who is involved in equestrian activities), and be full-time residents of Florida. New applicants may also be required to pass a personal interview.

While the scholarship is only available to those who fulfill these specifications, there are no restrictions on the field of study for scholarship recipients, and study may take place at any accredited trade school, college, or community college. 

Wednesday, September 9, 2020

Equibase Issues Statement on the Timing Accuracy of GPS Technology



A Miami-based business executive and racehorse owner, Amancio Alonso has achieved numerous successes in the corporate world and owned horses for over four decades. He previously served as the president of Macmillan Oil Company. Owning a variety of thoroughbred racehorses, Amancio Alonso follows horse racing industry developments on Equibase.

Equibase was established in 1991 to ensure North America’s Thoroughbred racetracks benefited from a uniform and industry-owned database of racing information and statistics. Equibase recently released a statement in response to the inaccuracies and inconsistencies in the reporting of races across 11 North America racing venues. In the statement, Equibase officials addressed concerns about the timing accuracy of a GPS technology the organization had deployed at several racetracks. Equibase stated it was conducting a comprehensive analysis of all GPS timing data installations with an aim of improving quality control efforts.

Additionally, the statement indicated the organization was working closely with speed figure makers and other key stakeholders within the racing community. The ultimate aim is to develop an integrated timing and tracking system that takes into account both times provided by the beam system and GPS positional data to ensure a comprehensive dataset. Equibase also stated it had no plans of replacing another beam system until it was satisfied any replacement made will either achieve or surpass the set accuracy standards.