Presidential prize contested at horse race show at Moscow racecourse
http://en.itar-tass.com/sports/735833
MOSCOW, June 11. /ITAR-TASS/. The 9th horse race competition for a prize instituted by the Russian president has been held at the Moscow racecourse.
The program of the tournament with an overall prize fund worth $1 million includes nine races in which Russian-raised horses of pure breed will compete. The presidential race is the most important event for horse breeders in this country. This year the horse breeders have brought 139 horses to the Moscow competition, including 33 that for different reasons were rejected.
The presidential horse race is not solely a sports event: it is an important political gathering. The Russian president had attended all the previous horse racing events, except the 2008, 2010 and 2012 events he missed. CIS leaders used to be guests of the Moscow horse show. It was at the Moscow racecourse that the Russian president met heads of Georgia, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and where an informal summit of the CIS was once held. Heads of government of the Forum of oil exporting countries used to meet in the framework of the Moscow horse race show.
The presidential prize was instituted in 2004. Several times since the horserace show was held at racecourses in Tatarstan and in the North Caucasus. The 2014 competition is the sixth horse race held in Moscow.
Similar competitions had been held in tsarist Russia since 1772 under the emperor's patronage and were known as the Emperor's Race.
Luxury life as Brazil pampers Russia's World Cup hopefuls
http://en.itar-tass.com/sports/735775
ITU (Brazil), June 11. /ITAR-TASS/. Low-fat food on a 54-page menu card, massage, physiotherapy, swimming and vast 50 square-meter rooms - these are the conditions for Russia's national World Cup squad in Brazil.
Around 120 kilograms of pasta, 50 kilograms of Parmesan cheese and 100 bottles of olive oil have been delivered to Itu city's San Raphael Country Hotel, Brazilian media outlets reported.
Eighty-four thousand square meters are there for the guests to enjoy. The team's managers bought out all accommodations in the hotel that the players have called home since their June 8 arrival.
Hotel staff have been strictly prohibited from any information about the team and their stay at the hotel on the Internet. Police and military guard the territory surrounded by high barbed wired fences.
Room slippers with Russia's emblem and the national tricolor await for footballers to take off their boots. And in the kitchen, the team's Russian and Italian cooks are supervising preparation of fruit, vegetables, meat and fish. Greasy foods are banned. Salmon, cod, beef, duck and turkey are allowed, reports say.
In the World Cup group stage, Russia will face South Korea at Cuiaba on June 18. On June 22, Belgium are the opponents in Rio de Janeiro. On June 27, Russia will play against Algeria in Curitiba.