It’s time to brush up on the reading skills with a glance at the Daily Racing Form.

Evergreen Park Racing Club is but weeks away from opening up year number two on its horse club.

The rules haven’t changed much, if at all. One share will cost $250 and that’s all the money the club will ask for. Up to 200 memberships are available.

The money goes towards stabling, veterinarian, blacksmith, training fees and other expenses.

However, there are some rules, namely governmental red tape.

“The only requirement is through Horse Racing Alberta,” said Norm Tremblay, manager of Evergreen Park Racing Club. “There’s a licensing form to fill out so you must meet the criteria for the licensing. And you cannot be personally involved with a horse prior to joining the club. You can own a horse after joining the club but not before.”

The owners of the horses come from a wide variety of occupations including: business owners, farmers and politicans. You certainly don’t need to be a member of the House of Saud to sign on the dotted line.

“Last year we had 103 members in the club,” Tremblay said. “We started out the season with two horses and ended the season with three horses. We had a very good season, winning four races. At the end of the season we ended the club and dispersed of the horses, who carried on to race at other tracks.”

Early on, the club expects to expand its stable.

“Our plan is to having three or four horses to start that we’re bringing out of Phoenix Turf Paradise Race Course in Phoenix, Ariz.,” Tremblay said. “They’re probably going to range from five years old up to eight or nine years old.”

Currently, the horses are running in $3,000 claiming races so the total value should cross the finish line in the neighbourhood of $12,000.

Tremblay doesn’t pick the horses himself. He relies on Canadian-born trainer Robertino Diodoro to make the decisions. The manager expects to have horses that run different distances. Some may be milers and others might be in the five to six furlongs distance.

Diodoro has won multiple top-trainer awards at Canterbury Downs in Shakopee, Minn. Last season, he was second in trainer wins at Oaklawn Park with 31. Oaklawn is in Hot Springs, Ark.

“He knows what we’re looking for in horses,” Tremblay said. “The main thing is that they’re sound,  in good physical shape. He scouts for us during the winter, and at the end of the meet in Phoenix, which is wrapping up (soon) we start picking horses, making some deals and try to find the best possible options for what we need in Grande Prairie.”

Tremblay has a schedule figured out, hoping to get the horses some rest before they head north to Evergreen. He hopes to get them into action in about a month’s time.

“I’m going to move them to a farm in Phoenix to give them some time off before we move them up,” Tremblay said. “I’ll either bring them to Lethbridge or Edmonton, depending on which trainers are there and how the track conditions are. I’m just going to keep them in shape, maybe run them once or twice, before bringing them to Grande Prairie.”

Diamond Cut, a mare foaled in 2012 in California, will be the first horse to join the stable this year.

In 41 career starts, Diamond Cut has been in the money 19 times, with seven wins, six places and six shows. The mare has won $168,061 in her career, an average of $4,099 per start. She has raced five times this year with two wins and a third-place showing and has earned $11,270.

For people interested in joining the club they can fill out the requisite forms on the Evergreen Park website or fill out forms at the racing facility.