The 2005 Cartier Racing Awards, European racing`s equivalent of the Oscars, will be revealed in great style on the evening of Wednesday, November 16, at the Four Seasons Hotel in London, England.

The awards, recognised as the most prestigious within European horseracing, will honour the best horses of a tremendous Flat season, as well as a man (men) or woman (women) who has (have) made an outstanding contribution to the sport. This is the 15th year of the Cartier Racing Awards.

The eight horse awards are decided by a carefully structured combination of points achieved in Pattern races, the views of racing journalists on Cartier`s Racing Panel, and votes from readers of Racing Post and The Daily Telegraph. The Pattern races count towards 40 per cent of the total, with the Cartier Racing Panel`s deliberations also having a 40 per cent share and the votes of the newspaper readers making up the final 20 per cent.

Most of the categories are too close to call at the moment, with Cartier`s Racing Panel, which consists of Brough Scott (Racing Post & Sunday Telegraph), Graham Dench (Racing Post), Julian Muscat (Times), Colin Mackenzie (Daily Mail) and Richard Evans (Daily Telegraph), and the newspaper readers still deliberating - voting concludes on November 9.

Last year`s glittering ceremony saw awards won by Shamardal, Westerner, Divine Proportions, Soviet Song and Ouija Board among others.

Though this year`s winners have yet to be decided, Divine Proportions, Shamardal and Westerner are again strong contenders for Cartier Racing Awards.

Divine Proportions, trained by Pascal Bary in France, was acclaimed the Cartier Two-Year-Old Filly last year and is the leading candidate for this year`s Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly Award.

She maintained her unbeaten record until her final start and enjoyed three Group One victories including two Classics - her five-length success in the Gainsborough Poule d`Essai des Pouliches (French Guineas) at Longchamp was followed by impressive wins in the Prix de Diane Hermes (French Oaks) at Chantilly and the Prix d`Astarte at Deauville.

She then finished fourth to Dubawi in the Group One Prix du Haras de Fresnay-le-Buffard Jacques le Marois at Deauville and it transpired that the filly had sustained a leg injury which led to her retirement.

Shamardal took the 2004 Cartier Two-Year-Old Colt Award. The colt went from strength to strength on turf this year for Godolphin and, like Divine Proportions, won three Group Ones including two French Classics before an injury that forced his retirement.

The first of these successes came in the Gainsborough Poule d`Essai des Poulains (French 2,000 Guineas) at Longchamp, followed by a narrow victory over subsequent Irish Derby and Arc hero Hurricane Run in the Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby) at Chantilly.

The trio of Group One victories for the Saeed bin Suroor-trained colt was completed in the St James`s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot at York where Shamardal produced a sublime front-running performance to score a scintillating three-length victory. He is currently head to head with Hurricane Run for the Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt Award.

Defeat by Shamardal in the Prix du Jockey Club proved to be the only one so far in the short but illustrious career of Hurricane Run, trained in France by Andre Fabre, who is also a contender for Cartier Horse Of The Year, along with Shamardal, Divine Proportions and Westerner.

Successful in six of his seven starts, he captured the Budweiser Irish Derby at the Curragh following his reverse in the French equivalent, beating subsequent Ladbrokes St Leger hero Scorpion by half a length, before completing his Arc preparation by winning the Prix Niel Casino Barriere at Longchamp.

In the Prix de l`Arc de Triomphe Lucien Barriere, Hurricane Run produced a brilliant performance. Settled in the rear in the early stages by Kieren Fallon, the three-year-old made rapid headway up the inside to produce a burst of speed that none of his rivals could match, winning by two lengths.

The victory saw Hurricane Run emulate his sire Montjeu, who won the great French race in 1999 and went on to receive the Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt Award the same year.

Beaten into second in this year`s Paris showpiece behind Hurricane Run was Westerner, winner of the Cartier Stayer Of The Year Award last year. The Elie Lellouche-trained six-year-old this year triumphed in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot at York, defeating Distinction by a neck under a cool ride from Olivier Peslier, and two subsequent placed efforts in top-class company over a mile and a half proved the horse`s versatility.

The points on October 31 stood at

Cartier Horse of the Year Hurricane Run 128 Shamardal 128 Divine Proportions 116 Westerner 107

Cartier Two-Year-Old Colt George Washington 80 Horatio Nelson 72 Amadeus Wolf 52 Red Clubs 52

Cartier Two-Year-Old Filly Rumplestiltskin 82 Donna Blini 48 Nannina 42 Flashy Wings 40

Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt Hurricane Run 128 Shamardal 128 Scorpion 106 Motivator 92

Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly Divine Proportions 116 Shawanda 64 Virginia Waters 64 Maids Causeway 56

Cartier Older Horse of the Year Westerner 107 Azamour 95 Alexander Goldrun 84 Alcazar 78

Cartier Stayer of the Year Westerner 80 Alcazar 78 Reefscape 64 Distinction 48

Cartier Sprinter of the Year Avonbridge 64 La Cucaracha 56 Goodricke 48 Cape Of Good Hope 34

The Daily Telegraph Award Of Merit is for the person or persons who, in the opinion of the special Cartier Jury, has/have done most for European racing and/or breeding either over their lifetime or within the past 12 months.

The list of past winners of the Daily Telegraph Award of Merit is as follows; David & Patricia Thompson, Lord Oaksey, Prince Khalid Abdullah , John Magnier, His Highness The Aga Khan, Peter Walwyn, the Head Family, Sir Peter O`Sullevan, Frankie Dettori, John Dunlop, the Marquess of Hartington, Francois Boutin, Lester Piggott and Henri Chalhoub.

The 2005 Cartier Jury includes Henry Beeby, Charlie Brooks, Mick Channon, The Earl of Derby, Chris Deuters, Mike Dillon, Richard Evans, Christopher Foster, Philip Freedman, Lisa Hancock, Peter Jones, Simon Marsh, Sir Peter O`Sullevan, Anthony Penfold, Chris Richardson, John Sexton, Sir David Sieff, Jeff Smith and Howard Wright.

The Cartier Racing Awards were established in 1991 to recognise excellence in the racehorse.