Group 1 race
2,000 Guineas Stakes
The Finish of the Two Thousand Guineas at Newmarket by Samuel Henry Alken (1810–1894)
Location	Rowley Mile Newmarket, England
Inaugurated	1809
Race type	Flat / Thoroughbred
Sponsor	QIPCO
Website	Newmarket
Race information
Distance	1 mile (1,609 metres)
Surface	Turf
Track	Straight
Qualification	Three-year-olds excluding geldings
Weight	9 st 0 lb Allowances 3 lb for fillies
Purse	£350,000 (2012) 1st: £213,513.13

Engraving of the 1874 2,000 Guineas, from the Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News, May 1874

The 2,000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres), and it is scheduled to take place each year in late April or early May.

It is one of Britain's five Classic races, and at present it is the first to be run in the year. It also serves as the opening leg of the Triple Crown, followed by the Derby and the St Leger, although the feat of winning all three has been rarely attempted in recent decades.

History[link]

The 2,000 Guineas was first run on 18 April 1809, and it preceded the introduction of a version for fillies only, the 1,000 Guineas, by five years. Both races were established by the Jockey Club under the direction of Sir Charles Bunbury, who had earlier co-founded the Derby at Epsom. The races were named according to their original prize funds (a guinea amounted to 21 shillings, or £1.05).

By the mid-1860s, the 2,000 Guineas was regarded as one of Britain's most prestigious races for three-year-olds. The five leading events for this age group, characterised by increasing distances as the season progressed, began to be known as "Classics". The concept was later adopted in many other countries.

European variations of the 2,000 Guineas include the Irish 2,000 Guineas, the Mehl-Mülhens-Rennen, the Poule d'Essai des Poulains and the Premio Parioli. Elsewhere, variations include the Australian Guineas and the Satsuki Shō.

The 2,000 Guineas is served by trial races such as the Craven Stakes and the Greenham Stakes, but for some horses it is the first race of the season. The 2,000 Guineas itself can act as a trial for the Derby, and the last horse to win both was Sea the Stars in 2009.

Since 2001, the 2,000 Guineas and the 1,000 Guineas have offered equal prize money. Each had a purse of £350,000 in 2012.

Records[link]

Leading jockey (9 wins):

• Jem Robinson – Enamel (1825), Cadland (1828), Riddlesworth (1831), Clearwell (1833), Glencoe (1834), Ibrahim (1835), Bay Middleton (1836), Conyngham (1847), Flatcatcher (1848)

Leading trainer (7 wins):

• John Scott – Meteor (1842), Cotherstone (1843), Nunnykirk (1849), West Australian (1853), Fazzoletto (1856), The Wizard (1860), The Marquis (1862)

Leading owner (7 wins): (includes part ownership)

• Sue Magnier – Entrepreneur (1997), King of Kings (1998), Rock of Gibraltar (2002), Footstepsinthesand (2005), George Washington (2006), Henrythenavigator (2008), Camelot (2012)

• Fastest winning time – Mister Baileys (1994), 1m 35.08s
• Widest winning margin (since 1900) – Tudor Minstrel (1947), 8 lengths
• Longest odds winner – Rockavon (1961), 66/1
• Shortest odds winner – St Frusquin (1896), 12/100
• Most runners – 28, in 1930
• Fewest runners – 2, in 1829 and 1830

Winners[link]

^a Nureyev finished first in 1980, but he was relegated to last place following a stewards' inquiry.

See also[link]

• Horseracing in Great Britain
• List of British flat horse races

References[link]

• Racing Post:
  • 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997
  • 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
  • 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012

• galopp-sieger.de – 2000 Guineas Stakes.
• horseracinghistory.co.uk – 2000 Guineas.
• horseracingintfed.com – International Federation of Horseracing Authorities – Two Thousand Guineas (2012).
• pedigreequery.com – 2000 Guineas Stakes – Newmarket.
• tbheritage.com – Two Thousand Guineas Stakes.
• Abelson, Edward; John Tyrrel (1993). The Breedon Book of Horse Racing Records. Breedon Books. pp. 23–31. ISBN 1-873626-15-0. 
• Randall, John; Tony Morris (1985). Horse Racing: The Records. Guinness Superlatives Ltd. pp. 14–24. ISBN 0-85112-446-1. 

Nina Dobrev
Dobrev at PaleyFest 2010's The Vampire Diaries night at the Saban Theatre in 2010
Born	Nina Constantinova Dobreva[1] (1989-01-09) January 9, 1989 (age 23)[1] Sofia, Bulgaria
Nationality	Bulgarian-Canadian
Occupation	Actress, model
Years active	2006–present

Nina Dobrev (born Nina Constantinova Dobreva; January 9, 1989)^[1] is a Bulgarian-born Canadian actress and model. She played the role of Mia Jones, the single teenage mother, on Degrassi: The Next Generation, from the show's sixth to ninth season. She currently stars as Elena Gilbert and Katherine Pierce on The CW television teen drama, The Vampire Diaries.

Personal life[link]

Dobrev at the 2008 Toronto Film Festival

Nina Dobrev was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, and moved to Canada at the age of two, where she was raised in Toronto, Ontario. She speaks fluent French, English, and Bulgarian. She has an older brother, Alexander; her father is a computer specialist and her mother is an artist.^[1]

Dobrev attended J. B. Tyrrell Sr. Public School, where she started ballet and jazz classes, and competed in rhythmic gymnastic.^[1] Then, she attended and Wexford Collegiate School for the Arts in Scarborough, Ontario and Ryerson University in Toronto, majoring in sociology. She left in 2008 to pursue her acting career.^[2]

While working on the show, she began dating her Vampire Diaries co-star Ian Somerhalder.^[3][4]

Career[link]

Modeling jobs led to commercials, which then turned into film auditions. Shortly thereafter, she booked roles in feature films, including Fugitive Pieces, Away from Her, Never Cry Werewolf, and the television series Degrassi: The Next Generation. She starred in a number of Lifetime original movies. She also was in an MTV movie called The American Mall on CTV. She is currently starring in The CW's drama The Vampire Diaries, playing the dual role of Katherine Pierce, a vampire loved by two human brothers during the American Civil War, and Katherine's doppelgänger Elena Gilbert, a human who is caught between the same two brothers, now vampires, Damon and Stefan Salvatore.^[5]

She also had a minor role in the erotic thriller Chloe, theatrically released by Sony Pictures Classics on March 26, 2010.^[6] The film had enjoyed commercial success and became director Atom Egoyan's biggest moneymaker ever.^[7]

In April 2011, she was cast as Candace in the film adaptation of The Perks of Being a Wallflower, alongside Logan Lerman, Emma Watson and Paul Rudd.^[8] Shooting began in May of that year in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and she completed her scenes on June 27, 2011.^[9]

Philanthropy[link]

In September 2011, Dobrev co-hosted We Day alongside Joe Jonas.^[10] We Day is organized by Free the Children. Dobrev also designed a T-Shirt^[11] with Me to We Style, which gives 50% of its profits to Free the Children.^[12]

Filmography[link]

Dobrev at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con.

Accolades[link]

Dobrev at the 2011 MuchMusic Video Awards

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Nina Dobrev

• Nina Dobrev at the Internet Movie Database
• Nina Dobrev on Twitter

Guitar Hero
Genres	Rhythm game
Developers	Harmonix (2005-2007) Neversoft (2007-2010) Vicarious Visions (2007-2010)
Publishers	RedOctane (2005-2009) Activision (2006-2010)
First release	Guitar Hero November 8, 2005
Latest release	DJ Hero 2 October 19, 2010

The Guitar Hero series (sometimes referred to as the Hero series)^[1] is a series of music video games first published in 2005 by RedOctane and Harmonix Music Systems, and distributed by Activision, in which players use a guitar-shaped game controller to simulate playing lead, bass guitar, and rhythm guitar across numerous rock music songs. Players match notes that scroll on-screen to colored fret buttons on the controller, strumming the controller in time to the music in order to score points, and keep the virtual audience excited. The games attempt to mimic many features of playing a real guitar, including the use of fast-fingering hammer-ons and pull-offs and the use of the whammy bar to alter the pitch of notes. Most games support single player modes, typically a Career mode to play through all the songs in the game, and both competitive and cooperative multiplayer modes. With the introduction of Guitar Hero World Tour in 2008, the game includes support for a four-player band including vocals and drums. The series initially used mostly cover version of songs created by WaveGroup Sound, but most recent titles feature soundtracks that are fully master recordings, and in some cases, special re-recordings, of the songs. Later titles in the series feature support for downloadable content in the form of new songs.

In 2005, RedOctane, a company specializing in the manufacture of unique game controllers, was inspired to create Guitar Hero based on RedOctane's experience creating hardware for Konami's GuitarFreaks arcade game. They enlisted Harmonix Music Systems, who previously developed several music video games, for development assistance. The first game in the series was made on a budget of $1 million. The series became extremely successful, leading to the acquisition of RedOctane by Activision in 2007. Harmonix was acquired by MTV Games and went on to create the Rock Band series of music games in the same vein as Guitar Hero. Activision brought Neversoft (primarily known for their Tony Hawk series of skateboarding games) on board for future development duties. Additional companies, such as Vicarious Visions, Budcat Creations, Machineworks Northwest, and Aspyr Media have assisted in the adaptation of the games for other systems.

The series currently has seven minor releases and four expansions on gaming consoles. There are spin-offs for Windows and Macintosh systems, mobile phones, the Nintendo DS, and an arcade game. The Guitar Hero franchise was a primary brand during the emergence of the popularity of rhythm games as a cultural phenomenon in North America. Such games have been utilized as a learning and development tool for medical purposes. The first game in the series was considered by several journalists to be one of the most influential video games of the first decade of the 21st century. The series has sold more than 25 million units worldwide, earning US$2 billion at retail, claimed by Activision to be the 3rd largest game franchise after the Mario and Madden NFL franchises; the third main title of the series, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is also claimed by Activision to be the first single video game title to exceed $1 billion in sales. Despite early success, the series, along with the overall rhythm game genre, suffered from poor sales starting in 2009, and in early February 2011, Activision disbanded further development of the series,^[2] though later clarified that the series is on hiatus for 2011.^[3]

History[link]

Guitar Hero was created from a partnership between RedOctane, then their own company that produced specialized gaming controllers, and Harmonix Music Systems, a music video game development company who had previously produced Frequency, Amplitude and Karaoke Revolution. RedOctane was seeking to bring in a GuitarFreaks-like game, highly popular at the time in Japan, into the Western markets, and approached Harmonix about helping them to develop a music game around a guitar controller. Both companies agreed to it, and went on to produce Guitar Hero in 2005.^[4] The title was highly successful, leading to the development of its successful sequel Guitar Hero II in 2006. While initial controllers for the first Guitar Hero game were designed and built by the Honeybee Corporation of China, subsequent iterations and future controllers were developed inhouse at RedOctane, with development led primarily by Jack McCauley.^[5]

Both RedOctane and Harmonix experienced changes in 2006. RedOctane was bought by Activision in June—who spent US$100 million to acquire the Guitar Hero franchise^[6]—while it was announced in October that Harmonix would be purchased by MTV Networks. As a result of the two purchases, Harmonix would no longer develop future games in the Guitar Hero series. Instead, that responsibility would go to Neversoft, a subsidiary of Activision known for developing the Tony Hawk's series of skateboarding games.^[7] Neversoft was chosen to helm the Guitar Hero series after Neversoft founder, Joel Jewett, admitted to the RedOctane founders, Kai and Charles Huang, that his development team for Tony Hawk's Project 8 went to work on weekends just to play Guitar Hero.^[8] Activision CEO Bobby Kotick believed that Neversoft would help them bring great games to the series, but on reflection, state that had Activision explored Harmonix further as a continued developer for the series, things "may have turned out differently".^[9] In addition, Activision began seeking other markets for the game; a Nintendo DS version of the series was developed by Vicarious Visions, while a Guitar Hero Mobile series was created for mobile phones. The company also began considering the expansion of the series to band-specific titles with Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. Later, in November 2008, Activision acquired Budcat Creations, another development studio that had helped with the PlayStation 2 versions of Guitar Hero III and World Tour, announcing that they will be helping to develop another game in the Guitar Hero series.^[10]

In 2007, Harmonix and MTV Games released a new music title through rival publisher Electronic Arts, called Rock Band. It expanded upon the gameplay popularized by the Guitar Hero series by adding drum and microphone instruments, allowing players to simulate playing songs as bands. Activision followed suit with the release of Guitar Hero World Tour in 2008, which supported multiple instruments. In 2009, Activision tripled its Guitar Hero offerings, and in addition to further continuation of the existing main series with Guitar Hero 5 and expansions, they introduced the titles Band Hero, geared towards more family-friendly pop music, and DJ Hero, a game based on canabalism and featuring a number of mixes. With the release of Guitar Hero 5, Activision has considered the series to move away from its heavy metal basis into a more rounded selection of music. Guitar Hero 5 is the first game in the series to use a new version of the series' logo. Previous logos for games used a font with sharper "points" on the letters, which was considered "idiosyncratic with a vengeance" to match the emphasis on heavy metal music that the previous games had. Activision used the services of the Pentagram design studio to refashion the game's logo. Pentagram developed a new font, removing some of the "aggressive odd" features to make the typeface more suitable and amendable to design feature incorporation to other games such as Band Hero and DJ Hero.^[11][12]

The results of the expanded offerings did not contribute well to the series, alongside the late-2000s recession; sales of most rhythm games including Guitar Hero and DJ Hero did not meet expectations, falling about 50% short of projected targets.^[13][14][15] Activision announced it would be cutting back to only 10 SKUs within 2010 instead of the 25 in 2009.^[16] Though RedOctane and Neversoft continued to develop the 6th main game, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, until its completion, both studios were since shuttered by Activision, moving key personnel into Activision directly for future game development, and in the case of Neversoft, closing its Guitar Hero division, while transferring future development duties for the series to Vicarious Visions, another Activision studio which has been fundamental in building the Wii and Nintendo DS versions of the games.^[17] In November 2010, Activision also closed Budcat Creations, the arm of the publisher that was primarily responsible for porting the Guitar Hero games to the PlayStation 2.^[18]

Ahead of Activision's 2010 fourth quarter financial report in February 2011, Activision disbanded its Guitar Hero business unit and announced that it would cease development of the planned 2011 Guitar Hero game.^[19][20] Activision cited "continued declines in the music genre" towards its decision.^[21] The closure also affected the DJ Hero series, as Activision stated that there were no plans to publish a music game during 2011.^[22] No further downloadable content for either Guitar Hero or DJ Hero has been made since February 2011,^[23] though Activision later committed to releasing content that was already in development due to fan response.^[24] Activision's vice president Dan Winters later clarified that "we're just putting Guitar Hero on hiatus" and "We're just not making a new game for next year, that's all."^[25] In a July 2011 interview with Forbes, Kotick stated that while the publisher is "going to stop selling Guitar Hero altogether", they are "going to go back to the studios and we’re going to use new studios and reinvent" the series.^[26]

Games[link]

Main titles[link]

The controllers bundled with Guitar Hero releases (from left to right): Gibson SGs for Guitar Hero and Guitar Hero II (PlayStation 2) and Gibson Explorer for Guitar Hero II (Xbox 360) and Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (PC)

The original Guitar Hero was released on the PlayStation 2 in November 2005. Guitar Hero is notable because it comes packaged with a controller peripheral modeled after a black Gibson SG guitar. Rather than a typical gamepad, this guitar controller is the primary input for the game. Playing the game with the guitar controller simulates playing an actual guitar, except it uses five colored "fret buttons" and a "strum bar" instead of frets and strings. The development of Guitar Hero was inspired by Konami's GuitarFreaks video game, which at the time, had not seen much exposure in the North American market; RedOctane, already selling guitar-shaped controllers for imported copies of GuitarFreaks, approached Harmonix about creating a game to use an entirely new Guitar controller. The concept was to have the gameplay of Amplitude with the visuals of Karaoke Revolution, both of which had been developed by Harmonix.^{[27][28][29][30]} The game was met with critical acclaim and received numerous awards for its innovative guitar peripheral and its soundtrack, which comprised 47 playable rock songs (most of which were cover versions of popular songs from artists and bands from the 1960s through modern rock). Guitar Hero has sold nearly 1.5 million copies to date.^[31]

The popularity of the series increased dramatically with the release of Guitar Hero II for the PlayStation 2 in 2006. Featuring improved multiplayer gameplay, an improved note-recognizing system, and 64 songs, it became the fifth best-selling video game of 2006.^[32] The PlayStation 2 version of the game was offered both separately and in a bundle with a cherry red Gibson SG guitar controller. Guitar Hero II was later released for the Xbox 360 in April 2007 with an exclusive Gibson Explorer guitar controller and an additional 10 songs, among other features. About 3 million units of Guitar Hero II have sold on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360.^[33]

The Gibson Les Paul Guitar controller bundled with Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 releases of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (pictured is the Xbox 360 guitar controller). A similar white Gibson Les Paul guitar controller is bundled with the Wii release, which requires the Wii Remote to be inserted in the back. For in-store demos on the Xbox 360, a wired Les Paul controller is used.

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock was released in late 2007 for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, Microsoft Windows, and Mac OS X platforms. The title is the first installment of the series to include wireless guitars bundled with the game and also the first to release a special bundle with two guitars. The game includes Slash and Tom Morello as playable characters in addition to the existing fictional avatars; both guitarists performed motion capture to be used for their characters' animation in the game.

The "Genericaster" guitar controller bundled with Guitar Hero World Tour (pictured is the PlayStation 3 guitar controller). Unlike previous Guitar Hero controllers, this controller is not based on a real guitar.

Guitar Hero World Tour, previously named Guitar Hero IV, is the fourth full game in the series and was released on October 26, 2008 for PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii. Analysts had expected that future Guitar Hero games in 2008 would include additional instrument peripherals to compete against Rock Band;^[34] Guitar Hero World Tour was confirmed as in development following the announcement of the merger between Activision and Vivendi Games in December 2007.^[35] Activision's CEO Bobby Kotick announced on April 21, 2008 that Guitar Hero World Tour will branch out into other instruments including vocals.^[36] Guitar Hero World Tour includes drums and vocals, and can be bought packaged with a new drum set controller, a microphone, and the standard guitar controller.^[37] A larger number of real-world musicians appear as playable characters, including Jimi Hendrix, Billy Corgan, Hayley Williams, Zakk Wylde, Ted Nugent, Travis Barker, Sting, and Ozzy Osbourne. Guitar Hero World Tour also features custom song creation that can be shared with others.^[37]

Guitar Hero 5, the fifth main entry in the series, was confirmed in December 2008.^[38] It was released on September 1, 2009, and includes 85 songs from 83 different artists. The game includes new game modes and features, including its 'Party Mode,' which gives players the ability to drop-in and out and change difficulties in the middle of a song. Artists including Johnny Cash, Matt Bellamy, Carlos Santana, Kurt Cobain and Shirley Manson appear as playable characters in the game.^[39]

Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, the sixth main console game in the series, was released on September 28, 2010. It is the last game in the series developed by Neversoft's Guitar Hero division prior to its dissolution, with Vicarious Visions assisting on the Wii version with added Nintendo DS functionality. The game has been described as returning to the roots of the Guitar Hero series; while it still allows for full band play, the soundtrack's focus is on rock and roll music and an emphasis on guitar "shredding".^[40] The game introduced a career-based "Quest Mode", narrated by Gene Simmons, that guides the players to complete songs to unlock "warriors of rock" to join them in saving "demigod of rock" and his guitar from his imprisonment by "the Beast".^[41][42]

Series expansions[link]

Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s for the PlayStation 2, which was released in July 2007, was the final game developed by Harmonix for the series.^[43] Though it was produced after Harmonix were purchased by MTV Games, it was part of their contractual obligation to complete the game. The game, as suggested by its name, features tracks primarily from the 1980s.

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith was the first band-centric game for the series. On September 4, 2007, Billboard announced that the band Aerosmith was "working closely with the makers of Guitar Hero IV, which will be dedicated to the group's music."^[44] On February 15, 2008, Activision announced that Guitar Hero: Aerosmith would be released on June 29, 2008.^[45][46][47] Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is developed by Neversoft for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions, while the Wii version of the game is developed by Vicarious Visions and the PlayStation 2 version is developed by Budcat Creations.^[48] The game features a track selection composed of 60% of Aerosmith songs, with other songs from Joe Perry's solo work or artists that have inspired or performed with Aerosmith, including Run D.M.C..

The series' next band-centric title, Guitar Hero: Metallica, was released on March 29, 2009. Guitar Hero: Metallica is based on the full band experience of World Tour while offering similar features on Metallica's history and music as found in Guitar Hero: Aerosmith.^[49] In addition, Metallica's album, Death Magnetic, was available as downloadable content for Guitar Hero III simultaneously with the release of the album, with the content being forward-compatible with Guitar Hero World Tour and Guitar Hero: Metallica. Since the PlayStation 2 version does not support downloading, three extra songs were included from Death Magnetic and are as follows: "Broken, Beat, and Scarred", "Cyanide", and "My Apocalypse".^[49][50] A new feature in the game, where the drummer can access a mode called Expert+, has also been added. Expert+ mode was implemented to allow faster bass pedal beats, fast to the point where it would normally be out of the playable range of a single bass pedal, and was intended for a dual bass pedal.

Guitar Hero Smash Hits (titled Guitar Hero: Greatest Hits in Europe and Australia) was released in June 2009. It features full-band versions of 48 songs from earlier Guitar Hero games that only used the guitar controller. Unlike the previous versions, each of the songs is based on a master recording that includes some live tracks.^[51] The game follows a similar model as Guitar Hero: Metallica, and was developed by Neversoft and Beenox Studios for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, and Wii.^[52]

Guitar Hero: Van Halen was released on December 22, 2009,^[53] though customers that purchased Guitar Hero 5 under a special promotion received a copy of the game early. Like the other band-centric games, Guitar Hero: Van Halen includes 25 songs from the band Van Halen, including 3 guitar solos by Eddie Van Halen, in addition to 19 guest acts such as Queen, Weezer, Blink-182, Foo Fighters, The Offspring and Queens of the Stone Age.^[54][55]

Another new title to the series, Band Hero, was announced in May 2009. Band Hero features Top 40 hits aimed at family audiences, and include the full band play style of Guitar Hero 5.^[54] The game was developed for the Nintendo DS, using the Guitar Hero On Tour Guitar Grip, a new "drum skin" to fit the DS Lite, and the DS's microphone to support the full band experience.^[56] Musician Taylor Swift appears as a playable character in the game,^[57] as do the members of No Doubt.

DJ Hero was announced by Activision in May 2009. Prior to the announcement, the company had purchased FreeStyleGames, a small developer of music games, to help produce localized downloadable content for Guitar Hero games and a then-unannounced music game, later revealed to be DJ Hero.^[58] DJ Hero uses a special turntable-based controller for players to perform with on various song mixes in the game. The game also incorporates the use of a Guitar Hero controller on ten specially-arranged tracks; Bright has suggested that future Guitar Hero games after Guitar Hero 5 may include the use of the turntable control.^[59]

A sequel, DJ Hero 2, was officially announced in June 2010 for release in the last quarter of 2010, featuring more than 70 mashups from over 85 artists.^[60] The game includes several new gameplay modes, including an "Empire" career mode, head-to-head DJ battles, social multiplayer modes, and a jump-in and out Party Play mode similar to Guitar Hero 5. The game also includes more vocal options for singing and rapping to songs, and a freestyle mode for players.^[60]

Portable versions[link]