Writers are being given a chance to win some of the £2,500 of prizes on offer in a competition surrounding the world of horse racing.

No knowledge of the sport is needed, and the article or prose can be fact or fiction.

The Wills Writing Awards are open to young writers, with categories for the under 26s and under 19s.

The Martin Wills Memorial Trust, a registered charity, is offering its 13th annual awards for creative writing on, or with a background in, any aspect of horse racing by young people resident in the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland.

The organisers say particular importance will be attached to originality, use of language and entertainment. Quality of writing is much more important than a detailed knowledge of horse racing.

Those aged under 26 on January 1, 2005, (other than employees of the national and racing press and previous winners in their category, who are not eligible) are invited to submit a single typewritten article of under 1,000 words by February 28.

Further information on the awards is available at www.mrwc.org.uk/willswritingawards.

The Martin Wills Memorial Trust commemorates Martin Wills, an amateur jockey, point-to-point rider, racing enthusiast and journalist who died in April 1992, aged 39.

This year's judges are Brough Scott, editorial director of the Racing Post, sports feature writer of The Sunday Telegraph and for 30 years until 2001 chief presenter of Channel 4 Racing; Rachael English, a radio journalist who presents "Five-Seven Live" on RTE; Colin Mackenzie, chief racing correspondent of the Daily Mail; J A McGrath, Hotspur of the The Daily Telegraph and BBC racing commentator; Jon Ryan, sports editor of The Sunday Telegraph; and Catherine Wills, sister of Martin Wills.