Have a comment or question about this week's update? Send an e-mail to davidh@texasthoroughbred.com. Read past updates in the Executive Director's Update archive.
SAM HOUSTON SET TO LAUNCH MONDAY AFTERNOON LIVE RACING EXPERIMENT
The first of four Monday afternoon live racing programs begins at Sam Houston Race Park on March 8 at 1:20pm with the simulcast signal sent nationwide on a day when there are no major racetrack signals originating from Florida, New York or California.
Sam Houston has titled the experiment Monday March Mania presented by ESPN 97.5 FM with former Houston Chronicle racing writer Fred Faour and Matt Dean co-hosting a live broadcast from the track from 1 to 4pm. Admission is free on March 8 and each of the three succeeding Monday afternoons, with $1 draft beer also on tap. In addition to the Monday programs, live racing will also be offered three nights each week on a Thursday-Saturday schedule through closing day, April 3, with first post at 7pm.
TTA PAC’S SUPPORT OF 5 INCUMBENTS RESULTS IN 5 PRIMARY ELECTION VICTORIES
In early February, the Texas Thoroughbred Association PAC sent letters requesting support for five incumbent legislators in the March 2 primary elections. We are pleased to report that all were victorious in their races.
Those five legislators, Representatives Charlie Geren (HD 99), Edmund Kuempel (HD 44), Sid Miller (HD 59), Patrick Rose (HD 45), and Burt Solomons (HD 65), are knowledgeable and experienced leaders who can make the biggest difference on the issues important to the future of our industry.
Thank you for your support of these legislators. As always, we encourage you to get to know your specific Senator and Representative, and make an appointment with them to discuss your concerns regarding the Texas horse industry.
MANOR DOWNS 14-DAY MIXED MEET SET TO OPEN THIS SATURDAY FOR 7 WEEKENDS
The 14-day mixed meet at Manor Downs near Austin opens this Saturday for seven weekends running through Sunday, April 18. Entries close on Wednesday for Saturday programs and on Thursday for Sunday cards. This weekend, there are four Thoroughbred races on Sunday’s 12-race card, the 8th, 9th, 10th and 12th, but none on Saturday when 11 of the 12 races are Quarter Horse trials for the Longhorn Futurity.
Manor will offer three stakes for Thoroughbreds starting with the $50,000-guaranteed Manor Downs Distance Cup restricted to Texas-breds at 1 1/16 miles on Saturday, March 13. On closing weekend, the $50,000-guaranteed Tony Sanchez Memorial Mile will be renewed on Saturday, April 17, and the finals of the $50,000-guaranteed 4 ½-furlong Manor Downs Futurity will be one of the closing day co-features.
Fast Furlongs...Sam Houston Race Park is hosting an “industry issues” meeting on Monday, with handle declines, available purse revenue and 2011 racing dates expected to be prime topics, and a Texas Racing Commission Medication and Safety Working Group meeting on Tuesday...Louisiana Downs has been granted approval by the Louisiana Racing Commission to move the opening of its 2010 Thoroughbred meet from May 29 to May 1, Kentucky Derby Day, running two days the first two weekends before shifting to a Thursday-Sunday schedule for the balance of the 84-day season...Calvin Borel has been voted the winner of the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award after his last-to-first upset win on Mine That Bird in the 2009 Kentucky Derby and his piloting of Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra to an undefeated 8-for-8 season beating males three times...Jerry and Ann Moss’ Life Is Sweet, winner of last fall’s Breeders’ Cup Ladies, will take on males in the Dubai World Cup later this month while her more celebrated stablemate, Zenyatta, continues preparations for her summit meeting with “Rachel” in the Apple Blossom Invitational at Oaklawn Park on April 9...A bill to legalize Instant Racing machines has been introduced in Kentucky’s House of Representatives, but a similar measure has been tabled in a Virginia House committee...Forget about including gambling on your list of things to do on any trip to Hawaii in the near future as legislators quickly killed a bill to legalize gaming on the islands...No one asked me, but the idea that the Breeders’ Cup should have a permanent location makes no common sense when its founders wanted to showcase the championship races at major track sites across North America and Belmont Park, Churchill Downs and Santa Anita are proven hosts, with forays to Arlington Park and Lone Star Park also popular ...A North Jersey legislator has introduced a bill to allow video lottery terminals at Meadowlands Racetrack, which is located within a few miles of New York City, but opposition from South Jersey legislators will likely stymie the initiative...New Jersey is considering a plan to consolidate Thoroughbred racing at Monmouth Park in a boutique 50-day format from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day with purses averaging $1 million per day...The New York Racing Association has cut $1.4 million from its stakes program for the Belmont spring meet and Saratoga’s summer season due to declining handle...Santa Anita officials announced in January that the Pro-Ride synthetic racing surface would be torn out and replaced, but Magna major domo Frank Stronach said early this week it won’t happen until overregulation in California is replaced by a “free enterprise system” whereby tracks can operate whatever dates they want...Santa Anita’s $750,000 Big Cap is on tap this Saturday, but if the weatherman is right and the rains arrive, a sixth cancellation during the current meet due to drainage problems may be the best bet of the day...Texas has added two new stallions recently in Ironton, a Grade 3-placed earner of $484,843, standing at Blanco Valley Thoroughbreds for a $1,500 stud fee in Blanco, and State Your Case, an unraced son of 2001 Horse of the Year Point Given, being offered for $1,000 as the property of Debbie Shehorn in Riesel...Equibase Company reports that wagering in February dropped 13 percent compared with the same month in 2009 with 17 percent fewer racing days largely due to many weather-related cancellations across the U.S., but those declines mean the average handle per day is almost the same as last year...The Jockey Club has modified its Interactive Registration platform to expand digital photo processing capacity and to create a “Registration Center” through which registered customers can view and resolve outstanding conditions of registration...Business is good at Oaklawn Park where overnight purses have been increased $10,000 per day and now average $310,000 per program...Congratulations to Ed Wilson, president of Texas Arabian Breeders’ Association, and his wife Gail as proud owners of Alla Masquerade, the Texas Arabian 3-year-old Filly Champion of 2009...The heart-warming story of California Derby winner Ranger Heartley, named for Sgt. Jeffrey Hartley, a heroic U.S. Army ranger who died after throwing himself on a landmine to protect his service buddies, is well-chronicled by Esther Marr in a February 2 Blood-Horse Publications posting in which TTA Director Sue Dowling is quoted extensively...The lead story in the most recent edition of Lone Star Horse Report explores new TTA Director Richard Hessee’s interest in resurrecting county fair racing in Goliad near the site of the former La Bahia Downs...Ride on Center for Kids (ROCK) is looking for sponsors for its annual Barn Dance fundraiser on April 10 in support of the Georgetown-based non-profit provider of therapeutic horseback riding and hippotherapy for children and adults with cognitive and physical challenges and the Horses for Heroes program for veterans now based at Fort Hood after being disabled in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.