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.
CLASS 1 OPERATORS, TEXAS HORSEMEN TO DISCUSS RACING DATES ON JULY 1
Texas Thoroughbred owners, breeders and trainers will have an opportunity to meet with Class 1 track operators to discuss 2011 racing date proposals in the Texas Thoroughbred Sales Pavilion at Lone Star Park on Thursday, July 1, at 11am. A similar meeting for Texas Quarter Horse owners, breeders and trainers is set for the next day, Friday, July 2, at Sam Houston Race Park at 11am. In order to participate in either meeting, you must have your current Texas Racing Commission license with you.
Class 1 operators met in Austin with the respective boards of directors of the Texas Horsemen’s Partnership on June 15 and the Texas Thoroughbred Association board of directors the next day. Rather than consolidate the 2011 Thoroughbred racing dates at Lone Star Park in a 65-day span with average purses at $280,000 per day, a new proposal was laid out by Drew Shubeck, president and general manager of Lone Star Park, Andrea Young, who holds the same official positions at Sam Houston Race Park, and Bryan Brown, CEO of Retama Park. The new Thoroughbred dates proposal calls for 56 or 60 days at Lone Star Park from early April into the latter part of July with average purses of $230,000 per day, and 25 days at Retama Park in the fall where average daily purses would be more than $150,000 per day.
The Class 1 operators have requested responses to the latest proposal from the THP and TTA following the July 1meeting, and from the Texas Quarter Horse Association following the July 2 meeting.
In the meantime, the TRC issued a press release on June 11 in order to clarify timelines for 2011 racing date applications and allocations. At the next regularly scheduled meeting on July 7, the TRC plans to open the application period for racetracks to request race dates for the period from January 1, 2011 through August 31, 2012. The application period is expected to start on July 12, 2010, and end on August 18, 2010. In early August, the TRC’s Race Date Working Group will be called to a meeting to address all issues dealing with racing dates and the present state of the Texas racing industry.
TTA BOARD RETURNS DR. JACQUELYN RICH TO 4TH TERM AS PRESIDENT
The TTA board of directors re-elected Jacquelyn Rich, DVM, to a fourth term as president of the organization during a regularly scheduled meeting on June 16. Dr. Gearald Farris and David Stephens, DVM, were also returned to their offices as vice-president and secretary-treasurer respectively. John Adger, Keith Asmussen, Bill Clifton and Heidi Maikranz were elected to the Executive Committee, which also includes the three officers. Maikranz succeeds Bill Tracy.
In addition to the discussions of 2011 race date proposals mentioned above, the TTA directors and Class 1 operators also talked about studies currently be done to cite the negative impact on Texas handle caused by advanced deposit wagering firms that accept wagers from instate residents with no revenue returned to Texas racing interests and how this can be addressed in the future.
The board members also heard a presentation by Win for Texas representatives.
SUREBET RACING NEWS MOVES TO NEW WEEKLY NEWSPAPER FORMAT THIS WEEK
SureBet Racing News, the officially endorsed publication of the Texas Thoroughbred Association, transitions this week from a monthly magazine to weekly newspaper in order to get the news to you on a much more timely basis. A fuller explanation of the reasoning behind the change in format appears on page 4 of the first weekly publication, which should arrive in your mail by Friday of this week and each Friday thereafter. The first edition also has a special 8-page section of TTA news coverage.
Fast furlongs...Signs of the times: Hollywood Park cancelled a second weekday racing program recently due to an insufficient number of entries; citing a significant drop in simulcast export handle, Arlington Park cut $750,000 from its previously announced stakes program, which has caused nationally prominent trainer Jonathan Sheppard to reconsider plans for some of his major stakes horses; and, at the annual Churchill Downs stockholders meeting, CEO Bob Evans reported that the home of the Kentucky Derby may have to reconsider its racing dates schedule...Lone Star’s $20 million decline in all sources handle for the first 10 weeks of the current meet includes a drop of over $16 million in wagering on the simulcast export of its live product...The Jockey Club has announced an enhancement to its free Tattoo Identification Services by adding access to the auction sales history of identified Thoroughbreds...Exchange betting on horse racing, which would allow bettors to wager against each other, has been approved by the New Jersey Assembly’s Regulatory Oversight and Gaming Committee...There were more than 200 attendees for the visitation and services for former TTA president Larry T. Smith at Midway Baptist Church near his Pilot Point home on June 11when he was fondly remembered and recognized for his community involvement and civic leadership.