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OWNER TOM DURANT GETS RECORD-SETTING 31ST WIN AT LONE STAR PARK MEET
Texas owner-breeder Tom Durant points his stable for annual success at Lone Star Park, but he has never known a season like the present one. Durant’s private trainer, Jack Bruner, as he shipped the stable from winter training quarters at Retama Park to Lone Star in late March, said that he thought the horses would run well. With a record-setting 31 wins from 77 Durant stable starters, and with more than three weeks left before the July 18 closing day, I’d say they’ve had a terrific meet.
When Street Call carried Durant’s distinctive black colors with script red “D” and silver trim to victory on June 18, the old Lone Star meet owner’s record of 30 victories, set by runners racing for the Heflin-Driver partnership interests during the 2007 meet, went by the boards. Durant is one of those rare “sure things” in racing as his stable has distanced all other owners for wins this season and the Classic Chevrolet dealership entrepreneur will garner a seventh Lone Star owner’s title when the meet closes. His stable led the Lone Star owner standings in 2009 with 26 wins, 2008 (17), 2005 (18), 2004 Fall (8-tie), 2000 (13) and 1998 (14).
GLOBAL GAMING MOVING AHEAD WITH REMINGTON PARK RENOVATION PROJECTS
By the time the Remington Park Thoroughbred racing season commences on August 19, Global Gaming, the subsidiary of the Chickasaw Nation that took control of the Oklahoma City track on January 1, will have expended close to $7 million in improvements to the backstretch, frontside and exterior of the main grandstand. Most improvements through the first six months focused on the interior of the building and its casino and racing operations. The exterior lighting and sound system is being upgraded along with the paddock area. New air conditioning, suite renovations, landscaping and a new paint theme for the exterior are other recognizable improvements.
Fast furlongs...Webb County officials have hired an attorney to look into the possibility of using the former LIFE Downs property for a racetrack...The Oak Tree meet is back at Santa Anita this fall after Frank Stronach reversed his previous decision to keep the non-profit off the premises and now it seems that Oak Tree will be relocating to Del Mar beginning in 2011...Table games have now been introduced as part of the gaming menu at all three Delaware tracks...The first approval has been given for a satellite wagering site at a San Clemente sports bar and similar locations will be springing up in both Northern and Southern California...Calder Race Course, operating under the Churchill Downs Inc. umbrella, has filed suit to block the start-up of slots operations at historic Hialeah Park, claiming Florida lawmakers violated the state constitution in granting Hialeah permission...The Ohio State Racing Commission approved the sale of Beulah Park, near Columbus, to Penn National Gaming Inc. and Thistledown, near Cleveland, to Harrah’s Entertainment on June 23...Dr. Rick Sams, who has earned very high respect for his work in the field of equine drug testing for the past 30 years, has been selected as the director of the new testing laboratory being built in Lexington, KY, and will assume his new role in February...The Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission has finally joined other major racing states and approved a policy to conduct testing for total carbon dioxide, or milkshakes, at state tracks...Equine Piroplasmosis was one of the topics of a panel discussion on “Emerging Diseases: A Challenge to the Horse Industry” during the American Horse Council’s National Issues Forum on June 22...The number of stakes in the Breeders’ Cup Challenge has expanded to 65 international races with the winners automatically qualifying to enter the comparable Breeders’ Cup Championship stakes...The New York State Racing and Wagering Board has approved a rule permitting entries trained by the same trainers to be uncoupled if the entrants are owned by different interests...Will Farish, the master of Lane’s End in Versailles, KY, and Hempstead TX, is stepping down as vice chairman of The Jockey Club, a position he has held since 1983...The next meeting of the Texas Racing Commission is scheduled for Wednesday, July 7, in Austin...Representative Garnet Coleman (D-Houston), chair of the Legislative Study Group House Caucus, will hold a forum on Gaming 101 on Wednesday, June 30, in the Legislative Auditorium in the Capitol Extension beginning at 10am...Owners, trainers and breeders have two opportunities next week to meet with Class 1 track operators to discuss proposals for 2011 racing dates on Thursday, July 1, in the Texas Thoroughbred Sales Pavilion at Lone Star Park, and on Friday, July 2, at Sam Houston Race Park, with both meetings beginning at 11am.