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.
SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT #1: ATBs WIN 31.25% OF LONE STAR’S OPEN RACES
Accredited Texas-bred runners were more prominent during the recently ended 2010 Lone Star Park race meet than in any of the previous 13 racing seasons at the Grand Prairie track judging by statistics compiled by the racing office.
ATB runners won 51.24 percent of the 564 races with 289 winners.
ATB horses accounted for 2,552 of the 5,129 entries in the program, or 49.75 percent.
In open company, ATB horses won 125 of the 400 races, or 31.25 percent.
To further show that Texas-breds can be competitive in open company, in 2009, there were 1,015 open Thoroughbred races at Texas’ five horse tracks. The Texas Thoroughbred Association is required to file an annual report of ATB Performance Measures with the Texas Racing Commission. The report for 2009 showed ATB horses ran first, second or third 40 percent of the time. There were 407 winners of the 1,015 open races, 395 runners-up, and 408 ran third.
SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT #2: LONE STAR DAILY PURSES TOP $200,000 6 TIMES
There has been considerable discussion about average daily purses for Thoroughbred meets at Lone Star Park in recent weeks. A review of the statistical data reported in the Texas Racing Commission’s Annual Reports from 2000 to 2009 show that Lone Star paid average daily purses over $200,000 six times in seven years from 2000 to 2006, and twice paid over $230,000 per day. Following is the summary of average daily purses paid each year with the number of racing days in parentheses:
2000--$233,974 (73); 2001--$231,400 (74); 2002--$228,065 (70); 2003--$216,610 (70); 2004--$198,778 (81) not including Breeders’ Cup purses; 2005--$213,820 (67); 2006--$203,445 (66); 2007--$194,832 (67); 2008--$185,331 (65); 2009--$176,926 (65).
Average daily purses paid for the 60-day 2010 meet that ended last Sunday totaled $150,871, according to the end-of-meet press release issued by Lone Star. Average daily attendance climbed one percent, but total attendance was down due to five fewer racing days than in 2009. Average all-sources wagering slipped 23.3 percent from $1.96 million last year to $1.63 million this year, with total all-sources handle dropping from $127.5 million to $97.8 million. Lone Star’s biggest decline on betting occurred on the export of its live simulcast signal, which was off 25 percent and more than $16 million.
TEXAS-BRED BIG SWEETS CRUISES TO 15-1 UPSET IN $75,000 PRAIRIE GOLD LASSIE
Congratulations to TTA director Richard Hessee, whose Texas-homebred Big Sweets, a 2-year-old daughter of American Champ out of Many Many Sweets, returned to Prairie Meadows where she broke her maiden in late May and cruised to a 6 ½-length 15-1 upset in the $75,000 Prairie Gold Lassie Stakes on June 17. Big Sweets ran the 5 ½ furlongs in 1:03 4/5 leaving the 3-10 favorite Unbridled Praise far behind.
LONE STAR PARK HAS NEW STABLE AREA ENTRY REQUIREMENTS STARTING JULY 26
Beginning Monday, July 26, new stable area entry requirements will be in place at Lone Star Park. It will be mandatory for all horses entering the stable area to have a negative Piroplasmosis cElisa test for Theileria equi and Babesia caballi within the past year.
Horses currently stables on the grounds will also have to provide negative tests to the racing office no later than Wednesday, August 4.
Negative Coggins tests within the past year and valid health certificates dated within 45 days are additional requirements for gaining entrance to the stable area.
Fast furlongs...Florida-bred Show Me the Bling, who has been training lights out with bullet works since her impressive debut upset win at Monmouth Park, will have a local following when she runs in Saratoga’s opening day feature, the $100,000 Schuylerville Stakes (G3) as she is a daughter of Lane’s End Texas sire Too Much Bling...Another graded stakes-winning sprinter, Sing Baby Sing, who won the Grade 3 Phoenix Stakes at Keeneland and earned $485,060 for owner-breeder Tom Durant, is taking up residence at Lane’s End Texas for the 2011 breeding season...Congratulations to: Bret Calhoun, who earned his first Lone Star training title with 62 winners from his 190 starters; Tom Durant, leading Lone Star owner with a record 37 wins at the meet, giving him a third consecutive title and fifth overall; jockey Chris Landeros, who earned a second consecutive riding crown with 101 victories, one less than the Lone Star record...Kentucky’s Horse Racing Commission has unanimously approved regulations to permit Instant Racing betting at the state’s licensed tracks...The Ohio Lottery Commission is seeking a legal opinion to determine if it can implement a plan to allow slots at the state’s seven tracks as an extension of current lottery operations...In New Jersey, where Monmouth Park’s unique meet has proven to be a refreshing breath of fresh air with boosts in handle and attendance exceeding projections, a report by a panel studying the racing and gaming industries in the state has concluded that Monmouth and the Meadowlands should be sold...Kathy Stephens-Arnold has accredited Beta Capo, a stakes winner of over $450,000 by the popular Langfuhr, to stand in Texas in 2011 at her BK Ranch in La Vernia, where she lost her stallion Famous Forest due to neurological problems last June...Texas-born Bill Allen, who paid $360,000 to supplement Wild Again and saw him win a 3-horse photo at 30-1in the inaugural Breeders’ Cup Classic, then later helped Retama Park get out of bankruptcy, lost his long bout with cancer on July 16 and our sincere condolences are extended to his son-in-law, Retama Park CEO Bryan Brown, and the extended Allen family.