Plans are in motion for a third race track in Texas, this one would be built outside of Austin.
Plans for this track were first reported by Thoroughbred Racing Commentary.
The new track would join Sam Houston Race Park and Lone Star Park as Thoroughbred race tracks in the state.
Lone Star Park, like some other tracks across the country on July 4, will ignite fireworks before thousands of fans in a celebration of Independence Day, coming on the closing day of the track’s Thoroughbred season.
But amid continued opposition of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority by the Texas Racing Commission and other entities in Texas, the state’s Thoroughbred industry has taken on a less celebratory mood over the past year. Texas tracks running Thoroughbred meets have been unable to send their domestic simulcast signal out of state over the length of the dispute, which began last July when HISA began its initial responsibilities for enforcing uniform safety and integrity rules in United States Thoroughbred racing.
Since then, the overall handle has plunged at Lone Star Park and Sam Houston Race Park, the state’s other track that hosts Thoroughbred racing.
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With simulcasting unavailable due to ongoing disputes with the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, Sam Houston Race Park saw total handle down nearly 93 percent this year, from over $101 million in 2022 to about $6.39 million in 2023, reports the Thoroughbred Daily News.
Purse levels have remained fairly steady, thanks to a state sales tax on equine products, but several Texas stakeholders shared their concerns with the TDN for the industry’s future.
“We have some serious concerns about the direction that Texas Thoroughbred racing is headed given the resistance to participate with HISA,” Jeff Hooper, chairman and CEO of Texas’ Highlander Training Center, told TDN. “We’re certainly not saying HISA is 100% hitting on all cylinders. [But] we feel that it is in Texas’s long-term best interests to find a way to participate with HISA.”
Texas State Rep. Charlie Geren (R-Fort Worth) on Friday filed House Joint Resolution 97 that would authorize casino gaming at seven destination resorts across the state and require license applicants be limited to racetrack associations or designees of those associations.
The legislation seeks to amend the Texas Constitution and give Texans the opportunity to vote on the issue this November. State Sen. Carol Alvarado (D-Houston) previously filed a similar resolution in the Senate.
If passed and approved in a statewide vote, the casinos would be regulated by a newly created Texas Gaming Commission. Geren projects the casinos would create tens of thousands of jobs, billions of dollars in economic development through tourism, and billions more in tax revenue to state and local governments.
(Austin, TX) – A Texas-bred filly by Too Much Bling led the way at the 2022 Texas Summer Yearling Sale, topping the sale when the hammer dropped at $100,000.
Cataloged as hip 19, the grey filly, out of the Action This Day mare Soft Music, is a full sister to 2016 Champion Texas-bred Two-Year-Old Filly Bling on the Music. Mansfield Racing signed the ticket on the filly out of the Highlander Training Center consignment. Hip 60, a Louisiana-bred colt by Take Charge Indy, was the top selling colt at $90,000. The colt, out of the stakes-winning Half Ours mare All Woman, was purchased by Mansfield Racing from the Clear Creek Stud consignment.
“We’re obviously thrilled that a Texas-bred by one of our state’s most influential stallions led the sale,” TTA Director Foster Bridewell said. “She was a beautiful filly and the full sister went through this same sales ring before going on to become a Texas champion. We’re thankful to breeder Danele Durham and Highlander Training Center for allowing us the opportunity to offer her here.”
The 2022 Texas Summer Yearling Sale set records for TTA Sales. One-hundred-sixty-one horses sold for $3.41M in total sales, up from $3.2M last year. The average price was $21,186, up from the $18,246 average price in 2021. The median price was $14,500 this year, up from $10,000 last year.
“We can’t thank our breeders, owners, consignors, and buyers enough for such a great sale,” Bridewell said. “The record results are an indication of the strength of the industry in this region right now and a testament to the hard work a lot of people put in to prepare these yearlings for this year.”
For full results, visit www.TTAsales.com.
A lawsuit filed on July 29 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas challenges the authority of the Horseracing Integrity & Safety Authority.
The suit was brought by Lone Star Park owner Global Gaming, the owner of a Texas greyhound track seeking approvals to run horse races, and two entities trying to develop racetracks for horses in Texas. The suit and a motion for preliminary injunction motion argue that members of the HISA board of directors should have been appointed by the President on the advice and consent of the Senate, and that the Authority is unconstitutionally structured because the President cannot superintend the authority’s execution of laws.
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The Texas Racing Commission has said pari-mutuel wagering will not be conducted at Texas racetracks on live or simulcast wagering if the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority asserts control over regulatory supervision on July 1, 2022, as scheduled.
The Paulick Report obtained a copy of a May 20 letter to HISA chief executive officer Lisa Lazarus from Amy F. Cook, executive director of the Texas Racing Commission, in which Cook asked to be provided “specific dates, races, and horses that the Authority intends to regulate … within the jurisdiction of Texas.”
Cook cited the Texas Racing Act in stating that “no pari-mutuel wagering is permitted for live or simulcast export wagering for races our Commission does not supervise. Accordingly, there will be no such pari-mutuel wagering or simulcast wagering in Texas on those dates which the Authority asserts jurisdiction.”
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The Texas Thoroughbred Association and Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie have announced that the 2022 Texas 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale will be held on Wednesday, April 6, at the Dallas-area racetrack. The breeze show will be held Monday, April 4.
The 2022 Texas 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale comes on the heels of the strong 2021 Texas Summer Yearling Sale. That sale saw an increase in the number of horses cataloged and sold, as well as a positive jump in the average and median sale prices.
“Based on what we saw with the Texas Summer Yearling Sale, I think there’s a lot of anticipation for the upcoming Texas 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale in April,” TTA Sales Director Foster Bridewell said. “I think we’re uniquely positioned in the 2-year-old sales landscape to provide a quality sale for our owners, trainers, and breeders and still attract out of region buyers and sellers.”
The sale will be held about three weeks before Lone Star Park kicks off its 2022 Thoroughbred meet with 48 days of racing starting on April 28th. As usual, the Texas Thoroughbred Association Futurity, for TTA Sales graduates and Accredited Texas-breds made eligible through consignor or buyer berths, will be held on closing weekend at Lone Star with two divisions, each at $150,000 guaranteed.
Graduates of the Texas Yearling or 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale will also be eligible for the new Texas Thoroughbred Association Derby and Oaks for 3-year-olds. Both will be held at Sam Houston Race Park in 2023.
“The expanded stakes program for Texas Thoroughbred Association sales graduates certainly gives buyers something extra to think about when they’re bidding on horses,” Bridewell said. “Our graduates have had success in the Texas Thoroughbred Association Futurity, and that’s carried over in other stakes races around the country, including the first, second, and third place finishers in this year’s Clever Trevor Stakes at Remington Park.”
“Also, thanks to the passage of HB 2460 in 2019, the Texas horse industry benefits from the infusion of $25 million per year, increasing purses and Accredited Texas-bred incentive awards,” Bridewell added. “It really does pay to breed, sell and race in Texas.”
The Entry Deadline for the Texas 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale is January 17, 2022, and consignment forms are now available at www.ttasales.com.
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