Lone Star Park

It was back in the late seventies and early eighties, well before Steve Asmussen had his trainer's license, that the foundation was being set for what was to become a historic career. He was studying under his parents, Keith and Marilyn Asmussen, the multi-talented Texas-based team that did a little bit of everything, including breaking dozens of babies that would go on to stardom on the racetrack. Their youngest son, just a teenager then, saw what it took to be successful, the can't-miss combination of hard work, skill, devotion to...

The 25th season of Thoroughbred racing at Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie just outside of Dallas concluded July 11 with handle figures their largest since 2006. The figures do not include last year's pandemic season. Daily merged (i.e. live, on-track plus export) handle totaled $1,693,866 for the 48-day meet, while a daily average of $1,459,096 in export handle. On-track fans wagered $234,770 daily, the most since 2018. Average daily attendance on weekends and holidays for the meet was just over 4,000 per day, just a 4% decline from 2019....

Eagle Express became the first winner and stakes winner in one fell swoop from just eight first-crop foals for 2016 GIII Ben Ali S. winner Eagle (Candy Ride {Arg}). Second on debut here May 14, the 2-1 favorite broke on top before chasing Texas Thunder through a :22.67 opening quarter. Forced to go wide into the stretch when floated by the pacesetter, Eagle Express soared home from there much the best. The winner has a yearling ful-brother and a foal half-brother by Moonshine Mullin. TEXAS STALLION PAN ZARETA DIVISION S.,...

Officials at Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie have announced that all overnight purses will be raised across the board by 20%, beginning with Friday's live racing program. Purses that ranged from $12,000 for bottom-level claimers to $39,000 for open allowance races will now carry prize money between $14,400 and $46,800. The Thoroughbred meeting at Lone Star Park continues through Sunday, July 11.

Monday's holiday card at Lone Star Park, which included the GIII Steve Sexton Mile S., set an all-sources handle record of $6,944,947. Excluding the 2004 Breeders' Cup, it was the highest all-sources handle in the track's 25-year history. Export handle on the Lone Star Park Million Day card was $5,494,681, besting the previous high of $4,523,685 bet on Million Day in 2001. A total of $904,299 was wagered on-track Monday and attendance on the rain-soaked day was 5,851.

TEXAS DERBY, $300,000, Lone Star, 5-31, 3yo, 1 1/16m, 1:45.03, sy. 1--WARRANT, 124, c, 3, by Constitution 1st Dam: Whisper Number, by First Samurai 2nd Dam: Santerra, by Tejabo 3rd Dam: Sioux City, by Carson City 1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN. O-Twin Creek Racing Stables, LLC; B-Twin Creeks Farm (KY); T-Brad H. Cox; J-Joel Rosario. $180,000. Lifetime Record: 5-2-2-1, $294,700. *1/2 to Ms Locust Point (Dialed In), GSW, $675,975. 2--Mr. Wireless, 124, g, 3, Dialed In--Voussoir, by Arch. O-Jon Lapczenski & JIL Stable; B-John & Iveta Kerber (KY); T-W. Bret Calhoun. $60,000....

Freshman sire Practical Joke got off the mark with his first winner Saturday at Lone Star Park. Under a ride and outsprinted in fifth through an opening quarter in :22.59, Tom Durant homebred Catchusifyoucan (Practical Joke), off at odds of 5-1, rode the rail into the stretch and snuck up the fence in the late stages to secure a half-length decision over Free Like a Girl (El Deal). The winner's stakes-winning dam Legal Mind (Bellamy Road) is also represented by a Sky Kingdom colt of 2020. She was bred to...

An Asmussen Horse Center-consigned daughter of Tiznow--Delta Weekend (A.P. Indy) realized a final bid of $240,000 to top Wednesday's Texas 2-Year-Olds In Training Sale at Lone Star Park. The Virginia-bred filly was one of five six-figure transactions on an afternoon during which 89 horses changed hands for gross receipts of $2,910,000. The average was $32,697 and the median was $20,000, while the buyback rate was a low 14.4%. When compared to the last TTA sale--the 2020 renewal was canceled due to the coronavirus--the average price gained 40%, with the median...

A Louisiana-bred filly by Bind (hip 57) turned in the fastest furlong work during Monday's under-tack preview of the Texas 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale at Lone Star Park. Consigned by Pike Racing, agent, the filly is out of the Songandaprayer mare Anne Margaret and is a half-sister to stakes-placed Adrianne G (Indygo Shiner) and Victory Trip (Guilt Trip). She covered the furlong in :10 flat. A single horse worked a quarter-mile Monday, with hip 113, an Ohio-bred colt by Midshipman, clocking the distance in :24 4/5. The juvenile is consigned...

The Texas Thoroughbred Association has catalogued 122 juveniles for its Texas 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. The auction will be held Apr. 7 at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie. The under-tack show will be held Apr. 5. "After being forced to cancel last year's 2-year-old sale due to COVID-19, we are very pleased to get back on track this year, especially with the excitement from the increased overnight purses in Texas and the strong stakes schedule coming up at Lone Star Park," said TTA sales director Tim Boyce. To view...

The Texas Summer Yearling Sale will be held Monday, Aug. 30, at Lone Star Park, the Texas Thoroughbred Association and Lone Star announced Tuesday. Entries are now being accepted with a deadline of June 21. Despite the pandemic, last year's Texas Summer Yearling Sale resulted in an increase in gross sale receipts of more than 166% with approximately twice the number of horses consigned compared to the previous year. Even with the larger catalog, last year's sale posted an increase in average and median as buyers reacted positively to rising...

The Texas Thoroughbred Association (TTA) and Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie will hold the 2021 Texas 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale Wednesday, Apr. 7, 2021. The sale will take place at Lone Star, which will begin its 48-day 2021 Thoroughbred meet Apr. 22. A breeze show is scheduled for Monday, Apr. 5. "With daily purses at Lone Star expected to be around $250,000 and maiden races at $36,000, this sale will offer buyers the chance to get an almost immediate return on their investment," said TTA sales director Tim Boyce....