Texas racing

Sam Houston Race Park concluded its 43-day Thoroughbred live racing season Sunday, Apr. 7. Heading the training ranks this season, Steve Asmussen notched his 16th title after receiving the honor in 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005; 2014 -2024. Asmussen started 249 runners, finishing with a record of 48 wins, 36 seconds, 31 thirds and earnings of $1,260,342. R. Caldwell was second in the standings with 28 victories. Trainer Ronnie Cravens won 22 races and Sarah Davidson rounded out the top four conditioners with 19 winners. Jockey Stewart Elliott held off...

At 271 head, one of the largest catalogs in its history, the Texas Thoroughbred Association's (TTA) single-session Yearling Sale will be held Monday, Aug. 28 at 10 a.m. (CT) at Lone Star Park Sales Pavilion. The 2022 edition, which reported a buy-back rate of 24%, saw 161 yearlings out of 211 sell for a total of $3,416,000--up almost 6% from the previous year when 177 out of 228 grossed $3,229,600. Growth was also seen in last year's average of $21,217, an increase from $18,246 in 2021, while the median was...

Eight additional yearlings have been supplemented to the 264 already catalogued for the 2023 Texas Summer Yearling Sale, which will be held Aug. 28 at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Texas. Six of the supplements will be catalogued as hips 265-270, while two of the supplemented horses will replace horses already reported as outs. "The additions to the catalog add to our strong regional base already and we're glad to have these additional offerings in our sale," said Texas Thoroughbred Association (TTA) Sales Director Foster Bridewell. A supplemental paper...

The horse...inquisitive, sensitive, totally aware, much smarter than you think, fearful, and a creature of habit. When my daughter returns to our family barn after training in Florida for six months, her retired horses greet her with a whinny. An old friend has returned. The horse is a fabric of historical Texas. The horse represents how we all arrived here, and how we survived in the earliest days. Some horses are bred to run--that's their job. All animals need a job and thrive when working. The thoroughbred's instinct is to...

After a series of false starts, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act's (HISA) signature anti-doping and medication control (ADMC) program is now set to go into effect Monday. On Friday, TDN spoke with HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus on a variety of topics including the launch of HISA's signature drug control program, operational expenses, the Forte situation, Kentucky Derby week and Texas. The following is a very lightly edited version of that interview. TDN: Last week, the TDN published a story on the headwinds facing the Texas racing industry. In it,...

The Texas judge handling the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (NHBPA) constitutionality lawsuit that is trying to halt the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) on Wednesday refused to grant an injunction that would delay the May 22 implementation of the Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) program. In issuing his order, United States District Court Judge James Wesley Hendrix of the Northern District of Texas (Lubbock Division) pointed out that it is the second time in two weeks that he has informed the plaintiffs in a court order that...

The Thoroughbred racing season at Lone Star Park will begin Thurs., April 13, with 44 live racing days and will conclude Tues., July 4. The calendar will feature live racing on Thursdays and Fridays at 6:35 p.m., Saturdays, Sundays and Memorial Day at 1:35 p.m., and special twilight post times of 5:00 p.m. on July 3 and July 4. The 2023 stakes schedule has a total of 21 stakes worth a combined $2,925,000. The highlight of the schedule is Lone Star Million Day on Memorial Day featuring the GIII Steve...

The Congressional amendment to the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) at the end of last year--affording the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) more rule-making governance--has not yielded a pause on the legal maneuverings surrounding the law. Already this year, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals denied a motion by the HISA Authority for that court to vacate its recent opinion that HISA is unconstitutional, and instead sent two different cases back down to the district court level. In response, the Texas Racing Commission--which has so far barred the federal law...

Despite previously announcing that interstate simulcast wagering would resume Friday, Feb. 3, Sam Houston released a statement Friday morning postponing it. "We have determined that more time is needed to fully evaluate the many legal complexities surrounding recent court decisions and the HISA amendment enacted by Congress at the end of last year," the statement read. "While we are eager to export our signal across the country, our commitment to maintaining federal and state compliance remains our top priority. We will export our signal across state lines when we are...

On the back of Tuesday's decision in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals denying a motion by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) Authority for that court to vacate its recent opinion that the law is unconstitutional, the Texas Racing Commission (TXRC) has reopened the door for Texas tracks to beam their signals out-of-state, with Sam Houston set to begin this Friday. Last year, the TXRC argued that it was statutorily barred from joining HISA, and because the enabling federal legislation gave the HISA Authority regulatory jurisdiction over the...

Live racing returns to Sam Houston Race Park Friday, Jan. 6, 2023 with several changes planned for its 43-day Thoroughbred meet. The Thoroughbred meet will feature afternoon racing on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at 1:00 p.m. CST. Holiday Monday racing, also at 1:00 p.m., will take place on Martin Luther King Day and President's Day. The Houston Racing Festival highlights the stakes schedule and will be contested Saturday, Jan. 28 with a 1:00 p.m. first post. The 2023 edition will offer five stakes races, anchored by the $300,000 GIII Houston...

Sam Houston Race Park has named industry veteran Bart Lang as its new Director of Racing. Lang will oversee the racing operations for Sam Houston Race Park, Retama Park in Selma, Texas and Zia Park in Hobbs, New Mexico. Each of the three racetracks are owned by Penn National Gaming. Inc. Born in Timonium, Maryland, Lang's first job was working for Bonita Farm, grooming, hot walking and learning the essentials of horse care and training from the highly respected Boniface family. He had tenures in the racing offices of Oaklawn...