NEWS AND NOTES FOR APRIL 18, 2014
LONE STAR PARK NEWS
For the second year in a row, Judy Peek’s homebred Lasting Bubbles won the $50,000 Wayne Hanks Memorial Stakes at Lone Star Park last Saturday. This was her fourth win from seven starts at the Grand Prairie track and her eighth career win from 21 lifetime starts. Trained by Kevin Peek, the filly now has amassed career earnings of $260,081.
Second went to Joyful Hannah trained by Jimmy Dodwell and Nurse Goodnight ran third for trainer Allen Milligan. My Golden Belle, Molly’s Honour, Flashy Pearl, Expect Royalty and Wimbledon Star completed the order of finish.
Tonight is the 2nd Annual Remember Me Rescue Celebrity Fundraiser at the track, with guests Pat Day, Jack Van Berg, and Alex Brown. Come out for dinner, drinks, live music, live racing, and live and silent auction items to benefit the rehab and retraining of retired racehorses at Remember Me Rescue. Tickets for the event can be purchased online at http://www.teamkeen.com/2014lonestarparkgala.html or at the east gate at the RMR table next to Will Call. Visit www.teamkeen.com to learn more about the RMR program.
Saturday is Double Down Night at Lone Star Park. Two bucks won’t get you much anymore, but on Saturday night two bucks is all you need for two general admissions, two Lone Star Today programs, two soft drinks, two hot dogs or even an ice cold beer. And you can enjoy live music by Scott Dean in the Courtyard of Champions from 7 – 11 p.m.
ATB AWARDS MAILED
ATB Awards checks for the recently concluded Thoroughbred meet at Sam Houston Race Park were mailed on Wednesday.
Award amounts are based on the amount of Accredited Texas-Bred award monies available for the pay period divided by the purse money earned by accredited Texas-breds finishing first, second or third in any race at this track.
Based on this formula, award totals were calculated as follows:
Breeder Awards: 5.84146% of 1st/2nd/3rd purse money earned
Owner Awards: 7.31549% of 1st/2nd/3rd purse money earned
Stallion Awards: 3.28435% of 1st/2nd/3rd purse money earned
Also, horses placing 1, 2, or 3 in open company races earned an additional Owner’s Bonus award totaling 16.23136% of purse money earned.
TTA ANNUAL MEETING AND AWARDS DINNER SET FOR JUNE 14TH
Invitations for the June 14th TTA Annual Meeting and Awards Dinner to be held at Lone Star Park mailed this week. We hope you will make plans to join us as we honor the owners and breeders of the 2013 Divisional Champions.
The Divisional Champions are:
2YO Filly: Fiftyshadesofgold (My Golden Song – Hadif Cat, by Hadif); Breeder/Owner: Clarence Scharbauer Jr.
2YO Colt/Gelding: Time Iz Flyin (Early Flyer – First Final, by Hadif); Breeder:Clarence Scharbauer Jr; Owner: Danny Keene
3YO Filly:Tastefullyxcessive (Early Flyer – Hadif Cat, by Hadif); Breeder/Owner: Clarence Scharbauer, Jr.
Older Male: Ol Winedrinker Who (Sligo Bay (IRE) – Silverup, by Prenup); Breeders/Owners: Sam E. Stevens & Sammy L. Stevens
Older Filly/Mare: Lasting Bubbles (Pulling Punches – Slim’s Secret, by Desert Secret {IRE}); Breeder/Owner: Judy Peek
3yo Colt/Gelding and Texas Horse of the Year: Worldventurer (Wimbledon – Better Than Most, by Elusive Quality); Breeder: Clarence Scharbauer Jr. Owners: Wesley Melcher; Peter Redekop B. C. Ltd.
Broodmare of the Year: Better Than Most, dam of Worldventurer, owned by Clarence Scharbauer Jr.
Claimer: Midland Man (Early Flyer – On Radar, by Hadif); Breeder: Clarence Scharbauer Jr. Owner: Ronald Ellerbee
LOUISIANA LEGISLATIVE INITIATIVE TO BENEFIT FAIR GROUNDS
A bill aimed at providing improvements to the New Orleans Fair Grounds is moving along through the Louisiana Legislature.
House Bill 1223, which “provides relative to the expenditure of slot machine proceeds for capital improvements and maintenance of the horse racing facility in Orleans Parish,” was easily passed through by House members by a vote of 94-0 Wednesday afternoon. The bill, which inspired heated debate in the committee on Administration of Criminal Justice last week, now passes through to the Senate committee.
HB 1223 would require Churchill Downs Inc., which owns the Fair Grounds, to reinvest 10 percent of slot machine revenue into the facility.
NOTES: Texas-bred Fiftyshadesofgold, a daughter of My Golden Song, currently sits 15th in the standings, one spot out from the field of 14 for the $1 million Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs. Here’s hoping she gets in…Did you know that the RMTC website now displays nine different maps comparing state-by-state adoption of various medication/treatment-related model rules? Check them out here: http://www.rmtcnet.com/content_landing_maps.asp… Handle during the 76-day mixed meet at Sunland Park in New Mexico dropped 8.5% this year despite the track drawing almost nine horses per race; most of the decline occurred in the out-of-state market, attributed to bad winter weather on the East Coast and in the Midwest and because of increased competition from other tracks on one of Sunland’s live racing days, Tuesday… Industry leader Frank Stronach has taken a stand on integrity reforms and his racetracks will take the lead in implementing measures aimed at eliminating drug abuse and the mistreatment of horses; for details see http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/84429/stronach-takes-stand-on-integrity-reforms…We offer our condolences to the family of long-time TTA member Gabe Newman of Adkins, Texas, who campaigned Raise a Govenor back in the early 90’s.