ATB’S IN UPCOMING STAKES
Two Texas-bred fillies are in a full field for the $60,000 River Cities Stakes for fillies and mares, 3-years-old and up going a mile and a sixteenth on the turf at Louisiana Downs on September 2.
At 15-1 is stakes winner Shes Our Fastest (Oratory – Dawali), owned by Mark Norman and Norman Stables LLC. Bred by Eureka Thoroughbred Farm, she won the filly division of the Texas Stallion Stakes by 6 ¾ lengths at Lone Star Park on May 26th. She is trained by Scott Gelner.
Danny Pish will saddle multiple stakes placed San Antonio Stroll (Stroll – Twenty Three Red) for owners Cliff and Michele Love. Bred by Cliff Love, she finished 3rd in the Fiesta Mile at Retama on August 4 and has odds of 20-1.
Retama Park will host the La Senorita (race 6) and El Joven (race 8) Stakes on September 4. Each carries a $75,000 purse and will be contested at one mile on the turf.
Gentry Farms’ homebred All Effort (Eldon’s Effort – Jade Air) is the lone Texas-bred in a field of 6 for the La Senorita and has odds of 7-2. Pish trains the filly, who won her last out in a maiden special weight here on August 1.
There are four Texas-breds in a field of 7 for the El Joven, starting with 2-1 favorite Shotsoft (Grasshopper – Folksy) is trained by Karl Broberg for M and M Racing. Bred in partnership by W. S. Farish, the gelding won a maiden special weight on July 31.
Bret Calhoun will saddle stakes placed Mucho Dinero (Early Flyer – Won Peso), for owners Wayne Sanders and Larry Hirsch. Bred by Steve Fidel, the gelding was 3rd in the My Dandy division of the Texas Stallion Stakes here on August 15 and has odds of 5-2.
At 8-1 is Henry Witt’s homebred Witt’s Gold (Five Demon Bag – Fortunistic). Trained by Terry Eoff, he was 2nd in a maiden special weight here on August 21.
Dauntless Prince (Cairo Prince – Pretty Gale) is making his second start for breeder Hugh Moore, who owns the colt in partnership with Everett Dyer. Larry Stroope is the trainer for the 20-1 longshot.
JOCKEY CLUB AND EQUINELINE.COM SEMINAR
More than 50 attendees were on hand in the Sales Pavilion at Lone Star Park last Sunday for a free seminar conducted by representatives of equineline.com and The Jockey Club. Susan Martin’s presentation covered a variety of equineline products available to horsemen, while Lori Johnson discussed how to navigate TJC’s interactive registration site and the process for handling digital foal certificates.
The seminar was video recorded and after some editing for clarity, will be posted on the TTA website.
SONGANDAPRAYER FILLY TOPS TEXAS YEARLING AND MIXED SALE
A Louisiana-bred filly by Songandaprayer topped the yearling session of Monday’s Texas Summer Yearling and Mixed Sale at Lone Star Park. Held jointly by the Texas Thoroughbred Association and the track, the auction reported 44 of 82 yearlings sold for a total of $414,300. The median jumped 72.2 percent from last year’s mark of $4,500, and the average dropped from $11,556 to $9,415 this year. The buy-back rate this year was 46.3 percent.
Last year the yearling session grossed $681,800 with 59 of 90 sold.
Susan Naylor signed the ticket on the sale-topper with a price of $30,000 on hip 83. The March filly from the consignment of Clear Creek Stud, agent, is out of the stakes-placed Lion Heart mare Those Lion Eyes, whose one foal to race is a winner.
“Obviously we would have liked to see some bigger numbers today, but overall the middle and lower-end of the market seemed fine,” said Tim Boyce, sales director. “We just didn’t have the really exceptional individuals we had last year, so the average was down a bit but it’s encouraging that the median jumped almost 75 percent. It was also good to see the mixed session numbers jump compared to last year.”
In the mixed session this year, 18 of 24 head sold for $93,100 with an average of $5,172 and a median of $2,350. Those numbers compared favorably to last year’s mixed session that grossed $30,000 with 13 of 36 head sold for an average of $2,357 and median of $1,400.
The highest-priced horse in the mixed session was a weanling filly by Too Much Bling who sold for $19,000 to Naylor from the consignment of Benchmark Training Center, agent for the Estate of Ed Few. A good portion of the mixed session was composed of horses from Few, one of the state’s leading breeders and owners who passed away in April.
The Texas 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale is next up on the sale calendar at Lone Star and will be held April 9.
Complete results are available at ttasales.com.
TTA NOMINATING COMMITTEE
The TTA Nominating Committee will be accepting names of eligible TTA members until September 19th for candidates to run for 3-year terms on the TTA Board of Directors. Five at-large directors will be elected statewide as well as regional directors to represent the South and Northeast regions of Texas. You may submit nominees to the TTA executive director or to any member of the Nominating Committee: Keith Asmussen, Ken Carson, Teo Mallet, Brent Savage, Bill Tracy, Alfred Vardeman, or Henry Witt. Director contact information can be found at https://texasthoroughbred.com/about-us/board-of-directors/.
ONLINE AUCTION OF DONATED 2019 STALLION SEASONS
Once again, TTA is soliciting stallion seasons to be auctioned via the TTA website to benefit the Texas Thoroughbred Educational Fund, The Paddock Foundation, Political Action Committee or the General Fund. A donation form is available at: https://texasthoroughbred.com/stallion-donation-form-2019/.
For maximum exposure, please remit your donation form by September 30th. Please direct any questions to Mary Ruyle at 512.458.6133 or by e-mail to maryr@texasthoroughbred.com.
NOTES: The TTA office will be closed on Monday, September 3 in observance of Labor Day…The TTA Board of Directors will meet via conference call on Thursday, October 4.