News and Notes for June 27, 2014

NEWS AND NOTES FOR JUNE 27, 2014

TTA CALL TO ACTION
On June 10, the Texas Racing Commission considered draft rules for the implementation of pari-mutuel wagering on historical races at licensed Texas racetracks, and voted to publish the rules in the Texas Register for a period of 30 days (through July 27) for receipt of public comments. This type of wagering has been very successful in Arkansas and Kentucky, and can have the same positive results in Texas.

It is extremely important that Commissioners hear from as many horsemen as possible prior to July 27 in support of this opportunity.

Below is a sample letter that you may copy or revise, or better yet, tell YOUR story and how this can impact you. Send all letters to the Commissioners in care of TRC Executive Director ChuckTrout via email to info@txrc.texas.gov, fax to 512.833.6907, or mail to Texas Racing Commission, PO Box 12080, Austin, TX 78711.

Also, please send a copy to us at maryr@texasthoroughbred.com, fax to 512-453-5919 or mail to TTA, 4009 Banister Lane, Austin, TX 78704 so that we have record of how many letters have been sent.

There are also letters available in the racing office of each Texas track, and volunteers will make letters available in the grandstand at Lone Star Park this weekend.

For more info on historical racing, see the TTA website at https://texasthoroughbred.com/your-support-needed-for-pari-mutuel-wagering-on-historical-races/.

SAMPLE LETTER #1:

Texas Racing Commission
Chuck Trout, Executive Director
PO Box 12080
Austin, TX 78711

Dear Commissioners,

As a Texan involved in the Texas horse racing industry, I urge you to approve rules regulating pari-mutuel wagering on historical races. I believe this is a natural extension of pari-mutuel wagering on live and simulcast horse racing and will be beneficial to our industry, as it has been in other states such as Arkansas and Kentucky.

Thank you,

Your name and address here

RETAMA PARK STAKES SCHEDULE SET
Retama Park has set the stakes schedule for its 26-day Thoroughbred meet that is scheduled to run from September 5 to November 29. Racing will be conducted on Fridays and Saturdays with a first post at 6:45 p.m.

The track’s signature events for 2-year-olds, the $100,000 El Joven Stakes for colts and geldings and the $100,000 M2 Technology La Senorita for fillies, are set to be run on October 11 going one mile on the turf. For both races, which feature a $25,000 purse boost over last year, the first nomination payment deadline of $100 is July 11 with a $200 sustaining payment due August 15. Late nominations can be made for $500 by August 15, or supplementary nominations can be made for $6,000 on entry day.

The $50,000 Texas Horse Racing Hall of Fame for older state-breds going 1 1/16 miles and the $50,000 Fiesta Mile for state-bred fillies and mares are both scheduled for October 18 on the turf course.

The stakes schedule will conclude on November 15 with two divisions of the Texas Stallion Stakes offering purses of $75,000 apiece. The Darby’s Daughter division for fillies and the My Dandy division for colts and geldings will be run at six furlongs for 2-year-old progeny of eligible stallions.

For more information and nomination forms, go to www.retamapark.com.

TEXAS CONNECTIONS IN THE BASHFORD MANOR STAKES
Bill and Corinne Heiligbrodt’s Cinco Charlie headlines a field of six juveniles entered Saturday at Churchill Downs for the 113th running of the $100,000-added Bashford Manor (Grade III) Stakes.

Cinco Charlie, conditioned by the meet’s leading trainer Steve Asmussen, created a favorable impression May 9 when he debuted in the first 2-year-old race of the Spring Meet as the 3-2 favorite against seven rivals and posted a winning time of :51.65, the fastest of six 4 ½-furlong races this meeting at Churchill Downs.

The Heiligbrodts, who were among the nation’s top owners for more than two decades, return to the stakes scene Saturday following a brief hiatus from the ownership ranks that included the dispersal of their vast racing operation in the summer of 2011. At the time of the dispersal they had owned all or part of 118 stakes-winners, including 45 graded stakes-winners.

A $190,000 purchase at the OBS March sale, Cinco Charlie is one of a handful of 2014 starters for the Heiligbrodts, who have returned to racing as B and C Racing.

Trainer Bret Calhoun, who captured last Saturday’s $108,300 Debutante with Accredited Texas-bred 2-year-old filly Promise Me Silver, hopes to scoop another stakes pot with a Lone Star Park invader bred in Texas by promising freshman sire Silver City. Douglas Scharbauer’s homebred gelding Silverhill walked out of the starting gate in his May 24 debut and spotted the leaders two lengths before grabbing the lead at the head of the stretch with a five-wide move. He drew clear inside the final furlong and outran his ballyhooed stablemate and eventual third-place finisher Supermason, which gave Calhoun the confidence to try the Bashford Manor.

Jerry Durant’s Lucky Player is another Asmussen trainee that won at first asking. The Florida-bred Lookin at Lucky colt rallied to beat four others on May 23 at odds of 3-5 after his rider lost his whip at the three-sixteenths pole. Julien Leparoux takes over the reins from Ricardo Santana Jr., and Lucky Player will receive the diuretic Lasix for the first time.

The Bashford Manor field from the rail out (with jockeys): Skyway (Stewart Elliott), Governmentshutdown (Jose Betancourt), Draw Nigh (Joe Rocco Jr.), Cinco Charlie (Bridgmohan), Silverhill (Corey Lanerie) and Lucky Player (Julien Leparoux).

VESICULAR STOMATITIS IN TEXAS
Due to an increasing number of confirmed vesicular stomatitis cases in Texas, Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry animal health officials are imposing enhanced requirements on horses and other livestock entering Louisiana from a state that has diagnosed cases of VS.

According to a memorandum from the Louisiana animal health officials, the requirements are: Any (including equine) entering Louisiana from a county in which VS has been diagnosed within the last 30 days must be accompanied by a certificate of veterinary inspection written within 10 days of entry containing the following statement: “All animals identified on this certificate have been examined and found free from signs of VS, have not been exposed to VS, and have not originated from a premises which is under quarantine for VS.”

The Texas Animal Health Commission recently announced the nation’s first case of VS for the year in horses when the disease was detected in five horses in southwest Texas, according to the Louisiana memorandum. Since that time more Texas counties have identified cases of VS with a total of 10 confirmed cases in Kinney, Hidalgo, Nueces and San Patricio counties. The six affected premises in those counties are currently under quarantine by the TAHC.

NOTES: HRTV is unveiling a new show when “The Horizon” premiers Saturday, June 28 at 11 a.m. EDT. The program is designed to shine a spotlight on emerging young equine stars on the racing scene…Penn National Gaming Inc. will open a new off-track wagering facility in southern New Jersey July 2. It will be the fifth OTW facility in New Jersey…Fasig-Tipton will add another component to its Oct. 7 fall mixed sale at Saratoga Springs with an open session of New York-bred yearlings.