News and Notes for March 13, 2020

TTA CANCELS ROSES TO RIBBONS EVENT, POSTPONES AWARDS BANQUET, 2-YEAR-OLD SALE STILL SCHEDULED
The Texas Thoroughbred Association is announcing changes to some of its upcoming events due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Roses to Ribbons Old Fashioned Horse Fair, scheduled for Saturday, March 14, at Sam Houston Race Park, has been cancelled. The TTA hopes to hold another renewal of the event later this year at Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie. The event helps find new homes and careers for Thoroughbreds ready to leave the racetrack.

The TTA has also announced the postponement of its annual meeting and awards banquet, originally set for Saturday, March 21, at Sam Houston Race Park. The track has announced that it will continue with live racing but only essential personnel and licensed owners with a horse running that day will be allowed to attend the races. The track will stream the races online at no charge. The TTA hopes to hold the annual meeting and awards banquet at a later date this year. If you have paid for tickets or sponsorships, staff will be contacting you within the next few days.

Lastly, at this time the TTA does intend to hold the Texas 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale as scheduled on April 3 at Lone Star Park with the breeze show set for April 1. The TTA will continue to monitor the situation and make an announcement should there be any changes.

TRC FACEBOOK PAGE
In order to keep the public informed of any potential impact the COVID-19 (Corona) virus may have on the operations of the Texas Racing Commission, they are temporarily launching a page on Facebook to provide updates. This will be a one-way communication tool ONLY, all questions and/or comments should be sent to info@txrc.texas.gov. and any questions specifically related to racetrack operations should be directed to the tracks themselves. But please feel free to “like” or “follow” the page to help spread awareness. The TxRC Facebook page may be accessed here:   OfficalTxRCFacebook

SHRP NEWS
There will be a meeting in the horsemen’s kitchen today (Friday) at 2:30 to discuss the track’s plan to conduct live racing without spectators.

Streaming of our live racing @SHRP is free and available on our website. Due to our current restrictions, we encourage those interested to watch via this platform:  https://www.shrp.com/horsemen-info/livereplay-videos

THE JOCKEY CLUB EQUINE INJURY DATABASE STATISTICS
In data released by The Jockey Club’s Equine Injury Database for 2019, the rate of fatal injury for Thoroughbreds last year dropped to 1.53 per 1,000 starts from a rate of 1.68 in 2018. It was the first time the rate has decreased since 2016, and overall the fatality rate is down 23.5% from the 10-year high of 2.0 per 1,000 starts in 2009. Based on the data, 99.84% of flat racing starts at racetracks that participated in the EID occurred without a fatality. For more information go to Thoroughbreddailynews.com

NOTES: The American Horse Council’s 2020 Horse Industry Directory (HID) is now accessible on the AHC website to everyone: https://www.horsecouncil.org/flipbook-2020/?page=1