News and Notes for November 18, 2016

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ATB’S IN WEEKEND STAKES
On Saturday, Danny Pish will send out Cliff and Michele Love’s homebred San Antonio Stroll (Stroll – Twenty Three Red) to take on nine competitors in the $400,000 (Gr. III) Delta Downs Princess Stakes for 2-year-old fillies going a mile. The 20-1 longshot is coming off a good second place finish in the M2 Technology La Senorita Stakes at Retama Park on October 15th.

Graded stakes-placed Ivan Fallunovalot (Valid Expectations – Flashdance Missy) is part of a field of 9 for the $250,000 Frank J. DeFrancis Memorial Dash Stakes for 3-year-olds and up going six furlongs.

Texas Champion Horse of the Year for 2015, Ivan Fallunovalot has won five of his six starts dating back to August 2015, with his ninth-place finish in the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Sprint his only loss during that span. His wins include the last three runnings of the David M. Vance at Remington and the last two editions of the King Cotton at Oaklawn Park.

The 6-year-old gelding owns 14 wins and $650,808 in career purse earnings from 23 races, and is 10-for-15 at six furlongs.  He was bred by Eileen Hartis and is trained by W. T. Howard for Lewis Mathews Jr.   Hall of Fame jockey Calvin Borel, who returned from a five-month retirement in August, comes in to ride from Post 2.

Former Texas Champion Ol Winedrinker Who (Sligo Bay (IRE) – Silverup) returns to action in a field of twelve at Zia Park on Sunday in the $150,000 Zia Park Championship Handicap for 3-year-olds and up going a mile and an eighth.  The7-year-old multiple stakes winner runs for breeders Sam E. Stevens and Sammy L. Stevens.  He has a career record of 42-13-7-6 with $748,394 in earnings.

TTA ONLINE AUCTION OF 2017 STALLION BREEDINGS
The second round of bidding is open for 2017 stallion breedings, with a bid closing date of 5:00p.m. Central on Thursday, December 1st.  Go to https://texasthoroughbred.com/stallion-register/online-stallion-auction/ to place your bids.

TEXAS RACING COMMISSION
This week, the Texas Racing Commission approved a request by Manor Downs, Ltd to approve a 100% change of ownership to PM Texas LLC, which Is part of the ownership entity of Sam Houston Race Park.  The Commission also approved a request by PM Texas LLC to voluntarily surrender its Class 2 license for Laredo Race Park Class 2 license, leaving Laredo Downs as the sole licensee in Laredo.

The next meeting of the Texas Racing Commission is scheduled for Tuesday, February 14th in Austin.

ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL ROSES TO RIBBONS EVENT
TTA’S Paddock Foundation hosted another successful Roses to Ribbons event at Retama Park last Saturday.

A crowd of about 75 people gathered in the saddling paddock to view 15 Thoroughbreds and a paint horse that were looking for new homes with alternate careers.  Almost half of the horses sold at the event, and we are keeping contact information for the others in case of late inquiries.

The next event will be at Sam Houston Race Park in March.

NOTES: The TTA office will close at noon on Wednesday, November 23rd in observance of  Thanksgiving, and will reopen on Monday, November 28 at 8:00 a.m.