TEXAS HORSE RACING HALL OF FAME GALA
The Texas Horse Racing Hall of Fame will once again honor individuals who have enriched the tradition and sport of horse racing in Texas on Saturday, October 29, at Retama Park. The celebration will begin at 5 p.m. and will run before and during the races. The event will feature hors d’oeuvres, valet parking, cocktails, a gourmet buffet dinner, cigar roller, induction of the honorees, silent auction and live Thoroughbred races.
Proceeds from the gala, which is open to the public, will benefit the Saddle Light Center; Groom Elite; and the Race Track Chaplaincies at Lone Star Park, Sam Houston Race Park and Retama Park.
2016 Inductees into the Horse Racing Hall of Fame include Hugh Fitzsimons, Dr. Nat Kieffer, John T.L. Jones, Jr., Quarter horse First Down Dash and John Boyce “Jay” Pumphrey (deceased). For more information or to purchase tickets for the gala at $125 per person, visit www.txhof.com, or contact Ryan Grammer at 210-651-7045 or txhorseracinghof@gmail.com.
FIESTA MILE, TEXAS HORSE RACING HALL OF FAME STAKES ON TAP AT RETAMA
Carded as the 7th race on Saturday, the $50,000 Fiesta Mile for Accredited Texas-bred fillies and mares, 3-years-old and up going a mile on the turf has a field of 9, including the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 6th place finishers in the Lane’s End Stallion Scholarship Stakes at Lone Star Park on June 16. The winner of that race was Douglas Scharbauer’s multiple-stakes-winner More Than Most (Indygo Mountain – Better Than Most). With earnings of $186,524, the 3-year-old trained by Bret Calhoun is the favorite at 8-5.
Leroy Pollok’s homebred multiple-stakes-winner Expect Royalty (Valid Expectations – Autumn Sky) finished second to More Than Most in the Scholarship Stakes and is listed at 7-2 for the Fiesta Mile. With over $253,000, she has the highest earnings in the field.
Randy Mayfield will send out multiple-stakes-placed Whiskey Eyes (Special Rate – Hay Costa), bred by H. L. Southard and owned by Lisa Macalik with odds of 5-1.
Completing the field are Slew’s Song (My Golden Song – Classic Mirage), owned by Bryan Henderson and trained by George Bryant; W. S. Farish’s homebred Infectious (Valid Expectations – Red Cell), trained by Danny Pish; Paloli (Silent Picture – La Poli), bred and trained by Danny PIsh for owner G2W; Dagny (Scrimshaw – Shezamarkedword), a Mike Danapas homebred trained by Dallas Keen; and Soul Affair (Grasshopper – Mimi’s Affair), bred and owned by Century Acres Farm and trained by Nate Williams.
The $50,000 Texas Horse Racing Hall of Fame Stakes (race 9) features a full field of ten, headed by 3-1 favorite Bully Good (My Golden Song – Uno Mas Promesa), a stakes winner bred by Robert Luttrell and trained by Karl Broberg for Kelly G. Duncan.
Macassar Corporation’s homebred Can’t Be Wrong (Broken Vow – Running Dispute) is trained by Danny Pish and has odds of 4-1.
Terry Eoff will saddle Graded-stakes-placed F J Uncle Vic (Uncle Abbie – Let her Reign), who he owns in partnership with Johnny Evans. Bred by Mr. and Mrs. Frank Prifittera, he has odds of 5-1.
Completing the field are Street Life Blues (City Street – Kathryn’s Life), bred by Dr. Johanna Bullard, owned by Yesenia’s Racing LLC and trained by Jose Alonzo Martinez-Rocha; mutiple-stakes-winner Magna Breeze (Magna Graduate – Flashbulb Breeze), bred by Joanne Schapiro, owned and trained by Steve Asmussen; multiple-stakes-winner Supermason (Grasshopper – Folksy) bred in partnership by W. S. Farish, and trained by Bret Calhoun for Brad Grady; Bonjour Baby (Sing Baby Sing – Secret Sweep), bred by Tom Durant and trained by Larry Stroope for Alvin Wong; Uncle Witt (Uncle Abbie – Chromedoll), bred by Henry Witt Jr., owned by Jack Cook and trained by Jaime Castellanos; Gottherightonebaby (Sing Baby Sing – Foxy Jill); owned and trained by Karen Jacks, and bred by Tom Durant; and Ronald Podraza’s homebred stakes-placed Special Praise (River Squall – With Praise), who is trained by Allen Dupuy.
NEW STALLIONS ADDED TO THE ONLINE AUCTION OF 2017 STALLION SEASONS
The Texas Thoroughbred Association is pleased to announce that, through the generosity of many stallion owners, we are able to offer breeding seasons for 2017 at a special price in the TTA Online Stallion Season Auction.
New stallions have recently been added and the first round of internet bidding for the auction is now open, with a deadline of 5pm Central time on Thursday, November 3rd.
To place your bid, go to https://texasthoroughbred.com/stall…/online-stallion-auction/ . More seasons are expected to be added, so be sure to check back often.
If you have any questions, contact Mary in the TTA office at 512.458.6133.
TEXAS CHROME READIES FOR BREEDER’S CUP
Grade 3 Oklahoma Derby winner Texas Chrome, a Texas-bred son of Texas stallion Grasshopper, is on his way to Santa Anita Park and the Breeders’ Cup World Championships.
Owned by Danny Keene’s Keene Thoroughbreds of Greenville, Texas, the streaking Texas Chrome will face the world’s best at Santa Anita next Friday, November 4 in the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. A 3-year-old colt out of the Naevus mare Margarita Mistress, Texas Chrome currently enjoys a three-race winning streak, all in stakes competition. He won the $100,000 Prelude Stakes at Louisiana Downs in early August, prior to his triumph in the Grade 3, $400,000 Super Derby there on September 10. Texas Chrome ran the streak to three straight when he squeezed inside of Sticksstatelydude, moving along the rail at the furlong pole, to battle to a half-length win in the Oklahoma Derby.
Bred by Craig Upham, Texas Chrome started his career with a maiden win and a victory in the 2015 TTA Sales Futurity at Lone Star Park. He also won the Gold Rush Futurity at Arapahoe Park last year. Now an earner of $842,462, Texas Chrome sold for $10,000 at the 2014 Texas Summer Yearling Sale from the consignment of Stoneview Farm, which Upham owns with his wife Sue Dowling.
CHARISMATIC COMING TO OLD FRIENDS IN KENTUCKY
Old Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement Center in Georgetown, Kentucky, is proud to announce that Charismatic, 1999’s Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner and Horse of the Year, is coming home.
The now 20-year-old stallion will return to the United States from the JBBA Shizunai Stallion Station in Japan, where he has stood since 2002, sometime in late November, and will be pensioned at Old Friends.
His journey is being sponsored in large part by a gift from his former owners through the Robert and Beverly Lewis Family Foundation, and also from the Austin,Texas-based vodka brand, Tito’s Handmade Vodka.
“This is yet another dream come true,” said Old Friends founder and President Michael Blowen. “Charismatic holds such special memories for so many racing fans, so it’s particularly meaningful to be able to bring him home.
“Tito’s Handmade Vodka has been a staunch supporter of equine charities, and animal charities in general are near and dear to Tito’s heart,” said Eric Barlund, a VP of Sales for Tito’s. “We are ecstatic that we are able to participate in bringing horse racing stars like Charismatic back home where they can be revered by the public and help raise awareness for the cause.”
NOTES: On Saturday, November 12, there will be a Roses to Ribbons event in the saddling paddock area at Retama Park. This event is designed to promote Thoroughbred horses moving to new careers after racing, and makes it easy for buyers and sellers to find each other. Contact Tracy Sheffield at 512-395-5314 or tracysheff@gmail.com for details…Are you a current TTA member and parent or guardian of a high school senior? Did you know that scholarships are available from the Texas Thoroughbred Educational Fund? Applications are now available, with a receipt deadline of February 15, 2017. Contact Mary Ruyle in the TTA office for details: 512.458.6133.