TEXAS THOROUGHBRED 2-YEAR-OLDS IN TRAINING SALE
CORRECTION: The catalog contains an error in the day of sale phone number – the correct number is 972.237.4886.
Plan to be at Lone Star Park by 11:00 a.m. on Saturday morning, April 2 for the breeze show of 2-year-olds consigned to the Texas Thoroughbred Sale at Lone Star Park. The breeze show will not be live streamed, but will be available online afterwards at www.texasthoroughbred.com.
A late entry, hip #26, has been added to the catalog of 85 juveniles, which can be viewed and downloaded at www.texasthoroughbred.com/tta-races/.
“We have a lot of solid pedigrees this year, top to bottom,” sales director Tim Boyce said in a release from the TTA. “What we may lack in overall numbers we have gotten back in quality.”
The catalog of 2-year-olds includes the offspring of Afleet Alex, Awesome Again, Broken Vow, Haynesville, Henny Hughes, Scat Daddy and The Factor. Also represented are regional sires Early Flyer, Euroears, Grasshopper, My Golden Song, Too Much Bling, Yankee Gentleman, and Valid Expectations.
“Some of the younger sires are going to be exciting as well this year,” Boyce said. “Horsemen are liking freshmen sires Tapizar and Gemologist and, locally, Redding Colliery.”
The auction will start at 12:00 noon on Monday, April 4, and will be livestreamed at www.texasthoroughbred.com. Horses listed as Out include Hips 6, 7, 16, 20, 29, 33, 42, 43, 45, 53, 61 and 82.
Horses that pass through the ring become eligible for the Texas Thoroughbred Futurity, formerly known as the TTA Sales Futurity. A pair of $100,000 – estimated divisions will be run this summer at Lone Star.
For questions, call 972-523-0332.or 512.695.4542. The TTA office will be closed Monday and Tuesday, April 4-5 in order for staff to attend the sale.
ACCREDITED TEXAS-BREDS IN UPCOMING STAKES
On Saturday, Henry Witt’s homebred Witt Six (Drums of Thunder – Taitt Hill) is one of 10 competing in the $25,000 Budweiser Tondi Stakes for 3-year-olds and up going six furlongs at Fonner Park. The 4-year-old graded-stakes-placed gelding with career earnings of $142,291 has been given odds of 12/1.
Multiple-graded-stakes-placed W V Jetsetter (Jet Phone – Better Than Most) is part of a field of 9 for the $100,000 Shackleton Stakes for 4-year-olds and up going 7 furlongs at Gulfstream Park. Bred by the Estate of Clarence Scharbauer Jr., the colt is running for owners R. A., Hill Stable & Reeves Thoroughbred Racing. He has a career record of 10-3-1-2 with $163,146 in earnings and has been given odds of 15/1.
On April 5, Meme Jo (Too Much Bling – Honey Gold) will take on six foes in the $50,000 Clem McSpadden Memorial Route 66 Stakes for 3-year-olds and up going six furlongs at Will Rogers Downs. Bred by Jeanne Bruce, the six-year old stakes winner runs for Team Bryant Thoroughbreds and is trained by G. R. Bryant. He boasts a career record of 39-13-9-5 with earnings of $203,855.
Coming off a February 28 win in the Curribot Handicap at Sunland, multiple-stakes winner Ol Winedrinker Who (Sligo Bay (IRE) – Silverup) is part of a field of 7 there for the $75,000 Winsham Lad Stakes for 3-year-olds and up going one mile on April 6. The 7-year-old gelding is a homebred for Sam E. Stevens and Sammy L. Stevens and is trained by Joel Marr. His earnings are now in excess of $719,000.
TEXAS CHROME EXPECTED TO DEBUT AT OAKLAWN
Champion California Chrome won’t run this year at Oaklawn, but multiple stakes winner Texas Chrome “definitely” will be seen in Hot Springs before the meeting ends April 16, owner Danny Keene said.
Texas Chrome, a 3-year-old Texas-bred colt by Lane’s End Texas stallion Grasshopper, out of Margarita Mistress, hasn’t started since finishing fifth in the $100,000 Clever Trevor Stakes November 6 at Remington Park. Keene said the colt had knee chips removed, but has been training steadily at Oaklawn for his 2016 debut.
“We’ve about got him ready to go,” Keene said about the Texas Champion 2-Year-Old Colt/Gelding. “I’m trying to decide on Texas Chrome, where I want to put him. He will run before that meet is over.”
He won 4 of 6 starts last year, including the $100,000 TTA Sales Futurity July 11 at Lone Star Park and the $100,000 Gold Rush Futurity August 16 at Arapahoe Park.
IVAN FALLUNOVALOT UNLIKELY FOR COUNT FLEET AT OAKLAWN
Multiple stakes winner Ivan Fallunovalot, the 2015 Texas Horse of the Year, is unlikely to run in the $400,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3) on April 10 at Oaklawn because of lingering problems with a quarter-crack, trainer Tom Howard of Hot Springs indicated Saturday morning.
Howard said Ivan Fallunovalot hasn’t returned to the track because his left front foot is “still a little tender” and time is running out to make the Count Fleet, a race the Valid Expectations gelding finished second in last year.
“It’s going to be close, very close,” Howard said. “We haven’t pulled the plug yet, but it’s very close.”
After winning the $100,000 King Cotton Stakes Jan. 30 at Oaklawn in his 2016 debut, Ivan Fallunovalot developed a quarter-crack on the inside of his left front foot in late February.
The injury was patched, but it forced Ivan Fallunovalot to miss a scheduled start in the $100,000 Hot Springs Stakes March 5 at Oaklawn. “We’ve changed up some things up and just giving it a few days to settle down,” Howard said. “But I’m running out of days.”
Owned by Lewis Mathews of nearby Bismarck, Arkansas, Ivan Fallunovalot has a 12-3-1 record from 21 lifetime starts and earnings of $536,910. He also won the $100,000 King Cotton Stakes in 2015 and finished ninth in the $1.5 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) October 31 at Keeneland.
TEXAS THOROUGHBRED FUTURITY REMINDER
For foals of 2014 already nominated to the 2016 Texas Thoroughbred Futurity, the final sustaining payment of $350 is due by Friday, April 15. That payment must be fax, credit card or postmark dated no later than April 15. Payments made after April 15 cannot be accepted. Reminder notices have been mailed. Buyers at the upcoming 2YO Sale will be handed notice of this payment.
Those horses early nominated to the Futurity as graduates of the Texas Thoroughbred 2-Year-Old Sale that do not go through the ring at that sale are no longer eligible for the 2016 Texas Thoroughbred Futurity.
Friday, May 1st is the deadline for late nomination to the Texas Thoroughbred Futurity. Foals of 2014 that go through the ring at the 2016 Texas Thoroughbred 2YO Sale, and have not already been nominated to the Futurity, may be late nominated by payment of $5,000. That payment must be fax, credit card or postmark dated no later than May 1. Nominations made after May 1 cannot be accepted.
The field for each division (fillies and colts/geldings) will be limited to twelve starters, who are determined by money earned. In order to give nominated horses ample opportunity for earnings and experience, Texas Thoroughbred Futurity nominees will have preferred entry in 2-year-old maiden races at Lone Star Park leading up to the 2016 Futurity.
Both divisions of the 2016 Texas Thoroughbred Futurity will be run on July 9 with entries taken the previous Wednesday. There is a $500 entry fee and $1000 start fee that will be deducted from your horseman’s account at Lone Star Park.
RCI ADDS TOWN HALL MEETING AT LONE STAR PARK
The Association of Racing Commissioners International has scheduled three additional town hall meetings in an effort to unify the racing industry and develop a consensus path to improve the policing of the sport and advance uniform regulatory policies.
The public meeting at Lone Star Park will take place on April 18th. There is no charge to attend, but pre-registration is required at: https://racingintegrity.wufoo.com/forms/z4bnwxl0ilas2b/
NOTES: The TTA Board of Directors will meet at 5pm on Sunday at Lone Star Park…Evangeline Downs will begin its 51st season of Thoroughbred racing April 6 in Opelousas, Louisiana, featuring 26 stakes races with a total value of more than $2 million…Congrats to Dr. Charles W. Graham who was recently named one of this year’s Texas A&M Distinguished Alumni…Our thoughts and prayers are with those who were affected by tornadoes this week in Oklahoma…Please take a few minutes to complete the Texas Horse Industry Economic Impact Study survey by A&M University, available at www.bit.ly/1R61UuH.