NEWS AND NOTES

April 19, 2013

Legislative News
Senate Bill #1340 (Seliger – SD 31) which extends the time authorized in the Texas Racing Act for a racetrack to offer pre-opening simulcasting from 2 years to 6 years has passed the Senate on third reading.  The bill will now be sent to the House to begin the same legislative pathway there.  As of today, the bill has not yet been assigned to a committee.

‘Alpha Warrior’ Opens this Weekend at Retama Park
According to KSAT San Antonio, an obstacle course designed and built in San Antonio opens to the public Saturday and Sunday at Retama Park, with organizers promising an experience unequaled anywhere in the U.S.

Alpha Warrior is a collection of about 20 obstacles that participants run through one at a time, until they get through them all. Trampolines tracks, rings to swing on, and six-foot tall barrels to jump over all make up parts of the course. Alpha Warrior organizers have also teamed up with Operation Comfort, a veteran’s assistance group based in San Antonio, to provide wounded veterans the chance to run through the course for free on Friday. The public can run through the course on either Saturday or Sunday. The cost is $85 if you register before Saturday, while walk-ups will be charged $100. For more information, visit www.alphawarrior.com.

Run for Boston Scheduled at Retama Park
Run for Boston, a 1.4-mile run/walk to honor those affected by the bombings at the Boston Marathon on Monday, will begin around sunset (8 p.m.) Friday, April 19 at Retama Park.

Registration is not required, and participation is free. Organizers are encouraging participants to arrive around 7:30 p.m. and to bring a flashlight or headlamp. Donations will be accepted for Red Cross efforts in Boston and in West. More information available on the San Antonio Triathlete site and on Facebook.

Lone Star Park TB Meet
As reported in Daily Racing Form, Texas-breds Triumph and Song and Lasting Bubbles ran lofty Beyer Speed Figures in winning statebred stakes at Lone Star opening week.

Triumph and Song, a 4-year-old gelding, earned a 99 Beyer for his win against males in the opening-night Premiere.

Lasting Bubbles, a 5-year-old homebred for Judy Peek, ran a 96 in Saturday’s JEH Stallion Stakes. Lasting Bubbles took the lead with a furlong to go and powered away to win the contest for Texas-bred fillies and mares by 5 ½ lengths. Cowgirl N Up held on for the place and it was another 3 ½ lengths back to third-place finisher Im a Bear. The final time for the 6 1/2-furlong sprint was 1:16.32.

Trainer Karl Broberg and jockey Glen Murphy quickly vaulted to the top of their respective standings at Lone Star after the meet’s first week. Broberg won with 8 of 15 starters, giving him a five-win advantage over trainer Danny Pish, who went 3 for 12. Murphy also picked up eight winners, doing so from 23 mounts. This gave him a three-win lead over Alfredo Contreras. Murphy was aboard for six of Broberg’s eight winners.

Lone Star canceled grass racing opening week to give the course an extra week of spring growth. Turf racing was scheduled to resume yesterday but was again postponed.

There are no stakes at Lone Star this weekend but Sunday’s card does feature the first 2-year-old race of the meet with seven Texas-breds running for a $20,000 purse. Good luck to all!

Woodlands Native Makes Directorial Debut with Horseracing Film
Lance Kramer, a 2001 graduate of The Woodlands (Texas) High School, took the $10,000 Judges Prize at the 2013 Horse Racing Television Film Festival for his five-minute movie “ONE”. The short film focuses on a race run by “Mizdirection,” owned by sport commentator and media personality Jim Rome. Kramer targeted a Buena Vista stakes race that the horse was running – showing the preparation for the event that started early in the morning.  All submissions can be viewed at www.hrtv.com.

Prairie Meadows: Iowa/Minnesota Challenge Races
Prairie Meadows opens its 67-date Thoroughbred meet offering average daily purses of just more than $230,000. This season will mark the beginning of the Iowa/Minnesota Challenge Races, a venture designed by Leroy Gessman, president of the Iowa Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, to extend the racing season for horses bred in each respective state. In designated races, Minnesota-breds will be allowed to race with Iowa-breds at Prairie Meadows in advance of the start of the Canterbury Park season on May 17. In return, Iowa-breds will be given similar opportunities to compete against Minnesota-breds at the Shakopee oval from the conclusion of the Prairie Meadows meet through Sept. 14.

Equibase Introduces ‘Entries Plus’ For Tablets & Smartphones
Equibase Company has announced the availability of its Entries Plus™ product on mobile devices and through QR codes found in hardcopy track programs across the country. The interactive free product is available for every race at all North American racetracks.

Entries Plus takes the data found in each race entry, couples it with basic racing performance information and presents it all in an interactive, graphic format. Information on every horse in the field is presented in three visual categories — bar charts, line graphs and color bars — in addition to an overall snapshot category for each race. Fans can sort columns, add and delete only the horses they want to see and touch the graphs to reveal specific data on each horse.

Veterinary Mobility Act of 2013 Garners Support
The American Association of Equine Practitioners and the American Veterinary Medical Association have voiced their support for proposed federal legislation that would amend the Controlled Substances Act for veterinarians. The amendment would allow mobile vets to carry controlled substances away from the drugs’ registered location, which is currently a law violation. The amendment (HR 1528) was introduced last week by Oregon Congressman Kurt Schrader and Florida Congressman Ted Yoho.

NOTES… 2009 Kentucky Derby winner, Mine That Bird, arrived at the Kentucky Derby Museum to serve as the museum’s resident Thoroughbred through the July 4th holiday… Congrats to Lane’s End Texas stallion Too Much Bling, whose daughter Significant Bling was just named Ohio Horse of the Year. The filly has won four of five career starts, with all four wins coming in stakes races, and she had earned $152,700.