News and Notes for April 20, 2018

MAILBOX MONEY!
ATB Awards checks for the recently concluded Thoroughbred meet at Sam Houston Race Park were mailed on April 17th.

Awards percentages are based on purse money earned for finishing 1st – 3rd, as follows:

Breeder Awards: 7.59814%
Owner Awards: 8.83541%
Stallion Awards: 4.56842%

If your horse finished 1st – 3rd in an Open Company race, you will also receive an Owner Bonus award of 15.04003% of purse money earned.

OPENING NIGHT OF LSP THOROUGHBRED MEET
Congratulations to Texas-bred Supermason (Grasshopper – Folksy) on his third straight opening night stakes win at Lone Star Park! Congrats to owner Brad Grady, trainer Bret Calhoun, breeder W. S. Farish & E. J. Hudson, Jr. Irrevocable Trust, and jockey Lindey Wade.  The 6-year-old gelding now has a career record of 33-11-5-3 with $361,985 in earnings.

Even with a 20% smaller crowd, live wagering of $254,571 and off-track handle of $1,297,494 combined for a total of $1,552,064.32, an increase of 55% over last year.

TRC MEETING NEWS
During the April 10 meeting of the TRC, commissioners approved opening an application period to request race dates for the period of January 1 through December 31, 2019 and January 1 through August 31, 2020. Sam Houston Race Park and Gillespie County Fair Grounds have already been granted dates for 2019, but may request amendments during the application period, which will open June 1 and close on July 17th.

TELEPHONE ISSUES
If you’ve had trouble reaching us by cell phone recently, we apologize! Apparently some AT&T lines cannot connect due to problems with cell towers and it is out of our control.

Until the towers are repaired, you may email us at jenniferg@texasthoroughbred.com or maryr@texasthoroughbred.com.

NOTES: Congrats to Denis Blake and American Racehorse! The magazine is a finalist for American Horse Publications Equine Media Award for 2018. Winners will be named in June…Craig Upham’s Patrona Margarita (Special Rate – Margarita Mistress) has now qualified for the $1-million Kentucky Oaks…Congrats to the connections of Ivan Fallunovalot who has joined Groovy and Texas Chrome as a Texas-bred millionaire…If you have a Texas-bred foal photo to share, please send it to us through Facebook or email it to maryr@texasthoroughbred.com along with the sire, dam, sex and foaling date.