TEXAS-BREDS  IN WEEKEND STAKES ACTION
Coming off a big win in a 7 ½ furlong turf race at Lone Star Park on July 18tth, Accredited Texas-bred 2-year-old gelding Better Than Magic (My Golden Song – Most Magic) is part of a field of 8 in tonight’s $75,000 Prairie Meadows Juvenile Mile Stakes.  Bred by the Estate of Clarence Scharbauer Jr., the colt is trained by Bret Calhoun for owner Douglas Scharbauer. He has been given morning line odds of 5/1.

On Saturday, Tom Durant’s homebred Baby Not Tonight (Sing Baby Sing – Secret I. D.) will compete in the $50,000 Aspen Cup Stakes going six furlongs at Ruidoso Downs.  The 3-year-old filly has been given odds of 8/1 in the field of 7.

BLOOD-HORSE DEBUTS NEW MOBILE PLATFORM
In order to keep up with the demand for instant information, Blood-Horse this week introduced a new mobile platform called Blood-Horse Daily. The Daily is available through the Apple App Store or Google Play for Android phone users. The new platform give customers access to the latest news, curated analysis and commentary suited to the Thoroughbred industry professional, bloodstock insights, market trends through the team at Blood-Horse MarketWatch, and commentary on industry issues from the Blood-Horse staff and knowledgeable correspondents around the globe.

The app also provides results and entries for stakes races and important allowance and maiden races throughout North America along with select results from important races overseas.
For those not quite ready to consume their daily content on a phone, the Daily is also available via email in a PDF format. Previous editions of the mobile Daily will be available on the phone, while an archive of past PDF editions will be housed on BloodHorse.com.

TWO PATHS TOWARD INTEGRITY: A SIDE BY SIDE COMPARISON
Two federal bills have been filed that both aim to create a national program for managing and enforcing medication use in horse racing.

The Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Act of 2015 has been co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts of Pennsylvania and Sen. Tom Udall of New Mexico. The second bill is the Thoroughbred Horseracing Integrity Act of 2015 co-sponsored by U.S. Reps. Andy Barr of Kentucky and Paul Tonko of New York.

While the goal is the same, the approaches proposed by each bill have some significant differences. Below is a link to a side-by-side analysis of 24 key elements of the bills. The analysis was created by Marc Summers, vice president and general counsel for The Jockey Club and co-author of the Thoroughbred Horseracing Integrity Act.

For the complete analysis, go to http://www.bloodhorse.com/pdf/FederalBillComparions.pdf;

PURSE INCREASE FOR REMINGTON PARK
Remington Park announced overnight purses will increase 10% for the 67-day Thoroughbred meet that begins Aug. 14 and runs through Dec. 13.

The boost in purses, approved by The Thoroughbred Racing Association of Oklahoma, will give Remington Park an estimated $230,000 for daily average purse distribution. Open company maiden special weight races will be worth $33,000 and maiden special weight races for Oklahoma-breds will increase to $42,750. Open allowance company races will now be worth $44,000.

If only it were in Texas…

TOTAL RACES, PARI-MUTUEL HANDLE UP IN JULY
Perhaps helped a bit by added attention for horse racing following American Pharoah’s Triple Crown sweep, wagering on U.S. races improved 1.41% in July, to $903,673,455, when compared with July 2014.

Increased wagering in July on U.S. races also is likely tied to an increase in race days, up 4.84% to 542; and total races, up 2.23% to 4,257. Despite the increased racing, purses were flat in July, up less than one-tenth of 1% to $103,658,025.

After a slow start to the year, pari-mutuel wagering through the first seven months of 2015 now nearly matches the total bet through the first seven months of 2014. This year $6,382,866,327 has been wagered through July, which is down 0.25%. These steady numbers have been delivered despite a 4.44% decline in total races to 23,062.

Purses have not fared as well for the year through July, down 3.08% to $598,003,206.

NOTES:  Live racing continues this weekend at Gillespie County Fair with 12 races each day, including two Thoroughbred races on Saturday and one on Sunday.  Post time both days is 1:00 p.m…In case you missed it, check out the Forbes article on Lone Star Park at http://www.forbes.com/sites/teresagenaro/2015/07/31/in-grand-prairie-texas-lone-star-park-looks-beyond-horse-racing/2/ …The Texas Racing Commission Committee on Rules will meet at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, August 11 in Austin…The regular meeting of the TRC originally scheduled for that date has been postponed; we will keep you updated…The TTA Sales Committee has been meeting to discuss options for a Texas 2-Year-Old in Training Sale; stay tuned for news…Retama Park’s Thoroughbred meet gets under way on Saturday, August 21…The next Roses to Ribbons event will be held at Retama Park prior to closing weekend…Our sympathies go to the family of trainer Jerry ”Trainwreck” Lazenby, who passed away this week.