NEWS AND NOTES FOR NOVEMBER 8, 2013
BIG TRAIN A’COMIN TO BRADACH FARM
Big Train a’ Comin, a son of champion racehorse and leading sire Giant’s Causeway, will stand the 2014 breeding season at Bradach Farm in Bryan, Texas. The 6-year-old will stand for a $1,000 fee as property of Brady and Erin May.
Unraced due to an injury as a foal, Big Train a’ Comin is out of the stakes-placed Machiavellian mare Snowfire (GB) and is a full brother to stakes winner and three-time Grade 1-placed Model, a mare who compiled a record of 16-4-7-4 with earnings of $497,536. Big Train a’ Comin is also a full brother to stakes winner Red Eye Express and a three-quarter brother to European champion, multiple Group 1 winner and successful stallion Shamardal.
Big Train a’ Comin has a limited first crop of 2-year-olds this year.
PAIR OF $75,000 STAKES ON TAP FOR RETAMA THIS WEEKEND
The 19th running of the M2 Technology La Senorita Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at one mile on the turf has drawn a field of 8 including stakes winners Thegirlinthatsong (My Golden Song – Belle of the Band), an Accredited Texas-bred owned by Anjo Racing Inc. and bred by Clarence Scharbauer Jr. with a record of 5-2-2-0 and earnings of $86,560 and Kentucky-bred Redgrass Cat (Bluegrass Cat – Amanzi), owned by Texan Paul Rigali Jr., with a record of 6-1-1-2 and earnings of $48,110. Rounding out the field are Strike Twice (KY); Suaveberry (LA), Daffodil Lady (LA); Great Queen (TX); Sky’s Goldmaker (KY); and Shesalittlelady (KY).
The $75,000 El Joven for 2-year-old colts and geldings at a mile on the turf, has several promising starters including morning line favorite Perky Kitten, who invades for the Ken and Sarah Ramsey outfit that last year swept the La Senorita and El Joven with eventual Grade 1 winners Kitten’s Dumplings and Admiral Kitten. Accredited Texas-breds Witt’s Five (Five Demon Bag – Taitt Hill), Pontotoc (Kris’s Visa – Wild Mist), F J Uncle Vic (Uncle Abbie – Let Her Reign), and Mula Boss (Mula Gula – Choctaw Lady), along with Kentucky-breds Rainbow Trip (Sightseeing – Xquenda), Broadway Missile (Heatseeker (IRE) – Theatre Fan) and Margarita Bibb (First Defence – Concert Hall) complete the 8-horse field.
TEXAS-BRED SETS NEW RECORD IN VETERANS STAKES
Texas-bred Ol Winedrinker Who returned to Zia Park Racetrack & Casino on Monday for the first time since winning the 2012 Zia Park Derby and set the track record at 1 1/16 miles in the $55,000 Veterans Stakes. Ol Winedrinker clocked 1:41.94 as he and jockey Carlos Madeira fended off Congenial to win by a half-length.
Trainer Joel Marr said Ol Winedrinker Who will now be pointed to the 1 1/8-mile, $150,000 Zia Park Distance Championship on November 24.
The Texas Champion 3-year-old for 2012 runs for breeders and TTA members Sam E. and Sammy L. Stevens now boasts a record of 19-6-4-1 with earnings of $245,779..
THE STARTING GATE RADIO PROGRAM
Congratulations to Fred Taylor for a job well done with the initial radio broadcast of The Starting Gate on station KCLW. The Starting Gate: is a bi-weekly radio program dedicated to providing listeners with unique perspectives about the horse racing ownership experience. The show will take listeners out to the farms, sales companies, and race tracks to introduce these perspectives. And, every fourth show will feature an interview with “the experts” who breed, sell, train, and come up with the strategies for horse racing success.
In the November 2 broadcast, Fred related the story of how he first got interested in horseracing as a 9-year-old back in Kentucky. If you missed the show, you can access a replay at http://www.mojoracingpartners.com/Starting%20Gate%20MP3s/TheStartingGateShow1Nov2.mp3
REPORT: OK CASINOS GROWING; HORSE RACING AND LOTTERY DECLINING
According to a report by the North American Gaming Almanac, Oklahoma casinos continue to gain ground as lottery and horse racing are falling with a steady decline in revenues. Oklahoma casinos followed national trends of tribal gaming growth with a 3.4% growth from 2010 to 2011. and the number of Oklahoma casinos grew by 6.4%. Oklahoma’s horse racing revenues declined by more than 8.8%.
While tribal casinos rise, across the nation horse racing has steadily declined, according to the report, the most comprehensive annual survey of gambling trends in the nation.
Nationally, sports wagering has suffered annual losses, with a 12.5% decrease in 2011, according to the report.
Sheila Morago, Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association executive director, said the rise in casino gaming should not be related to horse racing or lottery declines.
“If you go to a casino, you’re looking at going there instead of going to say, a dinner and a movie,” Morago said, adding that horse racing and lottery expenses are part of a different expense in people’s budgets.
NOTES: Jockey Gary Stevens has pledged $5,000 Remember Me Rescue, a Texas Thoroughbred charity seeking to better treat injured racehorses; the funds will go toward the purchase of a cold, salt-water spa to treat racing injuries such as bowed tendons…Racing regulators in New York have given preliminary approval to a set of new threshold levels for 24 equine drugs as well as hefty fines for racetracks, lottery agents, and others who let underage people gamble… Betfair Hollywood Park has begun its 33rd and final Autumn Meet running 27 days through December 22 highlighted by 4 Grade I events: the $250,000 Matriarch and $250,000 Hollywood Derby on turf and the $500,000-guaranteed Hollywood Starlet and the $750,000-guaranteed CashCall Futurity… Compared to last year, the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky November selected mixed sale saw 129 horses sold for revenues of $73,859,000, an increase of 23%, a 17% decline in average price, a 32% increase in median and a buyback rate of 21%, which was a significant improvement over the previous 35% rate…Mark your calendar for Saturday, June 14th when TTA will hold the Annual Meeting and Awards Dinner to honor the divisional Texas Champion horses of 2013 along with their owners and breeders at Lone Star Park…You may still make reservations to attend the Texas Horse Racing Hall of Fame Gala on Saturday, November 16th at Retama Park by contacting Sharolyn Grammer at 210.651.7000 or retama@flash.net… Nomination forms for the TTA Sales Futurity, Texas Stallion Stakes Series for foals of 2012 and 2013 and the Texas Stallion Stakes for Stallions standing in Texas in 2014 are in the mail, with a nomination deadline of December 31st.