NEWS
Sam Houston declines to request Thoroughbred meet for 2011
Posted: Wednesday, August 18, 2010 3:47 PM
SAM HOUSTON RACE PARK
Jeff Coady/Coady Photography
by Pete Denk
Sam Houston Race Park has not requested a Thoroughbred meeting for 2011, and the Houston track is willing to transfer an estimated $4.8-million from its purse account to Lone Star Park so that the Dallas-area track can boost its product.
The purse account money, which will be derived from simulcast revenue at Sam Houston, would boost Lone Star’s purses from $150,000 a day in 2010 to $230,000 for ‘11, Lone Star President Drew Shubeck said.
Lone Star requested 60 race dates next year, the same number it ran this year. The 2011 meeting would run from April 7 through July 17, typically racing four days a week.
“The only difference for Lone Star will be that we’d like to have $4.8-million from Sam Houston’s purse account,” Shubeck said. “We believe that increase would allow us to recruit some outfits that left Lone Star in the last few years and improve the field size and the competitiveness of our races.”
Sam Houston’s Thoroughbred meeting usually starts the day after Thanksgiving and runs through early April. Sam Houston requested a 29-day mixed breed meeting that would run three to four days each week during June and July 2011, although that meeting primarily would be for Quarter Horses, Sam Houston President Andrea Young said.
“The reason we want to do this is because we feel Texas racing year-over-year has become less and less relevant,” Young said. “We want to make Texas racing relevant again. We are under pressure from all the states around us who have slot machines. We need gaming, and this move gives us a runway to do what we need to do at the legislative level.”
Young said the success of Monmouth Park’s 2010 meeting, which featured a less-is-more approach to race dates and higher purses, influenced the difficult decision.
“This is a band-aid until we fix our issues. We’ll be back running 60-70 dates a year when we level the playing field,” Young said. “One of the most interesting indicators of this year was that for every dollar the Lone Star simulcast signal was down, Monmouth was up that much. Lone Star got hit harder than any signal we take. Our customers are saying, ‘We want a different product.’”
Trainer Bret Calhoun, who serves on the board of the Texas Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association and was leading trainer at Lone Star this year, said he supports the request.
“It’s controversial with some of the horsemen, but really it shouldn’t be,” Calhoun said. “We’re in survival mode right now, and this is the only way I see we can survive one more year and try to get some legislative help and get some gaming in here. The bad side of it is the horsemen having to leave the state and travel in the winter, but that’s part of this business.
“[Lone Star’s] export signal was down more than $20-million this year. No one would even take the Lone Star signal anymore because the quality and field size have deteriorated so badly. Without any handle there is no purse account and without that there is no racing. We’ve got to get better quality horses into Texas to build our product back up and get some handle on it.”
The Texas Racing Commission is expected to announce the 2011 dates at its September 14 meeting.
Pete Denk is sales editor of Thoroughbred Times
READER COMMENTS
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Posted by: Sharon Kerby, Salado, TX on August 22, 2010 at 06:27 PM
Sam Houston Race Park is attempting to eliminate their Thoroughbred meet altogether, including the racing dates they are committed to run this fall into the spring of 2011. Lone Star Park claims that by beefing up their purses to over $200k per day (using the money from Sam Houston’s purse account) they will be able to increase the handle on their exported races. The fact is that Lone Star ran at this level or higher for most of the last ten years, and the export handle still declined. So it is insane to believe that this is any kind of magic fix. What it will do is force many owners, breeders, trainers, and farms out of business - or at least out of state! The strategy behind all this is really another plug to get slots. SHRP’s Andrea Young said “We need gaming, and this move gives us a runway to do what we need to do at the legislative level”. I say get slots - fine! But it is just not right to use our racing industry, and the people associated with it, as pawns in this crazy game. If you are interested, you can find out more about how some of us folks are working hard to make a stand against this scandal at: www.keyranch.com. Just click on the link at the top of the home page. We need all the support we can get to try and stop what will surely be a catastrophe. It is interesting to note that in January of this year, Sam Houston was "looking forward" to hosting "even more" live racing dates in 2010, with no mention of being broke. Two months later, they are "swimming in red ink", can't afford to host the dates they are already committed to, and request to send their purse money to Lone Star. Sound just a little fishy to you?
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Posted by: justme, houston, TX on August 22, 2010 at 02:53 PM
If the management knew anything about horse racing to begin with, there wouldn't be an issue right now.Yes gaming would help tremendously, but, you still have to know how to work it!!!!! I go to Louisiana when I want to gamble, I get both worlds....casinos and horses! I use to live 5 minutes away from SHRP, they never did anything to impress me and make me want to go there! There is no atmosphere in the building, the food is horrible, drinks are too expensive and pre measure, might as well drink a coke! When the economy started to go down other companies lowered there prices, SHRP raised theirs! Just because the economy sucks right now, we would still like a nice place to go! Oh yeah...I thought this was a horse track, not Cynthia Woods wantabe.I feel sorry for the trainers and horsemen that want to here in Houston, where they belong. You are getting what you deserve SHRP!!!!! Don't worry big boys (management) your day is coming too.....
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Posted by: Joseph, Houston, TX on August 20, 2010 at 08:01 AM
I feel that in the gambline world every casino or racing faciluty of any kind has to take responsibility for themselves. The other parks in Texas have to suffer because racing in Dallas is suffering it isnt fair to the employees that come to work at their respected park to have to take on the loss of income because a park cant survive on there own. It would not surprise if the other parks never open again and are shut down because who wants to run and parks that lets face it for the time being wont even exist. I believe Mrs. Young has done a poor job being in charge of the Sam Houston Race Park and she should be the one who doesnt have a job seeing as she is not concerned with anyone elses. I believe she and her collegues in charge of the decision making process at the Sam Houston Race Park need to be replaced its very clear where the problems seem to be.
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Posted by: Keep up the great work!!!!, Houston, TX on August 19, 2010 at 07:42 PM
Bret, I agree - horse racing in TX is in survival mode right now, and business as usual can't continue. The tracks are losing so much money, they can't afford to keep the doors open (which is evident with Manor Downs closing in late July). I understand people are creatures of habit and resistent to change, but the very ones complaining about the race date consolidation, are the trainers who are running for the day money and not what's best for their owners or the horses they train, or they wouldn't be proposing running approximately 200 days/yr and $80,000/day. Owners can't afford to lose money like that and stay in business. You train and run a lot of horses in Tx year after year and continue to support the state...it kind of makes you wonder how many horses each year the people who are against this proposal run. The handle can't continue to decline each year or there won't be any purse money for them to fight over anyway (of course, I'm not real sure some of them understand where purse money comes from, but that's another discussion). I support you and your board's decision for the race date proposal and applaud you guys for trying to think of some way to keep horse racing in our great state!!! Also, to the guy who made the comment about your stable not being able to compete outside the state of TX, he obviously doesn't look at any of the national standings
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Posted by: Someone who really cares about Texas Racing, Houston, TX on August 19, 2010 at 09:23 AM
Good Luck Bret! Hope you are just as successful when your running against the best from Louisanna, Kentucky, Illinois and Arkansas are standing in the gate with you. Think you may find it a little tougher to be at the top of the standings when you have to compete on a level playing field. By the way, Bret? where are you gonna break babies now that Sam Houston is closed? You and Asmussen think you can find another free training facility for your two year olds? If any of the T-HBPA or TTA officers get re-elected the real Texas horsemen get exactly what they deserve . . .
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