NEWS
Texas summer yearling sale set
for Monday amidst uncertainty
Posted: Sunday, August 29, 2010 4:00 PM
by Denis Blake
As has been the case prior to every Fasig-Tipton Texas summer yearling sale in recent years, one of the biggest questions is: what is going to happen with Texas racing?
For a long time, the question has been whether the Lone Star State would get video lottery terminals or some other form of alternative gaming, and while that still remains to be seen, local horsemen also are pondering what the Texas racing calendar will look like next year and how the ownership change of Lone Star Park will impact the industry.
The one-day auction will be held on the backstretch at Lone Star starting at 10 a.m. CDT on Monday.
“I think there is some optimism here even though there is also some trepidation about what’s going on in Texas,” said Tim Boyce, director of sales for Fasig-Tipton Texas. “I think people see the new ownership of Lone Star Park as a sign of hope.”
At the next Texas Racing Commission meeting on September 14, Global Gaming LSP is expected to receive approval to take over ownership of Lone Star from Magna Entertainment Corp. That would give the subsidiary of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma, which also owns Remington Park in Oklahoma City, two of the premier tracks in the region. Many horsemen hope that the new ownership will help in the push for VLTs at Texas tracks.
At that same meeting, the commission will consider racing dates for 2011 and part of ‘12.
One proposal calls for virtually all Thoroughbred racing in the state to be held during a 60-day meet with higher purses at Lone Star with short, mixed meets at Sam Houston Race Park and Retama Park. However, discussions are ongoing between the tracks, breed and horsemen’s associations, and commission staff, so that plan could be altered.
Despite the problems and uncertainty in Texas, Boyce said the region is still going strong.
“We have year-round racing in the Southwest at multiple levels, and Louisiana has two tracks running simultaneously for long periods of time during the year,” he said.
Horses bred in the Southwest dominate the catalog of 363 yearlings, including 159 Louisiana-breds, 101 Texas-breds, and 33 Oklahoma-breds. Last year’s catalog of 370 yearlings resulted in 185 horses reported as sold from 319 offered for total sales of $1,889,400, for an average of $10,212 and a median of $5,000.
Boyce also found another reason for optimism as temperatures have cooled slightly from the record heat that included a 107-degree reading at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport last week. Mid-90s are expected on Monday.
Denis Blake is a Texas-based Thoroughbred Times correspondent
READER COMMENTS
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Posted by: JANON FISHER, FREELAND, MD on August 31, 2010 at 12:32 PM
Hey, Tim what do you think of your niece Forest Boyce? Pretty sensational. I think your father would be very proud of her. Right Mate
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