“Live horse racing approved at 3 Texas racetracks” plus 3 more |
- Live horse racing approved at 3 Texas racetracks
- Live horse racing to live on at three Texas racetracks
- HORSE RACING / Jockey paralyzed in fall at GGF
- Quarter Horse Racing Season Begins at the Track
| Live horse racing approved at 3 Texas racetracks Posted: 14 Sep 2010 07:49 PM PDT The Texas Racing Commission on Tuesday approved live thoroughbred and quarter horse racing dates for the state's three Class 1 racetracks for 2011. The TRC's nine-member board OK'd the date requests from Sam Houston Race Park, Grand Prairie's Lone Star Park and San Antonio's Retama Park unanimously and without discussion at its regular meeting. "Without horse racing, Texas wouldn't be Texas," commissioner Ron Ederer of San Antonio said. "I think this (plan) is in the best interests of the public, the tracks and the horsemen." But many of the state's prominent horsemen blasted the commission's decision to approve the dates, saying it will only hurt an industry that is already in bad shape because of declining revenue and wagering. "I'm totally against it," said Carl Moore, a horse owner from Fort Worth. "We need quality races, not quantity. Right now our product is bad. This does nothing to improve it." Said trainer Bret Calhoun of Grand Prairie: "This could be the final nail in the coffin as far as Texas racing is concerned." Moore, Calhoun and others say a consolidation plan floated by racing leaders early in the summer would have been better. The proposal called for Sam Houston and Retama to give up thoroughbred racing in 2011 by transferring their thoroughbred dates and purse funds to Lone Star Park, the state's largest track, in an effort to raise daily average purses to a level competitive with Louisiana, Oklahoma and New Mexico, all of which generate revenue with alternative forms of gambling that Texas does not have. But that idea was abandoned after many of Texas' smaller-stabled horsemen complained that adopting such a plan would put them out of business. They wanted opportunities to run their horses at all three tracks. "The concept was good and well-intended," Bryan Brown, CEO at Retama, said of the consolidation plan. "But it hurt too many horsemen. We all as a group recognized that those are the people who are the backbone of our industry." This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| Live horse racing to live on at three Texas racetracks Posted: 14 Sep 2010 06:06 PM PDT AUSTIN — It's done. What effect it will have on the financially troubled Texas racing industry remains to be seen. As expected, the Texas Racing Commission on Tuesday approved live thoroughbred and quarter horse racing dates for the state's three Class 1 racetracks for 2011. The TRC's nine-member board OK'd the date requests from Sam Houston Race Park, Grand Prairie's Lone Star Park and San Antonio's Retama Park unanimously and without discussion at its regular meeting. "Without horse racing, Texas wouldn't be Texas," commissioner Ron Ederer of San Antonio said. "I think this (plan) is in the best interests of the public, the tracks and the horsemen." But many of the state's prominent horsemen blasted the commission's decision to approve the dates, saying it will only hurt an industry that is already in bad shape because of declining revenue and wagering. "I'm totally against it," said Carl Moore, a horse owner from Fort Worth. "We need quality races, not quantity. Right now our product is bad. This does nothing to improve it." Said trainer Bret Calhoun of Grand Prairie: "This could be the final nail in the coffin as far as Texas racing is concerned." Moore, Calhoun and others say a consolidation plan floated by racing leaders early in the summer would have been better. The proposal called for Sam Houston and Retama to give up thoroughbred racing in 2011 by transferring their thoroughbred dates and purse funds to Lone Star Park, the state's largest track, in an effort to raise daily average purses to a level competitive with Louisiana, Oklahoma and New Mexico, all of which generate revenue with alternative forms of gambling that Texas does not have. But that idea was abandoned after many of Texas' smaller-stabled horsemen complained that adopting such a plan would put them out of business. They wanted opportunities to run their horses at all three tracks. "The concept was good and well-intended," Bryan Brown, CEO at Retama, said of the consolidation plan. "But it hurt too many horsemen. We all as a group recognized that those are the people who are the backbone of our industry." A TRC staff member noted at the meeting that the commission could not have opted for the consolidation plan because it never was submitted for approval. The only proposal on the table was the one voted on. It was endorsed by the tracks, breeders and many — if not all — horsemen. Andrea Young, president and chief operating officer at Sam Houston, acknowledges that the approved calendar is "just a band-aid" for Texas until state lawmakers move to legalize the use of video slots at the state's tracks. "This is temporary," she said. "But it helps the tracks have some sort of sustainability, which is important." The TRC granted Sam Houston 57 total dates, a 27-day thoroughbred meet followed by a 30-day quarter horse meet. The winter meet will run from Jan. 21 through March 7. Pleased with last spring's experimental Monday programs, SHRP will race thoroughbreds on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays. "We expect daily purses to average about $160,000," Young said. "We are excited about this meet. We believe the creation of a shorter thoroughbred meet with a strong purse structure will lead to substantial increases in both interest and attendance." SHRP will race quarter horses from March 11 through May 15. The track will offer only simulcast races for the remainder of 2011. The track could have also requested 2012 dates, but Young added, "We'll do that next year." The Texas Legislature will convene in 2011, and the promise of new revenue from slot machines at tracks seems certain to become a legislative tussle. Young dismissed the possibility that SHRP might be delaying 2012 date requests until the Texas Senate and House act on electronic gaming. "We have a good racing product," Young said. "We will concentrate on that." She added, "Texas racetracks and horsemen are facing intense competition from surrounding states, all of which offer purses supplemented by slot machines. We feel the way we have structured this meet will give us the best shot at survival in the short term." Lone Star Park was granted 78 dates for 2011, a 52-day thoroughbred meet April 14-July 10 followed by a 26-day quarter horse meet Sept. 16-Nov. 12. Retama's 45 race dates for 2011 include a 10-day quarter horse meet July 1-29, a 14-day mixed meet July 29-Aug. 27, and a 21-day thoroughbred season Sept. 1-Oct. 15. . Hal Lundgren, writer of the Chronicle's Horse Racing Notebook, contributed to this report. .
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| HORSE RACING / Jockey paralyzed in fall at GGF Posted: 14 Sep 2010 05:44 AM PDT Michael Martinez, one of the leading jockeys in Northern California, was in critical condition Monday at Highland Hospital after sustaining catastrophic injuries in a fall Sunday at Golden Gate Fields. According to track physician Dr. David Seftel, Martinez had three thoracic vertebrae shatter into multiple fragments, one of which severed his spinal cord. Martinez also had a severe head injury, six broken ribs, torn blood vessels on both sides of his ribs and bleeding in both lungs. "As far as I'm concerned, this is the worst accident I've seen in 10 years at the racetrack," Seftel said Monday afternoon. "Michael had 11 hours of surgery to remove multitudinous fragment pieces and stabilize the spinal column. As of this time he is paralyzed from the waist down." The incident occurred in Sunday's fifth race as Martinez was riding Fair 'n Warmer, a 3-year-old filly who was favored in the 5 1/2-furlong claiming event. Fair 'n Warmer was in sixth place early on the far turn when she tumbled to the track, threw Martinez down and then rolled on top of him. "Either she clipped heels with a horse in front of her or the saddle slipped or a combination of the two," Seftel said. "Michael was catapulted into the ground at high speed and was spinning at the same time." Martinez woke up briefly after the surgery but was very agitated, according to Seftel, and was put in a medically induced coma. "The good news is that he did wake up, which may be a very positive sign concerning (possible) brain damage," Seftel said. "He's going to be monitored closely over the next several days. It's going to be a minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour process. Going forward, he's a paraplegic at this time. There is a remote possibility he could be a candidate for embryonic stem cell surgery. That would offer him the only best hope to regain movement." Martinez, 24, is a native of Panama whose cousin, Alex Solis, has been one of the top jockeys in the United States for the past 25 years. Martinez has won the second most races of any jockey in the region this year, and he ranks No. 13 in North America with 168 career victories. He began his career as a jockey at 18 and came to America in 2008, riding without much success in Southern California and New Mexico before moving to Golden Gate Fields in February 2009. His fiancee, Charlotte Garcia, is expecting the couple's first child any day. "It just numbs you when something like this happens," said Dennis Patterson, Martinez's agent. "Something you wouldn't wish upon the devil, and then it happens to a kid like this. I've been on the track my entire life - 50 years - and I just can't recall somebody people took a liking to like this kid. He's as likable as likable is." This article appeared on page B - 2 of the San Francisco Chronicle This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| Quarter Horse Racing Season Begins at the Track Posted: 14 Sep 2010 07:50 AM PDT We're off to the races! Today is opening day of the Quarter Horse racing season at the Fair Grounds Race Course and Slots! Hundreds of Quarter horses will be competing over the next two weeks.The jockey's and horses were up early Tuesday morning getting ready for the first race. The races are free and open to the public. They take place Tuesday-Saturday with the first race 12:40 in the afternoon. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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