Lone Star Park

If proponents of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) get their wish, July 1 will be a day of cautious celebration-the law's first official birthday, and a time when its drug control program would also be more than a month old, barring any further last-minute legal interventions. In that event, most of the country will be operating under a federal racetrack safety and medication control framework for the first time in the sport's history. Texas almost certainly will not be in on the party. When HISA's racetrack safety program...

James Sills's No Mas Tequila (Northern Afleet) was named the Texas Thoroughbred Association's 2022 Horse of the Year. The now 6-year-old mare, who amassed four wins on the grass last year, all in Texas-bred stakes races at Lone Star Park and Sam Houston Race Park, was also named the state's champion older filly or mare. No Mas Tequila's dam, Foxy Boss (Street Boss), was named the 2022 Texas Broodmare of the Year and her breeders, Ronald and Margaret Ellerbee, were named the Texas Thoroughbred Association's 2022 Breeder of the Year....

The Texas Thoroughbred Association will hold its 2023 Texas Summer Yearling Sale Aug. 28. The sale will be held at the sales pavilion at Lone Star Park. "We're fresh off the successful 2023 Texas 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale, so now we turn our attention to our yearling sale," TTA sales Director Foster Bridewell said. "We've already had a lot of interest from our owners and breeders about our 2023 Texas Summer Yearling Sale." The 2022 Texas Summer Yearling Sale set records for the TTA Sales company. No fewer than 161...

A filly by Tapwrit turned in the fastest furlong breeze of :9 4/5 during the under-tack show for the Texas 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale at Lone Star Park Monday. Cataloged as hip 167, the filly is consigned by Pike Racing, agent, and was bred by H. Allen Poindexter. She is out of the winning Sky O'Blue (Henny Hughes) and is a half-sister to two winners from as many to race. "It's not every year in Texas we get a :9 4/5 breeze and she did it the right way," TTA...

Veteran track announcer Vic Stauffer will take the microphone when Lone Star Park opens its Thoroughbred season Apr. 13 in Grand Prairie, Texas, the track's Brandon Leigh confirmed in a phone call Thursday. Stauffer was let go by Oaklawn Park earlier this month, a position he held since 2017. Lone Star's regular voice Jim Byers replaced him in the booth in Hot Springs, but is expected to return to Grand Prairie when Oaklawn's meet closes on Kentucky Derby Day. Stauffer will also join Rick Lee, morning-line oddsmaker and Rodney Nelson,...

Veteran racing official Mike Acton has been hired as Sam Houston Race Park's track's Racing Secretary. He assumed the role on Feb. 3 and will serve in the same capacity at Retama Park and Zia Park during their respective meets this year. "Mike is an experienced racing professional who has deep connections in our region that will serve the industry well," Sam Houston Vice President and General Manager Dwight Berube said. Acton most recently served as the Racing Secretary at both Remington Park and Lone Star Park. "I am going...

A catalogue featuring 186 horses has been released for the 2023 Texas 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale, the highest number cataloged for a 2-year-old sale in Texas Thoroughbred Association (TTA) sales history. The sale will be held Apr. 5 at Lone Star Park with a breeze show scheduled for Apr. 3. Last year's edition of the sale was topped by Free Drop Maddy (Free Drop Billy), who was consigned by Carl Deville and brought $200,000 from Mansfield Racing. The now-sophomore has since won four black-type events, including the Texas Thoroughbred Association...

The Thoroughbred racing season at Lone Star Park will begin Thurs., April 13, with 44 live racing days and will conclude Tues., July 4. The calendar will feature live racing on Thursdays and Fridays at 6:35 p.m., Saturdays, Sundays and Memorial Day at 1:35 p.m., and special twilight post times of 5:00 p.m. on July 3 and July 4. The 2023 stakes schedule has a total of 21 stakes worth a combined $2,925,000. The highlight of the schedule is Lone Star Million Day on Memorial Day featuring the GIII Steve...

Edited Press Release Jockey Ramsey Zimmerman recorded his first victory in over five years on Friday when he guided Enchanted Nile (Pioneerof the Nile) to a front-running nose victory in the third race at Oaklawn Park. A Chicago-area native, Zimmerman amassed 1,740 victories and owns riding titles at Prairie Meadows and Lone Star Park, but it was substance abuse that derailed his once-promising career several times since he began riding in 1998. "All that's behind me," Zimmerman said. "I'm actually really proud of having six years clean and sober." Managing...

Last year's meet at Oaklawn Park was not a particularly good one for jockey Cristian Torres. Largely unknown on the circuit when he came in and sidelined for the last five weeks of the meet when fracturing his right ankle in a spill, he won just 19 races, ending up 15th in the standings. Fast forward some eight months later and Torres is tearing the place apart. Two weeks into the meet, he's the leading rider with 11 wins and is winning with 33% of his mounts. "We've started off...

The Texas 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale will be held Apr. 5 next year at Lone Star Park, while the auction's breeze show will be held Apr. 3. "We've already had a lot of interest in our 2023 sale season," Texas Thoroughbred Association Sales Director Foster Bridewell said. "Our 2-year-old sale has certainly gotten stronger in terms of quality in the past few years and those horses have been performing well at tracks around the midwest and south." Free Drop Maddy (Free Drop Billy), who topped this year's sale after a...

A federal judge in Texas overseeing one of four lawsuits seeking to derail the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act Authority (HISA) on alleged anti-constitutionality grounds ruled Friday that the State of Texas and its racing commission can't join a case spearheaded by the owners of Lone Star Park as an "intervenor," in part because they "cannot show their interests are inadequately represented" and also because they had already been granted intervenor status in a similar case. An "intervenor" designation allows outside parties that have a personal stake in the outcome...