Texas Thoroughbred Association

The Texas Thoroughbred Association (TTA) will implement a number of changes to racing in Texas for 2026 and beyond, according to a release sent by the organization Wednesday. Dates and locations for the TTA Futurity, Derby, and Oaks will be adjusted, with the Futurity moved from July at Lone Star Park to December at Sam Houston Race Park in order to give 2-year-olds more time to develop. The Derby and Oaks, run at Sam Houston in March in 2025, will again be run in the spring at Sam Houston for...

After Tracy Sheffield, the executive director of the Texas Thoroughbred Association, posted on Facebook late Wednesday that a buyer at this week's annual TTA yearling sale named David O'Dwyer, who is a suspected kill pen purchaser, bought 11 horses at the Lone Star Park auction, in a Thursday message on X Highlander Training Center in Sulphur Springs, Texas reported that all of the yearlings were safe and bought by responsible parties. This story was first reported by The Paulick Report. Highlander's post said, "From communication we have had this morning...

GRAND PRAIRIE, TX - With a winning virtual bid of $95,000 a Louisiana-bred colt by Red River Farms sire Aurelius Maximus topped the Texas Thoroughbred Association's (TTA) single-session Summer Yearling Sale at Lone Star Park's Mary Ruyle Thoroughbred Pavilion on Tuesday, Aug. 26. During the sale, which included Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana-bred yearlings, 181 grossed $2,892,600 for an average of $15,981, a median of $7,500 and 53 were listed as not sold. With a larger catalogue this year, the gross increased from a year ago when 143 yearlings sold...

GRAND PRAIRIE, TX - The annual single session Texas Yearling Sale put on by the Texas Thoroughbred Association (TTA) and hosted by Dallas-area Lone Star Park is set for 10 a.m. CT on Tuesday, Aug. 26. The TTA catalogue has blossomed from 207 head in 2024 to 261 this year. The offerings include 63 from Texas, 115 from Louisiana, 30 from Arkansas and 11 from Oklahoma. An additional 22 horses have been entered for the mixed session for a total of 283. By the numbers, the 2024 edition, which showcased...

Veteran horseman Al Pike, who had been battling cancer, passed away Saturday at the age of 70, according to a release from the Texas Thoroughbred Association. Pike, along with his wife of nearly 45 years, Salley, and their son, Colt, operated Pike Racing. Pike is also survived by daughter Chelsey Pike Hooton. Pike got his start in the horse industry in the 1970s as a Quarter Horse trainer in Texas before he and his wife transitioned to Thoroughbreds, eventually focusing on pinhooking. Pike Racing sold the $1.1-million sale-topper at the...

A total of four horses sold for more than $100,000 at Wednesday's Texas 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale at Lone Star Park, with Hip 15 topping the sale at $150,000, the Texas Thoroughbred Association (TTA) said in Wednesday release. All told, 58 of 85 juveniles offered sold for a total of $1,666,100. The average was $28,726 and the median was $18,000. The 2024 edition of the auction saw 66 head go for a total of $2,294,500, with an average of $34,765 and a median of $24,500. A total of 47 went...

Four horses shared the fastest furlong time of :10 flat during Monday's under-tack preview of the Texas Thoroughbred Association's Texas 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale, which will be held Wednesday at Lone Star Park. A Louisiana-bred filly by Lone Sailor (hip 1), the first horse to work over the track Monday morning, set that bullet mark for the Pike Racing at Highlander consignment. Out of Isn't She Gorgeous (Yes It's True), the filly is a half-sister to stakes winners Yes Gorgeous (Mass Media) and Southern Beauty (Calibrachoa). Pike Racing at Highlander...

The sales pavilion at Lone Star Park has been renamed in honor of retiring Texas Thoroughbred Association (TTA) executive director Mary Ruyle, the group announced Friday afternoon. Ruyle has a long history with the association since she began as a bookkeeper in 1988 and moved her way up the ranks until she ultimately became the executive director. Her 36-year tenure with the TTA made her the longest-employed member in the history of the association. "There is not enough we can do to show Mary how much the Texas thoroughbred industry...

The Texas Thoroughbred Association's Texas Summer Yearling Sale will be held Aug. 26, beginning at 10 a.m., at Lone Star Park. A limited mixed session will follow the yearling session. "We've already had people asking about the yearling sale, so we are pleased to get the date set and start preparing for another successful auction," said Sales Director Foster Bridewell. "The yearling sale has produced some tremendous racehorses over the years, including the latest example in Coal Battle." A $70,000 graduate of the 2023 yearling sale, Coal Battle is already...

Despite a state auditor's report last summer which found major discrepancies with Texas Racing Commission record-keeping practices, during a scheduled meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 12, the horse racing regulator voted 5-1 to temporarily allow the state breed registries to access their portion of the Horse Industry Escrow Account (HIEA) to channel money to purses. For Thoroughbreds, that means that requests by organizations like the Texas Thoroughbred Association (TTA) will be able to contribute to the current Sam Houston Race Park meeting's purse structure. However, the commission has not sanctioned the...

Sam Houston Race Park, whose Thoroughbred meet just started at the beginning of this month, is rolling out a new partnership with the Texas Thoroughbred Association (TTA) and The Paddock Foundation on Ring The Bell for Thoroughbred Aftercare, the track said in a release on Sunday. Each live racing day, owners and trainers are invited to donate a portion of their purse winnings to The Paddock Foundation, the official aftercare program of the TTA. Fans can also get involved by filling out a form in the winner's circle and handing...

Norman Stables' Secret Faith (Aurelius Maximus) continued her demolition of the Louisiana-bred stakes ranks with a front-running 7 1/4-length victory in the fillies' division of the Louisiana Futurity at Fair Grounds Sunday. The 2-year-old filly has now won six of her seven starts to date, with five stakes wins at four different tracks. She has a combined winning margin of 40 1/2 lengths, led off by a 14-length score in the D.S. Shine Young Futurity at Evangeline Downs in August. Jayde Gelner purchased Secret Faith on behalf of owner Robbie...