Posted on Fri, Oct. 10, 2008

Print E-Mail

Hurricane Ike delivers a blow to Texas racing

Previous Columns

Gary West

• Texans plan to take advantage of opportunity in Breeders’ Cup
• Curlin’s great on dirt, but how about faux dirt?
• Curlin ready to take place alongside sport’s all-time greats
• Sportsmanship, persistence are rewarded in Super Derby
• Super Derby has faded, but love of the game remains
• TCU Horned Frogs not ranked, but it’s only a matter of time
• Green QB has gold record in Baylor Bears' romp
• Older horses will test Big Brown at Monmouth Park
• Don Haskins opened door to racial reform in athletics
• Some horses may be shying away from Breeders’ Cup
• Gary West: Enduring the NFL preseason is like enduring the measles
• Gary West: Sometimes it doesn’t pay to be too good
• Gary West: Curlin’s at Saratoga, where the best belong
• Two-year-old filly leaves seasoned trainer flabbergasted
• Oklahoma is running circles around Texas horse racing
• Big Brown becomes victim of owner’s greed
• Texas Rangers believe they have what it takes
• Yankees’ aura swept away with one swing?
• Here’s hoping 'Hard Knocks’ is perfectly boring

» More

Related Content

Special to the Star-Telegram

Trainer Heath Taylor, far left, will send out 19 quarter horses this weekend at Lone Star Park. Special to the Star-Telegram

Racinos and casinos launched their attacks years ago, and then the uneven playing field and the mathematics of declining revenue joined in, and now even Mother Nature has set upon the state’s horse owners, trainers and breeders.

In what seems like an extravagant case of piling on, Hurricane Ike has so damaged Sam Houston Race Park that the racetrack’s upcoming thoroughbred season, scheduled to begin Nov. 28, could be in jeopardy. Andrea Young, Sam Houston’s chief operating officer, dropped that news at Tuesday’s meeting of the Texas Racing Commission, explaining that Ike left the roof of the grandstand, as well as the stable area, in need of extensive repair. The storm also destroyed the tote board.

Sam Houston executives are still assessing the damage, still meeting with insurance representatives. A decision about the upcoming season might have to wait until next week. And if Sam Houston can’t open, the state’s other racetracks must step forward.

Over the last few years, the state’s horsemen have lost about 30 race dates as competition and economics have squeezed Sam Houston and Retama into shorter seasons. And, quite simply, horsemen can’t afford to lose 65 more days of racing if they’re going stay in the game.

"The situation is critical; this could be very damaging," said Dave Hooper, the executive director of the Texas Thoroughbred Association. "We have to find a solution."

If Sam Houston can’t open next month, many Texas horses and horsemen could find themselves with virtually no place to go after Nov. 15, when the season concludes at Retama Park near San Antonio. The stalls at Delta Downs in Vinton, La., which opens Oct. 29, have been allocated. A few Sam Houston horses could perhaps squeeze in at Sunland Park in New Mexico, which opens Dec. 12, and even fewer at Fair Grounds in New Orleans, which opens Nov. 14.

But, no, the only solution — and it’s more desperate than satisfactory — would be to move the dates to other Texas racetracks, something that, of course, would require commission approval.

"There’s a need in Texas," said Drew Shubeck, Lone Star Park’s president and general manager, about race dates. Expressing a willingness to help the state’s horsemen, he said Lone Star is trying to develop a business plan for adding dates should Sam Houston be unable to open.

But with added dates, he said, there’s added risk. By adding some Sam Houston dates, Lone Star could risk diluting the quality, business and excitement for its own 65-day thoroughbred season set to begin April 9.

Purses will be the key to any transfer of dates. But Retama could extend its season at least through December and into January, and Lone Star could open early, perhaps the first of March. That wouldn’t replace all the lost dates, and it wouldn’t be an ideal solution. But nothing’s been ideal with Texas racing for years.

Dash For Cash

Trainer Heath Taylor will be busy this weekend. Over the next two days, he’ll send out 19 quarter horses at Lone Star Park. The occasion for such extravagance is the running of the Dash For Cash trials — tonight, for the Derby; Saturday, for the Futurity.

Taylor has seven horses in the Dash For Cash Derby trials, tonight in races 4-8, including Captain Courage and Swingin Jess, who together have earned more than a half-million dollars. And for Saturday’s 16 Dash For Cash Futurity trials — yes, 16 — Taylor has entered 12 horses. But the headliners are unbeaten Hearts Runaway, trained by Trey Wood, and two-time stakes winner Spit Curl Diva, from the stable of trainer Clifton Brooks.

With 153 horses entered in 16 races, Lone Star will have a special 5:30 p.m. post time for the first race.