TEXAS THOROUGHBRED TIMES The official newsletter of the TTA
er 20 emb Sept
19
Greetings to Texas Thoroughbred Association members and all horsemen involved in the Texas racing and breeding industry. As you have undoubtedly heard, things are looking up in the Lone Star State as the Texas Legislature passed legislation that is expected to inject up to $25 million annually into the state’s horse racing industry. That means more breeding activity, more stallions, more mares and more foals, along with more purse money and more Accredited Texas-Bred program money. This is indeed a great time to be involved in Texas horse racing.
Welcome to the new Texas Thoroughbred Times! Since 1955, the TTA has worked to promote and grow racing and breeding in Texas, and as part of that goal, we are launching a new digital newsletter called Texas Thoroughbred Times. This free newsletter will be sent to TTA members and other horsemen each month as well as posted on the TTA website. Each issue will deliver racing, breeding and sales news, updates from TTA Executive Director Mary Ruyle, important TTA deadlines and more. We encourage you to share this newsletter with other horsemen or racing fans and invite them to sign up to get their own copy.
We are also offering advertising opportunities in this newsletter to promote your stallions and other equine businesses. Please see page 2 of this issue for more information. As always, we welcome your feedback and any Texas-related horse racing news that might be pertinent to this newsletter. Please feel free to contact Editor Denis Blake at denisb@texasthoroughbred.com. This introductory issue includes a recap of the Texas Summer Yearling Sale, and our first regular issue in October will include a look at the Texas Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductees and the 2020 racing year in Texas.
Texas Yearling Sale Records Big Jumps in Average and Gross good things for this sale and for the entire Southwest region in the coming years.” Hip 61, a Louisiana-bred colt by champion Shanghai Bobby, topped the sale with a $115,000 bid from Summer Grove Farm. Consigned by Clear Creek Stud LLC, agent, the March 5 foal is out of the winning Cobra King mare Viva Vega, who has produced eight winners including stakes winners Southern Dude and Viva Vegas. While the sale-topper was bred in Louisiana, the next three highest-priced horses were all Texas-breds by leading Texas stallion Too Much Bling. Tops among the Texas-breds was Hip 42, a colt consigned by Benchmark Training Center, agent, and sold for $60,000 to Anton Kubacak. He is out of the multiple stakes-producing Devil His Due mare Red Thread. In the mixed portion of the sale, 13 of 17 head sold for a total of $33,100. Show Me
the Bling, a winning and Grade 3-placed daughter of Too Much Bling, topped the mixed session, going to CJ Thoroughbred for $14,000. Benchmark Training Center, agent, consigned the 11-year-old broodmare who sold in foal to Alternation. Next up on the Texas sale calendar is the Texas 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. It will be held in the spring of 2020 at Lone Star Park with a date to be announced soon. For complete hip-by-hip results, go to ttasales.com. Hip 61 topped the sale with a $115,000 bid.
Frank Alosa
The Texas Summer Yearling and Mixed Sale held August 26 at Lone Star Park concluded with strong gains in average and gross receipts, signaling that the recent passage of legislation in Texas could be having a positive impact on the industry. The sale was sponsored by the Texas Thoroughbred Association and Lone Star Park. In the yearling session, 42 of 65 head sold for a total of $506,000, which was an increase of 22.1 percent from last year when 44 of 82 sold for $414,300. This year’s average came in at $12,048, up 28 percent from last year’s $9,416. The median this year dropped to $5,000 from $7,750. Buybacks at this year’s sale were 35.4 percent compared to 46.3 percent last year. “Even with a smaller catalog this year, it’s encouraging that we were able to increase the gross sales along with a big surge in the average,” said sales director Tim Boyce. “With as much as $25 million annually expected to be added to the Texas racing program thanks to the bill that was passed, that can only do