Texas Thoroughbred Forum

ageecee · Postby **ageecee** » Fri Dec 09, 2011 1:20 pm

so u can run a 6 yr old Maiden at Sam Houston?

tinners way · Postby **tinners way** » Fri Dec 09, 2011 3:26 pm

Thanks for the correction.

Bedouwia · Postby **Bedouwia** » Sat Dec 24, 2011 9:21 am

Just want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Yes, we have our problems and our differences, but I expect that we can all count our blessings as well. May the spirit of the season be with you all.

Bedouwia

Roger · Postby **Roger** » Fri Dec 30, 2011 8:51 am

The new Ag Exemption form is due if you want to save on sales taxes. We are going to get a number. It looks like we will pay sales tax on items used in training horses. I don't know if this is all new or not, but I just filled out my form to get my number.

Bedouwia · Postby **Bedouwia** » Wed Jan 25, 2012 11:13 am

Sad that the Texas group is not interested in much unless it is insulting one another?

Just wanted to let folks know that LOPE was hit hard by floods today. Lynn had to get out of her house by boat, but all the horses are OK. I just saw some pictures on our local TV station. Horses are about hock deep in water, but calm and none injured. One person trying to help got kicked, but no serious injuries were reported. I expect that clean up and repair will be a big job. Help if you can.

Bedouwia

Blowin Smoke · Postby **Blowin Smoke** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 9:21 am

Hoping that LOPE got everything cleaned up. Just now seeing this and i'm new to the forum. Here's hoping we can get some more rain here in Texas, but praying it's spread out and not all at once!

keyranch · Postby **keyranch** » Sat Feb 04, 2012 11:59 am

Have been working farm issues and have not been following the forum for a few months. Eatons Gift arrived on Monday and I believe he is the most accomplished sprinter to hit Texas in a couple of decades.

The letter that G2W refers to was sent out and signed by me in support of some of the candidates for the TTA board. A limited number of letters were sent out, we were told that two of the current board members were going to resign for personal reasons. Well, surprise on us; now we are told that since the chosen ones for the board are not next on the list they are contemplating ignoring their own by-laws and not filling one of those positions and since the other still has a residence in Texas(even though his new job is in FL) he shall remain on the board.

All I can say is they are a consistent bunch.

The purse generated from the ADW's in the projections are based upon population etc. It is similar to the Washington ADW plan and the plan Iowa is working on in cooperation with the track and associations. The numbers have been worked by multiple folks and they are good. A plan similar to the Washington ADW plan would conservatively double the purses in Texas!! I did not make the numbers up and a few folks with lots of letters behind their names ran them.

As far as the doom and gloom of the industry crashing, with the purchase of Retama it will be the first time all three class 1 tracks are long term stable. The tracks are moving toward improving the experience for their customers and their simulcast numbers are all up. The efforts by Retama and hopefully LS to close more of the racing gaps for next year continues to create opportunity for horsemen to run their horses in state. This has all happened in spite of the efforts of the horsemen's associations!!! Just think what could have been done if the associations were interested in getting on the same page with the tracks, TRC, and horsemen!! Is that not the united front the legislators have been trying to get you folks to provide!!

Now, before you two get all excited about bashing every word in my post. Keep in mind I do not have the time or desire to play with you. It is the opinion of our little group that the associations you folks are representing made yourselves irrelevant in front of the TRC, class one tracks, and the legislature last time around. There is not enough money in the state to buy you a good reputation in Austin!! Everyone understands that you are not about getting something passed or improving the industry, you are about keeping the industry from improving so that when the price of oil goes back to ten dollars a barrel you will have a chance to populate the state of Texas with casinos, and in the meantime keep the flow of Texas horses and money out of state so the puppet masters can be served!! Finally, you would think by now you would step up and reveal you identities to make your opinions more credible!

Bedouwia · Postby **Bedouwia** » Thu Feb 09, 2012 6:47 pm

The Texas Tribune Website has a searchable web link that tracks campaign contributions in Texas over the last 12 years. If you are interested in how much money has been wasted in lobbying for slots, check it out.

Bedouwia

Horsecrazy · Postby **Horsecrazy** » Fri Feb 10, 2012 4:11 pm

I venture to say, in my opinion, that very little money has been spent on lobbying by participants in this forum, for anything. :roll:

tinners way · Postby **tinners way** » Sat Feb 11, 2012 6:57 pm

HC, I think you would be surprised, but surprisingly the elitist attitude is no surprise. And, we see what 10 years of the same "old guard" has gotten us.

Roger · Postby **Roger** » Mon Feb 13, 2012 4:40 pm

SH had $1,800,000 in handle last monday and today they had $1,500,000 in handle. LS had $2,000,000 on their Million dollar in purses day. SH allows older maidens a chance to run. It seems to me that older maidens don't hurt the handle much.

keyranch · Postby **keyranch** » Mon Feb 13, 2012 5:55 pm

Money to lobbyists! It is a GOP Gov, House, and Senate and the lobbyists that the associations are paying are Dems!! The associations supported the opponents of the Gov, Lt. Gov, etc and again; who does this really make sense to. The only success in the election process was the deceitful ads used in the primaries to get non slot supporting legislators off the ballot. The problem with that was that the two that got defeated because of the bogus ads had the strong support of the Gov and they always supported Ag bills. If you do not think that the politicians do not know about these shenanigans, then you are very naive to Austin politics. The horse industry is being treated like an ugly stepchild to be pitted against the Teachers Association or Christian Coalition or local dog catchers of Texas.

You can not be this stupid for this long without a purpose! The money and mares are going out of state because that is where the puppet masters want it to go! When you talk to breeding farms-ask them if they support their mare owners by changing the breeders fund incentive into a fund to support the decision makers. The mare owners and stallion owners that spend their money in Texas year round! You will be surprised how willing they are to take your money to support their Ky programs.

So, as far as supporting lobbyist the last decade. Why??

ZZTOPPERS · Postby **ZZTOPPERS** » Mon Feb 27, 2012 7:06 am

Just want to add a comment to this thread as well--SHRP just increased purses $1000 per race due to a handle increase of 23%. From The Paulick Report and an SHRP Press Release:

Feb. 23, 2012 - Sam Houston Race Park will initiate a purse increase for the remainder of the 2012 Thoroughbred meet. An additional $1,000 will be added to each of the races, an increase of 6.5% for the final twelve days of the racing season, which concludes on Monday, March 12.

The purse increase in fueled by a 23% upswing in handle, compared to 2011.

So the guys at SHRP are obviously doing something right--very nice way to start the new year!

Bedouwia · Postby **Bedouwia** » Sat Mar 03, 2012 10:27 am

I think that SHRP is doing a good job this year.... it would seem that the new partnership is having a good effect. They have full fields, and pretty good attendance numbers. I hope the upward trend continues for Lone Star as well.

Bedouwia

lazyfranch · Postby **lazyfranch** » Sun Mar 04, 2012 8:45 am

Some friends of mine just brought Gaff to Texas, he is one fast son of a gun. Holds some track records, was invited and raced in Dubai. Pretty exciting to see what his get do when they get on the track!