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Wed, 9 September, 1997
Hi Al,
Well, I have to apologize AGAIN for this taking so long. As you know, I
went on vacation, after which we had family health problems, after which
I had computer problems. With me, if it's not one thing, it's twenty.
Well, Trinity Meadows has actually been sold. Unfortunately, Lone Star
Park was outbid by the latest infusers of cash into the projest--the
Lawleys of Aledo, TX. They are joined by Weatherford resident Weldon
Kennedy and Jim Dunnegan of Pantego. This group bid $2.175 million for
the track. They hope to resume live racing there by using a pre-opening
simulcasting to raise money for repairs and such, much as Lone Star
did. The track has to have its license and live race dates before it
can open for simulcasting.
Alright, lets take a look at this. The fellows did not have the
know-how the handle Jack Lenavitt, and they lost a whole lot of money
because of it. So now, they are going to take a track much in need of
repairs AND a new reputation and run against LSP with it's successful
first meet behind it? The pre-opening simulcasting was a smart move for
LSP, but will it reap the same benefits for TrM? It might reap some
small benefit, but it will not be the blockbuster success LSP is.
People are happy at LSP, they will stay there in preference for a track
that has to overcome it's bad name. Add to that the fact that LSP is
much closer for the majority of horseplayers. My opinion? They might
make it for a season, maybe two. I don't think they'll make it in the
long run unless they make a whole lot of changes. I think they will
wish LSP had outbid them--the facility would have been better utilized
that way.
The Texas Racing Commission staff has issued their recommendations for
next years racing dates. The meeting in which the dates will be awarded
should be soon, if it wasn't held today. The following is the
recommended "circuit" that would result from these dates;
| TB: | QH: |
| SHRP | 1/1-4/5 | Manor | 2/21-4/31 |
| LSP | 4/9 -7/19 | Retama (mixed) | 4/10 -5/28 |
| Retama | 7/22-10/31 | SHR | P7/3 -9/13 |
| SHRP | 11/5-12/27 | LSP | 10/2 -11/29 |
Note that Retama is the only track that has a mixed meet. LSP had asked
for a mixed meet, but it was recommended that they have a QH meet
instead during that same time. This is interesting in that it pretty
much forces trainers of TBs to run at the TX track having the TB meet at
the time, rather than ship to a track having a mixed meet. SHRP is not
getting entirely what they asked for--they wanted the TB meet 1/1 until
6/7 and Nov 27 to Dec 27.
The Texas yearling sale this year was managed by Fasig-Tipton. I am
sorry I did not get anything out on the sale before hand. Not having a
yearling in the sale this year, I was not as aware of the impending sale
date, and I didn't get my catalogue until the last minute. I believe
F/T had some computer problems, so if you are one of those who didn't
receive a catalogue at all, please call the F/T/T office at (972)
262-0000 so that they can put you on the mailing list. At the same
time, Brock Sheridan, former editor of the TTBA magazine left the TTBA
to become the advertising manager of Lone Star Park. I haven't gotten a
July/August issue yet, so I would not be surprised if they haven't been
able to get that off the presses either, so no advertising for the sale
there.
This years sale saw an incredible number of yearlings catalogued--639.
I didn't actually get to the sale myself this year, so I don't know what
the yearlings looked like, but the catalogue pages were not necessarily
better than last year. The select session looked nice, but again, I
wondered at a few of the selections whose pedigrees didn't look like
they really belonged there. The sale topper, of course, came from that
group, and she looks like she belonged there--a Rubiano filly out of
Nuclear Winter (Al Hattab) sold for $80k. The second highest seller was
a Mountain Cat filly that is a half sister to MSW Bet Birdie--this filly
sold for $58k. The average for the select session was $17, 064, with
the open session following averaging $6,261. The buy back rate was
close to 40% the first day, so sellers were not necessarily satisfied
with the prices being offered.
The second day of the sale saw 219 yearlings run through the ring, with an
average of $6,403, median price being $4,000. Overall 591 of the 636
yearlings catalogues went through the ring with 174 of them which did not
meet their reserve. Aside from the $80k Rubiano filly, a Bionic Prospect
colt topped the $60k mark. Two yearlings brought between $50-59k (one of
which failed tests for soundness of wind and bone), four between $40-49k
(another of which failed the same tests), and seven from $30-39k. Overall
sales average was $8,341.
Overall impressions of the sale came off as good, despite the high buy-back
rate. Kind of reminds me of last year's sale. Fasig-Tipton is pleased to
be conducting these sales, and expect the sales to be better yet as time
goes on. Fasig-Tipton has indicated that they will change the format of
the sale somewhat next year. The sale will still be held at the Will
Rogers Center in Fort Worth as no Texas tracks have indicated that they
will build a sales pavillion yet. Next year, there will be no select
session, and the catalogue will run alphabetically. In F/T's experience,
these changes will not affect the sales of the top horses, but should draw
the bottom end horses up. There is some concern that even more yearlings
will be catalogued next year, which could be bad for the sale--there are
only so many buyers in the Southwest. If the racing gets even better at
LSP, as expected (purses for the next TB meet are expected to top $200,000
per day where they were over $160,000 per day for the inaugural meet), then
expectations are that this sale will get even better.
Jill
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