Texas Thoroughbred Forum

[jellac]

FYI > Both these meetings promise to greatly influence what happens to horseracing in Texas in the near term.

(Exerpted from the TTA website - the emboldened text is mine)

Texas Racing Commission sets two meetings for Thursday

11/29/2010

The Texas Racing Commission has set a meeting for Thursday, December 2, to discuss, consider and potentially take action on the appointment of an interim executive director and a permanent executive director. Charla Ann King, the TxRC’s executive director for the past five years, retires on November 30.

Following that meeting, the Committee on the Current State of Horse and Greyhound Racing in Texas will convene at the same location. The agenda includes discussion of county fair and festival racing, advanced deposit wagering, racetrack working and living conditions, status reports on the industry, the impact of video lottery terminals, Instant Racing machines and exchange wagering.

The first meeting is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. at the John H. Reagan Building in Austin. For more information, visit the TxRC website.

[keyranch]

Somehow the topic of the breeding industry got taken off of the agenda. The report to the Govenor's office does not need to be written based upon the information provided by the folks that led the industry into its current delema. In other words the TTA sold out the breeding industry when they did the bait and switch on the breed back rule and changed their name from TTBA to TTA. These folks are devoid of any ideas that could move the industry in the right direction and refuse to listen their membership. Just increasing purses will not fix the problems with the association or the breeding industry in Texas and one can take a look at what is happening in Oklahoma and New Mexico to see that is true.
I would hope the TRC will take this part of the industry seriously, even though we have been constantly reminded we are producing an irrelevant product! Change, we need change in leadership and direction! Do not forget to vote!

[going4stamina]

Wish I could vote, but then I would have to have a Tx TB...not sure I wish that on anybody right now, . Guess I could become the proverbial Texas horse millionaire, if I started with 2 million. Hoping, hoping some new life will breathe into Texas.
When we drove through Oklahoma last week, I was surprised to see many properties along I-35, that used to be QH operations, have changed over and are now TB farms. Saw Remington billboards all over OKC too. Only place I see Lone Star billboards is a 1/2 mile from the track on I-30. Pretty sad that Oklahoma seems to be doing better at the racing game than the very large state (with many deep pockets) of Texas!

[tinners way]

I believe now is the best time to have and to breed Texas breds. (that should be a Texas based stallion and a Texas based mare.) We have to begin to change the thought process from "irrelevant" to "relevant".

When challenged by leadership that supported 60 days of racing, there was enough "relevant" support to capture more than a 50% increase to that number. Need to achieve the same kind of success next year.

Personally, when I look in my pastures I have never seen an irrelevant horse. I can't say the same for people that have described our industry in such a fashion.

[Roger]

Do any of you know where Midway Road went?

[cewright]

Do any of you know where Midway Road went?

Arkansas https://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/breeding-news/2010/november/23/midway-road-to-trophy-club-in-arkansas.aspx

[keyranch]

Here is a new guy for you to play with. His name is Drums of Thunder and he is by Concerto. Earnings are over 200k and a two year old stakes winner and graded stakes horse.

For the pedigree buffs-he comes out of a Storm Cat mare and that should ignite some breeding schemes.

[keyranch]

Sorry, I said that wrong. He is out of a Storm Cat line mare(Future Storm)which can make you some 3 X 3 or 3 X 4 inbreeding to Storm Cat. Since Wrenice was 3 X 3 Seattle Slew we always like to take advantage of these sex balanced inbreeding opportunities. Not trying to make a comercial, I just think its a pretty cool ped to play with.

[Bedouwia]

Just a reminder to all the TTA members. Your ballots must be received at the TTA office by December 15th. Don't forget to vote. It is no good complaining about things if you do not participate in changing them by voting.

Bedouwia

[keyranch]

The Dec 2nd TRC committee meeting is now posted on the TRC website. It is a good read and the information about exchange bet is something we should all be aware of. You can tell by the Hooper statements that he is driving the slots or nothing agenda, even when he is in a room full of slots or nothing supporters.
The board members of the TTA need to wake up and address the drop in 25% of mares bred in Texas last year. There need to be some legislative changes to improve this situation and I do not see none of you stepping up to the plate at all. What is being done is not working and if you do not have any solutions give me a call! It has been discussed with our group and frankly we had some very good solutions, basically you need to set aside the slots or nothing agenda and separately do something for what is left of your membership. Again, this is embarrassing and shows how irrelevant you have made yourselves.
Wake up! There has to be someone on that board that has a pair and a desire to actually get something done for the industry!

[dlove]

Joe,

This is one reason it is hard for you to get points across when you send things like this. There are people on the board who do listen and who DO want more than just slots, there is not any one person on that board who does not want Texas racing to succeed. Some have diffrent agenda's and diffrent ways, but the one goal we all have is to make it in Texas. I have said and still say let's work together. I say it again Joe, "Let's work togther". I have only met you once last year in Houston at the awards banquet, and never even talked to you on the phone, but I do know you CARE and want what is best for everyone. A blind man can see your passion for Texas racing. Maybe other people in the past would not listen or care not to discuss, but there are people on the board who do want to look at all things. This is not the way to get it done.

I offer 2 things for you. Write down the ideas you have discussed with your group and I will bring them forward for the board to review in a formal proposal. Number 2 would be for you to show up to a meeting and present them to the board. I would be happy to request time on the agenda to review some of your ideas. We do need all the help we can get, but we also need to stop taking a shot at each other every chance we get. It is going to take us all. My agenda is to help Texas Breeders and owners. I have no camp or loyalty to a group on the board. I was voted in by people to work for them and listen to them.

Again you have made me sound like a politician and everyone who knows me can testify that is the furthest from the truth. LOL....

Let's work together Joe. If I need to be (or any other member or members) the liason between your group and the board then that is fine, but we all need to sit down and WORK it out.

Can we do that?

[lazyfranch]

http://lopetexas.typepad.com/horse_tale ... n-auction/

[keyranch]

Dlove, Just got back from the sale. I did all those things you mentioned and presented them to the board for changes in the sale a few years back. Sat there in Bill Cliftons office and listened to the board members say when slots passes all the problems with the sale will be taken care of! Fast forward a half dozen years and the sale is now to the point that the only viable option is to have one sale a year and make it a mixed sale in October. The fees charged are way out of kilter with the market and still no one takes responsibility for marketing the sale. This is a source of revenue for the TTA and they will not take suggestions, and you think they will listen to my ideas about keeping breeders in the game!

You tell us, what is the plan B for the legislative session. How many planning and strategy meetings to get legislation for ADW'ss, IRM's, or anything. There is a drop in 25% of the mares bred in Texas last year, does that not warrant some attention and some actually planning and decisions to turn that number around?

This little farm is what I do for a living! I chose to come here to participate in this industry and I have lost all patience with all these folks that do not put their livelihoods on the line and do not take responsibility for their actions. To blame the politicians for doing what their constiuents want them to do, to blame the neighboring states, to blame the Racing Commission, to blame the sun for rising-enough is enough. We want to see the plan B, we want to see some meetings and a plan to get something done, and we want to see the folks that are not willing to work for the industry resign!

Since the race dates debate, which the TTA took absolutely no action when the ED was out promoting the loss of race dates; which is against the by-laws of the associaton. The little group of mushrooms has put in more man-hours to get something positive done for this industry than all the board members put together! Tell me I am wrong, Tell me about all the planning for plan B, Tell me about the solutions to improve the breeding industry and the Sales that have come out of these efforts!

I would rather fail by our own efforts, than to see the associations and racetracks deliberately sabotage the efforts of the mushrooms because we decided to hand over our agenda! What do the rest of the mushrooms feel about this!

[jellac]

ROGER> Re: Head count: Count me in as a "Texas" based Thoroughbred owner of some 10+ years time frame ('97 thru 2007) in the breeding/raising/racing of thoroughbreds in state. You may also count me as a Texan who had the temerity (stupidity?) to purchase a mare, ship her to Texas, breed her to a Texas stallion in 2010......

Question is: where am I going to foal her out?

Since I'm breeding 'commercially' for the "regional" market I am torn between: a) what I perceive as being better pedigree matches among "proven" stallions in Texas v. those in other neighboring states - note: that is fast changing; 2) keeping mare/foal close to home where I can keep an eye on investment; 3) much better Breeder Incentives in at least 4 of the neighboring states - OOOPs! that's all of them!; 4) More potential 'auction purchasers' at the high end of the regional market based in Texas........BUT many of them are going for the better 'Owner Incentives' in other states.......

Dear TTA leadership - IF you're listening....you might notice I didn't cite the purse difference between Texas and its neighboring racing jurisdictions in this list of considerations.....That's because: # 1) I have no intention of racing this mare's offspring myself - she and the stallion she's bred to have all the characteristics (physical presense, solid race records of sire & dam, top sire stats for producing runers and winners, terrific catalog page and female family with loads of BT - active updates being made as we speak by her half sib with more in the pipeline) to produce a foal that should be a good commercial racing prospect in the regional marketplace even in this economy, even in this state (barring some unforseen physical issue, sickliness, or injury early in life of the resulting foal); AND because: # 2) I have no control over what the relative comparative difference in purse structure between Texas and the neighboring states might be two years from now when I intend to take this first foal through the F-T Texas (Regional) Sale. Truth is I think purses/purse structure is a very quarternary (or more likely even lower ranked) criteria for folks looking to pay top dollar for a running horse: they want to see a horse that absolutely looks to be a superior runner; has the breeding and family/page underpinnings to strongly suggest all the odds/percentages are in favor of that physical presence in the auction ring further developing and training into a formiddable competitor on the track. IF you are in the market for that type of horse and are looking to secure that type of prospect at auction you don't worry about where it might run to earn 'incentives' or 'restricted race purses/bonuses'. At best those jurisdictional incentives/differences can be used by a trainer/agent to persuade a hesitant Buyer to go ahead and pay the bid price above an previously agreed upon limit when its for a superior horse, i.e. > "...worse case scenario, if [he] doesn't turn out to be as great as we think he will, you can still race it in those state-bred/restricted races, qualify for the 'owner's rewards." IMO - more often than not those jurisdictional incentives/differences are the sort of consideration that helps a middle to lower end trainer/buy to race owner bid on a horse that appears 'OK' but requires some internal presuasion to raise your bid paddle above a certain price point.....or to take one home that isn't getting much action anyhow and to your eye/jugement seems undervalued/overlooked/could turn into something. Just my two cents but if you got no horse you'll find soon enough that racing in state restricted ranks is likely too stiff a competition for your horse anyway.

[Roger]

DLove, thanks for your post. One of our problems is that we are looked upon, by many of the Board as fools and outlaws. The message from the TTA is generally let us tell you what you need and if you disagree thats tough. After talking to some of the board, I get the feeling that its just as bad with the board. Those in leadership make all the decisions and expect everyone to be in agreement in the interest of unity. After talking to you DLove, I feel confident that you are not shy and that you will take our message and maybe there will be others on the board who will stand with you and consider our needs.
I think now is a good time to start and come-up with 5 or 10 ideas to address the racing industry's needs and problems. Lets get a formal list and lay it out.

My first topic would be have the board define "Texas Racing Industry" and this diffinition should be backed by a demographic study. They can start that study by looking at the membership and working through the backside on race night.
Come on folks lets see what we can come-up with.