The end of horse racing in Houston?

That could be the case according to this recount of a recent meeting at Sam Houston Race Park as told by Steven Long of Horseback Magazine. (h/t: Houston Press)

(Battle lines drawn on Texas Racing, Steven Long, HorsebackMagazine.com)

Andrea Yong of Houston’s Sam Houston Race Park expressed a stark reality. She runs a track whose parent company has lost tens of millions in recent years in its aluminum, real estate, and forestry business. And Maxxam Corporation has repeatedly stumbled in management at SHRP putting the track in a precarious position that Young admits.

“We don’t have the money to run 60 dates,” she said. “We have the money to run 22 dates.”

Rumors have been racing across the backside of Sam Houston Race Park for weeks that the track has been sold. Whether it’s true, or wishful thinking on the part of horsemen disgusted with track management, it is undeniable that the track is troubled. Track officials stoutly deny off the record that the rumors are true.

Young spoke of the proposal of an abbreviated race schedule for next year in which Quarter Horse racing will be mixed with American Paint Horse racing and Arabian racing.

Either way, the thoroughbred season has been given over to Lone Star Park which means there will be no Fall thoroughbred season at Sam Houston which means there will be no live Horse Racing at the Park until 2011. A glance at the Track's calendar shows no current live races on the schedule. No overnights, no stakes races, no nothing. Just simulcast betting and the ZiegenBock Music Festival. Joy.


One can only hope that the rumors of a possible track sale by the cash-strapped, and horse-racing inept, Maxxam results in new track management and a renewed commitment to the Texas Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse industry. It'd also be nice to bring in someone to administer the wagering who has an understanding of what it is the serious sports bettor is looking for. Sam Houston's betting structure is severely behind the times. With no guaranteed pick-four, no pick six whatsoever and very limited Trifecta options the betting strategy seems to be to lock in on the low-dollar quinella bettor. The top tracks in the country are experimenting with multiple track pick 6's etc. Sam Houston and Lone Star should have been doing that years ago.

Instead they just watch purses go down, betting handles go down, and interest drop as a result. Maxxam has tried to run SHRP on the cheap. We're now seeing the results of that management decision.