Sam Houston Opens Jan. 5 With No Change in HISA Dispute

Sam Houston Race Park celebrates the start of its 30th anniversary season when Thoroughbred racing resumes there Jan. 5.

The milestone season is set to be primarily an on-track and Texas affair due to the ongoing dispute between the Texas Racing Commission and the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority. Texas Thoroughbred meets have been unable to simulcast out of state since July 2022, when the TRC rejected enforcement of HISA's safety rules and regulations. This has caused a dramatic decrease in wagering and a drop in Thoroughbred purses.

TRC executive director Amy Cook indicated Jan. 3 that there are "no changes" in Texas related to HISA and simulcasting since the 2023 racing season. Sam Houston's 43-day Thoroughbred meet will be conducted on a Friday-through-Sunday schedule and conclude April 7. The meet features 22 stakes with purses totaling $2.5 million.

The anchor of the meet is the Houston Racing Festival on Jan. 27, which has not avoided the impact of the HISA dispute. In 2022, the festival featured seven stakes worth $1.05 million. Now, the festival will host five stakes for $750,000. In 2023, the Houston Ladies Classic Stakes (G3) dropped from a $400,000 purse to its current $300,000. The track's other graded stakes race, the John B. Connally Turf Cup (G3T), has remained a $200,000 race.

Two Texas-bred stakes on the card, the Groovy Stakes and Bara Lass Stakes, have seen purse cuts this year from $100,000 to $75,000.

The Clarence Scharbauer Jr. Texas Stallion Stakes Series will begin opening weekend with two $75,000 stakes for 3-year-olds.