Interesting/clever move; Lone Star Derby to lawn
 

Lone Star Derby moving to grass in 2011
By Mary Rampellini

The $200,000 Lone Star Derby is going green. The race will be run on turf for the first time next year as part of a 19-race, $2.1 million stakes schedule that was released by Lone Star Park officials Wednesday. The meet will begin April 14.

The Lone Star Derby, which lost its Grade 3 status for 2011, will have a fresh look next season. In addition to being moved from dirt to turf, the 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-olds will be run as part of the annual Lone Star Million Day program on May 30. This past meet, the Lone Star Derby – won by Game on Dude – was held May 8.

The Million Day card will include six stakes worth a cumulative $1 million. It is led by the meet’s richest race, the Grade 3, $300,000 Lone Star Park Handicap for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/16 miles. Other top races on the card will include the Grade 3, $200,000 Ouija Board Distaff for fillies and mares at a mile on turf and the $150,000 Dallas Turf Cup for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/16 miles on turf.

Brilliant the Arlington Classic is run around the same time.

And the Colonial Turf Cup is right around 19 days later. If they were going to switch to turf they should have stayed on their old date.

Clever Steve? Why we have so many turf champions in the US? Racing needs to give away 1.2mil to some sorry turf horses in May? I guess if you are Marty Wolfson you are thrilled.. All you have to do is find a decent 40 claimer on the turf , fix him or her up and go grab 180k with a glorified opt claimer.

You think barns will ship out of NY and not running the Just a Game, Manhattan, or Sands point? Where is Texas going to find G3 turf horses in the Summer? Remington, Zia, FG, Delta?

How about this for Clever take the stakes money for these Non starter races and drop them to 100k max. then invest the balance in overnight purses and cut 20% of the dates. Give away 60k to the winner of a non event race were you know the winner will just be a decent horse. Build your purse structure on overnight races so to develop new owners that can enter racing at sustainable level.

Graded turf racing in Texas in the summer.. You really can't make it up. How many did we have in the Just a Game this year? Maybe they are hoping that the Aga Khan will forego the Prix d'Ispahan for a softer spot at lone Star..

The race isn't graded anymore....they needed to do something, the past few Lone Star Derby's have been terrible.

They need to let it go and support their core business (what is left of it) and redevelop organically.. It's called consolidation

Put freddy in charge. Dallas Cowboys t-shirt give-a-ways every weekend.

They couldn't do that. Andy Serling's favorite horse won it in 2003 and to not have such a championship caliber event would be blasphemy.

They should let the race "die for ever".. Seriously until Racetracks start to work in concert with each other this stuff will not stop.. What is so hard about keeping the big races were they belong.. Why Lone Star needs a mil dollar weekend for non tx bred animals is ridiculous waste of money. If they ran 20% less and did away with these 300k races and infused the same dollars into 80% of the current dates they would attract bettors, horseman, and owners.

What would happen is in time better stock would emerge from a better overnight program. Then once the stock is truly available you can entertain a race of added purse level and prestige.

In the meantime shouldn't we have 12 in the Just a Game before we give away 200k in some BS turf race at Lone Star.

FTFY

Actually, Freddy, they are consolidating.

Essentially, they have merged two stakes races by moving it to the lawn and pushing it back to their big Memorial Day weekend. On that card, they have run a rich 3yo race called the USA Stakes for the past decade. I presume that race will no longer be run.

In that respect, they're not gumming up the national 3yo turf stakes schedule anymore than it already was either.

Exactly. It actually saves them $400k net.

The USA was a 400k race? Racing 3 year old colts on the grass for big money in Tx. in late May is crazy. Where is the stock for 200k Ouija Board?

It only saves them 75k. They're still going to run the Grand Prairie Turf Challenge on Lone Star Million Preview Day and the LS Derby was at 200k this year. The USA had a 25k supplement from the BC so it was only 75k for LS itself.

I have nothing against Lone Star or the people who race there.. Do think Cal grass stock is going to ship to Tx. to run in these spots unless its a Baffert third stringer or a some opt claimer type.

You're an idiot Freddy, and a bit late to the party. As I said, they've been running a turf stakes at Lone Star for over a decade. The USA Stakes was once worth a bit more than $75k so I don't think they have any grand illusions any more.

And yes, CA horses ship to Lone Star all the time (including that turf stakes). Get a subscription to the Blood-Horse or something if you can't follow racing on your own.