Classic Chevrolet kicks off Quarter Horse meet

Lone Star Park near Dallas shifts into Quarter Horse mode on Friday night. That's when the track will open a 31-date meet for the breed, with the season set to run through Nov. 29. The Lone Star meet will be highlighted by the $1 million Texas Classic Quarter Horse Futurity, a closing night stakes that is annually the richest race in Texas.

The 27-race stakes program gets started Friday night with the $30,000 Classic Chevrolet Heartbeat of America Handicap, a restricted Grade 3 for 3-year-olds and up bred in Texas. Snowy Alibi is the 126-pound highweight in the 350-yard race, and he drew well for trainer Janet VanBebber in getting post 10.

The Classic Chevrolet is part of a $2.5 million stakes program this meet. There are five Grade 1 races on deck, chief among them the Texas Classic Futurity. Other races of significance include the $100,000 Refrigerator, a 440-yard race for 3-year-olds and up on Oct. 4. The winner gets an automatic berth into the Grade 1, $1 million Champion of Champions at Los Alamitos Dec. 13.

Lone Star will race every Thursday through Saturday night in October, then add Wednesdays to its lineup in November. The lone exception is the Thanksgiving holiday, when Lone Star will be dark on Wednesday and Thursday, Nov. 26-27. Post time nightly is 6:35 p.m. Central.