Lone Star Derby purse gets boost to $400,000

The purse for the Grade 3 Lone Star Derby at Lone Star Park on May 10 has been increased from $300,000 to $400,000 in the most significant change to the track's 32-race, $3.5 million stakes schedule that was released Thursday. Lone Star will open April 10 for a 65-date meet that runs through July 27.

The purse increase puts the 1 1/16-mile Lone Star Derby on par with the Grade 3, $400,000 Lone Star Park Handicap as the richest races of the meet. The Lone Star Derby will share a card with a pair of $125,000 divisions of the Texas Stallion Stakes for 3-year-olds. The program is one of six that will feature two or more stakes on a single card.

The most significant of those cards is Lone Star Million Day, which is anchored by the 1 1/16-mile Lone Star Park Handicap. The program of six stakes worth $1.1 million will be run on Memorial Day, May 26. Other graded races making up the program are the Grade 3, $200,000 Dallas Turf Cup for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles on the grass, and the Grade 3, $200,000 Ouija Board Handicap for fillies and mares at a mile on turf. The card will make for the richest day of racing in Texas.

Other multiple stakes days include Lone Star Million Preview Day on April 26, when four divisional stakes, led by the Grade 3, $300,000 Texas Mile for 3-year-olds and up, serve as preps for Million Day. Stars of Texas Day, a program of six restricted stakes worth $500,000 on July 12, includes the Assault, which has been boosted from $75,000 to $100,000.