Lone Star Quarter Horse meet opens with stakes qualifiers

Lone Star Park opens a 26-date meet for Quarter Horses on Friday night, and the track will be the fall home for the sport’s reigning world champion, Jessies First Down. Trainer Jimmy Padgett said the horse is bedded down on the backstretch off his 2 1/4-length victory in the Grade 1 All American Gold Cup at Ruidoso Downs.

Lone Star’s season will run through Nov. 11. The track will jump into the meet in trial mode, with qualifying heats for the Dash for Cash Derby on Friday night and the Dash for Cash Futurity on Saturday.

“We open with trials for the Dash for Cash, and we hadn’t done that for a few years,” said Bart Lang, director of racing for Lone Star.

Lang said purses for the meet are projected to average $190,000 a program. The track’s stakes schedule is worth $2.4 million, with the centerpiece the Grade 1, $1 million Texas Classic Futurity on Nov. 11. The $450,000-estimated Dash for Cash Futurity is Sept. 30.

Padgett said Jessies First Down is targeting the Challenge Championship next month at Prairie Meadows. He will have one of the strongest barns in place for the meet, as will trainer Trey Wood, a four-time title winner at Lone Star.