Sam Houston opens 50-day expanded meet
Sam Houston Race Park opens an expanded 50-date meet Thursday that runs into April and includes a richer running of the Grade 3 Houston Ladies Classic, a new voice calling the races, and a full stable area. Sam Houston is racing through April 9.
It’s the earliest opening and latest closing for the track in the past several years, and the changes were made to fit in more dates, said Frank Hopf, Sam Houston’s assistant general manager. He said the numbers have grown from a 32-date meet in 2019. Sam Houston raced 35 dates in 2020 and 43 in 2021.
“We’ve added 18 days of racing over the last few years,” Hopf said. “Part of it is dates transferred from Retama. We also looked at what we could do with the purse structure, where we could add dates as well.”
Sam Houston’s handle and purses have been surging over the past few years, and for this year’s meet Hopf said daily purses are projected to average $225,000. The structure has led to an overflowing barn area.
“We were fortunate enough to have 2,200 stall applications for our 1,100 stalls,” Hopf said.
Steve Asmussen will be seeking to win his 14th Sam Houston training title at this meet. Danny Caldwell, who is coming off the owner title at Remington Park, has sent horses in for the new meet, Hopf said. Other new faces for the season include trainers Shawn Davis, Greg Green, and C.R. Trout.
The Houston Ladies Classic, which last year was won by Letruska, has been boosted in value to $400,000 from $300,000. The 1 1/16-mile stakes for fillies and mares anchors the $1 million Houston Racing Festival of six stakes on a Sunday card Jan. 30. Other races on the program, which starts at 1:45 p.m. Central, include the Grade 3, $200,000 John B. Connally Turf Cup at 1 1/2 miles and the $200,000 Bob Bork Texas Turf Mile for 3-year-olds.
The $700,000 Texas Champions Day card is March 26.
Nick Tammaro is the new voice of Sam Houston. The 37-year-old is a native of Houston.
“I believe Nick and his dad have been Jockey Club members at Sam Houston since the track opened,” Hopf said. “Nick has a strong following in racing, in the social media world, and is a strong handicapper.”
Sam Houston will again offer a reduced takeout of 12 percent on all multi-leg wagers. The Houston High 5, which is a jackpot wager, will be offered on the third and last races of each card. The track’s pick six, which is a non-jackpot wager, runs on the final six races on the card. Hopf said the takeout on exactas has been reduced to 20 percent from 21 percent.
Sam Houston has added a 30-foot turf rail for the meet, Hopf said.
“That will give us three turf settings this year,” he said. “It will allow us to run more turf races.”
Sam Houston will generally race Thursday through Saturday until Feb. 16, when it begins racing Wednesday through Saturday. There is a 4 p.m. Central first post Wednesdays and Thursdays and first post is 6:45 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.