Texas Mile moved to a Friday night
The Grade 3, $200,000 Texas Mile will be a Friday night affair for the first time this season at Lone Star Park. The Texas Mile and the Grade 3, $200,000 Lone Star Park Handicap are the richest offerings among 11 stakes worth a cumulative $1 million for the 50-date meet, which runs April 9 through July 19.
The Texas Mile is scheduled for Friday, April 24. The race for 3-year-olds and up had traditionally been run on a Saturday.
“Last year was the first year we ran it at night because we started running Saturday nights,” said Bart Lang, director of racing at Lone Star. “We decided to try it Friday night to see how it would go out there in the market. We’re just trying something different.”
The Lone Star Park Handicap will be run on its traditional Memorial Day slot May 25. The race for 3-year-olds and up will again be run at 1 1/16 miles. Last year, Grand Contender won both the Texas Mile and the Lone Star Park Handicap.
Those races, along with the $175,000 Governor’s Cup in August at sister track Remington Park, will again be linked to form the Global Gaming Triple. There is no bonus this year, but incentives include no start fees for participation in more than one race.
Lone Star’s stakes schedule also includes the Stars of Texas program of four restricted stakes worth a cumulative $300,000 on July 11.
Purses at the meet are projected to average about $145,000 a program, said Lang.
Lone Star stall applications are due Feb. 25. Lang said he will be visiting with horsemen at Sam Houston on Feb. 16-17, at Fair Grounds on Feb. 20, and at Oaklawn on Feb. 27. Lone Star’s stable area opens as a training center March 9, then for meet stabling March 23, said Lang. The Fasig-Tipton Texas sale of 2-year-olds in training is March 31.
Lone Star Park stakes schedule
| Thur., April 9 | Premiere Stakes | 3YO & Up* | 6 1/2 furlongs | $50,000 |
| Sat., April 11 | Wayne Hanks Memorial | F-M, 3YO & Up* | 6 1/2 furlongs | $50,000 |
| Fri., April 24 | Texas Mile (G3) | 3YO & Up | 1 mile | $200,000 |
| Sat., May 9 | Texas Stallion Stakes | F 3YO** | 1 mile | $75,000 |
| Sat., May 9 | Texas Stallion Stakes | C&G 3YO** | 1 mile | $75,000 |
| Mon., May 25 | Lone Star Park Handicap (G3) | 3YO & Up | 1 1/16 miles | $200,000 |
| Sat., June 20 | Lane’s End Stallion Scholarship Stakes | F-M 3YO & Up* | 7 1/2 furlongs (T) | $50,000 |
| Sat., July 11 | TTA Sales Futurity | F 2YO** | 5 furlongs | $100,000 |
| Sat., July 11 | TTA Sales Futurity | C&G 2YO** | 5 furlongs | $100,000 |
| Sat., July 11 | Valor Farm | F-M 3YO & Up* | 6 furlongs | $50,000 |
| Sat., July 11 | Assault | 3YO & Up* | 1 mile | $50,000 |
*Texas-bred
**Restricted