Texas officials confident that incentive money will be released

Thoroughbred racing officials in Texas are confident that they will be able to re-apply for $2.5 million in purse bonuses available to statebred horses in 2025 after a request for the money was rejected on Wednesday at a Texas Racing Commission meeting.

The commission rejected requests by multiple breed associations to gain access to a total of $3 million in the state’s Horse Industry Escrow Account after citing deficiencies in the paperwork used to apply for the funds, according to multiple officials. Thoroughbred interests were in line to receive $2.5 million of the total from the fund, which is generated through taxes on equine products sold in the state.

Brian Pettigrew, the vice president and general manager of Sam Houston Park and Retama Park, and several breed representatives met with commission officials after the meeting to iron out the new requirements for the applications, and the commission agreed to meet early in January to consider the applications again, according to Pettigrew and Tracy Sheffield, the president of the Texas Thoroughbred Association.

“I am very confident we this will all be ironed out,” Sheffield said. “We’ve found a path forward.”

Pettigrew said that the meetings provided “clarity” on the new requirements for the applications, and he said that he expected the funds to be released in January. Sam Houston begins its Thoroughbred meet on Jan. 3.

“We’re going ahead with planning to pay out everything we have in our first condition book,” Pettigrew said.

A separate distribution from the HIEA for $7 million in regular purse funds to racetracks was not affected, Pettigrew said.

Sheffield and Pettigrew said that the application process was changed late this year after the state of Texas audited the Horse Industry Escrow Account and expressed concerns over how the money was being tracked. That required changes in the application process and the creation of new forms, they said.

Texas tracks are not currently sending their simulcast signals out of state due to a dispute between the racing commission and the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority. Handle at Texas tracks has cratered in the past 18 months as a result.

“Obviously, that [HIEA] money is essential right now to keep us going and keep us competitive,” Sheffield said.

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