Too Much Kiki will help usher in the new meet at Lone Star Park on Thursday night, when the reigning Texas-bred of the year starts in the $50,000 Bluebonnet Stakes.
Lone Star is racing 41 dates through July 13. The track’s signal is not scheduled to be exported to other states again this meet due to an ongoing impasse between the Texas Racing Commission and the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority.
The Bluebonnet is the first stakes in a $2.8 million schedule topped by the Lone Star Million Day slate of six major stakes. The Memorial Day card on May 26 features the Grade 3, $400,000 Steve Sexton Mile and $300,000 Texas Derby.
In the 6 1/2-furlong Bluebonnet, Too Much Kiki is part of a field of 10 Texas-bred fillies and mares. Stewart Elliott, who is coming off the riding title at Sam Houston, has the mount for Mansfield Racing and trainer Bret Calhoun.
Calhoun and fellow trainers Steve Asmussen, J.R. Caldwell, Robertino Diodoro, Danele Durham, Karen Jacks, Danny Pish, Mindy Willis, and Bob Young are among the regulars returning for the new season, while a handful of new outfits have come to town from New Mexico.
Ruidoso Downs is not conducting racing for Thoroughbreds this season and stalwarts Todd Fincher, Greg Green, and Joel Marr now have stables at Lone Star. The New Mexico-based Dick Cappellucci, who raced last year at Lone Star, has brought a larger stable back for the new season, said Bart Lang, director of racing operations at Lone Star.
Entries for the first two nights of racing have averaged over nine horses per race, said Lang.
“I’m liking that for sure,” Lang said. “We’re a little bit up on stalls so far this year. We’re close by [to New Mexico], so it works out handy for those trainers. We’re a good option for them.
“And we have a lot of Texas trainers, trainers who make their home in Texas. They like to race here.”
Asmussen, who won the recent title at Sam Houston, has a home near Lone Star, as does Karl Broberg, who has retired from training but will be active as an owner with trainer Abel Ramirez-Rodriguez.
Lang said purses are projected to average $290,000 a card, which is the same as last season. There also is a bonus for Texas-breds tied to allowance and maiden special weight races that is paid through the Texas Thoroughbred Association.
Lang said other highlights of the stakes schedule include the Summer Turf Festival of four open-company stakes June 28. It’s led by the $250,000 Texas Turf Classic for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles. He said Lone Star Showcase Day is June 8 and Stars of Texas Day is July 5.
Patrons returning will find a new toteboard in place Thursday.
“It’s state of the art,” Lang said. “It’s so crystal clear.”
There also will be a new video board in the paddock.
“If you’re in the paddock you can stay there and watch the race now, where you could never do that before,” Lang said.
Lang said Lone Star has hired a new food and beverage director in Saleh Nasser.
The track will have a $1 day promotion Saturday and will feature exotic animal racing April 26-27. There are special twilight post cards July 3-4 to accommodate fireworks, said Lang.
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