The Friday Show Presented By Diamond B Farm’s Rowayton: Sam Houston Strong

Chris Griffin, track announcer at Sam Houston Race Park, joins Ray Paulick and Joe Nevills on this week's edition of The Friday Show in the wake of the historic deep freeze that wreaked havoc with the electrical grid and water supply in Houston and other Texas cities.

“It was a unique situation, a bit scary at times, but we got through it,” Griffin said. “Your immediate thought if you're involved with horse racing – and it should be – is how are the horses going to be handling the conditions and what we are going to go through.”

Fortunately, an emergency plan was in place, and the backstretch community rallied to make it work. “Last week was a very trying, difficult time where we all had to work together,” he said.

After four lost racing days, the action resumed this week, just in time for Saturday evening's Texas Preview Day, and Griffin provides some insights on the 12-race card featuring five stakes for Texas-breds.

Finally, bloodstock editor Joe Nevills gives a toast to Spendthrift Farm's Vino Rosso in our new segment spotlighting the stallion's first foals.

Watch this week's Friday Show below.

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Live Racing Returns To Sam Houston Wednesday; Texas Preview Night Rescheduled For Saturday

Live racing returns to Sam Houston Race Park this week after the northwest Houston racetrack and millions of Texans recover from a devastating winter storm. Beginning on Monday, Feb. 15, sub-freezing temperatures created havoc with icy road conditions, power failures and dwindling water pressure which created untold hardships for residents and ground businesses to a halt.

Sam Houston Race Park presented its last Thoroughbred card on Saturday, Feb. 13 before the lack of power, icy track condition and water supply issues left management no choice but to cancel live racing from Feb. 17-20.

The good news is that as of Friday, Feb. 19, temperatures climbed into the 50's and training resumed over the weekend. Highs in the 70's are forecast for this week with racing to resume Wednesday, Feb. 24. Additional races have been added to the Wednesday and Thursday cards and the five Texas Preview Night stakes, originally scheduled for Feb. 20, will run on Saturday, Feb. 27.

Post time for Saturday's 12-race program has been amended with the first race set for 5:40 pm (CT). The five Texas Preview Night features will begin with the $75,000 Two Altazano as race six and continue with the $75,000 Miss Bluebonnet Turf; $75,000 H-Town Stakes; $75,000 Houston Turf and $75,000 Jim's Orbit.

The annual event serves as a preview for Texas Champions Day, which will take place on Saturday, March 20. Purses for each of the seven Champions Day stakes showcasing the established and rising stars of the Texas Thoroughbred industry have been boosted to $100,000 this year.

The post Live Racing Returns To Sam Houston Wednesday; Texas Preview Night Rescheduled For Saturday appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Sam Houston Cancels Live Racing, Training Through Thursday Due To Texas Snowstorm

Snow in Texas.

Yes, you read that right.

Due to ongoing winter weather conditions in Houston, Tx., Sam Houston Race Park has cancelled live racing and training for both Wednesday, Feb. 17 and Thursday, Feb. 18, according to the track's Twitter account.

Sam Houston's power is also out, so entries for Wednesday, Feb. 24, originally scheduled to be taken today, will now be taken on Thursday, Feb. 18.

The National Weather Service's Winter Storm Warning for the area will remain in effect through 6:00 a.m. Thursday morning.

Temperatures are expected to drop below freezing overnight, and there is the potential for ice accumulation of up to a tenth of an inch.

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Sam Houston Raises Purses

Sam Houston Race Park announced Sunday that it will raise its overnight purses for the remainder of the 2021 Thoroughbred meet. The increases will go into effect starting Wednesday, Feb. 17 and will continue through closing day, Apr. 3. All main track purses will be increased by $7,000, while turf purses will see a $2,000 bump. The track cited strong handle figures, which are up 40% year over year including a record-setting handle of $5.3 million on the Houston Racing Festival card Jan. 31, as the reason for the changes. Sam Houston offers some of the nation's lowest takeout rates, with an industry-low 12% on multi-race wagers.

“This increase would not be possible without the ongoing support from our horsemen,” said Frank Hopf, Senior Director of Racing Operations. “We welcomed back a solid number of barns and received stall applications from many new outfits this year. Additionally, we had tremendous interest from nationally prominent trainers for our six Houston Racing Festival stakes. Racing fans continue to respond to our racing product and comprehensive wagering menu.”

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