The Texas racing industry added another major achievement last Friday when the board of directors of the Breeders' Cup Ltd. voted to allow Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie to host the 2005 Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships. It will be the first time the Breeders' Cup has ever been held in the southwest part of the country, and it is another in a series of major achievements made by the Texas racing industry over the last several months.

Just last month, Texas Horsemen's Partnership (THP) Chairman John Roark was elected to the prestigious post of president of the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA), the largest organization representing owners and trainers of racehorses in North America.

At the same National HBPA convention in Boston, Massachusetts last month, the THP's Groom Elite Program was endorsed by the National HBPA as it's national groom training program. The groundbreaking program is designed to improve the quality of available help in the stable areas of racetracks through the use of a 10-week educational course.

As Texas continues its rise to prominence in the racing industry, more and more people around the nation are coming to recognize our state as a major racing jurisdiction. The Breeders' Cup Ltd.'s decision to award Lone Star Park the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships in 2005 helps solidify this perception.

Though the official announcement was made Monday about a 4-year plan of host sites for the event, Breeders' Cup president D.G. Van Clief Jr. stated that there were still a number of factors that must be ironed out before the sites are finalized.

According to Van Clief, "A significant number of issues must be resolved before the selection of any of these sites can be considered final. For a selection to be finalized, there must be availability of appropriate racing days, adequate state and community support for the event, and satisfactory resolution of issues relative to the operation and staging of the World Thoroughbred Championships."

According to the schedule laid out by the Breeders' Cup Board, Arlington Park will host the event in 2002. Santa Anita Park will be the host in 2003, Churchill Downs in 2004, and Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie in 2005. This year's Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships are scheduled for October 27 at Belmont Park in New York. Neither Arlington Park nor Lone Star Park have ever hosted the event before.