Live American Quarter Horse racing returns to Sam Houston Race Park on Friday, June 29. The 35-day meeting will feature live racing every Friday and Saturday with a 6:00 p.m. post time and Sundays at 1:30 p.m. The 14th American Quarter Horse meeting of the northwest Houston racetrack will conclude on Saturday, September 8, 2007.

Racing Secretary Eric Johnston announced Sam Houston Race Park will offer 29 stakes races with purses in excess of $948,000. One of the highlights of the meeting will be the Texas Summer Showdown, which will take place on Friday, July 27, 2007. This event has grown in prominence each year and four stakes races will be on the evening card with $175,000 in purses for three-year-olds and up. This premier weekend of racing also includes the TQHA Yearling Sale, which takes place in the Sam Houston Race Park Pavilion Centre and continues to grow in stature each year. Last July 320 yearlings passed through the sales ring with total sales in excess of $3,000,000.

“We are pleased to host an annual meeting dedicated to American Quarter Horses,” said Johnston. “The upcoming meeting would not be possible without the continued support of the Texas Quarter Horse Association (TQHA). We are very appreciative of the efforts of Rob Werstler and his staff and look forward to an action-packed season.”

There are several changes to the stakes schedule for the 2007 American Quarter Horse meeting, which will conclude with the finals of the Sam Houston Futurity and Sam Houston Derby on September 7 and 8. Johnston and his staff have also announced plans to shift the popular Hot Summer Nights Starter Series to a new program which will take place on Sunday afternoons. The five-race series for 3-year-olds and upward has been renamed the Any Given Sunday Starter Series. It will begin on Sunday, July 1 and conclude on Sunday, September 2 with a total purses of $69,000. Owners of horses who run a minimum of four legs of the sprint or distance series will earn points and be eligible for $5,000 in bonuses for each division.

“In addition to our stakes schedule, we wanted to create some incentives for Quarter Horses competing at a claiming level to earn bonuses and recognition,” said Johnston. “The shift to Sunday afternoons is something we think both the horsemen and racing fans will enjoy.”

Stall applications are currently being accepted and are due by Friday, May 25, 2007. Horsemen who are interested in running horses at Sam Houston Race Park this summer may contact the Racing Office at 1-800-807-RACE. Stall applications, stakes schedules and condition books are available on the Sam Houston Race Park web site www.shrp.com.

2007 SAM HOUSTON RACE PARK AMERICAN QUARTER HORSE STAKES SCHEDULE

June

July

August

September

* Indicates accredited Texas Bred stakes races.

2007 SAM HOUSTON RACE PARK AMERICAN QUARTER HORSE TRIALS