The Texas Quarter Horse Association (TQHA) and Sam Houston Race Park are once again teaming up to host one of the biggest weekends in Texas Quarter Horse racing. Beginning at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, July 27, Sam Houston Race Park will play host to the TQHA Yearling Sale, as well as the stakes-filled Texas Summer Showdown.

Over 240 yearlings will pass through the sales ring that will be set up inside the air-conditioned Sam Houston Race Park Pavilion Centre. Every yearling in the sale will be eligible for nomination to the 2003 TQHA Sales Futurity-RG1, with an estimated purse of $300,000.

"This is undoubtedly the best group of yearlings we have ever offered," said W.B. Jones, chairman of the TQHA's Racing Committee.

Prospective owners will be able to bid on offspring of practically every major sire in the nation. The sale offering includes:

• Half-sister to 2001 Champion Two-Year-Old Shining Sky $455,000
• Half-brother to Multiple Stakes Winner Hot Glass $183,000
• Brother to 2-time track record setter and Multiple Stakes Winner Tiger Toole $127,000
• Half-brother to Grade I Dash For Cash Futurity winner OV Jet $215,000
• Half-sister to Grade I Ruidoso Futurity winner Fightin Jane $183,000
• Half-sister to multiple stakes winner Jodies Pop Pop $183,000 and Randys Pop Pop $112,000
• Filly out of Champion Deceptively $297,000
• Half-sister to track record setter Hotdoggin SI-109, $33,000

"The maturity of the Accredited Texas-Bred Program, the cooperation of the management of Sam Houston Race Park and the participation of breeders have caused this sale to progress from a regional sale to a major national event," Jones said.

"Every year, it seems that our sale graduates do better. In 2001, runners from our sale included the Grade I Texas Classic Futurity winner Pretty Boy Perry ($438,177) and the Grade I Rainbow Futurity winner Doing Magic ($321,231). They were two of the top seven money earners in the nation. And we've had several other sale graduates make more than $100,000," Jones added.

Sam Houston Race Park has hosted the TQHA Yearling Sale since 1998, when 96 horses passed through the ring. In 1999, there were 156 yearlings in the sale and the 2000 sale grew to 197 American Quarter Horses. The 2001 TQHA Yearling Sale attracted a record 211 horses.

As a result of the growth of the sale, the purse for the TQHA Sales Futurity-RG1 has increased significantly. The purse for the 1999 TQHA Sales Futurity was $79,031, and grew to $206,404 in 2000. In 2001 the purse reached $263,438 and the 2002 TQHA Sales Futurity, won by Oak Tree Special, paid a record $276,100. The TQHA Yearling Sale is open to the public.

Potential bidders are welcome to preview this year's American Quarter Horses on the evening of Friday, July 26. The sale will commence at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday.

For further information on the TQHA Yearling Sale, call TQHA at (512) 458-5202 or contact Sam Houston Race Park at (281) 807-8760.