THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS

                   July 23, 1993, Friday, HOME FINAL EDITION

SECTION: SPORTS DAY; DOWN THE STRETCH; Pg. 11B

LENGTH: 850 words

HEADLINE: DOWN THE STRETCH

 BODY:    Under way

   Formal groundbreaking at Houston's  Sam Houston Racetrack  is set for 
Aug. 23, and the target for opening day is April 29, 1994.

   Sounds like an ambitious plan, but Atlantic City Racecourse president 
Jim Murphy, who will run Sam Houston along with Atlantic City owner Bob 
Levy, said site work already is progressing non-stop.

   With their previous experience in running a track, Murphy and Levy are 
keenly aware that short seasons are usually more successful than long 
ones.  They want Sam Houston to operate a short Apr. 29-June 19 meet for 
thoroughbreds next spring, then a July 1-Sept. 18 quarter-horse meet, 
followed by another thoroughbred stand in the fall.

   Fantasy ownership

  Cheaper exactas

   Louisiana Downs began taking $ 2 exacta wagers Wednesday.  The Bossier 
City track previously had a $ 3 exacta minimum and, before that, a $ 5 
minimum.

   A press release quoted assistant general manager Ray Tromba as saying,


   "We are reacting to the request of our fans.  This can only be viewed 
as a positive move."

   What the release doesn't say is that those fan requests started about 
a decade ago.

   Up until now, the track hasn't viewed $ 2 exactas as such a positive 
development.  What changed the mindset?  Perhaps that Louisiana Downs is 
enduring yet another losing season, with on-track betting down 16 percent 
and total betting down 12 percent from 1992 figures.

   SummerStakes

   The second edition of SummerStakes will be held Saturday, with three 
nationally televised races simulcast back-to-back to tracks throughout 
the country.

   In chronological order, the involved races are the Top Flight Handicap 
for fillies and mares from Belmont Park, the Swaps Stakes for 3-year-olds 
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PAGE   12                      THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, July 23, 1993                     


Hollywood Park and the Iselin Handicap for older horses from Monmouth 
Park.

   The $ 500,000 Iselin features an eight-horse matchup, with Bertrando 
(2-1) shipping from Southern California to the Oceanport, N.J., track to 
take on American Championship Racing Series leader Devil His Due (9-5).  
Others entered are Pistols and Roses (4-1), Valley Crossing (6-1), 
Stalwars (8-1), Snappy Landing (10-1) and Scudan and Berkley Fitz (20-1).  
The ACRS-sanctioned race is 11/8 miles.

   The SummerStakes races are the only graded stakes in the United States 
on Saturday.

   Namesake scores

   Television sportscaster Warner Wolf, on his namesake 5-year-old 
thoroughbred that finally got his first career victory after 18 defeats:

   "The horse is just like me, a slow starter, a late bloomer.  I wasn't 
bar-mitzvahed until I was 48."

   Keeneland sale

   A new shooter surfaced this week at the elite Keeneland July select 
yearling sale in Lexington, Ky.

   Donald Adam, an entrepreneur from Bryan, Texas, spent $ 675,000 on one 
colt and four fillies at the ritzy two-day auction.  Adam was advised at 
the sale by Dr. Bill Romane, formerly of the Texas A&M School of 
Veterinary Medicine.

   Adam wants to develop a farm near Bryan, start a commercial breeding 
operation and perhaps even buy a Kentucky farm.  "I usually say everyone 
ought to have one business that's fun, and this one will qualify," Adam 
said.

   The average yearling sold at Keeneland averaged $ 235,433, down nine 
from the 1992 average as the rich Maktoum family from the Middle East 
continued to trim its purchases.  Representatives of the Maktoums spent $ 
8.2 million at the sale, their lowest total since 1982 and down from 
1984's high of $ 52 million.

   Short takes

   *  The Super Six carryover pool at Louisiana Downs has grown to $ 
179,238.69 for Friday's program, thanks to a parade of longshots in 
Thursday's races.  Only one ticket was sold with five of six winners, 
worth $ 25,526.20.

   *  Perhaps the two most successful race meets in the country Del Mar 
near San Diego and Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.  begin 
Wednesday.  Del Mar runs though Sept. 15, and Saratoga closes Aug. 30.

   *  Santa Anita Derby winner Personal Hope, the 3-year-old owned by Lee 
and Debi Lewis of Lubbock, has been retired because of a tendon injury 
suffered in training.

   *  Beginning July 28, Louisiana Downs will simulcast the feature race 
from Saratoga Race Course on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays through 
Aug. 27.


                                                                       
PAGE   13                      THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, July 23, 1993                     


   * Daily Racing Form's expanded past performances could reach Texas and 
Midwestern tracks by late summer, according to vice president of 
marketing

   Katherine Wilkins.   The new-look Form already is being offered at 
West Coast tracks and some East Coast tracks.

   * Loblolly Stable's 3-year-old Dalhart is back in training in New York 
and is being readied to return to competition in the next week or two.

   *  Jockey Gary Stevens reached $ 100 million in career purse earnings 
July 18.  The 30-year-old is the eighth and youngest rider to reach that 
level.

   *  Louisiana Downs increased purses $ 2,000 a day effective Wednesday. 
Decreases in live-race betting have been offset by simulcast revenues and 
video-poker wagering.

   *  Oklahoma City's Remington Park, which ended its summer 
quarter-horse season last week, will reopen in two months for a Sept. 
17-Dec. 5 fall thoroughbred meeting.

--            Copyright (c) 1986 The New York Times Company;                                
The New York Times