(from Lone Star report)
Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie's formal request to host a second Thoroughbred meeting in 2004 – in order to accommodate the 21st running of the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships – was unanimously approved July 9 by the Texas Racing Commission at its annual date hearing in Austin, Texas. Lone Star Park's eighth spring/summer Thoroughbred season will cover 63 dates over 13 weeks from April 15 to July 11, 2004. A 19-date Thoroughbred season, the first of its kind at Lone Star Park, will be run over five weeks from Oct. 1 through Oct. 31, 2004.The Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships – eight championship races cumulatively worth $14 million which attract many of the best Thoroughbreds from around the world – will be held at Lone Star Park on Oct. 30, 2004.The dates and purse money to stage an American Quarter Horse meeting at Lone Star Park were transferred to Sam Houston Race Park for 2004 only. Live racing at Lone Star Park in 2004 will be conducted Wednesday through Sunday during the spring/summer meeting and Thursday through Sunday in the fall. The first live race on weeknights is expected to remain 6:35 p.m. and weekend and holiday action would start at 1:35 p.m.A special early post time for Breeders' Cup Day will be announced at a later date. This year's Thoroughbred season concludes Sunday.
