The cost of fighting the current federal regulation of horse
racing reportedly will show up this winter in the form of a 17% purse cut at
Sam Houston Race Park.

That was the upshot of what track general manager Bryan
Pettigrew said in a written message to horsemen, according to Paulick Report.
The immediate problem was said to be the unknown commodity of a payment from the
Texas horse-industry escrow account funded by the state sales tax.

Click here for Sam Houston entries and results.

“With the uncertainty of (the Texas Thoroughbred
Association) receiving HIEA 30% funding by the Texas Racing Commission and no
plans of a January special meeting as chairman (Robert) Pate mentioned, we feel
it is necessary to make some reductions-changes to our upcoming Thoroughbred
meet,” Pettigrew wrote, according to Paulick Report.

The resulting purse reductions from $40,000 to $33,000 for
maiden and low-level allowance races will start Jan. 10, one week after the
42-day meet opens next Friday at Sam Houston. There also will be one fewer race
per day than last year.

Texas has been challenged by a more than 80% drop in handle in
the past three years since its simulcast feeds were cut off from the rest of the
country. That is because of the state’s protracted legal fight against the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, a
battle that is expected to land in the U.S. Supreme Court perhaps early next
year.