Texas Horse Racing Takes Major Blow as Sam Houston Cuts Racing Season

Bad news struck Texas racing last month. Sam Houston Race Park cut both purses and race days for 2025, marking another setback for a state already struggling to keep pace with its neighbors.

Texas tracks remain handcuffed by strict gambling laws. While Louisiana and Oklahoma rake in gambling money, folks in the Lone Star States keep asking: When will Texas legalize sports betting? The answer stays unclear as lawmakers show little interest in expansion. However, for keen horse racing fans, there are offshore alternatives where Texans can bet legally and safely. 

Yet, the racing scene in Texas itself faces a major blow. 

Numbers tell the story at Sam Houston. Purses dropped by 17.5 percent across three race types. What paid $40,000 now pays $33,000. These cuts hit maiden special weights, plus allowance races for both two and three-year-olds. Small stables feel the pinch worst as costs keep climbing while purses shrink.

Bryan Pettigrew broke the news nobody wanted to hear. His letter explained Sam Houston must cut one race every day from January 10 through February 16. That adds up to 18 fewer chances for owners to earn back their investment. Each lost race means less work for exercise riders, grooms, and hot walkers who live paycheck to paycheck.

Everything went south in February 2023. The Texas Racing Commission picked a fight with federal regulators, refusing to recognize the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority. That move locked Texas tracks out of interstate simulcasting. Gone went a steady stream of money that kept purses healthy.

Now tracks scrape by on the Horse Industry Escrow Account. State lawmakers created this fund in 2019, taxing everything from feed to saddles. It can collect up to $50 million every two years. Most go to purses, some to breed programs. But nobody knows when or if payments will come through.

Veteran trainer Karl Broberg pulled no punches on social media. “Late Christmas gift courtesy of the amazing leadership since Texas Racing Commission went off the rails in their quest to make Texas racing irrelevant.” His bitter words rang true across Texas backstretches.

The pain spreads way past the track and feed stores report slower sales. Hay suppliers watch deliveries drop. Vets and blacksmiths book fewer calls. Each purse cut ripples through an economy built around horses.

Early January brought brief relief. Races from the third through fifth keep their promised purses. But everyone knows the hammer drops after that. Some trainers already have greener pastures in states that welcome gambling dollars.

February brings a Racing Commission meeting that might change things. But hope runs thin these days. Without simulcast money or new revenue, tracks face hard choices ahead. Old-timers say these cuts just start the death spiral.

Other states lap Texas in the race for racing dollars. New Mexico counts casino cash, Louisiana builds purses with slot money, and Oklahoma tribes pump gaming revenue into their tracks. Texas just watches money and horses leave.

Sam Houston fights to keep racing alive. Yet each passing month makes that job harder. States around Texas grab gambling dollars to build better racing. Texas stays stuck in neutral, bound by old laws that strangle growth.

Next year brings another shot at change in Austin. State lawmakers could open new money streams for racing. But past sessions brought nothing but disappointment. Each failure sends more Texas racing jobs out of state.

The proud story of Texas racing hangs by a thread. Tracks that once drew top stables now struggle to fill races. A tradition stretching back generations faces its toughest test. Future generations might read about Texas racing in history books unless something changes fast.

Racing needs three things to thrive: horses, purses, and fans. Texas tracks still draw fans.

Plenty of horses still call Texas home. But purse money keeps shrinking. Until that changes, Texas racing slides closer to joining drive-in movies and downtown department stores in the pages of Texas history.