As a result of the 21st running of the Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships on Saturday, October 30, Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie and the state of Texas will offer its richest stakes program ever. An unprecedented 42 stakes cumulatively worth $17,825,000 will be run at Lone Star Park’s two Thoroughbred seasons in 2004.

Lone Star Park will host two Thoroughbred meetings – and the Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships – for the first time in its young seven-year history. The traditional spring meeting will run for 63 dates from April 15 through July 11. To complement the Breeders’ Cup, a 19-date fall Thoroughbred season was added for the month of October (October 1-October 31) for a total of 82 Thoroughbred racing dates in 2004 – up from 70 in 2003.

The result is a revamped stakes schedule.

Major changes include moving the Lone Star Derby (Gr. III) – now sponsored by Walmac International – to October 29, the day before the Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships, as well as adding five new stakes in the fall.

“This will be a very exciting year for everyone involved in the Texas horse racing industry,” Lone Star Park President Corey Johnsen said. “To facilitate the Breeders’ Cup, we have added a lucrative season of fall racing, which includes great stakes races and entertaining events as part of our month-long Breeders’ Cup festival.”

Twenty-two stakes worth $2.65 million will be run in the spring, while 20 stakes are carded for the fall. The eight championship Breeders’ Cup races comprise $14 million of the $15,175,000 fall stakes schedule. The $4 million Breeders’ Cup Classic – Powered By Dodge is the centerpiece of Breeders’ Cup Day.

The 21st running of the Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships is comprised of:

• Grade I, $4 million Breeders’ Cup Classic – Powered By Dodge (3-year-olds & up at 1 ¼ miles)
• Grade I, $2 million John Deere Breeders’ Cup Turf (3-year-olds & up at 1 ½ miles on turf)
• Grade I, $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff – Presented by Nextel (fillies & mares, 3-years-old & up at 1 1/8 miles)
• Grade I, $1.5 million Bessemer Trust Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (2-year-old colts & geldings at 1 1/16 miles)
• Grade I, $1.5 million NetJets Breeders’ Cup Mile (3-year-olds & up at one mile on turf)
• Grade I, $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (fillies & mares, 3-years-old & up at 1 3/8 miles on turf)
• Grade I, $1 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint (3-year-olds & up at six furlongs)
• Grade I, $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (2-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles)

The spring season, staged for the eighth time, is highlighted by a trio of graded stakes: the $300,000 Texas Mile (Gr. III) for 3-year-olds and up, the $300,000 Lone Star Park Handicap (Gr. III) for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/16 miles, and the $200,000 WinStar Distaff (Gr. III) for older fillies and mares at one mile on turf. The Texas Mile will be run April 24, while the Lone Star Park Handicap and WinStar Distaff are scheduled for the sixth annual Lone Star Million – seven stakes cumulatively worth $1 million on Memorial Day, May 31.

In addition to the Walmac Lone Star Derby, which is now a $250,000 event at 1 1/16 miles, and Stonerside Stakes, events moved from the spring to the fall were the $100,000 Alysheba Breeders’ Cup Stakes (3-year-olds at six furlongs on October 2), the $100,000 Middleground Breeders’ Cup Stakes (2-year-old colts & geldings at one mile on October 3) and $100,000 Silver Spur Breeders’ Cup Stakes (2-year-old fillies at one mile on October 1).

“We have worked closely with officials from the Breeders’ Cup to maximize the quality of our racing in the fall,” Johnsen said. “For example, our opening weekend will offer three potential Breeders’ Cup prep races, and we changed the conditions of the Walmac Lone Star Derby to fit nicely with the Breeders’ Cup races. All together, it makes for an exciting year of racing at Lone Star Park.”

Also moved to the fall was Stars of Texas Day. The $100,000 Assault Stakes for older Texas-breds at 1 1/16 miles and the $75,000 Allen Bogan Memorial, a one-mile test for older state-bred fillies and mares, will highlight an October 23 program entirely devoted to Texas-bred runners. That day will kick-off Lone Star Park’s Breeders’ Cup Festival, a march toward horseracing championship day on October 30.

Stakes added to the fall line-up include the $50,000 Wild Flower Stakes, a five-eighths mile turf sprint for fillies and mares on October 16; the $100,000 Bluebonnet Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile turf test for older females on October 31 (closing day); and three stakes on the Breeders’ Cup undercard. Surrounding the Breeders’ Cup races will be the $100,000 Metroplex Mile for older horses on the main track, the $100,000 Texas Turf Stakes for older horses at 1 1/8 miles on turf, and the $100,000 Lone Star Park Juvenile for 2-year-olds at seven furlongs.

2004 THOROUGHBRED SEASON STAKES SCHEDULE (APRIL 15-JULY 11)

Thu., April 15, Premiere Stakes, TX 3YO & Up, 1 Mile, $50,000

Sat., April 17, Irving Distaff, F&M 3YO & Up, 7 ½ Furlongs (T), $75,000

Sat., April 24, Texas Mile (Gr. III), 3YO & Up, 1 Mile, $300,000

Sat., April 24, Grand Prairie Turf Challenge, 3YO, 1 Mile (T), $75,000

Sat., May 8, Ford Express Stakes, 3YO & Up, 6 Furlongs, $75,000

Sat., May 15, JEH Stallion Station Stakes, TX F&M 3YO & Up, 6 ½ Furlongs, $50,000

Sat., May 22, Wafare Farm Stakes, 3YO F, 6 Furlongs, $50,000

Mon., May 31, Lone Star Park Handicap (Gr. III), 3YO & Up, 1 1/16 Miles, $300,000

Mon., May 31, WinStar Distaff (Gr. III), F&M 3YO & Up, 1 Mile (T), $200,000

Mon., May 31, Pin Oak Stud USA Stakes, 3YO, 1 1/16 Miles (T), $200,000

Mon., May 31, Beck Auto Group Turf Sprint, 3YO & Up, 5 Furlongs (T), $100,000

Mon., May 31, Valid Expectations Stakes, F&M 3YO & Up, 6 Furlongs, $100,000

Mon., May 31, Carter McGregor Jr. Memorial Stakes, TX 3YO & Up, 6 Furlongs, $50,000

Sat., May 31, Harold V. Goodman Memorial Stakes, TX 3YO, 6 ½ Furlongs, $50,000

Sat., June 12, TTA Sales Futurity (C&G Div.), 2YO C&G, 5 Furlongs, $150,000*

Sat., June 12, TTA Sales Futurity (F Div.), 2YO F, 5 Furlongs, $150,000*

Sat., June 19, Dallas Turf Cup, 3YO & Up, 1 1/8 Miles (T), $200,000

Sat., June 26, Miller Lite Stakes, F&M 3YO & Up, 5 Furlongs (T), $50,000

Sat., July 3, Bob Johnson Memorial Stakes, 3YO & Up, 1 Mile, $75,000

Sun., July 4, Lone Star Oaks, 3YO F, 1 1/16 Miles (T), $100,000

Sat., July 10, Texas Stallion Stakes (F Div.), 2YO F, 5 ½ Furlongs, $125,000*

Sun., July 11, Texas Stallion Stakes (C&G Div.), 2YO C&G, 5 ½ Furlongs, $125,000*

2004 BREEDERS’ CUP MEETING STAKES SCHEDULE (OCT. 1-OCT. 31)

Fri., Oct. 1, Silver Spur Breeders’ Cup Stakes, 2YO F, 1 Mile, $100,000

Sat., Oct. 2, Alysheba Breeders’ Cup Stakes, 3YO, 6 Furlongs, $100,000

Sun., Oct. 3, Middleground Breeders’ Cup Stakes, 8th, 2YO C&G, 1 Mile, $100,000

Sat., Oct. 16, Wild Flower Stakes, F&M 3YO & Up, 5 Furlongs (Turf), $50,000

Sat., Oct. 23, Assault Stakes, TX 3YO & Up, 1 1/16 Miles, $100,000

Sat., Oct. 23, Allen Bogan Memorial Stakes, TX F&M 3YO & Up, 1 Mile, $75,000

Fri., Oct. 29, Walmac Lone Star Derby (Gr. III), 3YO, 1 1/16 Miles, $250,000

Fri., Oct. 29, Stonerside Stakes, 3YO F, 7 Furlongs, $150,000

Sat., Oct. 30, Breeders’ Cup Classic – Powered by Dodge, 3YO & Up, 1 ¼ Miles, $4,000,000

Sat., Oct. 30, John Deere Breeders’ Cup Turf, 3YO & Up, 1 ½ Miles (Turf), $2,000,000

Sat., Oct. 30, Breeders’ Cup Distaff – Presented by Nextel, F&M 3YO & Up, 1 1/8 Miles, $2,000,000

Sat., Oct. 30, Bessemer Trust Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, 2YO C&G, 1 1/16 Miles, $1,500,000

Sat., Oct. 30, NetJets Breeders’ Cup Mile, 3YO & Up, 1 Mile (Turf), $1,500,000

Sat., Oct. 30, Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf, F&M 3YO & Up, 1 3/8 Miles (Turf), $1,000,000

Sat., Oct. 30, Breeders’ Cup Sprint, 3YO & Up, 6 Furlongs, $1,000,000

Sat., Oct. 30, Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, 2YO F, 1 1/16 Miles, $1,000,000

Sat., Oct. 30, Texas Turf Stakes, 3YO & Up, 1 1/8 Miles (Turf), $100,000

Sat., Oct. 30, Metroplex Mile, 3YO & Up, 1 Mile, $100,000

Sat., Oct. 30, Lone Star Park Juvenile, 2YO, 7 Furlongs, $100,000

Sun., Oct. 31, Bluebonnet Stakes, F&M 3YO & Up, 1 1/16 Miles (Turf), $100,000.