Texas Horse Racing Hall of Fame © Greg Melikov
Sep 25, 2001
About 350 people are expected at the Oct. 6 ceremony to induct four horsemen and two horses into the Texas Horse Racing Hall of Fame at Retama Park just outside San Antonio. Proceeds from the $100 per person gala will go toward erecting the Hall of Fame museum on the track grounds.
"We have $300,000 committed to building it," said Jo Ann Weber, appointed executive director by the organization's board of directors in July. The campaign is being stepped up, she added, because "we really need $2 million to achieve the goal. We need $1 million to get it built. We need $1 million in endowments to maintain it. We need to get the money, we need to get the building."
Live and silent auctions, featuring a "2002 Kentucky Derby Package" that includes round-trip airfare for two and hotel accommodations with a minimum $5,000 bid, will raise money for the museum. "We're a little better organized this year," Weber said. "I hope we can do $100,000."
There also will be eight stake races, including a quarter horse contest, Saturday evening after the gala begins at 4 p.m. A four-course dinner will be served.
Weber, manager of Retama Park's Turf and Field Club since '97, has extensive experience in a variety of racing areas from horse sales to fund-raising. She has been membership and racing coordinator for the Texas Thoroughbred Association and has planned events for the organization. She also has been part of management teams at Ruidoso Downs, Sunland Park and The Downs in New Mexico, plus Centennial Park in Denver. "Jo Ann is the perfect fit for this position," said Joe Straus Jr., chairman of the Texas Horse Racing Hall of Fame. One of the six 2001 inductees is Straus'late father, a San Antonio native who was one of the driving forces to get pari-mutuel wagering returned to Texas.
The elder Straus bred and raced a number of graded stakes winners, including No Le Hace, second to Riva Ridge in the 1972 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, who was inducted into Louisiana’s Horse Racing Hall of Fame. That’s what gave his two sons, Joe Jr. and David, the idea of establishing a Texas version.
On May 20, 1999, plans were announced for the Texas Hall of Fame by the foundation created by Joe Straus Jr., chairman of Retama Entertainment Group Inc., which manages the track in Selma just outside San Antonio.
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