The Texas Racing Commission on Tuesday approved a racing calendar for Texas for 2021. There is some change to the traditional structure in the state as Retama Park near San Antonio did not request Thoroughbred dates for 2021. 

Sam Houston Race Park in Houston was granted an expanded, 46-date Thoroughbred meet, picking up seven of the lost days at Retama. The meet will run from Jan. 8  through April 3. Sam Houston was granted a 23-date meet for Quarter Horses, from April 23-June 12.  

Lone Star Park near Dallas was granted a 42-date Thoroughbred meet from April 16-July 18. The track also received 27 dates of Quarter Horse racing from Sept. 10-Nov. 27. Lone Star is scheduled to race Thoroughbreds three days a week, and the Texas Thoroughbred Association and Texas Horsemen's Partnership both expressed a desire for racing four days a week. An official with Lone Star, citing an option to still to amend dates, said it's "likely" the 42 date schedule "would be altered" and it could reflect a combination of three-day-a-week and four-day-a-week racing. The official said Lone Star is tracking how simulcast business trends for itself and Retama during this pandemic period before making any committment to additional dates at this time. The Texas Horsemen's Partnership said it's open for continued conversation with Lone Star and hoping it will add to its application for Thoroughbreds.  

Retama Park was awarded a 20-date meet for Quarter Horses from June 24-Aug. 7. The track ran a single meet this year, for Quarter Horses, in a change that came about during race date discussions in the early stages of the pandemic. Lone Star Park picked up some of the lost Thoroughbred dates during its meet that extended into August. An official with Retama said during the meeting Tuesday that after discussions with breed officials, the track is willing to run races for Arabians during its meet in 2021.