GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas (Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2004) – A massive 1¼-scale bronze statue of Texas-owned 1988 Horse of the Year and Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Alysheba will be unveiled Wednesday (Sept. 29) Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Texas – two days prior to the opening of the racetrack’s special 19-date Fall Breeders’ Cup Meeting for Thoroughbreds.

The 1,000-pound bronze statue, designed by renowned equine artist Lisa Perry, will be a focal point upon entering Lone Star Park’s main East Gate entrance, as it sits atop a newly landscaped knoll inside the valet parking circle. The artwork is among the $8.5 million worth of improvements Lone Star Park has undergone to host the 21st Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships – horse racing’s foremost international event – on Saturday, Oct. 30.

There will be two ceremonies to introduce the sculpture. The initial observance, an advance for media, will be Wednesday at 2 p.m. On hand will be Lone Star Park President Corey Johnsen, Breeders’ Cup President D.G. Van Clief Jr., Alysheba’s owner Dorothy Scharbauer and her husband Clarence, and, of course, Perry. A second unveiling ceremony will take place after 6 p.m. in conjunction with a Fall Breeders’ Cup Meeting Kickoff Party to raise funds for the Lone Star Park Charitable Foundation for Grand Prairie.

Alysheba is one of the greatest Texas-owned Thoroughbreds in history. The bay horse, born in 1984, won the 1987 Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Super Derby to earn Champion 3-Year-Old honors. Alysheba was even better in his 4-year-old season, winning six Grade I races: the Strub Stakes, the Santa Anita Handicap, the Iselin Handicap, the Woodward Handicap, the Meadowlands Cup and the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Alysheba’s career earnings of $6,679,242 established a new world record, since surpassed.

Alysheba was ridden in 17 consecutive starts, including all of his major triumphs, by Hall of Fame jockey Chris McCarron, who is also depicted in the sculpture astride the great son of Alydar. The piece shows Alysheba and McCarron parading as if prior to a race. The champion is outfitted with a saddlecloth bearing the number 5, known as the trademark “brand” of the Scharbauers.

Dorothy Scharbauer and daughter Pam Scharbauer purchased Alysheba as a yearling. Dorothy was intent on maintaining the Kentucky Derby-winning tradition started by her father, Fred Turner Jr., who owned 1959 Derby winner Tomy Lee. Since 1991, Dorothy and husband Clarence Scharbauer have owned and operated Valor Farm, a highly regarded breeding operation in Pilot Point, Texas.

Artist Perry, of Springtown, Texas, specializes in equine bronzes. Her other monumental sculptures include “Bill Pickett, Bulldogger” in the Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District, as well as the “Ancient Bison” and “Giant Shortfaced Bear” that grace the Lubbock Lakesite Landmark State Historical Park.