After a roller-coaster year, meet opens with some stability

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Turf Paradise is a lot like the famous Mark Twain quote: “Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”

The Phoenix track seemed dead in the water at the start of this year, only to get a last-second reprieve, resulting in a winter-spring meet. Things looked bleak again when that meet concluded in May. However, negotiations between track ownership, horsemen, and the state racing authorities have given the Phoenix track another new lease on life – a three-year deal to race through May 2027, beginning Saturday with the track’s 69th season. Even after that, however, the track needed a 45-day conditional permit issued early this week to give the go-ahead. That permit was granted so long as a number of health and safety regulations and repairs are in place by the meet’s opening.

This 105-day meet runs through Saturday, May 3, with racing primarily Monday through Thursday, though there are a number of special racing programs.

First post is 12:40 p.m. through Feb. 6, 12:55 p.m. Feb. 10 through March 6, and 1:25 p.m. March 10 through April 30. First post is 11:30 a.m. opening day, Breeders’ Cup day, and closing day, which is Kentucky Derby day. The track is open for simulcasting every day at 9 a.m. except on Dec. 24 and 25. The track’s big day is March 15, when it presents five stakes, including the meet’s marquee event, the $50,000 Phoenix Gold Cup. Also that day are slated the $50,000 Cotton Fitzsimmons, $50,000 Turf Paradise Derby, $50,000 Arizona Oaks, and $50,000 Queen of the Green.

“With our stable area at full capacity and our horsemen enthusiastic Turf is going to have a great meet,” general manager Vince Francia said.

Two stakes highlight the opening-day card, the $40,000 Jeff and Jack Coady Sr. Handicap and $40,000 Hank Mills Handicap. The Jeff and Jack Coady Sr., for fillies and mares 3 years old and up at six furlongs, drew a field of eight, headed by defending champ Pepper Mill. Her main rival might be the red-hot Aloha Breeze, who returns from Emerald Downs having won six of her last eight. The Hank Mills Sr., for 3-year-olds and up at 6 1/2 furlongs, drew a field of 11 led by Tony’s Tapit, second in this last year and coming off a five-race win streak at Canterbury, and Redline, who invades from California with sharp form including a win at Los Alamitos Sept. 20.

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