Albuquerque meet features record purses, Challenge Championships

The Downs at Albuquerque opens its 56-date meet for Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses on Friday night with record stakes purses, a packed stable area, and the Challenge Championships coming in October.

The season runs through Sept. 22, but the track, which remains open for training year round, will have one additional card this meet on Oct. 26. It’s the date of the Challenge Championships, the traveling series of major stakes administered by the American Quarter Horse Association. Albuquerque, which has been on an upward trajectory since a remodel and the introduction of night racing three years ago, will be hosting the event for the first time.

“We’re really honored and privileged to host them, and we’re going to do it first class,” said Don Cook, president of racing for Albuquerque. “To be awarded the day ties into a lot of hard work we’ve done. The owners made a commitment to make the grandstand more fan friendly, remodeled the grandstand, and invested in the lights. That’s a big investment.

“This is our fourth meet with the night racing, and it just seems to gain more and more momentum. I think when we went to night racing, we got a lot younger crowd. The average age before was 45 to 50, and now it’s 25 to 35. It’s a really young crowd that comes out here.”

Albuquerque, operated by Paul Blanchard, Bill Windham, and John Turner, also has a casino on the grounds with 750 slot machines. The gaming has helped make for a record $3.6 million stakes schedule, with 16 of the 34 races scheduled being for Thoroughbreds, led by the $200,000 Downs at Albuquerque Handicap at 1 1/8 miles on Aug. 3.

The stable area, which houses 1,460 horses, is filled, said Cook.

Purses are projected to average $175,000 a program, a structure that has drawn Justin Evans, the leading trainer last year at Albuquerque, as well as such horsemen as Todd Fincher and Bart Hone. The local riding colony includes Tracy Hebert, Alfredo Juarez Jr., and Luis Negron.

Albuquerque will race Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, with first post at 6:05 p.m. Mountain. The programs on Sundays will start at 1:30 p.m. Cook said there will be straight Thoroughbred cards on Wednesdays.

A slew of stakes winners have signed on for the lid-lifter Friday, an optional $25,000 claiming sprint for 3-year-olds and up at 6 1/2 furlongs. The group includes Classy Class, Oh So Regal, Yo Y Me, and Sphene.

Iron Britches will be looking for his fourth straight win later on the card, when he makes his stakes debut in the $50,000 Duke City Sprint for 3-year-olds at 5 1/2 furlongs. His chief rivals appear to be Myhotrodlincoln and Walker Stalker.