New Mexico attorney general's office sides with commission in dispute with horsemen's association

The New Mexico attorney general’s office has issued an opinion that supports the state’s racing commission in a years-long fight with horsemen over the proper retention and distribution of subsidies from casinos.

The memorandum, signed by assistant attorney general Sally Malave, concluded that the state’s horsemen do not have the “legal authority” to ignore the commission’s directives to remit funds from the subsidies for use as purses at tracks. The New Mexico Racing Commission requested the opinion as part of a long-running dispute with the New Mexico Horsemen’s Association, and it distributed the opinion to the media on Thursday.

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The racing commission recently added amendments to its racing regulations in order to force the horsemen’s association to send purse funds to tracks on a weekly basis “to pay winners at race meets” while removing the association’s authority to manage the funds. The commission has accused the horsemen’s group of retaining money in the fund to pay expenses.

“Because the [amended] rule no longer provides NMHA with authority to manage the [gambling] funds for purses, we conclude that NMHA’s refusal to transfer the purse money to the racetracks violates the rule,” Malave wrote.

The NMHA has filed a federal lawsuit, two state lawsuits, and an ethics complaint against the racing commission in the last 18 months. The association contends that the commission is attempting to force the group to disband and that it has violated the civil rights of the group and its members by shutting them out of public deliberations over the commission’s rules.

The latest federal suit, which was filed by the horsemen a year ago, accused the commission of working hand-in-hand with the state’s racetrack-casinos to support laws and regulations that would strip the horsemen of power.

“The actions of the commissioners in defunding the horsemen was retaliatory, not in good faith, and meant to cause harm, and in fact, destroy the New Mexico Horsemen’s Association,” the lawsuit stated.

Purses in New Mexico receive 20 percent of the net revenue from casinos for purses. That amount generally runs to $30 million a year, counting subsidies to all breeds of horses.