New Mexico horseman get favorable ruling on purse subsidies

A New Mexico District Court judge has ruled that the New Mexico Racing Commission cannot deduct insurance premiums for jockeys and exercise riders from the subsidies that casinos in the state provide for purses at racetracks.

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Judge Victor S. Lopez ruled in favor of the New Mexico Horsemen’s Association, which filed a lawsuit late in 2020 seeking to invalidate the practice. According to Lopez’s ruling, the commission had been using funds from the purse subsidies since 2009 to pay half of the premiums for the insurance policies. The other half was paid by the state’s racetracks.

In New Mexico, 20 percent of the net gambling revenue from casinos is deposited in a fund administered by the commission to subsidize racing purses. Lopez called the use of the funds to pay the premiums a “rule-making over-reach by the commission.”

The New Mexico Horsemen’s Association has been in a long-running feud with racetracks and the racing commission over several issues relating to the purse subsidies. The association claimed in its lawsuit that $9 million had been used for the premiums since the practice started in 2009.

Lopez stayed his order until March 18, 2023, the last day of the legislative session, “to allow the parties to consider legislative intervention, if appropriate.”

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