New Mexico Thoroughbred racing could move from Ruidoso to Albuquerque following floods

The New Mexico State Racing Commission on Tuesday asked officials with The Downs at Albuquerque to form a contingency plan to run Thoroughbreds at that track in coming weeks while Ruidoso Downs in the southern part of the state rebuilds a portion of its track damaged by flash floods on Saturday and Sunday.

An official with The Downs at Albuquerque told the commission that a proposal could be presented on Wednesday or Friday.

Racing commission chairman Hossie Sanchez urged Albuquerque officials to present their proposal as soon as possible. The track is scheduled to run its late summer and fall meeting from Aug. 29 to Oct. 27, but is being asked to consider moving forward opening day.

“We’re continuing to work on this with The Downs at Albuquerque and Ruidoso and see what they can come up,” Sanchez said. “Hopefully, it will be good for the industry.

“There are a lot of logistics to work out.

“If we get flooded again, we’re back to step one. The Thoroughbred people need to run. Thoroughbreds are part of this industry. It’s not just Quarter Horses.

“I think we have to be prepared to get Albuquerque going to get these Thoroughbreds going.”

“We can request that Albuquerque give us some kind of timeline to get the track open. We have to have something in our back pocket. If [a flood] happens again, we’re messed up.”

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Ruidoso Downs has not raced since Saturday when it completed 15 of 17 Quarter Horse races before the Rui Ruidoso, a normally small river that runs through the track’s infield, burst its banks because of runoff of mud, debris, and water from a rainstorm that struck the nearby burn area of a massive forest fire that began June 17.

The fire has been largely contained but has burned more than 25,000 acres in the area.

The track postponed racing Sunday to Monday and then canceled Monday’s program of Quarter Horse races when a second major rainstorm struck the area on Sunday.

At a two-hour emergency meeting Tuesday, the state racing commission heard extensive testimony from Ruidoso Downs executive Rick Baugh about efforts to reconstruct the portion of the track affected by the storm, and from a small group of owners, breeders, trainers, and jockeys eager to resume racing.

Some owners and trainers expressed concern about the lack of immediate options for Thoroughbreds based at Ruidoso Downs. They cited the absence of daily training in recent days as a detriment to the well-being of horses who have been limited to walking in the stables in recent days.

Baugh said the first turn and the six-furlong chute on the backstretch of the Thoroughbred track at Ruidoso Downs must be rebuilt, including the base and cushion. He said the racetrack has worked with several government agencies on the reconstruction.

The reconstruction comes at a time in the summer when Ruidoso, which has an altitude of 6,400, is prone to frequent intense rainstorms. More than an inch of rain fell in areas around the track on Saturday and Sunday, leading to severe flooding that led to mud damage in some homes.

“Ever since the floods, we’ve been trying to get this thing put back together, get the wheels back on the bus,” Baugh said told the commissioners via Zoom. “I’m still battling monsoons here.

“It’s impractical to think you can put a surface back down when you’re batting monsoons. It will be difficult. It’s going to be tough. We need some cooperation from Mother Nature, truthfully.”

Baugh said that debris from the runoff has been a major issue. In other comments, he said 11 track employees lost their homes in the fires. Baugh said 500 homes and 1,400 structures in the Ruidoso area were lost.

Ruidoso Downs is scheduled to race from Thursday through Sunday this week, but those days were drawn before the floods and included Thoroughbred races. The track announced Monday that time trials for the Rainbow Oaks and Rainbow Derby for Quarter Horses, which were scheduled for Sunday and then postponed to Monday, will now be run this weekend. The finals of those races have been postponed from July 13 to the weekend of July 20-21.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the track had yet to publish revised overnights for this week reflecting the absence of Thoroughbred races.

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