Rich purses, high demand for stalls as Zia meet opens

Zia Park opens its meet Saturday with the richest average daily purse structure in New Mexico.

The Hobbs track is projected to average $430,000 a card in purses. The overnight purses alone are set to average $340,000.

“Outside of probably California and Oaklawn, I don’t think there’s anybody west of the Mississippi that has a better overnight purse structure,” said Chris McErlean, vice president of racing for Penn Entertainment, which owns the track. “A lot of people don’t realize the amount of money being thrown around.”

McErlean said maiden special weight purses for open company are $45,000 to $55,000 for New Mexico-breds. A no-conditions allowance for open company will be worth $65,000, while New Mexico-breds at the same level will run for $77,000. McErlean said the minimum claiming price this meet is $7,500.

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Zia is racing 31 dates through Dec. 16. The track, which features a casino with 750 slot machines, will run Quarter Horse cards on Saturdays and Sundays and Thoroughbred cards on Mondays and Tuesdays. There will also be Friday cards on Nov. 14, Nov. 28, and Dec. 12.

“So, a couple of five-day weeks,” said McErlean.

The rich purse structure has helped Zia draw requests for 2,000 stalls, according to McErlean. He said the track can house about 1,300 horses.

Zia’s stakes schedule is worth $4.3 million and it reaches a pinnacle over the dates of Nov. 23-25. The New Mexico Cup will again be run over two dates, with seven stakes for Quarter Horses on Nov. 23 and eight for Thoroughbreds on Nov. 24. Together, the races that showcase New Mexico-breds are worth more than $2.4 million.

The Nov. 25 Land of Enchantment card is for open company and it’s highlighted by the $300,000 Zia Park Derby and $300,000 Zia Park Oaks. The 1 1/16-mile races anchor a Tuesday card that features a total of seven stakes worth $1.1 million.

McErlean said patrons returning for the new meet will find some upgrades since last season.

“We redid our paddock this year, so all new paddock stalls, repainted the paddock,” he said. “We also put new televisions out on the apron for the public in the outside viewing area and we’ve upgraded all of the televisions inside our sports bar. This is where simulcasting takes place as well.”

McErlean said Ken Goetz is the new general manager of Zia, a role he began in March.

Zia will have lower takeout levels on some of its wagers this meet. McErlean said New Mexico’s takeout on exotic wagers can be between 21 and 25 percent, and Zia has set its takeout as the lowest number allowed by state law.

“Last year, we took down the daily double and exacta wagering to 21 [percent],” he said. “This year, we reduced trifecta, superfecta, all the pick threes, pick fours, and pick fives. They’ll all be 21 percent.”

First post daily is 12:05 p.m. Mountain.

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