Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico will move the entirety of its 2026 spring-summer meeting to the Downs at Albuquerque, the track announced in a one-page statement on Monday. Ruidoso Downs canceled the final weeks of its 2024 and 2025 seasons after massive floods struck the track each July. Those race meeting was moved to Albuquerque. The $3 million All American Futurity for Quarter Horses will be run at Albuquerque for the third consecutive year, on Sept. 7. In June 2024, a massive wildfire in the mountains above Ruidoso Downs burned more than 25,000 acres and caused widespread loss of vegetation. Weeks later, the racetrack was inundated with runoff from the mountains that caused immense flooding to racetrack property. Last July, the flood was even worse, causing the racing surface and infield to be covered in water. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. The single-story jockey’s room, located on the infield, was flooded briefly to its roof line. Several barns at a lower elevation in the sprawling stable area were flooded, forcing those horses to be evacuated to a sales pavilion at a higher elevation on the backstretch property. Rainfall from the 2025 flood caused the normally tranquil Rui Ruidoso to crest at a record 20.2 feet, higher than the previous record of 15.8 feet set in 2024. The Rui Ruidoso runs through the track’s infield under two bridges on the track’s turns. Aside from racetrack property, there was considerable damage to homes and property in the village of Ruidoso. In Monday’s statement, officials said the racetrack “is not sustainable now or for many years to come. It has now become clear that, even with proposed flood mitigation work done on-site and off-site upstream, Ruidoso Downs Racetrack cannot be adequately protected from future flooding.” Track owner Johnny Trotter, general manager Rick Baugh and Lynn Crawford, the mayor of the village of Ruidoso, met with government officials in Santa Fe last week to learn first-hand that the required flood mitigation work will not be completed in the near future. “For the past several months, we have begged for solutions, to no avail,” the track said in its statement. An Arizona-based engineering firm told track officials that as little as two inches or more of rain per hour – which can occur during the summertime monsoon season in the southern New Mexico mountains – would overwhelm “existing and planned drainage improvement intended to mitigate flooding risks at Ruidoso Downs,” according to the statement. The engineering firm’s report stated that the racetrack “is not sustainable as a public venue.” Monday’s statement did not detail specifics of moving the meeting to Albuquerque. The Ruidoso Downs season typically opens on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend and runs through Labor Day, when the All American Futurity is held. The statement indicated that two yearling sales in late August and on Labor Day weekend will be held at Ruidoso Downs. A similar situation occurred in the last two years. Ruidoso Downs, located approximately 145 miles north of El Paso, opened in 1947 and launched the All American Futurity in 1959. The track operated a mixed meeting through 2024. Last year, only Quarter Horse races were run. The track offers some of the richest Quarter Horse stakes in the nation, including two other seven-figure futurities – the Ruidoso in June and the Rainbow in July. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.