Ruidoso gets permission for all-Quarter Horse meet this summer
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Ruidoso Downs received approval from the New Mexico State Racing Commission on Thursday to operate a meeting entirely for Quarter Horses for the first time this spring and summer, ending a tradition of a mixed meeting that included Thoroughbreds.
The track made the announcement on Wednesday. The decision comes seven months after Ruidoso Downs was forced to relocate the final weeks of its season to Albuquerque because of widespread flooding caused by runoff from local wildfires.
The proposal was approved unanimously by the New Mexico commission on Thursday morning with minimal discussion.
Ruidoso Downs track owner Johnny Trotter said in an interview on Thursday that purses will be increased from last year. Details of overnight purses and the stakes schedule have not been published.
“The prize money is going to go up,” Trotter said. “There will be more opportunities for older Quarter Horses.
According to Trotter, renovation work continues on racetrack grounds to improve drainage in an effort to reduce the risk of flooding that occurred repeatedly last summer.
A massive flood on July 20 last year damaged not only part of the racetrack, but flowed so severely that an infield building that housed the jockey’s room was covered with several feet of mud. The damage led to the cancellation of the season at Ruidoso Downs. The final six weeks of the Ruidoso season were held in Albuquerque.
The normally tranquil Rui Ruidoso runs through the infield with bridges that traverse the turns of the Thoroughbred track. The racetrack is downstream from an area affected by thousands of acres of wildfires last June. Runoff of mud, water, and debris from the burned hillside flowed through the adjacent village of Ruidoso at times last summer and was of such volume that it could not flow under the bridge on the first turn. The runoff repeatedly spilled over the riverbank and onto the first turn and a portion of the track’s backstretch.
Trotter said he plans to meet with government officials on Friday to discuss remedies to control potential flooding in coming months, including development of a levee above the racetrack.
Trotter said work on the improvements could extend until June, after the race meeting begins, and before a typical rainy season arrives in late June and early July.
“We’ll have the track where we can run on it in time,” he said, referring to the start of the season. “To get everything sustainable, it may take part of the time we’re running horses. Maybe we’ve got the month of June.”
Trotter declined to reveal a price tag for the repairs, other than to say, “It’s astronomical.”
In coming months in New Mexico, Thoroughbreds are scheduled to race at SunRay Park in Farmington in the northwest of the state for a brief meeting from mid-April to late May. The Albuquerque meeting will operate from late August to late October, leaving a gap of nearly three months without Thoroughbred racing in the state.
Ruidoso has run a majority of its races for Quarter Horses in recent years. In 2023, the last complete meeting held at the venue, there were 528 races – 382 for Quarter Horses and 146 for Thoroughbreds. The track’s leading race is the $3 million All American Futurity for 2-year-old Quarter Horses each Labor Day.
Ruidoso Downs has a dedicated Quarter Horse strip that can accommodate races up to 550 yards, and a seven-furlong Thoroughbred track. Under the new format, the Thoroughbred oval will be used for 870-yard races and morning training.
The decision not to conduct Thoroughbred racing ends, at least temporarily, Ruidoso Downs’s involvement with the national Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, which does not have jurisdiction over Quarter Horse racing.
Thoroughbred trainer Todd Fincher, who has led the standings for that breed at Ruidoso Downs in recent years, expressed cautious optimism that the decision could work in favor of Thoroughbred racing in New Mexico.
“If the other tracks are smart, it can work out to be a better thing,” he said.
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Fincher said there were times at Ruidoso Downs when it was unclear whether a race would be available for some Thoroughbreds. A race meeting at other tracks in New Mexico that will emphasize Thoroughbreds could alleviate that problem, even though there will be times of the year without racing opportunities.
“There will definitely be a gap” in racing for Thoroughbreds, he said. “Hopefully, it’s not too big of one. We’ll at least know we won’t get to run at that time.
“You’re not trying to get your horse ready and put a good work in him and the race doesn’t go.”
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