Turf Paradise unlikely to begin meet in final quarter of 2023
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Turf Paradise in Phoenix does not anticipate running any live race dates in the final quarter of 2023, according to track officials.
The track announced on Tuesday that Turf would not open on the first weekend of November, as has been traditional over the past several decades, and Vince Francia, the track’s longtime general manager, said in an interview after the release was issued that it was extremely unlikely the track would hold live dates before the end of the year.
“That’s not to preclude that the track wouldn’t be open January through May,” Francia said. “We’re just not going to make the usual opening date.”
Turf Paradise concluded its 2022-2023 meeting on May 6.
Turf Paradise is in the process of being sold to a partnership led by the California real estate developer James Watson. Although the sale was once expected to close in the late summer or fall, delays have pushed the closing to “at least the end of the year,” Watson said recently.
The delay in closing the sale meant that Turf Paradise’s current management would be responsible for any live race dates in the latter portion of 2023. Francia said that he had met with representatives of the track’s horsemen’s group throughout the spring and summer but that the two sides could not come to an agreement on a live meet.
Francia said that he had promised horsemen that the track would determine by Aug. 1 whether beginning a live meet in 2023 would be feasible, leading to the Tuesday announcement. The Aug. 1 date was set so that horsemen could make plans for their stables for the latter half of 2023.
Watson has said that he plans to continue running live race dates at Turf Paradise in the first few years after the sale closes. However, he has also said that unless racing receives help from the state government, the track’s property will eventually be redeveloped.
Leroy Gessmann, the president of the Arizona HBPA, said in a social-media post that Watson has told the organization that he plans to close on the sale in mid-December, provided his company gets the proper zoning approvals.
“If all that falls into place, Mr. Watson is considering running a race meet starting in January till May 4,” Gessmann said. “A lot of ‘ifs’ in that last statement, but there is a chance for a race meet in January 2024.”
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