Ruidoso Downs will stop offering Thoroughbred racing starting this year due to the aftermath of wildfires and flooding that wreaked havoc at the New Mexico racetrack in 2024. Pending regulatory approval, the track will conduct an exclusive Quarter Horse racing meet for its upcoming season and beyond.
The decision to eliminate Thoroughbred racing will end nearly 80 years of dual-breed competition. Getting to this point began last June when two wildfires threatened the area around the resort village of Ruidoso, N.M., ravaging neighborhoods and forests. The scorched land became susceptible to flash floods that poured into parts of the infield, racetrack, and backstretch areas at Ruidoso Downs.
Initial damage from flooding impacted the Thoroughbred track but left the Quarter Horse straightaway largely unscathed. Racing resumed at the track July 19 but was interrupted the next day by more flash flooding that caused two bridges near the track's entrance to collapse. The final races of the day were canceled and track management shifted the race meet to Albuquerque Downs.
"The floods from last summer have left us with having to make decisions that are realistic, timely, and financially responsible," said Ruidoso Downs' general manager Rick Baugh in a release. "Knowing we would likely be unable to master a full reconstruction of the track that would allow for Thoroughbred racing, we are taking these circumstances that were beyond our control, and we are moving forward with our focus on Quarter Horse racing."
Baugh said that reconstruction is currently underway at Ruidoso to ensure the track will be ready by opening day, May 23.
"After hearing the story (from Ruidoso Downs) in an executive session this morning, I think we fully understand the decision that they're making," said New Mexico Racing Commission executive director Izzy Trejo. "They have a good brand. They can sell their simulcast signal all around the world. It's a Quarter Horse racetrack. This commission's mindset is that we need to seek an alternative to keep the Thoroughbred racing industry going in New Mexico."
Simulcasting in New Mexico has been in a state of disarray since January 2024, when a slew of horsemen's associations, including in Kentucky, withdrew their permission for the racetracks in their states to send simulcast signals to New Mexico tracks. The New Mexico Horsemen's Association has been feuding with the New Mexico Racing Commission because it feels it has been denied its position as representative of all horsemen statewide. Horsemen's groups outside New Mexico see the commission's position as a violation of the Interstate Horseracing Act, which requires a representative horsemen's group to approve interstate simulcasting agreements. Such constraints on simulcasting in New Mexico have severely undercut much-needed income for the state's Thoroughbred tracks.
Without Thoroughbred racing at Ruidoso Downs, which runs through Sept. 1, there will be no Thoroughbred racing in New Mexico this summer until the Albuquerque Downs meet begins Aug. 28. Preceding Ruidoso Downs' summer meet, Thoroughbred racing takes place at SunRay Park in Farmington, N.M., until May 25. Sunland Park's current meeting runs through April 6.
Graded stakes-winning trainer Todd Fincher, a Ruidoso regular every year since 1992, feels the logical move is to transfer summer Thoroughbred racing to Albuquerque Downs.
"If Albuquerque will step up and start their meet a little earlier, like the first of July, and run straight Thoroughbreds, I think Albuquerque could have an outstanding Thoroughbred meet," Fincher said. "It would work out for the best for the Quarter Horse people and the Thoroughbred people."
Fincher said since Ruidoso traditionally held only four to six Thoroughbred races a week, he didn't feel the track closing to Thoroughbreds was a drastic change for many horsemen. He said many New Mexico and Arizona horsemen shipped out during the summer to tracks such as Canterbury Park or Prairie Meadows regardless because of Ruidoso's limited options for Thoroughbreds.
"It's not that big of a deal other than we need a place to go basically and a place to run," Fincher said. "We go to Ruidoso every year thinking we're going to run and most of them don't get to anyway. You go to a straight Thoroughbred meet you've got an excellent chance you're going to get to race your horses. If it's handled correctly, it'll be the best thing for Quarter Horses, Thoroughbreds, and New Mexico racing in general.
"I think if people know they can run at Albuquerque and can be within six hours from their homes, that would benefit everybody," he continued. "People are going to have to make decisions but, if Albuquerque can get that out there early enough, they'll have a full barn area and great summer meet. I think you'd probably get 60-70% of the Turf Paradise (track in Phoenix that runs Nov. 11-May 3) barns. That's my opinion."
Trejo said the decision to open Albuquerque's meet early ultimately falls on the track's management.
"I think that's something that the racetrack should have good, frank discussions with the horsemen with to get done," Trejo said. "There's a lot of mending here that's needed in New Mexico. Good communication and good dialogue between the tracks and horsemen would be a great starting point.
"If the simulcast signals can be discussed and turned back on, that would also be a great start toward initiating the state of Thoroughbred racing here. New Mexico Thoroughbred racing is still part of New Mexico racing and we don't want to see it go away."
