Page 103 - NM Spring 2019

MEETING TIME
REPORT FROM JANUARY 2019
NM RACING COMMISSION MEETING
By Michael Cusortelli--The New Mexico Racing Commission held its monthly meeting in the board room at the commission offices in Albuquerque on Thursday, January 17.
New Mexico Horse Breeders’ Association executive director Mary Barber gave the commission the NMHBA’s race-a-day report for the 53-day Zia Park meet, which ended December 19, 2018. During the season, the track carded 229 New Mexico-bred races,
148 for Thoroughbreds and 81 for Quarter Horses. By comparison, 227 state-bred races were contested during the track’s 2017 season, which ran 56 days. Of those 227 state-bred races, 158 were for Thoroughbreds and 69 were for Quarter Horses.
An average of 4.32 New Mexico-bred races per day were run during the 2018 Zia Park meet, an increases of 7 percent over the 4.05 state-bred races per day run during the track ‘s ’17 season.
Also, during the Zia Park meet, which opened September 22, a total of 399 New Mexico-breds competed in open overnight races, of which 103 (31 Thoroughbreds and 72 Quarter Horses) finished first, second or third. Bonuses totaling $142,413.50 were paid to the owners of these horses.
Ms. Barber also gave the commission the NMHBA’s race-a-day report for the first eight days of the Sunland Park meet, which opened December 28. During this period, the track carded 38 New Mexico-bred races, 28 for Thoroughbreds and 10 for Quarter Horses. By comparison, 36 state-bred races were contested during the first eight days of the track’s 2017- 18 season, of which 26 were for Thoroughbreds and 10 were for Quarter Horses.
An average of 4.75 New Mexico-bred races per day were run during the first eight days of the Sunland Park meet, an increase of 6 percent over the 4.50 state-bred races per day run during the first eight days of the track’s 2017-18 season.
Ms. Barber also invited the commissioners to attend the NMHBA’s annual meeting and Zia Awards banquet, which will take place on January 24 in Albuquerque.
During his report to the commission, John Beech, regional manager for The Jockeys’ Guild, said that Zia Park closed its meeting “on a good note.” On Sunland Park, he said, “The track is in excellent shape, and I’ve had no complaints from any of the riders. They’ve had a good start to their meet.”
During his report to the commission, New Mexico Horsemen’s Association (www.newmexicohorsemen.com) executive director Pat Bingham said that, in 2018, there were 11,241 Thoroughbred starters and 9,680 Quarter Horse starters in New Mexico, and that purses totaled more than $24 million for Thoroughbreds and $16 mil- lion for Quarter Horses.
Also, Mr. Bingham reported that there were 2,461 races run in the state last year, of which 57 percent were for Thoroughbreds and 43 percent were for Quarter Horses.
“That is within the ballpark of the 60/40 (Thoroughbred/Quarter Horse) split that people in this state have talked about for years,” Mr. Bingham said. “Also, the purse and starter figures show that we have a viable industry in our state.
“If I recall, we had more starters in 2017, but that’s how it goes sometimes,” he added. “Our goal has always been to recruit new owners. We’re getting to a critical point
in terms of the average age of most of our owners. Florida has a great program going to recruit new owners, and California is also doing what it can.”
New Mexico Racing Commission execu- tive director Ismael “Izzy” Trejo introduced the commission’s newest staff member, paralegal Kira Frazier. He also reported that he attended the opening of the Sunland Park meet and met with track superintendent Johnie Jamison.
“I’m confident that the track will be safer for both horses and jockeys,” Mr. Trejo said.
Mr. Trejo also reported that he will be attending a Racing Medication and Testing Consortium meeting in Miami, Florida.
“One of the things I’ll be discussing is
our out-of-competition testing program,”
he added. “Dr. (Dionne) Benson (RMTC executive director and chief operations officer) thinks that our out-of-competition testing program is the best and most aggressive in North America, and the proof of that is our number of positive tests has been decreasing.”
ALSO AT THE MEETING:
• The commission approved Sheryl M. Edgar to be the auditor for Sunland Park, which opened its meet on December 28.
• SunRay Park director of racing Lonnie Barber reported that purses will increase sub- stantially for his track’s 2019 season, which will run 17 days from May 3 - June 2.
“For example, purses for our maiden spe- cial weight races will increase from $15,000 to $20,000,” he said.
• Dustin Dix, director of racing operations at Sunland Park, said that the track was look- ing at changing its rules regarding claimed horses at the track.
“Horsemen are concerned that horses claimed are being taken out of state, so we’re looking at changing the ‘claiming jail’ rules,” he said. “We’ve noticed that the way the cur- rent rules are written, its affecting certain cat- egories of our races that are light in entries.”
• The commission approved the 2019 stall applications for the Albuquerque Downs meet, which opens June 28.
• The commission approved an amended stakes schedule for Ruidoso Downs, which opens its 54-day meet on May 10. Jeff
True, vice president and general manager of Ruidoso Downs, also reported on the track’s ownership change, as partners Stan Sigman, Narciso “Chicho” Flores, and Johnny Trotter bought out the ownership stock of the estate of John Andreini.
Mr. True also said that Ruidoso Downs’ 2019 condition book shows a change in the scale of weights for Quarter Horses. This year, the scale of weights will be: 122 pounds for 2-year-olds, 124 for 3-year-olds, and 128 for older horses.
“I’m confident that the track will be safer for both horses and jockeys”
SPRING 2019 101