Page 26 - New Mexico Horse Breeder Summer 2018

24 New Mexico Horse Breeder
New Mexico State Fair
Has Rich History By Michael Cusortelli
With the start of the New Mexico State Fair portion of The Downs at Albuquerque meet just a few weeks away, it’s a good time to look back at the history of the Fair -- which began
in 1881 (before New Mexico became a state) as the New Mexico Territorial Fair -- and horse racing at the Fair.
The first fair was held at a park on the corner of Rio Grande and Central, which was then Main and Railroad. World War I caused a break
in the annual event from 1917-38.
The current iteration of the State Fair will be celebrating its 80th
anniversary this year. The first of the modern fairs was held in 1938 at its current location in the heart of Albuquerque, but at that time it was on the far eastern edge of town. Admission was 35 cents for adults, 15 cents for children, and the parking rate was set at 25 cents, which was the new federal minimum hourly wage at the time. The population of Albuquerque was 54,000
then, and the Fair drew an average of 6,000-8,000 visitors daily.
The original Fairgrounds opened with 186 acres, but additional parcels were purchased bringing the space now known as Expo New Mexico to 236 acres. In the beginning, most of the events and entertainment -- including the nationally famous rodeo -- were held in
front of the racetrack grandstand and the infield.
That changed with the opening of Tingley Coliseum in 1957. Located just north of the
racetrack grandstand, the iconic arena has played host to such world-class entertainers as Elvis Presley, Tina Turner, KISS, Metallica, Willie Nelson, Garth Brooks, and the Doobie Brothers.
But it’s horse racing at The Downs that annually drawn the most visitors to the Expo New Mexico site. Current New Mexico Horse Breeders’ Association first vice president Jay Taylor, a native of Albuquerque, has fond memories of attending the races with his family.
“My dad claimed his first horse in 1957,” Taylor recalls. “He won four straight races with him, but he lost him in a claiming race for twice what he had claimed the horse for. He was hooked. Back then if you won a race, you had to walk across the track to get your picture taken in front of the tote board.
“I started selling Cokes at the races two or three years later,” he adds. “I got my paper Coca-Cola hat signed by many of the performers who played at the Coliseum. One year, when I was about 12 years old, I bumped into Red Skelton while he was rehearsing at the Coliseum. There was nobody else around, and he stopped me and talked to me. He said, ‘You have freckles just like me’, then he took my hat and signed it.”
The New Mexico State Fair and its horse races drew horseman and race fans from all over the state and the region, including California, Arizona, Texas, and Colorado.
“Back then, it was the one great show that New Mexico had every year,” Taylor remembers. “The races were packed. Most of the time, there was standing room only in the grandstands. There were no casinos back then, and it was one of the few places around where people could legally gamble.”
Today, the New Mexico State Fair is annually ranked among the top five fairs in the U.S. in terms of attendance and attractions. This year’s races at The Downs at Albuquerque start on June 29 and run through September 23. The State Fair portion of the track’s 55-date season will take place during the traditional fair dates in September.
Tingley Coliseum opened just north of the racetrack grandstand in 1957.