Page 80 - NMHBA Summer 2017

• Commission vice chair Gayla McCulloch of Farmington reported on the commission’s race dates committee meeting, which was held on June 14.
“The meeting went well, and all race dates (for 2018) were settled except for SunRay Park,” she said. “SunRay had originally applied for a 36-day season but shortened their request to 33.
“(Ruidoso Downs executive) Shaun Hubbard brought up the concept of purse-sharing between tracks, which wasn’t supported,” Ms. McCulloch added. “We also discussed the pos- sibility of eliminating overlaps so we don’t have more than one track racing at a time. We also talked about hav- ing enough horses to fill our races, acknowledging that foal crops have declined.
“We have to fight these issues every year,” she said. “If we are going to thrive as an industry, we are going to have to look at things differently in the future.”
Commission chairman Ray Willis of Roswell said that the New Mexico rac- ing industry has a chance to improve its product and should take advantage of the opportunity.
“Texas has issues, and so does California,” Mr. Willis said. “We have year-round racing in our state. We have several good opportunities, and now is a good time to take advantage of them. It’s the mission of this commission
to make sure racing is beneficial to all stakeholders.”
The following race dates were approved for 2018:
• Sunland Park (72 days), December 15-April 17
• SunRay Park (33 days), April 21-June 18. The meet will last nine weeks, with the track running three days a week for the first weekend, and three days per week for the last two weekends.
• Ruidoso Downs (47 days), May 25-September 3. The track will run a four days during its first weekend, which includes the Memorial Day holiday,
and four days during its final weekend, which includes the Labor Day holiday. The rest of the meet will consist of three-day weeks.
• Albuquerque Downs (38 days), June 29-September 1
• New Mexico State Fair at Albuquerque Downs (17 days), September 2-23.
• Zia Park (56 days), September 8-December 11
“Going forward, I think we should have race dates committee meetings every month, or at least every two months,” Ms. McCulloch said. “If we don’t get on top of these issues we have, then I guarantee we’ll be going through the same things next year.”
• New Mexico Horsemen’s Association (www.newmexicohorsemen.com) execu- tive director Pat Bingham reported that the economic impact study currently being conducted by the University of New Mexico’s economics department will be conducted in two stages.
“The first stage will focus on the horse racing industry’s current impact on the state’s economy,” Mr. Bing- ham said. “The second stage will look at future impacts and project where we might be five, 10, even 15 years from now. We expect the first part
of the impact study to come out in September.”
• Commission executive director Ismael “Izzy” Trejo gave the commission his monthly report.
“I was at Ruidoso Downs last week- end, and they had a great weekend of racing with the rarity of two dead heats (for the win) in two Grade 1 races in two days,” he said. “I also visited Sun- Ray Park recently and had an informal chat with horsemen. I met with (general manager) Brad (Boehm) and (director of racing) Lonnie (Barber) and sat in the racing office and saw how they had to scramble to fill a nine-race card. I watched the race office staff hustle and the horseman come through to make the card go.”
Mr. Trejo also reported on the pre- season walk-through at Albuquerque Downs, which opens its 58-day meet on June 24.
“The stewards’ office has been reno- vated, and it’s plain to see that (track president) Paul Blanchard has invested much of the track’s profits back into the facility,” he added. “I’m optimistic that it will be a great meet.”
Also at the meeting:
• The commission announced its schedule of regular monthly meetings for the rest of the year. All meetings will be held in Albuquerque unless otherwise noted:
Thursday, July 13 (at Ruidoso Downs) Thursday, August 17
Thursday, September 14
Thursday, October 12
Thursday, November 16.
• The commission approved the establishment of a race review
committee consisting of Jerry Nicodemus, Harold Payne, Kenneth Hart, and Dr. Scot Waterman (alternate), whose purpose will be to review race appeals before they are brought to the full five-member commission.
• The commission approved Dr.
Alan Chastain to serve as its out-of- competition veterinarian and Dr. Scot Waterman to serve as its equine medical director for Fiscal Year 2018.
• The commission approved Dr. Rodney Taylor to serve as state veterinarian for the 58-day Albuquerque Downs/New Mexico State Fair meet, which runs June 24-September 24.
• The commission approved Sunland Park’s 2017-18 stakes schedule, which will basically be the same as last year. The only major exception will be
that the New Mexico State Racing Commission Stakes (R) purse will be increased to $100,000 and will be run on Sunland Derby Day, March 25. The La Coneja Stakes (R) for fillies and mares will be moved from Sunland Derby Day to March 17.
• SunRay Park director of racing Lonnie Barber discussed his track’s difficulty filling races during its 2017 meet.
“We had to cancel two stakes due to lack of entries, and we ran one New Mexico-bred 2-year-old stakes with six head -- five first-time starters and one maiden,” he said. “We’re going to take a look at our stakes schedule for next year. We’re going to meet with the horsemen and breeders to see what we can do to get these races to fill.
“We’re looking at maybe going to a Saturday-through-Tuesday schedule for next year, and maybe switching our all- Quarter Horse day to either Saturdays or Sundays,” Mr. Barber added.
The next New Mexico Racing Com- mission monthly meeting is scheduled for Thursday, July 13, at Ruidoso Downs. For more information, visit the commission’s website at http://nmrc. state.nm.us, or call (505) 222-0700.
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