Page 92 - June 2021

RUIDOSO RESET
Ruidoso Downs Revamps its Management Team
by Richard Chamberlain & Susan Bachelor
Sunland Park and Ruidoso Downs have teamed to keep American Quarter Horse racing on the peak of The Mountain. Following the departure of former Ruidoso Downs general manager Jeff True, the ownership groups of the two tracks have agreed to utilize key Sunland employees, including Sunland Park general manager Rick Baugh, as consultants. The Sunland group will consult
on the racetrack and the Billy The Kid Casino, properties owned since 2017 by All American Ruidoso Downs Inc. Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino is owned by My Way Holdings LLC.
The change has been approved by the New Mexico Racing Commission and New Mexico Gaming Commission.
“We have signed a consulting agreement with Rick Baugh and My Way Holdings,” said Johnny Trotter, the managing partner of the Ruidoso ownership group. “The horse sale is completely separate from this transaction, and at this point, it looks like most of the employ- ment at Ruidoso is not going to change.”
All American Ruidoso Horse Sales Co. con- ducts the industry’s premiere yearling sale on the weekend preceding Labor Day, when the
track runs Quarter Horse racing’s richest event, the $3 million All American Futurity-G1.
All American Ruidoso Downs Inc. was formed as a group that included AQHA Past President Johnny Trotter, John Andreini, Stan Sigman and Chicho Flores. Andreini died
in 2018, and Sigman, who was the group’s managing partner, passed in December 2020, although the Sigman family is still involved in the partnership. Baugh will be working with Trotter in managing the track and casino.
It’s almost full circle for Baugh, who started working at Ruidoso Downs in 1991 and
90 SPEEDHORSE June 2021
Jana and Johnny Trotter