Page 93 - June 2021

Our goal is to develop Ruidoso Downs to offer exciting entertainment opportunities that will draw people from all areas of this part of the country to fill the stands and enjoy horse racing at its finest. –Ethan Linder
served as general manager from 1996-2007. Baugh left the track, known industrywide as The Mountain, to take over Penn National Gaming’s Zia Park in Hobbs, New Mexico. Baugh managed Zia through 2012, before going to Sunland Park in February 2013.
Prior to his career in New Mexico, Baugh had spent 11 years at Phillips Ranch, where former AQHA President B.F. Phillips Jr. stood Dash For Cash and other leading sires on the ranch at Frisco, Texas.
“I was part of the team that started work- ing on gaming legislation in New Mexico
in 1994, and we worked on it until the state passed it in 1997,” Baugh said. “It was some- thingthatwealllearnedaswewent,butthank goodness Mr. Hubbard (who owned Ruidoso Downs at the time) had the patience and expe- rience to get it done.
“We’ve all learned a lot through the years, so the number one thing we’ll be looking at
is efficiencies at Ruidoso,” he said. “We’re looking at the product on the casino floor. As far as the racing product, Good Lord, Ruidoso has the Triple Crown and the best Quarter Horses there are. The caliber of horses, the caliber of owners and trainers that come to Ruidoso – you can’t beat it. But we’re going to do everything we can to improve it.”
Ruidoso Downs operated its 2020 racing season in the face of challenges from the global pandemic. Opened on May
28, the 2021 season spans 15 weeks and a total of 47 days of live Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred racing.
“Everybody’s goal at Ruidoso Downs has always been taking racing to the next level,” Baugh said. “Mr. Trotter, the Sigman family and Chicho Flores want to move this place for- ward. That’s their goal, and we’ll do whatever we can to help them get there. We want to be all the help that we can and help the industry excel and keep moving forward.”
On Monday, May 24, 2021, the management teamnamedEthanLinder,anativeofShelbyville, Indiana, as the new General Manager of Ruidoso Downs. Linder came to Ruidoso Downs with
a strong resume detailing years of experience in the resort and entertainment industry, as well as in racetrack marketing and management. Most recently he was Director of Marketing at Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino, a position he held from 2014 to 2021, under the leadership of Rick Baugh, who also is the father of Ethan’s wife, Sumer. Ethan and Sumer are parents to sons Nash, 8, and Knox, 6.
“This 140-acre property sits in the midst of some of the most beautiful mountain
scenery in the state of New Mexico. Our goal is to develop Ruidoso Downs to offer exciting entertainment opportunities that will draw people from all areas of this part of the country to fill the stands and enjoy horseracingatitsfinest.” Linder’svision
for Ruidoso Downs Racetrack and Casino is to see it become a multi-faceted year-round entertainment destination. “This place has so much potential. Can it be that and more? We believe that it can!”
Johnny Trotter agrees.
“Jeff True had chosen to go in a different path, and he offered his letter of resignation,” Trotter said. “We accepted it and we wish him the best. We expect nothing but bigger and better things in store for Ruidoso racing, and we don’t see anything but a brighter future for Ruidoso Downs.”
“I was part of the team that started working on gaming legislation in New Mexico in 1994, and we worked on it until the state passed it in 1997.” – Rick Baugh
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