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A Bright
HORIZON
Quarter Horse industry insiders reveal their thoughts on the future of racing post-COVID-19.
by Diane Rice
At Sunland Park, the chef and the chaplain are cooking and feeding at least one hot meal to people in the barn area each day, horsemen have bought loads
of hay for horses in need, and the Fulton Family Foundation has donated $2 million to state charities that will benefit small businesses and food banks.
OnApril 15, President Donald Trump WHAT WE’VE SEEN
stated that the United States had passed the peak of new COVID-19 cases. Following weeks of isolation due to federal-, state- and local-ordered mitigation efforts, we’re all eager to reopen the economy and reclaim our sense of “normal.”
On April 16, the president discussed guidelines for reopening commerce.
What does “reopening commerce” mean for the Quarter Horse racing industry? Speedhorse asked industry leaders from across the nation about the good they’ve seen come from the pandemic, and about what we can expect going into summer 2020.
Following are the observations, thoughts and goals of Izzy Trejo, executive director of the New Mexico Racing Commission; Spence Kidney, manager of Heritage Place; Jimmy Eller, manager of Granada Farms in Wheelock, Texas; Bruce Salard, executive director of the Louisiana Quarter Horse Breeders’ Association; Andrew Offerman, vice president of racing operations at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minnesota; and Orlando Gutierrez, director
of marketing at Los Alamitos Race Course in Cypress, California.
Each state’s racetracks and racing commissions have targeted their responses to their particular market’s needs and situations. Some tracks closed and furloughed their employees. Some remain open with no spectators. Some depend on simulcast
and off-track betting for revenue. Whatever the localized conditions required, Quarter Horse people delivered. Some delivered much more.
“At Sunland Park, the chef, Danny DeJerano, and the chaplain, Donald Stover, are cooking food provided by Sunland Park management and feeding at least one hot meal to people in the barn area each day,” says Izzy. “We’ve also heard of horsemen buying loads of hay for
those in need at the track. The Fulton Family Foundation, which owns Sunland Park, has donated $2 million to state charities that will benefit small businesses and food banks. And, they’ve been kind enough to allow the horses to continue to stable and train at Sunland Park.”
Spence adds, “We’ve been fortunate that our horses [in Oklahoma] are still racing
and earning money. In fact, with the limited amount of racing out there for people to bet on, the off-track handle has been off the charts [since the lockdowns began].”
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