Page 58 - NMHBA Spring 2021

RECAP
ZIA PARK MEET RECAP
The track ended its 30-day meet on December 23.
Zia Park ended its 30-day Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse meet on Wednesday, December 23. Luis Negron was Zia Park’s leading Thoroughbred jockey with 26
wins from 111 mounts, eight more than runner-up Duane “Lefty” Sterling, who rode the winners of 18 races from 61 mounts. Sterling led all Zia Park’s Thoroughbred riders in mount earnings at $225,113.
Zia Park’s leading Thoroughbred
trainer, Nancy Summers, sent out 19 winners from 36 starters, winning at a 53-percent clip. Runners-up Todd Fincher, Casey Lambert, and Justin Evans saddled 13 winners. Summers also led all of the track’s Thoroughbred trainers in starter earnings
at $213,616.
The partnership of R. Dwain Yarbar
and Greg Green was Zia Park’s leading Thoroughbred owner with five wins from 12 starters, one more than runners-up Margaret V. Bloss and Champion Racing Stable. Bloss, who won with all four of her starters, was the
meet’s leading Thoroughbred owner in purse earnings at $81,600.
On the Quarter Horse side, Hector Aldrete led all jockeys with 11 wins from 87 mounts, one more than runner-up Adrian Ramos, who rode the winners of 10 races from 63 mounts. Aldrete also led all Quarter Horse jockeys in mount earnings at $319,556.
Ivan Tafoya topped all Zia Park’s Quarter Horse trainers with seven wins from 41 starters, one more than runners-up Fred Danley and Sergio Ibarra. Jackie Riddle was the meet’s leading Quarter Horse trainer in starter earnings at $199,188.
Zia Park’s leading Quarter Horse owners -- Mario A. Ortega, Victor Lozano, and Edilberto Estrada Cano -- won three races. William and Mary Robertson led all Quarter Horse owners in purse earnings at $178,569 from just two starters.
Zia Park’s 2020 meet was originally scheduled to start on September 21 and was scheduled for 53 days, but the start of the season was delayed until October 5 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19
restrictions put in place by New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham forced the meet to be temporarily suspended again on November 16; it started up again on December 1.
For the first time since its inception in 2005, Zia Park’s New Mexico Cup program was spread out over two days; seven state-bred Quarter Horse stakes were run on Monday, November 9, followed by eight New Mexico- bred Thoroughbred stakes -- each offering purses of $50,000 -- on Wednesday, November 11. The meet’s richest race, the 350-yard, $360,345 New Mexico Cup Futurity (RG2), was won by William and Mary Robinson’s
Icy Morning Breeze, a homebred daughter
of Winners Version. Hector Aldrete rode the brown filly for trainer Jackie Riddle.
Zia Park canceled its annual “Land of Enchantment Day” Thoroughbred stakes program, which is traditionally held the day before Thanksgiving.
Zia Park’s 2021 meet, scheduled for 36 days, is slated to open September 27 and run through December 15, subject to change due to the pandemic.
believe we could have run in New Mexico and done it the right way. People are getting out of the business and it’s tough to see that happen to good people.”
Ruidoso Downs and The Downs at Albuquerque conducted live race meets last summer but did so with limited attendance and their casinos remaining closed. Zia Park also conducted a live meet with reduced purses without its casino open, though a statewide public health order related to the pandemic forced that track to suspend live racing opera- tions for several weeks in November.
SunRay Park near Farmington is the next New Mexico track scheduled to conduct live racing. The 17-date SunRay meet is slated to begin April 23 and run through May 24.
SUNLAND PARK UPDATE
Sunland Park Racetrack’s 2020-21 Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse meet was officially canceled on February 18.
A motion was made to cancel the meet during a meeting of the New Mexico Racing Commission, and it passed. The Sunland Park meet was scheduled to open December 26 and run for 47 dates through March 30. However, during a special commission meeting held on December 4, the commission voted unanimously to allow the track to delay the start of its season by 30 days. When the track’s 2020-21 dates
were originally awarded by the commission last summer, they were done so with the proviso that they were “subject to change due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.”
Sunland Park’s 2019-20 ended in mid-March at the onset of the pandemic. This caused the cancellation of its signature Thoroughbred race, the Grade 3, $800,000 Sunland Derby, which offers qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby (G1) at Churchill Downs, as well as two key stakes for New Mexico-breds: the Copper Top Futurity (R) for state-bred 2-year-old Thoroughbreds, and the New Mexican Spring Futurity (RG2) for state- bred 2-year-old Quarter Horses.
Sunland Park’s casino has remained closed due to the pandemic. The track reopened its simulcast operations in June, but that reopening
lasted just a few days. Sunland Park’s uncer-
tain status regarding live racing caused several prominent locally based horsemen to shift their operations to other states. For example, Todd Fincher was granted 24 stalls at Sam Houston Race Park for that track’s 2021 Thoroughbred meet, and Justin Evans relocated to Turf Paradise in Phoenix, Arizona.
“We’ll spend a good portion of the winter in Arizona,” Evans told Felix Chavez of the
El Paso Times in December. “I’ll look at Sam Houston as well for some stakes races. I’ll keep my New Mexico-bred horses ready in New Mexico if Sunland Park does open. It’s been tough on everyone.”
“It’s been a difficult time for so many in this industry,” Fincher told Chavez. “But I really
56 New Mexico Horse Breeder