Page 60 - NMHBA Spring 2021

MEETING TIME
REPORT FROM JANUARY 2021
NM RACING COMMISSION MEETING
New Mexico Horse Breeders’ Association executive director Mary Barber gave the com- mission the NMHBA’s race-a-day report for the 28-day Zia Park meet in Hobbs, which ended December 23 and was cut back from its originally scheduled 54 days due to the state health restrictions necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. During the Zia Park meet, the track carded 143 New Mexico- bred races, 83 for Thoroughbreds and 60 for Quarter Horses. By comparison, 220 state- bred races were contested during the 2019 Zia Park meet, which consisted of 53 days of which152wereforThoroughbredsand68 were for Quarter Horses.
An average of 5.11 New Mexico-bred races per day were run during the 28-day Zia Park meet, an increase of 23 percent over the 4.15 state-bred races per day during the track’s 2019 season.
According to Ms. Barber, there were
743 starters in 74 New Mexico-bred Thoroughbred overnight races, an average
of 10.04 starters per race. On the Quarter Horse side, there were 384 starters in 40 New Mexico-bred overnight races, an average of 9.60 starters per race.
“Combined, 1,127 horses ran in 114 New Mexico-bred overnight races,” Ms Barber said. “This was an average of 9.89 horses per race.”
ALSO,DURINGTHEMEETING:
• Momentsofsilencewereobservedforthe
late Stan Sigman and Ken Corraza. The co- owner of Ruidoso Downs Racetrack and its Billy The Kid Casino, Mr. Sigman passed away on December 21. A graduate of West Texas State University in Canyon, he rose to the top of the business world as the chief executive officer and president of Cingular
Wireless and AT&T and was regarded as a visionary in the wireless technology field. In 2017, Mr. Sigman was part of the group that purchased Ruidoso Downs Racetrack and he served as its chairman.
Mr. Corraza served on the New Mexico Racing Commission. A Thoroughbred race- horse owner and breeder, he died of natural causes on December 15. Mr. Corraza was
a graduate of the University of New Mexico College of Pharmacy and was the owner of The Medicine Chest Pharmacy in Albuquerque. He practiced pharmacy for 57 years.
• Duringherchairwoman’sreport,Beverly Bourguet mentioned that the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) was signed into law, and she added that the New Mexico Attorney General’s office would
be looking into whether there are conflicts with state laws. HISA will go into effect in July 2022, and the items that the Authority will be in charge of include anti-doping, medications, and track safety.
Commission executive director Ismael “Izzy” Trejo told the commission that Anna Vigil has been hired and will serve as the commission’s purchasing agent. He added that he will be going in front of the legisla- tive committee that determines the commis- sion’s budget on January 26.
• Duringhispresentationtothecommis- sion,NewMexicoHorsemen’sAssociation executive director Richard Erhard thanked the NMHBA and Ruidoso Downs general manager Jeff True for their work on the Advance Deposit Wagering bill.
“This bill will modernize and digitize our industry and bring us into the 21st century,” said Mr. Erhard. “There are three reasons
this will be good for New Mexico -- first, it will expand the market and bring in new business; second, it will maintain what we currently have; and third, it will stop the poaching of our product by the large ADW groups like TwinSpires and TVG.”
“This program will give New Mexico citizens the opportunity to bet on New Mexico racing, something that is currently unavailable,” he added.
Mr. True agreed that the ADW bill was important for New Mexico’s horse racing industry.
“This(advancedepositwagering)isnot a new idea or concept; it is a fundamental staple of wagering in North America and represents a third of all wagering on horse racing,” he said. “But New Mexico has remained silent on this topic. The state hasn’t been able to stop New Mexico resi- dents from wagering on out-of-state races, but it has been able to keep them from wagering on New Mexico races.”
“ADW wagering has grown significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Mr. True added. “It is imperative that horse rac- ing in our state grows its digital presence. If we had ADW in 2020, we would have seen better returns.”
NMHBA president Tom Goncharoff saidthattheassociation’sboardoftrustees votedunanimouslytosupportthebill.Mr. Erhard added that four of the state’s five racetracks support the bill.
“It is a shame that we did not have this in 2020; it is long overdue,” Mr. Goncharoff said. “Other states have benefited greatly from this technology, and New Mexico has missed out.”
REPORT FROM FEBRUARY 2021
NM RACING COMMISSION MEETING
The New Mexico Racing Commission held its monthly meeting on Thursday, February 18.
During the meeting, Sam Bregman was unanimously elected chairman, replacing Beverly Bourguet. A resident of Albuquerque, Mr. Bregman co-founded the Bregman
Law Firm PC in 1998. He also served as
the assistant district attorney for the State
of New Mexico from 1994-97 and on the Albuquerque City Council from 1995-99. He holds a BA in Economics from the University
of New Mexico and a JD from the UNM School of Law.
New Mexico Horse Breeders’ Association executive director Mary Barber didn’t give the commission her monthly regular report, as there has been no live racing in the state since Zia Park ended its fall meet on December 23. However, Ms. Barber did discuss the results of the association’s board of trustees’ election and the success of the association’s online stal- lion service auction.
Richard Erhard, executive director of
the New Mexico Horsemen’s Association,
told the commission that he hoped it would support advance deposit wagering legisla- tion. Mr. Erhard said that the ADW bill was unanimously approved in the first legislative committee. He added that an amendment
was added to the bill in hopes that all five racetracks would support it. The change was made so that instead of funds being distrib- uted according to the current year’s race dates,
58 New Mexico Horse Breeder