Page 73 - October 2023

“I am finding every angle I can come up with to make something happen in the very near future.”
– Lloyd Yother, President, Arizona Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association
Q. BECAUSE OF ALL THE UNCERTAINTY, WHAT ARE YOU HEARING FROM HORSEMEN AND FROM BREEDERS ABOUT THEIR PLANS?
A. They are all devastated. They have done this all their lives. Racing has been in Arizona forever, and that track (Turf Paradise) has been there for 67 years. Everybody is devastated and they are trying to figure out exactly what to do.
Breeders can’t pick up and move their stables like trainers can. I don’t know exactly what they are going to do. If horse racing goes away, I just don’t know. A lot of people stand horses (at stud) for other people in the state of Arizona, but if we don’t have racing, I’m sure they will move their horses. A lot of our breeders own their own stallions but all of that would go away without horse racing in the state.
We haven’t given up, we’re still in the fight. We’re trying to do the quickest thing we can to get horse racing back. But we also want to do things the correct way with the right people. We want to work with all the right people and interested parties to get it done.
Q. IS HAVING A RACE MEET AT ARIZONA DOWNS A POSSIBILITY?
A. Well, Arizona Downs’ race permit is in jeopardy because they didn’t race a meet in 2023. So, they can’t come back in as of now. We’re trying to do everything in our means to get racing back, including working with the interested parties that have contacted us and said they are interested. If we can get someone working with Arizona Downs to get that track back open, which I think we can do, it might take 30, 60,
90 days to make something happen there. Horse racing won’t start here again until January or early 2024 sometime in a best-case scenario.
Q. ARE YOU OPTIMISTIC THAT RACING IN ARIZONA IN EARLY 2024
IS A DISTINCT POSSIBILITY?
A. I am at this point, but I have been hoping
for six months that something will develop with Jerry. He has had two or three offers on the track that have fallen through. The groups the HBPA is dealing with (they have all contacted us) are
© Susan Bachelor, Speedhorse
horsemen. The party interested in Turf Paradise right now is a businessman, and that’s dangerous.
Q. WHAT COMES TO MIND WHEN YOU THINK OF HORSE RACING IN ARIZONA AND HOW IMPORTANT IT HAS BEEN TO YOU?
A. It’s devastating to me too. I have been in Arizona since 1979. I got into the business in 1982. I have a farm in Oklahoma that I raise racing Quarter Horses on, a large operation. I race in Arizona. It’s my home state. I don’t want racing to be at the end of the line and for horse racing to go away in Arizona. I don’t want that on my record, so to speak. I am finding every angle I can come up with to make something happen in the very near future. I don’t know what that is because the landscape keeps changing daily.
I don’t put much faith in anything happening with Turf Paradise at this point, but I absolutely have optimism. We have the horsemen’s backing and we are in this thing for the duration. We will revive horse racing at some point in time in Arizona.
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© Coady Photography