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MEETING TIME
REPORT FROM AUGUST 2021
NM RACING COMMISSION MEETING
The New Mexico Racing Commission held its monthly meeting in the board room at the commission offices in Albuquerque on Thursday, August 19.
New Mexico Horse Breeders’ Association executive director Mary Barber gave the commission the NMHBA’s race-a-day
report for the first 34 days of the Ruidoso Downs meet, which opened May 28. During the first 34 days of the meet, the track carded 125 New Mexico-bred races, 52 for Thoroughbreds and 73 for Quarter Horses. By comparison, 142 state-bred races were contested during the first 37 days of Ruidoso Downs’ 2020 season. Of those 142 state-bred races, 65 were for Thoroughbreds and 77 were for Quarter Horses.
An average of 3.68 New Mexico-bred races per day were run during the first 34 days of the Ruidoso Downs meet, a decrease of 4 percent from the 3.84 state-bred races per day run during the first 37 days of the track’s ’20 season.
Also, during the first 28 days of the 2021 Ruidoso Downs meet, a total of 251 New Mexico-breds competed in open overnight races, of which 82 (48 Thoroughbreds and 34 Quarter Horses) finished first, second or third. Bonuses totaling $45,049.60 were paid to the owners of these horses.
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During his report, NMRC chairman Sam Bregman thanked the commission’s staff for a job well done, and he thanked the commission’s stewards for doing a difficult job well. He also acknowledged Don Cook, President of Racing at Albuquerque Downs, for the work that he’s done getting the track ready for its 2021 meet.
“I attended the races last night, and it was a great show they put on,” Mr. Bregman said of Albuquerque Downs.
During his report to the commission, NMRC executive director Ismael “Izzy” Trejo acknowledged that the NMRC was having difficulty finding stewards to serve at the Albuquerque Downs meet. He convinced longtime racing official David Hooper to
come out of retirement and serve. Prior to his retirement in September 2020, Mr. Hooper had served for six years as the chief state steward
at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minnesota. He has also worked as an association or
state steward in Kentucky, Arizona, Idaho, Louisiana, Oregon, Washington, and Texas, and in the early 1990s he served as coordinator of the University of Arizona Race Track Industry Program.
Mr. Trejo also announced that Victor Escobar Jr. has left New Mexico to take a
job in Oklahoma, and that longtime New Mexico steward Ron Walker will be retiring in December “unless I can talk him out of it.”
Mr. Trejo added that the pre-meet inspection at Albuquerque Downs went well and that track management has done a fantastic job despite a shortage of workers. He also mentioned that, at Ruidoso Downs, wagering handle is up 94 percent off-track and 64 percent on-track, and he congratulated Ruidoso Downs general manager Ethan Linder for the track’s early-season successes.
Also at the meeting, the commission:
• Approved Ron Walker, Reese Howard, and Ruben Rivera to serve as the board
of stewards at the 36-day Zia Park meet, which runs September 26-December 14. Gerald Richards will serve as the track’s substitute steward.
• Approved Dave Hooper, John Adams, and Gerald Richards to serve as stewards at the 27-day Albuquerque Downs meet, which opened August 14. Ron Walker, Reese Howard, and Ruben Rivera will serve as the track’s substitute stewards.
• Commission chief financial officer Amber Trujillo discussed her preliminary request for the commission’s $3.491-million budget. She said that the commission was asking for a 4-percent increase to make up for the 4 percent lost last year. The commission has added three permanent positions.
• Approved Sunland Park’s 2021-22 purse schedule, stakes schedule, condition book and nomination forms.
• Approved Ruidoso Downs’ request to remove Friday, September 3, from the track’s live racing schedule, as the track plans to start the Ruidoso Select Yearling Sale earlier than usual. Ruidoso Downs’ general manager Ethan Linder said that the track would add races to existing dates to make up for the loss of September 3.
• Approved Albuquerque Downs’ request to increase overnight purses by 10 percent. The next New Mexico Racing
Commission monthly meeting is scheduled for Thursday, September 9, at the commission office in Albuquerque. For more information, visit the commission’s website at http://nmrc.state.nm.us, or call (505) 222-0700.
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