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Powering Through
Despite this year’s COVID-related challenges, Ruidoso Downs maintained a steady stride with live racing.
by Diane Rice
2020: The year we’ll all remember. And probably not with any degree of fondness or nostalgia.
It was the year that COVID-19 pretty much shut down the world for months. The cost to industry, jobs and income was enormous. To many, the cost was catastrophic.
To racetracks nationwide, the cost was devastating. Meets were cancelled. Spectators were barred. Indoor dining was prohibited. Casinos, the lifeblood of horse racing purses, were shuttered.
Yet ownership and management at New Mexico’s Ruidoso Downs decided they had
an obligation to the horse owners who
had put their faith and their funds into Ruidoso racing — particularly the Triple Crown events (the Ruidoso, Rainbow and All American futurities and derbies and the inaugural Rainbow Oaks and All American Oaks for 3-year-old fillies).
They met their obligation with strength and courage, and although they took a huge financial hit for the season, they believe that hit was necessary to maintain the integrity of not only their organization, but also the industry as a whole.
Upholding An Obligation
In Ruidoso Downs owners’ eyes, the decision was clear. “When owners bought Ruidoso in 2017, it wasn’t about trying to cash a big gamble; it was about creating a place that the Quarter Horse industry can build on, as they have for the last 70 years,” says Jeff True, Ruidoso Downs’ president and general manager. “It’s not like
the current owners created what Ruidoso is.
They purchased a legacy. They purchased an institution in our business, and they recognize the responsibility that goes with that ownership, and that’s what running this race meet was about.
46 SPEEDHORSE October 2020