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“The goal was to make sure that our time
of running and owning Ruidoso solidifies its position and makes it a sustainable operation for the Quarter Horse industry in its entirety,” he adds. “We impact the breeding in Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Louisiana and California, and not just our own sale but the Texas sale and the Heritage sale and the Louisiana sale. We’re
a piece of this industry and we take that legacy and responsibility very seriously. So that was the direction from the owners: Run the meet and we’ll figure it out in the long term.”
According to the El Paso Times, racing is New Mexico’s third largest economic driver, bringing $500 million into the state last year.
“We’re one of the few tracks in the country that relies heavily on on-track handle to provide purses and revenues, because we’re a tourist destination,” Jeff continues. “People come here to run horses but also to get away from the heat, to recreate, to enjoy their summer. All of those things combined are part of what makes ‘Ruidoso the racetrack’ work, but also, the racetrack makes ‘Ruidoso the town’ work, too. So, with all of that combined, we have operated throughout the summer with the knowledge that what we’re doing is a long- term move.”
“Another factor is how you’d ever determine who would run in the Derby next year,” says Ruidoso co-owner Johnny Trotter. “One of
the stipulations on the Derby entry is that you make payments (all along) to qualify as a Derby contender, so if we didn’t run it this year, how would we determine who would run next year?”
Evaluating The Unknown
As soon as COVID-19 broke out, Jeff and track owners Narciso “Chicho” Flores, Stan Sigman and Johnny Trotter discussed how to proceed. “Not knowing what was ahead was the worst thing,” says Chicho. “You can plan for things you know are coming, but it’s hard to plan when you don’t.”
“When the enormity of the situation started to become known in early- to mid-March, Sunland Park closed immediately on March 15,” Jeff says. “We immediately thought, Well, wait
a minute, horses that leave Sunland Park come to Ruidoso. If they shut down in mid-March and we don’t open until May 22, what’s going to happen? So, we never thought this thing would last past May. We didn’t think our meet was in jeopardy.” “In March, the issue was going to be racing without spectators,” Stan says. “The business side (of the issue) would say don’t race, but we knew that owners and breeders had bred horses that
as babies were nominated for the Triple Crown. There were horses bought as yearlings and put into training for thousands of dollars towards the Triple Crown, and we knew that if we didn’t hold those races, there would be thousands of owners and breeders and horsemen that would be impacted.
“We decided that the responsible thing for us to do would be to petition the governor to allow us to race without spectators,” Stan adds. “That was our commitment and we had to work with her to allow two to three thousand people to come into Ruidoso to work on the back side — to bring these horses in and prep them for starting races.”
“As the COVID numbers continued to
get worse, we found ourselves in mid-April, when we’d normally be opening the barn area for horsemen,” Jeff says. “We committed to protocols of security, daily temperature checks, distancing, masks and so forth to reassure the governor that we wouldn’t be bringing the pandemic into New Mexico from other states.
“We erected a facility out on the highway and every day, 300–400 horsemen went through that line to get banded before they entered the backside,” Jeff adds.
“Everyone had to be masked on the racetrack, in the paddocks, and inside the jocks’ room. Normally there are 57 lockers in the jocks’ room. We took over the lounge and the silks room and spread those 57 lockers into the entire facility to give the jocks more space.”
Johnny Trotter, co-owner of Ruidoso Downs
Stan Sigman, co-owner of Ruidoso Downs
Chicho Flores, co-owner of Ruidoso Downs
Jeff True, president and general manager of Ruidoso Downs
SPEEDHORSE October 2020 47