By T. D. Thornton
Quarter Horse racing at Ruidoso Downs is expected to continue July 4 in the wake of wildfires and subsequent flooding from heavy rains that wiped out a portion of the track.
Ruidoso's home straight and frontside chutes, and a portion of the gallop-out on the clubhouse turn, are expected to be restored to racing condition in time for the holiday weekend.
But more extensive damage involving flood contamination down to the base in the area around the six-furlong chute has put Thoroughbred races on hold for the time being.
At an emergency meeting of the New Mexico Racing Commission (NMRC) July 2, horsemen, Ruidoso management, and other industry stakeholders discussed several contingencies for Thoroughbred racing, including transferring races for that breed to The Downs at Albuquerque, which is currently not racing and isn't supposed to start its scheduled two-month meet until Aug. 29.
Concerns over costs, staffing, and the availability of training for Thoroughbreds are all issues that must be considered before a decision gets made about either relocating 195 miles northwest to Albuquerque or waiting out what could be a weeks-long repair at Ruidoso.
A major unknown is a current forecast for continued rain, and the fact that a portion of a river (Ruidoso Rio) runs lengthwise through the track's infield nearest to the backside of the track.
Wildfires from mid-June not only forced a temporary evacuation of horses from Ruidoso, but scars from that burn exacerbated an existing storm runoff problem in the region, because the flames consumed vegetation that might have otherwise impeded the flow of water.
“It's really difficult for anything to be etched in stone because of the forecast in the region. We still have moisture in the air and potential rain on the horizon, especially [July 4],” NMRC executive director Izzy Trejo told TDN Wednesday.
“It can rain a few miles from the racetrack, and still affect the racetrack significantly because of that river that runs through the Ruidoso Downs property,” Trejo said.
“We're hoping it doesn't come down as hard as it did in a couple of locations this past week; hoping for some cooperation from Mother Nature so we can proceed with a game plan to keep racing going here in New Mexico,” Trejo said.
In addition to restoring the cushion and repairing the base where necessary, the El Paso Times reported that crews have been using excavators to widen and deepen the river channel that runs through the track's property to help handle future flooding.
As for the next steps in the process related to Thoroughbred racing, Trejo underscored that “there's nothing definitive,” and that contingency plans are a work in progress.
“We had an emergency meeting [Tuesday] to allow the licensees who are very concerned about what the future holds to speak to the leaders of the industry, the commissioners,” Trejo said.
“At the end of the meeting one of the plans was to possibly utilize the Downs at Albuquerque facility,” Trejo said. “But there are logistical things that need to be addressed in order to do that. The Downs at Albuquerque's management team was going to take it to the ownership to see if there's a viable avenue to do that. It's not set in stone whatsoever. It's going to take a little more dialogue.”
In the meantime, Trejo said, “Ruidoso's intending to run [July 4] from what I understand, as well as this weekend. There are Thoroughbred races that are scheduled, but in a discussion with Ruidoso Downs management [Tuesday], it appears evident that they will cancel all of the Thoroughbred races throughout the holiday weekend and modify the program to just be Quarter Horses. That request for approval has not been presented to the commission yet [as of midday July 3], so I'm not saying that's what's going to happen. That's what we hear they want to do.”
The July 4-7 programs at Ruidoso originally included between three and six Thoroughbred races per day.
“We're tough. We're racetrackers. We'll get through it all right. Just a little setback, and we'll move forward,” Trejo said.
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