COVER 1 - NMHBA SUMMER 2017 low res

• Commission vice chair Gayla McCulloch
of Farmington reported on the
commission’s race dates committee
meeting, which was held on June 14.
“The meeting went well, and all race
dates (for 2018) were settled except for
SunRay Park,” she said. “SunRay had
originally applied for a 36-day season
but shortened their request to 33.
“(Ruidoso Downs executive) Shaun
Hubbard brought up the concept of
purse-sharing between tracks, which
wasn’t supported,” Ms. McCulloch
added. “We also discussed the possibility
of eliminating overlaps so we
don’t have more than one track racing
at a time. We also talked about having
enough horses to fill our races,
acknowledging that foal crops have
declined.
“We have to fight these issues every
year,” she said. “If we are going to thrive
as an industry, we are going to have to
look at things differently in the future.”
Commission chairman Ray Willis of
Roswell said that the New Mexico racing
industry has a chance to improve its
product and should take advantage of
the opportunity.
“Texas has issues, and so does
California,” Mr. Willis said. “We have
year-round racing in our state. We have
several good opportunities, and now is
a good time to take advantage of them.
It’s the mission of this commission
to make sure racing is beneficial to all
stakeholders.”
The following race dates were
approved for 2018:
• Sunland Park (72 days), December
15-April 17
• SunRay Park (33 days), April 21-June
18. The meet will last nine weeks, with
the track running three days a week for
the first weekend, and three days per
week for the last two weekends.
• Ruidoso Downs (47 days), May
25-September 3. The track will run a
four days during its first weekend, which
includes the Memorial Day holiday,
and four days during its final weekend,
which includes the Labor Day holiday.
The rest of the meet will consist of
three-day weeks.
• Albuquerque Downs (38 days), June
29-September 1
• New Mexico State Fair at Albuquerque
Downs (17 days), September 2-23.
• Zia Park (56 days), September
8-December 11
“Going forward, I think we should
have race dates committee meetings
every month, or at least every two
months,” Ms. McCulloch said. “If we
don’t get on top of these issues we have,
then I guarantee we’ll be going through
the same things next year.”
• New Mexico Horsemen’s Association
(www.newmexicohorsemen.com) executive
director Pat Bingham reported that
the economic impact study currently
being conducted by the University of
New Mexico’s economics department
will be conducted in two stages.
“The first stage will focus on the
horse racing industry’s current impact
on the state’s economy,” Mr. Bingham
said. “The second stage will look
at future impacts and project where
we might be five, 10, even 15 years
from now. We expect the first part
of the impact study to come out in
September.”
• Commission executive director Ismael
“Izzy” Trejo gave the commission his
monthly report.
“I was at Ruidoso Downs last weekend,
and they had a great weekend of
racing with the rarity of two dead heats
(for the win) in two Grade 1 races in
two days,” he said. “I also visited Sun-
Ray Park recently and had an informal
chat with horsemen. I met with (general
manager) Brad (Boehm) and (director
of racing) Lonnie (Barber) and sat in
the racing office and saw how they had
to scramble to fill a nine-race card. I
watched the race office staff hustle and
the horseman come through to make
the card go.”
Mr. Trejo also reported on the preseason
walk-through at Albuquerque
Downs, which opens its 58-day meet on
June 24.
“The stewards’ office has been renovated,
and it’s plain to see that (track
president) Paul Blanchard has invested
much of the track’s profits back into the
facility,” he added. “I’m optimistic that
it will be a great meet.”
Also at the meeting:
• The commission announced its schedule
of regular monthly meetings for the rest
of the year. All meetings will be held in
Albuquerque unless otherwise noted:
Thursday, July 13 (at Ruidoso Downs)
Thursday, August 17
Thursday, September 14
Thursday, October 12
Thursday, November 16.
• The commission approved the
establishment of a race review
committee consisting of Jerry
Nicodemus, Harold Payne, Kenneth
Hart, and Dr. Scot Waterman
(alternate), whose purpose will be
to review race appeals before they
are brought to the full five-member
commission.
• The commission approved Dr.
Alan Chastain to serve as its out-ofcompetition
veterinarian and Dr. Scot
Waterman to serve as its equine medical
director for Fiscal Year 2018.
• The commission approved Dr. Rodney
Taylor to serve as state veterinarian for
the 58-day Albuquerque Downs/New
Mexico State Fair meet, which runs
June 24-September 24.
• The commission approved Sunland
Park’s 2017-18 stakes schedule, which
will basically be the same as last year.
The only major exception will be
that the New Mexico State Racing
Commission Stakes (R) purse will be
increased to $100,000 and will be run
on Sunland Derby Day, March 25.
The La Coneja Stakes (R) for fillies
and mares will be moved from Sunland
Derby Day to March 17.
• SunRay Park director of racing Lonnie
Barber discussed his track’s difficulty
filling races during its 2017 meet.
“We had to cancel two stakes due
to lack of entries, and we ran one New
Mexico-bred 2-year-old stakes with six
head -- five first-time starters and one
maiden,” he said. “We’re going to take
a look at our stakes schedule for next
year. We’re going to meet with the
horsemen and breeders to see what we
can do to get these races to fill.
“We’re looking at maybe going to a
Saturday-through-Tuesday schedule for
next year, and maybe switching our all-
Quarter Horse day to either Saturdays
or Sundays,” Mr. Barber added.
The next New Mexico Racing Commission
monthly meeting is scheduled
for Thursday, July 13, at Ruidoso
Downs. For more information, visit the
commission’s website at http://nmrc.
state.nm.us, or call (505) 222-0700.
78 New Mexico Horse Breeder