The New Mexico Racing Commission held its monthly meeting at its headquarters in Albuquerque on Thursday, August 25.

New Mexico Horse Breeders’ Association executive director Anna Fay Davis gave the commission her race-a-day reports for Ruidoso Downs, whose 60-day meet runs through Labor Day, September 5, and The Downs at Albuquerque, which opened its 54-day season on August 13.

During the first 50 days of the Ruidoso meet, the track ran 203 New Mexico-bred races – 133 for Thoroughbreds and 70 for Quarter Horses. By comparison, Ruidoso Downs carded 185 state-bred races during the first 44 days of its 2010 season, 113 for Thoroughbreds and 72 for Quarter Horses.

For purposes of comparison, Ruidoso ran an average of 4.06 New Mexico-bred races during the first 50 days of its current meet, which is a decrease of nearly 4 percent from the average of 4.21 state-bred races contested during the first 44 days of its 2010 meet.

Also, a total of 388 New Mexico-bred Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses ran in open races during the first 40 days of the current Ruidoso meet, of which 120 (31 percent) finished first, second, or third. Of this total, 67 were Thoroughbreds and 53 were Quarter Horses. Bonuses totaling $53,148.40 were paid to the owners of these horses.

By comparison, a total of 291 state-breds competed in open races during the first 40 days of last year's Ruidoso Downs season, of which 94 (33 percent) ran first, second, or third. Of this total, 46 were Thoroughbreds and 48 were Quarter Horses, and bonuses totaling $42,806 were paid to the owners of these horses.

During the first six race days of The Downs at Albuquerque meet, August 13-21, the track ran 32 New Mexico-bred races, 16 for Thoroughbreds and 16 for Quarter Horses. To compare, the track ran 33 state-bred races, 19 for Thoroughbreds and 14 for Quarter Horses, during the first six days of its 2010 season.

The Downs at Albuquerque season runs through November 13, and it includes a 17-day New Mexico State Fair meet.

Davis also told the commission about a 30-second audio ad produced by the NMHBA. The spot will emphasize the economic importance of the horse racing industry to the state and the detrimental effect that a proposed Native American casino in Anthony would have on nearby Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino. The ad will run on the News New Mexico news radio show, which can be heard in the Las Cruces, Artesia, Carlsbad, Alamogordo, and Clayton markets.

Also, Davis reported on the recent New Mexico-Bred Yearling Sale, which took place August 19-20 at Ruidoso Downs. About 100 fewer yearlings were consigned to the sale, but the average-price-per-yearling was up nearly 34 percent for Quarter Horses and 38 percent for Thoroughbreds.

“Also, the buyback rate was 16 percent, and that was encouraging,” Davis said. “With the uncertainty in the economy, it's nice to be able to report something like this.”

The commission also discussed New Mexico's 2012 racing calendar, which begins with a 77-day meet at Sunland Park from December 6, 2011-April 17, 2012, and includes Ruidoso Downs' traditional 60-day season from May 25-September 3.

Zia Park general manager of racing Rick Baugh and The Downs at Albuquerque general manager Don Cook both announced that their tracks have reached an agreement on 2012 dates with the New Mexico Horsemen's Association. Zia Park will conduct a 54-day meet from September-December, and The Downs at Albuquerque will run a 54-day season that includes a traditional 17-day meet during the New Mexico State Fair in September.

However, before the commission meeting an agreement hadn't been reached on 2012 dates between the NMHA and SunRay Park in Farmington. The commission heard the concerns of SunRay management, including chief operating officer Brad Boehm and director of racing Lonnie Barber, and NMHA executive director Jack McGrail.

SunRay management applied for a 40-day meet, while the NMHA advocated for a 48-day season, the same number of dates the track ran this year.

Boehm told the commission that SunRay management is concerned about the impact that the Northern Edge Casino, built on the Navajo reservation nine miles from the racino, will have on its facility. The Northern Edge Casino, which will be able to operate 24 hours and will feature table games and between 750-800 machines, is projected to open in December.

“We're projecting a decrease of 15 percent in our gaming revenue after the Navajo casino opens, and 90 percent of our purses are generated from gaming revenue,” Boehm said. “As a result, we're projecting a 20 percent drop in total purses.

“If we ran a 40-day meet, we'd be able to offer average daily purses of $117,000 a day,” he added. “In order to keep our average purses at $135,000 a day, which they were this year, we'd have to drop our 2012 request to 35 days, but we're not asking for that."

Boehm said that during the 2011 SunRay meet, which ran April 23-July 12, the track lost about 200 horses to Prairie Meadows in Iowa after that track opened its spring Thoroughbred season. He added that Prairie Meadows pays higher average daily purses than SunRay Park.

“Another thing that concerns us is that the Navajo casino will be able to operate 24 hours,” Boehm said. “Every morning when I pull into our facility, I see 30 or 40 people waiting in line for our casino to open. When the Navajo casino opens, will they still want to wait when they can travel nine miles to a casino that's open 24 hours? We hope so, but we don't know.”

McGrail told the commission that one of his organization's concerns is the long gap between the end of the SunRay Park meet in 2012 and the start of The Downs at Albuquerque meet at the Expo New Mexico fairgrounds. Traditionally, the fairgrounds hosts a summer Arabian horse show that prevents horsemen from moving into The Downs' stable area, leaving them with no place to train before the Albuquerque meet starts.

“We concede that the Navajo casino will negatively impact SunRay Park – we understand that it won't be business as usual,” McGrail said. “If we accept management's projections, which we think frankly might be a little low, we'd be willing to run for purses of $100,000 a day for 48 days. That would be substantially more than what is currently being offered at Ruidoso and Albuquerque.

“I think it's premature to be talking about cutting race days when we don't have solid numbers to look at, just projections,” he added. “When a race meet is shortened, horsemen lose opportunities to race their horses. They might only get to run a horse once instead of twice, or twice instead of three times.”

After hearing both sides, the commission went into closed executive session and compromised by establishing a 42-day season for SunRay Park in 2012. To partially make up for the loss of days, the track plans to schedule 11 races per day, one more than it averaged in 2011.

The commission also extended until September 23 a deadline for interested parties to submit applications for the the state's sixth, and possibly final, racino license. Representatives from Raton and Colfax County had asked for a 90-day extension of the deadline, which had originally been set for September 2.

Colfax County manager Don Day told the commission that he felt Raton is the best location for the sixth racino, and Raton city manager Scott Berry announced that one potential application from the area would involve renovation of the old La Mesa Park facility, which held its last race 19 years ago.

Representing Coronado Partners LLC, which hopes to build a racino off of Interstate 40 in Tucumcari, Warren Frost told the commission that he felt an extension of the deadline was unnecessary and could jeopardize a 2013 race meet at the sixth racino.

“Back in May, this commission gave all interested parties a total of 113 days to submit an application,” said Frost, an attorney based in Tucumcari. “Now, the people in Raton are asking for an additional 90 days. They've had 15 months to get an idea of where they're heading with their application.

“According to our figures, the state of New Mexico is losing $15 million a year in revenue by not having that sixth track open,” he added. “Extending the deadline by 90 days might affect the ability for a sixth track to be open by 2013, and we don't think that's appropriate.”

Prior to voting to extend the application deadline to September 23, the commission approved Ruidoso Downs' request to offer an All American Derby-All American Futurity double wager on September 4, as well as advance wagering on the September 5 All American Futurity program. The commission also approved the appointment of Ed L'Ecuyer, Kenneth Hart, and David Keiter as the board of stewards at Zia Park, which opens its 50-day meet on September 10.

The next commission meeting will be held at the commission's headquarters in Albuquerque on Thursday, September 22. The executive session will begin at 8:30 a.m., followed by a public session at 10:30. For more information, contact the commission at (505) 222-0700, or visit the commission's website at www.nmrc.state.nm.us.