Downs at Albuquerque to host Ruidoso Downs' summer race schedule

Albuquerque is set for one of its busiest horse racing summers in recent memory.

Ruidoso Downs and the Downs at Albuquerque have come to an agreement to move the former’s entire 49-day race schedule to the latter’s track in southeast Albuquerque, per Downs at Albuquerque president of racing Don Cook.

The agreement comes after Ruidoso Downs announced in January that the popular quarter horse track is not a sustainable public venue "now or for many years to come” due to flood risks. Its signature race, the All-American Futurity, has been moved to the Downs at Albuquerque the last two summers following damage to the track and surrounding areas from wildfires and flooding caused by burn scarring. 

The specific number of race dates is subject to the New Mexico Racing Commission (NMRC) approval. The commission is expected to do so on March 19, the next scheduled meeting for the regulatory agency. 

For now, the agreed-upon race dates remain the same as originally scheduled. Tim Keithley, the director of marketing for Ruidoso Downs, said Downs at Albuquerque will host seven race days in May; 12 days in June; 13 days in July; 14 days in August; and three days in September, including the All-American Futurity on Labor Day.

The Ruidoso races will be run at night, Cook said.

Similar to previous years, Cook said the logistics of hosting two meets back-to-back (79 total race dates) presents the biggest challenge for the Downs at Albuquerque. While the track has hosted races moved from Ruidoso over the last two years, Downs at Albuquerque has not hosted a months-long race schedule on top of its normal fall meet.

“We’re kind of conditioned to do it now,” Cook added. “And after Labor Day, when their meet ends, we’ll jump into ours … It’s tough on the staff, but we’re excited to do it.”

To accommodate both meets, Downs at Albuquerque will use stalls loaned from Expo New Mexico while coordinating with the New Mexico State Fair. Expo loaned the track stalls ahead of the Ruidoso Downs races it hosted last summer.

“(It’s) juggling horses around, which we don’t like to do, but we don’t have a choice,” Cook said. “They’ll let us use everything they got until they can’t (and) until they need them back. And by that time we’ll be three months into the meet, hopefully things thin out a bit and we can get those horses out of their stalls and into ours.”

While Downs at Albuquerque is still set to host Ruidoso Downs’ race meet, the latter’s New Mexico Bred Sale (Aug. 15) and Super Select Sale (Sept. 4-5) will still be held at Ruidoso Downs’ sales pavilion.

Sean Reider covers college football and other sports for the Journal. You can reach him at sreider@abqjournal.com or via X at @lenaweereider.