Ruidoso Downs to resume horse racing after cancellations; Rainbow Derby, Oaks trials set

Horse racing will restart at Ruidoso Downs Race Track and Casino, according to racetrack officials.

The Grade 1, $800,000 Rainbow Derby and $482,000 Rainbow Oaks trials, which were canceled twice June 30 and July 1 because of flooding from burn scars left by recent wildfires near the village of Ruidoso, will be run on Saturday, July 6 and Sunday, July 7.

The two races' finals will be Saturday, July 20 and Sunday, July 21. Each race will feature 10 qualifiers.

The New Mexico Racing Commission held an emergency session on Tuesday, July 2, to decide whether to approve the rescheduled trial races. No decision was made immediately, but racetrack officials worked to update racing for the weekend and all the races are now updated at www.equibase.com.

Rainbow Derby, Rainbow Oaks update

Eight trials for the Rainbow Derby will take place on Saturday, July 6 and will be races 7 through 13. The Rainbow Oaks trials will be Sunday, July 7, in races 9 through 13.

The Rainbow Derby is the second leg of the Quarter Horse Triple Crown for 3-year-old quarter horses. The Ruidoso Derby was held last month. The Rainbow Oaks is for 3-year-old fillies.

Racing will begin at 1 p.m. Thursday, July 4 and at 12:30 p.m. Friday, July 5, through Sunday, July 7. It will be all quarter horses.

Ruidoso Futurity trials

Trials for the Ruidoso Futurity were held last June 28-29, but the flooding canceled the last two trials.

Ruidoso Downs: We are doing everything in our power to repair the damage

Ruidoso Downs General Manager Rick Baugh met with horsemen on July 1 in the racing office to listen and hear their input about the proposed rescheduling of the trials.

"We are doing everything in our power to repair the damage to the race track," Baugh said earlier this week.

Baugh was hopeful the quarter horse track could be available for quarter horse training as early as Wednesday morning, July 3. He said the thoroughbred track's six-furlong chute has been severely damaged and it might be considerably longer before the track can continue with thoroughbred training and racing.

"The quarter horse portion of our racetrack is unscathed from the floods," Baugh said. "The first turn of the thoroughbred track sustained the flood damage and we are working as fast as we can to make those necessary repairs."

Meanwhile, crews are using excavators to widen and deepen the river channel as it passes through the track's property in the event of further floodwaters.

Thoroughbred racing

Baugh said it would take at least two weeks before thoroughbreds could start racing again. Currently, horses aren't able to train and that will cause issues moving forward with horses being fit.

Commissioners, trainers and agents expressed concern about thoroughbreds. All mentioned looking into opening Albuquerque Downs to have thoroughbred races and possibly even quarter horse races.

Finding a gate crew and stewards, as well as the cost of running a race day, would be a few issues with opening up Albuquerque.

"We need to Albuquerque immediately," horse owner Tom McKenna said. "We can have a two-day-a-week meet. We can't kick the can down the road."

"It's imperative to get horses back in training. Every time something happens, we lose lots of horsemen. If it works out to go to Albuquerque, then let's get it done. If we can run here in Ruidoso, let's get it done," horse trainer Joel Marr said.

More: Ruidoso weather news Flash flooding cause damages, delays horse races at Ruidoso Race Track and Casino

Felix F. Chavez can be reached at fchavez@elpasotimes. com; @Fchavezeptimes on X .

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Ruidoso Downs to resume horse racing after cancellations; Rainbow Derby, Oaks trials set