{"id":13895,"date":"2026-01-20T13:34:22","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T20:34:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/ruidoso-downs-race-track-and-casino-announces-relocation-of-2026-live-racing-season\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:41:05","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:41:05","slug":"ruidoso-downs-race-track-and-casino-announces-relocation-of-2026-live-racing-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/ruidoso-downs-race-track-and-casino-announces-relocation-of-2026-live-racing-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Ruidoso Downs Race Track and Casino announces relocation of 2026 live racing season"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"A
A man crosses Ruidoso Downs Race Track, partially destroyed by flooding, Wednesday, July 9, 2025, in Ruidoso, New Mexico. (The Associated Press)<\/span>dur-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

RUIDOSO \u2014 Management of Ruidoso Downs Race Track announced Monday that the entire 2026 live racing season will be held at the Downs of Albuquerque, citing damage from catastrophic flooding.<\/p>\n

In a statement released on the track\u2019s website<\/a>, owner Johnny Trotter and general manager Rick Baugh said they decided to relocate next season after consulting with county officials. The meet was scheduled to open Friday, May 22.<\/p>\n

Analysis from the engineering firm JE Fuller, retained by the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security, showed the track faces ongoing flooding risks that cannot be adequately addressed through proposed fixes.<\/p>\n

\u201cBased on the findings, and our follow-up discussions with governmental agencies, the engineers specializing in hydrology and flooding concluded that the racetrack is not sustainable as a public venue,\u201d according to the track statement. \u201cWe are deeply concerned about the safety and well-being of everyone who attends Ruidoso Downs Racetrack, and our equine athletes. Continuing operations at the current site of Ruidoso Downs Racetrack is not feasible.\u201d<\/p>\n

The firm\u2019s findings, released in August, stated that while facility improvements offered \u201cmodest flood relief for small storm events,\u201d they did not \u201celiminate flood risk to the track and surrounding areas.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Flood
Flood damage near Ruidoso on July 8. The state emergency management department said Nov. 6 that FEMA will withhold disaster-mitigation funds. (Danielle Prokop\/Source NM)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

According to the track\u2019s statement, Trotter, Baugh and Ruidoso Mayor Lynn Crawford met with state officials in Santa Fe to discuss additional mitigation efforts, only to conclude the track is not financially or physically sustainable.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has now become clear that, even with proposed flood mitigation work done on-site and off-site upstream, Ruidoso Downs Racetrack cannot be adequately protected from future flooding,\u201d the release said.<\/p>\n

The mountain town of Ruidoso faced unprecedented wildfires during the spring and summer of 2024. The South Fork and Salt fires devastated the region, burning more than 25,000 acres, destroying hundreds of structures and stripping the surrounding mountains of vegetation.<\/p>\n

Without trees and plants to absorb moisture, the scorched earth created a burn scar, turning slopes into water slides.<\/p>\n

Even moderate rain in the Sierra Blanca mountains now triggers flash flooding. Debris flows \u2013 consisting of mud, ash and fallen timber \u2013 regularly overwhelm the Rio Ruidoso, which runs directly alongside the track.<\/p>\n

The track reopened last summer after extensive repairs, but heavy rains caused further damage to the facility.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth these flooding events were catastrophic for the customers, patrons, employees, horsemen and horses,\u201d management stated. \u201cFor the past several months, we have begged for solutions to no avail.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Debris
Debris clings to trees and damaged homes along the Rio Ruidoso after flooding. The state\u2019s top insurance regulator wants lawmakers to amend the Insurance Code so companies cover post-wildfire floods. (Danielle Prokop\/Source NM)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The announcement marks the first time in more than 80 years that the facility will not host a racing season. Originally known as Hollywood Park, the track first hosted pari-mutuel racing in 1947. Since 1959, it has been home to the All American Futurity, the world\u2019s richest American Quarter Horse race.<\/p>\n

The 2026 season will run through Labor Day, Sept. 7, in Albuquerque.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis decision is not taken lightly. It is, without question, the most challenging and emotional choice we have ever made as an organization,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

Despite the closure, Crawford released a statement indicating plans remain in place to reopen the track for the 2027 season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are already coordinating recovery efforts, identifying funding sources and developing an aggressive timeline to ensure that every necessary repair is completed well ahead of Memorial Day 2027,\u201d Crawford said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

state officials conclude the track is not sustainable<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13896,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[11,971,1497,28,138,29,1496],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-13895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-economy-general","tag-emergency-planning","tag-flood","tag-headlines","tag-new-mexico","tag-newsletter","tag-ruidoso-downs"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13895"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13895\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19217,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13895\/revisions\/19217"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13895"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=13895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}