Jake Rogers/Ruidoso Downs
Racing will resume at Ruidoso Downs Friday for the first time since June 16 due to wildfires in the area.
Ruidoso Downs resumes racing for the first time on Friday since June 16, due to a disruption caused after two devastating wildfires erupted in the canyons and forested area surrounding the southern New Mexico racetrack on June 17.
Racing will be held Friday through Sunday, consisting entirely of time trials for Quarter Horses for the Rainbow Futurity, Rainbow Derby and Rainbow Oaks. Finals for those races will be run on July 13-14.
The track reopens at a time when the greater Ruidoso community is attempting to return to normal after mandatory evacuations were lifted for full-time residents on Monday. While many businesses in the adjacent village of Ruidoso have reopened, hotel availability is scarce, with many occupied by firefighters and other emergency personnel, officials said. More than 900 first responders are involved.
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The two fires, one south of the track and a much larger fire north and northwest of the track, had consumed more than 25,500 acres, fire officials said on Wednesday.
Firefighters have contained 55 percent of the fire south of the track, and 64 percent of the fire north of the track. The damage has been limited in recent days. The fire has claimed approximately 140 acres since Monday, officials said.
“Everything is pretty normal, if you’re down on the track side of town and mid-town,” said Kerry Gladden, a public information officer for the village of Ruidoso.
The mid-town district of Ruidoso is a popular area of stores and restaurants.
Gladden said some areas of town are without utilities such as power and gas. Other areas have been declared off-limits because of their proximity to the active fire or investigations into the cause of the fires.
A majority of the horses stabled at Ruidoso Downs were evacuated early last week to locations in New Mexico and west Texas, with some remaining at the track. Most of the horses evacuated returned in recent days.
The track has launched a fundraiser for people affected by the fire. The fund had raised more than $100,000 by Thursday morning, according to track owner Johnny Trotter.
The track, American Quarter Horse Association, and Trotter and his wife, Jana, have each donated $20,000, Johnny Trotter said.
“I’m hoping we can get a half-million [dollars]," Trotter said on Wednesday.
The Friday and Saturday programs consist of 17 time trials each day for the $1 million Rainbow Futurity at 400 yards on July 14. The runners with the five fastest times on Friday and Saturday advance to the final.
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The most prominent runner on Friday’s program is Aguila Rapida, who was second in the $1 million Ruidoso Futurity at 350 yards on June 9. Aguila Rapida starts in the 12th trial.
Space Cowwboyy, winner of the $100,000 Ruidoso Juvenile on June 9, runs in the second race.
Hezgothelook Z, winner of the Ruidoso Futurity, starts in the 11th trial on Saturday.
Sunday’s 13-race program includes five trials for the Rainbow Oaks and eight trials for the Rainbow Derby. Those races are run at 440 yards.
The first trial for the Rainbow Oaks is led by Flying Sophia, who beat older fillies and mares in the $100,000 Junos Request Stakes at Remington Park on June 1. Asscher, winner of the $404,000 Los Alamitos Oaks on March 23, starts in the second trial.
Dark Nme, the champion 2-year-old filly of 2023, starts in Sunday’s eighth race, and is the only filly in the Rainbow Derby trials.
Dark Nme missed a scheduled start in the Ruidoso Derby trials on May 26 because of a clerical mistake. Dark Nme needed two workouts within 60 days of the trials in what was intended to be her first start since a win in the $1.1 million Texas Classic Futurity at Lone Star Park last November. She had two workouts within 61 days, and was excluded from entering.
Cowboys Gun Z, the champion 2-year-old gelding and overall champion 2-year-old of 2023, starts in 12th race with something to prove. The winner of the $3 million All American Futurity at Ruidoso Dows last September, Cowboys Gun Z finished seventh in the Texas Classic Futurity, and seventh in his only start this year in a division of the Ruidoso Derby trials.
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