There were 55 race dates scheduled for Sunland Park, 18 for SunRay Park, 47 for Ruidoso Downs, 21 for the Downs at Albuquerque, 17 for the New Mexico State Fair in Albuquerque, and 48 for Zia Park in Hobbs. The 2021-22 racing season, though, was down to 206, with COVID no longer a major impact. Also due to COVID, the 2020-21 season was curtailed to 180 days. The 2019-20 season, scheduled to run from December through April, was cut off beginning the second week of March due to COVID-19, and there were a total of 220 races as a result. There were 288 live races every year from 2012-15, and the number was still up at 284 in 2016 and 274 in 2017. Live race dates statewide were at 347 in 1994, 344 the following year, and though the dates dipped into the 200s during the mid-to-late 1990s (even below 200 in 1998) and early-to-mid 2000s, they were at 303 in 2006 and an even 300 in 2009. “In my opinion they don’t want to mess with it,” Prather added, “because they have to hire seasonal help, they have to keep the track ready, it’s just extra work for them.” … They chip away at the days, then people don’t want to breed horses, and before long you don’t have a business anymore.

“Every year in August they go through the dates and everybody’s race schedule,” Prather said, “and the track gives them the dates they want to run, and the commission looks at it and approves it.

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