Aug. 28—When the fires and ensuing floods devastated Ruidoso this summer, New Mexico horsemen were left scrambling for ways to save the summer season for the venerable Ruidoso Downs Race Track in southern New Mexico.
The ultimate solution was to move to the whole stable of horses and races north to the Downs of Albuquerque facility on the grounds of Expo New Mexico.
“We had 1,740 horses on the grounds and we had to move those and did move those horses in about three days,” said Ruidoso Downs General Manager Rick Baugh. “Kudos to Zia Park in Hobbs, they took a large portion of the horses, as well. It became a matter of life safety. The last flood that hit us, we really didn’t have a choice. The cooperation between the Downs of Albuquerque and Ruidoso Downs and pulling all that together in a little less than four days, races owners and races, it was amazing to be quite honest; everybody working together for the good of the industry.”
All the horses eventually made it up to Albuquerque, where the season has been ongoing for the past four weekends, with races culminating this weekend in a three-day extravaganza highlighted by a series of high-profile stakes races Monday.
“There will be $5 million in purses on Monday,” Baugh said. The big draw comes for 2-year-olds in the $3 million All American Futurity — the world’s richest quarter horse race — which features Hezgothelook Z, who is trying to make quarter horse history.
He is looking to become just the second horse in the 65-year history of the Quarter Horse Triple Crown series to win the Futurity after also winning the Ruidoso and Rainbow futurities earlier this summer while the meet was still in Ruidoso. With a trial heat time of 21.108 seconds over the 440-yard course, Hezgothelook Z, a gelding, is seeded second behind Ariatt, who ran it in 20.974 seconds.
Special Effort, trained by Johnie A. Goodman, is the only other horse to win the quarter horse triple crown.
Grabbing that prize would be special, said Hezgothelook Z trainer Toby Keeton.
“It means a lot,” he said. “The guy that did it, Johnie Goodman, was a very good friend of mine and he’s the only that’s done it. And he just died (in May). If we can do this for him, that would be something.”
Hezgothelook Z is not an imposing horse, Keeton said, but something clicks when he hits the track.
“He’s a remarkable animal to be around,” he said. “That horse sleeps a lot during the day, but he does his job and he doesn’t give you any problems. He’s very sound. When he leaves the gates and he runs in straight line and goes to the finish.”
Hezgothelook Z has the type of personality to shrug off the turbulence of the season, Keeton said.
“If this horse can do it, well, he’s gone through a lot,” he said. “This has been a tough year for all of us. During the fires, we moved over to Tularosa, then we had to move here because of the floods. The horse doesn’t even know where his home is. It’s been a crazy year. For him to do it and keep running through all that he’s been through, that means a lot.”
The slate of races also includes the $1 million All American Derby for 3-year-olds, where Cowboys Gun Z is looking to complete a fairly rare double after winning the futurity last year.
Also on tap will be the $625,000 All American Oaks, featuring filly Running to the Moon looking for a fourth straight victory; the $250,000 All American Gold Cup, with former Futurity winner KJ Desperado in the field; and the $200,000 All American Juvenile and the $100,000 All American Invitational.
The racing generates about $120 million in economic impact, Baugh said, and it was a difficult decision to move it out of an already financially and emotionally stricken area like Ruidoso.
“The city of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County are now reaping the benefits of the economic impact,” he said. “That was the hardest thing for me to turn off the product but we kept the product in New Mexico and I’m glad that was achievable. We get to expose our product to another customer base.”
