The track's current owner, Jerry Simms, broke the news at Friday's Arizona Racing Commission (AZRC) meeting without disclosing details or being pressed by regulators to provide any additional information.

Preparations for a planned Jan. 29-May 4 race meet are still underway, though, according to testimony from track officials, commission employees, and representatives of the Arizona Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (AZHBPA).

The revelation that the deal was a no-go didn't seem to come as a shock to commissioners or stakeholders.

Specifics of the transaction had been shrouded in mystery and tinged with dysfunction since the outset.

At AZRC meetings in recent months, horsemen had expressed skepticism, frustration and even derision over whether Simms was working in good faith to make the sale. They had also alleged they were being kept out of the loop on key details about the future of the state's lone remaining commercial Thoroughbred track.

Simms had repeatedly denied those accusations. But it's no secret that Simms and Arizona horsemen have had an acrimonious business relationship for the better part of two decades.

Perhaps what was most bizarre about the Jan. 12 no-sale disclosure was the non-reaction from almost everyone else.

No commissioners asked Simms to elaborate on the failed deal, and when AZHBPA representatives were given their turn at the microphone to comment, they chose not to utter anything about the called-off sale. Instead they waxed glowingly about how well work for the coming race meet was progressing under Simms's stewardship.

The dialogue unfolded like this:

Friday's meeting had progressed about 35 minutes without any mention of the proposed sale, which was unusual considering the deal had previously been a focal point of discussion.

Back on Dec. 5, the AZRC had conditionally approved the '24 meet for Turf Paradise, which was to be conducted by Simms as he attempted to close on a sale of the 213-acre property to an entity known as Turf Paradise Land Trust.

On Friday, Turf Paradise general manager Vincent Francia was winding up comments about the work being completed in preparation for the meet when commissioner Linda York interjected to ask about an update on the sale, which Francia had not mentioned.

“Mr. Simms would be the one to provide an update to the commission,” Francia deferred, claiming that he didn't know if Simms was remotely listening in to the meeting to be able to comment. He offered to pass along a message to Simms, though.

A few moments later, Simms chimed in, claiming phone difficulties had at first prevented him from speaking.

Simms then took a few minutes to rail about an old feud over off-track-betting (OTB) with the now-defunct Arizona Downs, during which AZRC chairman Chuck Coolidge stepped in, asking him to stick to the current topic.

Simms continued his rant for a bit longer, then switched subjects.

“Commissioner York, right now, regarding your question about a sale? Right now there is no sale under contract. There is no deal. The deal was there before. The people never put up their money, and it just didn't happen.”

No commissioners asked why, what transpired, or what the falling-through of the deal meant for the future of Turf Paradise.

Instead, after a pause of several seconds chairman Coolidge just moved on to the next agenda item like nothing significant had just occurred.

Soon after, J. Lloyd Yother, the president of the AZHBPA, declined an opportunity to offer any sort of report when called upon to speak.

Yother deferred his time at the microphone to Leroy Gessmann, the AZHBPA's executive director, who said the Turf Paradise projects “are going slow, but they are moving forward….The racetrack, in the nine years that I've been here, is the best condition it's ever been in. For the first time in nine years, it was done properly [and] I want to thank Turf Paradise for getting a safe racetrack.”

Only later, during the public commentary portion of the meeting, did anyone briefly address the fall-through of the sale.

“That track is really not for sale,” said Stephen Nolan, a frequent critic of both Simms and the AZRC. “It's an illusion. A delusion that [Simms] is trying to portray. He won. He got his OTBs. He collects that money. He puts nothing back into the industry. That's obvious [by the condition of the property]. We need [the commission] to be proactive.”

In recent years, disagreements between the Arizona racing community and Simms have roiled in the courts and at AZRC meetings. Prolonged fights over OTB privileges, simulcast signals, and how the horsemen's purse money can be used have all been topics of heated debate.

Turf Paradise ended its most recent season in May 2023 with a different buyer doing due diligence to purchase the property. At the time, Simms said he wanted to retire to spend more time with his grandchildren.

On Aug. 1, Simms announced Turf Paradise wouldn't be opening in November as scheduled for its traditional six-month meet.

On Sept. 18, the months-long purported sale with the first buyer was publicly declared dead.

Ten days later, Simms announced a new buyer had suddenly emerged.

The AZRC met on Sept. 28 and Oct. 12 without anyone from the new prospective buying group coming forward to speak.

But during the Nov. 9 meeting, Simms introduced a representative from Turf Paradise Land Trust while claiming the two parties were at the escrow stage of a deal. AZRC staffers indicated that a vetting process to license the new ownership group was underway, but noted that process could take months to complete.

Despite their stated misgivings about Simms and the sale, on Nov. 10 the AZHBPA board of directors voted to extend required interstate simulcasting permissions so Turf Paradise's 37 off-track betting parlors wouldn't go dark and could instead keep generating revenue for purses at the upcoming meet.

During the Dec. 5 AZRC meeting at which Turf Paradise was green-lighted for racing in '24, Simms said the sale had hit snags, but he did not elaborate on them or indicate the deal was in jeopardy.

Now fast-forward to the Jan. 12 meeting. During the tail end of the public commentary session, Simms asked for and was granted a second turn to speak.

But instead of clarifying aspects about the future of Turf Paradise, Simms only made the overall situation more cryptic by underscoring that he wanted to move on from running the racetrack.

“You know, when I get a permit to run a track for three years, it doesn't mean I have to run three years if I want to retire,” Simms said. “If a doctor gets a license to practice medicine for five years, and after three years he wants to retire, he doesn't have to practice the entire five years…

“I want this industry to flourish. But I want to retire. And I'm allowed to retire. I feel badly for trainers that need a place to run. But at a certain age, I want to retire,” Simms said.

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The upcoming season, however, won't be run under the auspices of the new ownership group that has been reportedly trying to buy the Phoenix track for the last two months.

Instead, Turf Paradise's current owner, Jerry Simms, will still be at the helm.

Simms and Arizona horsemen have had an acrimonious business relationship for the better part of two decades.

But Simms vowed during the Dec. 5 “emergency” AZRC meeting that he will be sticking around for at least the next five months because his deal to sell the track to an entity known as Turf Paradise Land Trust has hit unspecified snags.

The conditions attached to the licensure by the AZRC have to do with Turf Paradise either complying with or getting the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) Authority to waive its requirement that stipulates a 90-day advance notice from any track before the start of racing. In addition, the Authority still has to accredit Turf Paradise in terms of safety standards.

Rudy Casillas, the deputy director of the AZRC's racing division, said that although Simms is still free to try to close on the sale of the track (which has been under consideration by at least two different buyers this year), he explained that it would be “highly unlikely” that the commission would be able to finalize its vetting process of a new licensee before the planned end of the race meet.

“We have not received all of the required information from the potential new buyer as of yet, so I don't believe that there's going to be that type of [due diligence] complication impacting live race meet going forward,” Casillas said.

As for the HISA hurdles, Casillas added, “I cannot speak for HISA. I can't predict what they'll do, if they waive the 90 days. We're hoping that they will…. If they don't waive the 90-day advance notice, then obviously the race meet will have to start at a later time, beyond Jan. 29.”

But Casillas did add that AZRC representatives are speaking with HISA Authority executives who are in the state this week for the Global Symposium on Racing hosted by the University of Arizona Race Track Industry Program in Tucson. Casillas said that in those conversations, “HISA has indicated that they will definitely try to work with the [AZRC] and move this forward.”

Unlike at recent AZRC meetings where their representatives spoke at length about the confusion and chaos of trying to get the sport back on track in Arizona, no one from the Arizona Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (AZHBPA) testified during Tuesday's meeting.

Simms, however, gave his side of the story, portraying himself as a savior, of sorts.

“I decided to run this meet because it was just too much impact on the stakeholders, too many people's lives being disrupted,” Simms said. “And I was hoping that my deal would have moved ahead, but it's not gone ahead. So I put my retirement on the back burner and decided to do it…

“We're complying with HISA. We hope to have HISA out this week [and] hopefully they won't hold us to that 90-day period of time,” Simms said.

“HISA has their own criteria. And so hopefully they'll give us their approval. I [don't have] any control over that. But I will tell you, with absolute certainty, if this meet is approved and we run the meet, it will finish. Even if the track is sold, whoever buys it will have to finish it or I will finish it.”

Back on Nov. 9, Simms told the AZRC that the ownership group that wants to buy the currently closed Turf Paradise was at the escrow stage of closing on the sale.

Turf Paradise ended its racing season back in May with a different buyer doing due diligence to purchase the property. Then on Aug. 1, Simms announced Turf Paradise wouldn't be opening in November as scheduled for its traditional six-month meet.

On Sept. 18, the months-long purported sale with the first buyer was publicly declared dead.

Then 10 days later, Simms announced a new buyer had suddenly emerged with a desire to purchase the 213-acre property and save racing at the 67-year-old track.

In recent years, disagreements between the Arizona racing community and Simms have roiled in the courts and at racing commission meetings. An extraordinarily long pandemic closure and prolonged fights over off-track betting privileges, simulcast signals, and how the horsemen's purse money can be used have all been topics of heated debate.

Turf Paradise has also been plagued by safety issues in recent seasons, and as recently as the Oct. 12 commission meeting, Simms and AZHBPA officers sparred over whether or not extensive repairs were needed for the main track rail.

But reports made at a subsequent commission meeting Nov. 9 did note progress to the facility's upkeep, such as the turf course well pump being fixed and the grass getting much-needed watering, seeding and fertilizations.

A release posted on social media by Turf Paradise after the commission's vote noted that the track and AZHBPA have signed a contract that calls for Monday-Thursday racing. Horses will be allowed into the stables Dec. 18, with training to start Dec. 26.

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“At this point where we're at, and not having the complete [new ownership] application, there may be a delay from January moving forward,” said Rudy Casillas, the deputy director of the AZRC's racing division, told commissioners after brief comments by Richard Moore, the chief executive officer for potential buyer Turf Paradise Land Trust.

Casillas cited both the commission's own lengthy approval process for a new track licensee and what he said was a federal requirement imposed by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) that stipulates “a 90-day advance notice from any track before their implementation of racing.”

“Racing may not start until February or March depending on how things go with the vetting and background investigation,” Casillas said.

Lloyd Yother, the president of the Arizona Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (AZHBPA), expressed a feeling of being left out of the loop on the status of what might happen at the last remaining commercially active track on a circuit that hasn't hosted Thoroughbred racing for six months.

“We're still in our state of confusion in how things are going down and what's transpiring, what's taking place,” Yother said. “There's so many moving targets [and] we still are at the mercy and going through our normal frustrations with how things are to come about…. We have no earthly idea when and if a meet will be performed at Turf Paradise.”

Despite that sense of helplessness, the AZHBPA does have one important cudgel of control within its grasp: Its board of directors will be meeting Friday to vote on whether to extend the required interstate simulcasting permissions beyond Nov. 12 so Turf Paradise's 37 off-track betting parlors won't go dark.

Yother said that meeting will determine “whether or not to terminate our signal [permission] or move it forward to [Dec. 31] giving the opportunity for all parties to get their act together and make this happen.”

The vote will likely come down to weighing the benefits of keeping the OTBs open (which would allow the new Turf Paradise owner to build up revenue for the purse account) versus closing them (which would make it clear that the AZHBPA has had it with constantly being asked to extend simulcasting privileges to entities that don't conduct live racing).

Turf Paradise ended its racing season back in May with a different buyer doing due diligence to purchase the property. On Aug. 1, track owner Jerry Simms announced Turf Paradise wouldn't be opening in November as scheduled for its traditional six-month meet.

On Sept. 18, the months-long purported sale with the first buyer was publicly declared dead. Then 10 days later, Simms announced a new buyer had suddenly emerged with a desire to purchase the 213-acre property and save racing at the 67-year-old track.

The AZRC met on Sept. 28 and Oct. 12 without anyone from the new prospective buying group speaking in person. But during the Nov. 9 meeting, Simms introduced Moore of Turf Paradise Land Trust, noting that the two parties have been at the escrow stage of the deal since Oct. 18.

“We're going through that contract and executing that contract and hopefully everything goes well and we're going to buy the track and continue on with the racing there in Arizona,” Moore said. “That's our main goal.

“We're very excited about this,” Moore said. “We're looking forward to it. And we're getting up to speed on where it's at [to] bring the track up to par and to also make it better and to move forward. And we're definitely committed to bring in the necessary funds and commitment and support to make this a destination. And we have a lot of dreams and hopes and things that we'd like to accomplish once we gain ownership.”

The Arizona Corporations Commission's website lists no active registration for Turf Paradise Land Trust other than a name reservation made on Oct. 2.

Beyond one question from commissioner Linda York about specifics on the buying group's timetable, Moore was not asked by the AZRC to detail anything about Turf Paradise Land Trust or its plans for the future of the Phoenix track.

Starting Gate at Turf Paradise | Coady Photography

York's question about the timing of the meet yielded a response from Moore that the season is projected to start Jan. 13 and would last “to May.” Moore added that the sale of the property would likely close before the end of 2023.

After Casillas weighed in that such a timetable might be a stretch, Simms told commissioners that he has already been in talks with the HISA Authority about fast-tracking the process for accreditation, and he claimed to have an assurance that “they could probably get that done a lot quicker [to] work with our time frames.”

Turf Paradise has been plagued by safety issues in recent seasons, and as recently as the Oct. 12 commission meeting, Simms and Yother sparred over whether or not extensive repairs are needed for the main track rail.

Yother claimed the fencing is not up to spec and Simms countered that Turf Paradise had fixed problems related to a non-compliance warning issued by the HISA Authority earlier this year after an inspection turned up “numerous gaps and exposed edges in the railing material that could inflict serious harm upon jockeys…”

At the Nov. 9 meeting, Arizona's chief state steward, Jason Hart, said he has been making regular visits to Turf Paradise over the past few weeks. Although Hart acknowledged that the rail had been “in pretty bad shape” at end of the last meet, he said every time he has visited since Oct. 23, he has observed workers shoring it up.

“My expertise or my opinion would be the rail looks very safe at this point,” Hart said. “There's a couple of things that don't look pretty with the rail, but it is absolutely safe in my opinion.”

Hart added that the turf course well pump has been fixed, and that the grass course is being watered regularly after being seeded and fertilized.

Hart also detailed how six barns have had the copper wiring cut out of them, but that he has been assured by current track management that electricians have been hired to re-wire those stables.

Hart also said frontside windows that appeared to have been blown out in a storm show evidence of being worked on prior to glass replacement.

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Although the track's owner, Jerry Simms, framed the ongoing negotiations as a lifeline for Thoroughbred racing in a state that currently has no operational commercial track, J. Lloyd Yother, the president of the Arizona Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (AZHBPA), said that Simms's oft-stated expectations of a new owner being able to conduct a race meet as soon as January are unrealistic, underscoring that, “my horsemen are getting pretty restless, and their livelihoods are at stake.”

Complicating matters for everyone is that the prospective deal has been shrouded in mystery since the buyer was first publicly named Sept. 28.

For the second commission meeting in as many weeks, no representatives of that would-be buying group appeared to speak about their plans for keeping racing alive at Turf Paradise during the Oct. 12 online-only meeting.

In fact, the name of that buying group–Turf Paradise Trust, LLC, whose principal is said to Frank Nickens–didn't even get mentioned by any party during Thursday's often-testy, back-and-forth testimony. Most references were generic, as in “the buyer.”

The Turf Paradise sale wasn't even officially on the meeting's agenda, either. But it was by far the dominant topic.

Commissioners largely just listened to Simms, the horsemen, and representatives from non-operational Arizona Downs spar verbally, and the board concluded the meeting without voting on or outlining any direct actions that would bring clarity to an increasingly confusing and controversial inflection point.

AZRC chairman Chuck Coolidge said toward the end of the heated discussion that the commission remained hopeful that “everything expedites in the right way.”

Other stakeholders used quite a bit more emotion when voicing their opinions on the Turf Paradise predicament, which stems from a months-in-the-making deal to sell the track falling apart on Sept. 18 and Simms announcing 10 days later that a new buyer had suddenly emerged with a desire to buy the 213-acre property and save the 67-year-old track from the wrecking ball.

“The state of Arizona horse racing is ridiculous. It's an absolute nightmare. Horsemen get fed information, some of it legitimate, some of it rumors,” said owner and trainer Cynthia George. “We're literally like children being used as pawns in a divorce battle [and] it's just absolutely unbelievable that horsemen get torn in every single direction…

“All these people want horsemen to have faith in the system,” George continued, “But what has really happened besides a lot of hot air? I don't know how else to explain it. Nothing real has happened…. We're trying to make life decisions. We're people with families…. And none of it is right. It should be completely unethical. It's fraudulent to keep posting media propaganda saying that Turf Paradise is going to open in January, when you can clearly go to Turf Paradise and see the walls falling off the grandstand.”

George's comments came after Simms testified that the deal was very close to coming together, and he repeated several times–like he had also stated on multiple occasions at the Sept. 28 meeting–that horsemen should be aware that he turned down offers of more money so he could try to make a sale to someone who wants to keep the sport going at Turf Paradise instead of developing the Phoenix property.

“I would say the contract should be signed this week. Could be [Friday]. Could be Monday or Tuesday,” Simms said. “There's just some other refinements to an agreement that have to be made. But I would say next week, for sure, and we'd have a signed contract. We already have a signed letter of agreement. This would be the purchase-and-sale agreement.”

Simms stated–but did not elaborate on–the fact that the buying group has had to change lawyers in the middle of these hectic negotiations.

In recent years, the relationship between the Arizona horsemen and Simms has been acrimonious. An extraordinarily long pandemic closure, multiple racetrack safety issues, and prolonged fights over off-track betting (OTB) privileges, simulcast signals, and how the horsemen's purse money can be used have roiled in the courts and at racing commission meetings.

Turf Paradise ended its racing season back in May with a separate buyer doing due diligence to purchase the property. But on Aug. 1, seven weeks before that sale was publicly called off, Simms announced the track wouldn't be opening in November as scheduled for its traditional six-month meet.

Arizona's horsemen have been dealing with heightened anxiety ever since.

“I understand it takes time and it's a big project to [arrive at] an escrow date and closing. But we're on such a tight time frame that my horsemen and my board are really uneasy,” Yother said. “This will be two weeks since we gave [Turf Paradise] the extension for the OTBs to run through Nov. 12, with the caveat that we can cut the signal at any time if something's not moving forward, and it seems to be at a stalemate.”

Even though Turf Paradise backed out of live racing for this autumn, Yother said the AZHBPA still gave its required permission for Turf Paradise to continue operating its 37 OTB outlets because the horsemen were led to believe those revenues would be used by Simms for repairs and upkeep that would allow the new buyer to begin a race meet in January.

“In the meantime, Turf Paradise has not started any work on repairs to the track to get ready for a meet,” Yother said. “Mr. [Vincent] Francia, the general manager of Turf Paradise, has expressed that he could possibly get ready in 60 days, but it would more likely be 90 days to get the track ready, to get horses in there. [So] we're not even close to being able to run in January. I think, in my interpretation, it's going to be either February or even later unless something happens between now and then.”

Yother said a number of outfits currently racing at Albuquerque Downs initially believed they would be allowed to remain at that New Mexico racino for a short while after the end of the Oct. 29 meet to keep their horses in training for Turf Paradise, but that is no longer an option.

“They've told them now they can't stay and they've got to go,” Yother said. “When Albuquerque's over, they've got to have a place to go. All we're trying to do is save racing in Arizona and try to find a place that we can bring our horsemen to and have a race meet. But [the Turf Paradise deal] is just being kicked down the road and kicked down the road, [and] it's at the point now where we have to do something or go to Plan B.”

Simms disputed that 60-90 day time frame for getting the track ready as “not an accurate number.” The dirt track just needs to be opened up, he said, and the turf course only needs a rye grass planting atop its current root system.

“There's nothing that has to be done to the barn area for the horsemen to come in,” Simms said. “Those barns are the same way they are now as when you left them” in May. “We're ready to go.”

Yother then responded with more specific list of repairs, including extensive work to the main track rail. Simms then disputed that needed to be done, claiming all the fencing had been fixed last spring.

“I'm just telling you that my horsemen and my board are extremely upset that nothing has taken place at this time. No good faith, nothing that's been happening at the track,” Yother said.

David Auther, a co-owner of Arizona Downs, wanted horsemen and commissioners to know that his track could provide the “Plan B” that Yother referred to.

“We still want to have our meet in May, or sooner, depending on what happens with Turf,” Auther said.

Arizona Downs didn't apply for a June-through-September race meet this year because of financial difficulties. The track formerly operated as Yavapai Downs between 2000 and 2010, when the ownership at that time filed for bankruptcy. It currently faces a Nov. 2 state administrative hearing on whether or not the AZRC should revoke its permit to operate because it hasn't been conducting live racing.

Permitting problems aside, Yother told the commission there is another problem that would give horsemen pause about working with Arizona Downs: He said both that non-operational track and Rillito Park, which traditionally runs weekends from early February through early April, are both in arrears for overdue purse money.

“They've been [put] on notice that if they do not get the horsemen's purse money paid, then we're not negotiating a new contract with them,” Yother said. “We have to get paid. We can't keep using our money when we're struggling and not getting paid on time.”

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On Thursday, the Arizona Racing Commission (AZRC) voted to extend Turf Paradise's simulcasting privileges through Nov. 12 while regulators commenced a due diligence vetting process that could greenlight the sale.

The stated goal among stakeholders is to start a race meet in January under new ownership at the Phoenix oval.

The current management announced back on Aug. 1 that the 67-year-old track wouldn't be opening for live racing as scheduled in November.

The principal buyer in the deal was named as Frank Nickens by Arizona Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (AZHBPA) president Lloyd Yother.

At a different point in the meeting, Turf Paradise general manager Vincent Francia said Nickens hadn't been able to attend the online-only Sept. 28 meeting, so he instead read a prepared statement on Nickens's behalf that Francia said was signed by Richard Moore, the chief executive officer for an entity called Turf Paradise Trust, LLC.

But other than disclosing the names of the principals and their potential buying group, virtually nothing was discussed at the meeting regarding their business or racing backgrounds.

The name of that limited liability company is not currently listed with the Arizona Corporations Commission, although it is possible the deal is coming together so quickly that the registration does not yet appear in the government's database.

“A lot of people have to understand that this guy [just] came forth [Sept. 20],” Yother said. “I do not know Mr. Nickens. I have no connections to Mr. Nickens. And all I can go on is what he discussed with the contract group with the HBPA.”

Yother said Nickens met Tuesday with AZHBPA representatives for several hours, then spoke again at an AZHBPA board meeting on Wednesday, at which the horsemen gave the prospective buyer their support to approve temporary simulcast permissions commencing Oct. 1.

That permission from the horsemen is necessary so that Turf Paradise's advance-deposit wagering agreements and 37 off-track betting parlors under won't go dark after Sept. 30 and can still generate purse account money.

“This all had happened in the last three or four days,” Yother said. “But it's the only 'olive branch,' if you will, that we could grab ahold of at this time to keep the OTBs open and running. All we're looking for is someone to run live racing in the state of Arizona and to save the industry.”

A planned sale of Turf Paradise to a different buyer, CT Realty, was first made public Apr. 12. At that time, TDN reported that racing was expected to continue there only as a placeholder for several more seasons while new uses for the 67-year-old venue went through the planning, approval, and construction stages.

About a month later, CT Realty announced that it would consider keeping racing going on a longer-term basis if it could successfully lobby the state legislature to approve historical horse racing machines or some other form of gaming at the track.

But on Sept. 18, Jerry Simms, who has owned Turf Paradise for 23 years, made it public that the deal to CT Realty had fallen through, and that the track and its simulcasting outlets would close Sept. 30.

The Nickens-led LLC buying group emerged immediately thereafter, Simms said.

“We've entered into a letter of intent. A purchase contract is being sent [Thursday] morning,” Simms said. “I believe the [AZRC on Wednesday] sent him his papers for his licensing and permit,” Simms said.

As Francia explained, “The plan is to open a live race meet in early January, and that is what we are all aiming for.”

Simms has been on the record since 2020 as saying that Turf Paradise operates at a “huge negative” financially.

Simms said several other potential buyers wanted the 213-acre property after the CT Realty deal blew up, but he underscored that he wants to sell to the Nickens group because that entity wants to keep the sport going instead of redeveloping the track for some other purpose.

“I had several buyers for the track. And I chose the buyer that I signed an agreement and [am] moving ahead with because he plans to run racing,” Simms said.

“He's very much an enthusiast; wants to have racing, is not interested in [redevelopment],” Simms said. “I want to save the industry, the jobs. I could have gotten even perhaps more money with one of the other buyers, [but I wanted} to save racing.”

In recent years, the relationship between the Arizona racing community and Simms has been acrimonious. An extraordinarily long pandemic closure, multiple racetrack safety issues, and prolonged fights over off-track betting privileges, simulcast signals, and how the horsemen's purse money can be used have roiled in the courts and at racing commission meetings.

“The purchase and sale, he's ready to move ahead,” Simms said. “He said he could close in 60 days.”

Simms added that if the deal doesn't get done by January, or if the AZRC hasn't completed its vetting process, he would be open to some sort of leasing arrangement that would enable a race meet to begin in 2024 even if the sale isn't official.

“Hopefully the [AZRC] will have enough time to do their due diligence. But the purchase and sale, he's ready to move ahead.”

The prepared statement from the Nickens entity that Francia read into the record stated that the new LLC is “working towards the purchase of Turf Paradise racecourse. We plan to keep live racing and to bring this facility into a new era [and continue] horse racing for the benefit of everyone involved. We feel the preservation of such a wonderfully historical facility and the preservation of thousands of jobs horse racing offers can carry the legacy of Turf Paradise on for another 50 years. We plan to completely redevelop the surrounding land, all for the benefit of horse racing. We look forward to a new, bright future for everyone at Turf Paradise.”

Beyond the horsemen-vs.-Simms feuding that has hovered over Arizona racing like a dark cloud for years, Turf Paradise and Arizona Downs, 82 miles north in Prescott Valley, have continually been at odds over race dates and the control of simulcasting signals.

Arizona Downs didn't apply for a June-through-September race meet this year because of financial difficulties. It has been mentioned as being up for sale or lease for well over a year, with 1/ST Racing and Gaming often rumored (but never confirmed) to be a potential buyer.

Arizona Downs formerly operated as Yavapai Downs between 2000 and 2010, when the ownership at that time filed for bankruptcy.

David Auther, a co-owner of Arizona Downs, questioned at Thursday's meeting why Turf Paradise would be getting simulcasting privileges even though its current ownership has stated it wants out of the live racing business.

“We need to consider enforcing the statute that is on the books that says each track gets its signal during its meet, and only during its meet,” Auther said.

“Having said that, we congratulate Turf Paradise on finding this buyer,” Auther continued, expressing slightly sarcastic incredulity about the prospect of  “a guy that nobody knew of a week ago who's going to come in the door and pay hundreds of millions and have a contract in four days.”

Added Auther: “I'm sure that somebody's going to vet this. And I have a hunch the vetting won't take very long [and] we'll all know how to proceed here.”

TDN phoned Auther after the meeting and left a voicemail asking if he'd elaborate on why he didn't think the Nickens group's vetting process would take long. No callback was received in time for this story.

Nor did Francia, of Turf Paradise, return a message left by TDN asking for details about the deal and the background on who, exactly, the buying group is.

As AZRC chair Chuck Coolidge quipped at one point during Thursday's meeting, “It's not a traditional Arizona Racing Commission meeting without the two tracks going against each other, as always.”

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“We've got to do a better job at coming up with answers and coming up with solutions,” said commissioner Rory Goree, arguably the most outspoken member of the commission about Turf Paradise's poor equine safety record.

“I'm hopeful that here, in the near future, we as a commission will be able to talk about some of the solutions and ideas and make Arizona the light it needs to be, that we're making the change, doing the right thing instead of being the laughingstock that we are right now,” Goree added. “The eyes are on us.”

Repeated mention was given to racehorse Creative Plan (Creative Cause), who last raced at Turf Paradise Jan. 7, when a tailed off last of nine.

Creative Plan was recently euthanized due to irreversible damage to his suspensory ligaments and fetlock joints that had deteriorated over the course of weeks, according to an article in the Paulick Report Tuesday morning.

Between the time he last ran and his euthanasia, however, Creative Plan was sent to an Arizona horse auction, but went through unsold before being abandoned, the article found.

“With Creative Plan, there was a lot of finger-pointing going on, trying to cover our own butts,” admitted Goree.

In her latest track safety report, Sue Gale, the Arizona Department of Gaming's chief veterinarian, explained that Turf Paradise's race-day equine fatality rate was “creeping up.”

In a special commission meeting earlier this month, Gale said that the racing-related catastrophic injury rate was 2.8 fatalities per 1000 starts this season at Turf Paradise.

In her report Tuesday, Gale said that the fatality rate was now around 2.98 per 1000 starts at Turf Paradise.

According to the Jockey Club, the national fatality rate for 2020 was 1.41 per 1000 starts.

Gale said that she has included Creative Plan's death in the track's race-day fatality rate because he was injured during a race, “and then was put to sleep, or euthanized, this past week.”

However, another horse that fractured its fetlock earlier on in the meet, and who, despite efforts at rehabilitation was euthanized three months later, was not included within the track's race-day fatality numbers, Gale explained.

More broadly, official veterinarians, said Gale, have lately been scratching more horses on pre-race exams.

“It does seem that now we're about half-way through the meet, some of the horses are showing some wear and tear,” said Gale.

Nevertheless, one ongoing problem has been the lack of veterinarians “or administrative assistance” to help identify and red-flag horses at greater risk of catastrophic injury at Turf Paradise prior to pre-race exams, admitted Gale.

Gale said that, while she has been doing this task on a limited basis, “having someone on the staff that can do this on a more regular basis” would likely make a difference.

Rudy Casillas, the Department of Gaming's deputy director and racing division director, reported that he has asked Gale to start requiring the horsemen to submit updated veterinary medical records of every horse that is entered to race.

“That way, the veterinarians can review those medical reports of each horse that is entered to race and get a better sound picture of that horse's capability and physical status and medical status,” said Casillas. “That will be implemented coming forth, and, hopefully, that makes a difference.”

Another potential nexus of change is the state's claiming rules, said Goree.

“Seems like every morning I read the board and find out that there's a horse that's moved on, just wandering around on the backside, and I think it's because these horses are getting claimed so much they don't know where they live,” said Goree.

According to Goree, he has spoken with Rudy Casillas, the Department of Gaming's deputy director and racing division director, about the claiming rules.

“I know he's going to talk to the AG [attorney general] and see what we might be able to do,” said Goree.

Turf Paradise general manager, Vincent Francia, added more texture to the issue, reporting that there have been 441 claims thus far this season.

“That is a record here at Turf Paradise,” said Francia, pointing as a reason to the track's purses–now supplemented with both state and federal funds–with the average purse working out at about $19,000 per race.

“When you have a purse structure like we have, a lot of claiming is going to go on,” Francia said.

Another ongoing question mark at Turf Paradise has been the condition of the racing surface.

This week, Turf Paradise drafted in veteran track surface consultant Steve Wood to monitor the adding of organic materials and sand to the main track, Francia said.

The organic materials are put in to give the track “bounce” and to help maintain moisture levels, said Francia. The sand is to help prevent clumping of the clay-like materials, he added.

A problem seemingly as intractable as track conditions at Turf Paradise has been a shortage of official veterinarians. Indeed, at the commission meeting last October, Gale suggested putting a call out to practicing veterinarians in the area as an opportunity for them to “pick up some work.”

In an attempt to alleviate the burden, the gaming department has asked for funding for an additional veterinarian in the latest executive budget, said Arizona Department of Gaming director, Ted Vogt.

“It's been our number one funding issue for the past two fiscal years, so we're hopeful it'll get across the line this year,” said Vogt.

Earlier on in the meeting, the commissioners voted to approve Rillito Race Track's three-year racing permit application and the race-dates within that window, despite ongoing questions as to the facility's economic viability.

Casillas said that a prior financial review of the track found that it was “insolvent” with less than $1,000 in its bank account at the time.

Because of the importance of Rillito in the Southern Arizona racing calendar, however, “the department has worked tirelessly with Rillito staff to project Rillito's revenue streams, donations, purse monies, state and federal grant funds that are being provided to Rillito,” said Casillas.

That projected amount comes to roughly $900,000 plus. The department's original estimate of Rillito's costs to operate the race-meet was $1.2 million.

“Therefore, the division strongly recommends that Rillito tighten their belts, and be extremely vigilant and responsible and not expend needlessly,” said Casillas, who added that the gaming division would be monitoring their financial predicament closely.

“We want to openly inform Rillito that on an ongoing basis, the division will scrutinize their financial status, and expect that Rillito meet all their obligations, and more so, adopt generally accepted accounting principles to correct the past few years of disarray,” said Casillas.

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In her routine track safety report, Sue Gale, the Arizona Department of Gaming's chief veterinarian, explained that 22 horses have died at Turf Paradise since the start of the meet, on Nov. 5 of last year–nine racing-related fatalities, five during training, and eight due to illness.

The racing-related catastrophic injury rate works out to 2.8 fatalities per 1000 starts thus far this season at Turf Paradise. According to The Jockey Club, the national fatality rate for 2020 was 1.41 per 1000 starts.

Last year in Arizona–including both Turf Paradise and Arizona Downs–the fatality rate was 1.94 per 1000 starts, said Gale.

“Unfortunately, this month of January, we did have a week where there were four horse breakdowns within one week,” said Gale, who didn't provide any context on the possible reasons underpinning the fatalities other than to explain that such events are often multifactorial.

“We're waiting on the postmortems that we do on all racing fatalities and we will be having a racing safety committee meeting later this month to go over those reports and see if we can see any common factor that we can focus some attention on,” said Gale, who added that the safety meeting would likely occur after the next Arizona Racing Commission meeting Feb. 15.

Of the commissioners, Goree was by far the most critical of the situation. “We're still killing horses at a terrible rate out there, and I'm sick of it,” he said.

What's more, since the start of the latest Turf Paradise meet, there have been three equine ambulance failures, said Goree.

“One of them, a horse was picked up improperly. Another time, the second, the equine ambulance became inoperable and was unable to assist a horse on the track,” said Goree.

“The third time, an incident in the paddock in what was described as, quote, to me, 'a shit-show with the equine ambulance unable to get into the paddock until the 10th try and an incompetent track vet,'” said Goree.

“We keep killing horses like this, we're going to be out of business,” Goree said. “And I have to ask myself: How did we get to this point?”

One reason, said Goree, is insufficient funding to institute prior recommendations to tackle the state's rocky safety record, which goes back years.

Indeed, the high equine fatality rate during Turf Paradise's 2017-2018 season prompted the issuance of this commission report.

“What happened in 2017, our budget got whacked,” explained Goree. “Somebody went down to the legislature and lobbied to reduce RWA.”

The Regulatory Wagering Assessment (RWA) is a wagering tax used to fund the department.

“We got whacked by a million dollars. We were not able to implement bringing in another state vet. We were not able to implement bringing in another safety steward,” said Goree.

“And he we are, still with the same problems we had in 2017,” he added. “We're still killing horses at a terrible rate out there. And I'm disgusted about it, and I'm tired of it. We need to take action.”

Another key area of concern has been the condition and maintenance of Turf Paradise's training, racing and stabling facilities.

Indeed, an Arizona Department of Gaming inspection of Turf Paradise on Oct 20 last year–a little more than two weeks before the start of the current meet–found numerous human and equine health and safety failures, including a lack of necessary track maintenance equipment, and railings that needed to be fixed or replaced.

Some of the broken turf railing support arms “have sharp protruding points that would easily impale, severely injure or kill an equine or jockey if they were to fall on it,” the report states, before concluding with a list of eight key recommendations.

According to Rudy Casillas, the Department of Gaming's deputy director and racing division director, the agency continues to work with Turf Paradise to upgrade and purchase new equipment, the latter of which has recently included new tractors and a new roller to seal the track.

“We're monitoring with the track superintendent on a daily basis the track condition and whether it needs any soil and materials put into it,” said Casillas. “We have had Turf Paradise hire a consultant to come out, look the track over every couple of weeks and make recommendations.”

Casillas added that the department has inserted a provision into state and federal grant monies being issued to permitted tracks to fund the position of an additional veterinarian.

“That money would be held out to allow the department to hire a department veterinarian in addition to Dr. Gale, so that we can have 100% pre-race exams by certified veterinarians,” said Casillas.

A shortage of official veterinarians has been an ongoing issue in Arizona. Indeed, at the October commission meeting, Gale suggested putting a call out to practicing veterinarians in the area as an opportunity for them to “pick up some work.”

Nevertheless, Gale said Wednesday that Turf Paradise has recently hired a new track veterinarian, Alyssa Butler.

“She and I meet prior to the races to discuss which horses we consider might be of concern, and also after the races when she lets me know which horses have problems,” said Gale. “I think that communication has been key, and is going to maybe greatly improve, or would hope that it greatly improves, our outlook here for the remaining half of the Turf Paradise meet going forward.”

The current Turf Paradise meet is scheduled to end May 7.

Earlier on in the meeting, the latest attempt to return simulcasting signals from The Stronach Group (TSG)-owned racetracks into Arizona crumbled when the commission denied the company's Simulcast Horse Racing Import Signal contracts for Turf Paradise and Arizona Downs.

It has been roughly two years since Monarch–the TSG arm tasked with distributing the company's signal–sent its product into Arizona.

Representatives for Turf Paradise told the commission that the track supported their contract and that the loss of Monarch's signal had cost them millions in lost revenue.

Nevertheless, Kory Langhofer, counsel for Arizona Downs, argued that their contract provided an anti-competitive fee rate when compared to Turf Paradise, that it included an unlawful provision barring Arizona Downs from operating OTB sites within 60-miles of Turf Paradise, and that it unfairly prohibits Arizona Downs from unilaterally expanding its business.

“All three of these things together, we can't make it work,” said Langhofer.

In the end the commissioners agreed, denying the contracts on a 2-1 vote.

There also remains no confirmed race dates this year for Arizona's Rillito Race Track, which ordinarily runs a meet in February and March.

Casillas explained that there have been delays in the permit application process due to the track's questionable financial viability.

“We have discovered some financial concerns,” said Casillas. “We're working with them on a daily basis.”

Casillas added that Rillito projects approximately $120,000 a day in revenues from admission, parking and food and beverage sales.

According to Casillas, the department's own calculations show that it costs Rillito approximately $1.2 million to run the race-meet.

“Without the state and federal monies being contributed to them, they would be running a little shy to run the meet,” said Casillas. “I'm hoping that come the 15th everything is on track that we can proceed with having you review their financial state and determine whether or not you want to make an approval on their permit and race days.”

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As a result of welfare concerns springing from a 2020-2021 Turf Paradise race meet marred by a high number of equine fatalities, the Arizona Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (AZHBPA) have stated they will not sign any race-meet contract until a list of track safety upgrades and other facility management-related requests have been satisfied.

Turf Paradise representatives argue that the Arizona HBPA's requests cannot be met in full, and that their efforts to get the facility up to code are sufficient to begin racing Nov. 5.

When asked whether the commission could step in to dictate track safety standards and protocols in the event the two parties fail to reach an agreement in time, commissioner Rory Goree demurred.

“We definitely want to stay out of the negotiation process,” Goree told TDN Monday after the meeting. “I don't want them living under fear that we might do something. I want to give them a chance to come together and do what they need to do.”

In a July 30 letter to Turf Paradise, the Arizona HBPA itemized 25 safety issues and broader management concerns, the primary one being track surface quality.

“Too many horses last year were euthanized or injured to the point they could no longer race,” the letter stated, before asking that Mick Peterson, director of the Racetrack Safety Program, be brought in to examine the surfaces.

During the whole of 2020 and thus far in 2021, 67 Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses have suffered equine fatalities at Turf Paradise–18 during morning training, 31 during racing, and 18 due to other circumstances–according to results from a public record act request.

The other 24 demands in the letter include upgrades and repairs to the backstretch, grandstand and clubhouse, along with a different track veterinarian.

The HBPA takes issue with current Turf Paradise veterinarian, Dr. Verlin Jones. “HBPA will pay 50% as long as it is not Dr. Jones,” the letter states.

To help substantiate their requests, the Arizona HBPA have shared at the last monthly commission meeting Aug. 12 and on social media a variety of pictures of Turf Paradise in various states of disrepair.

In a further ratcheting up of tensions, subsequent to that last meeting–during which Turf Paradise owner, Jerry Simms, stated that the facility could operate a meet this fall “without a contract” with the horsemen–Turf Paradise management issued a proposed stall application, parts of which the Arizona HBPA have taken exception to.

The proposed agreement gives Turf Paradise “the right to end the meet at any time.”

This contradicts one of the HBPA's 25 requests–namely, that the meet be run in its entirety, “unless the commission rules it is not safe to run. We can use the same language as the last agreement.”

Another sticking point for the horsemen concerns new language in the proposed agreement which places the onus of safety and risk squarely onto the trainer's shoulders.

The agreement states: “Applicant agrees that neither Turf Paradise, nor its officers, directors, employees or agents shall be liable for any loss, damage, death or injury of any kind to Applicant or to Applicant's employees, agents, invitees, exercise riders, jockeys or any member of their respective families, property or animals, regardless of whether such injury, loss, death or damage is caused by a condition of the facilities at Turf Paradise and/or any negligent act or omission of Turf Paradise, its directors, officers, employees and agents from any other cause.

“Applicant hereto specifically and knowingly assumes all risks of such injury, loss, death or damage, fully and completely.”

Last week, Simms issued a letter responding to the HBPA's concerns about certain language in the stall application.

The reason Turf Paradise has demanded it retains the right to end the meet at any time is “because of the threat by the AZHBPA to end Turf's ability to simulcast races from other tracks Sept. 23. The line was added to protect the track from a very real threat that would have brought an end to racing,” Simms writes.

In that same letter, Simms also claims that the language concerning liability is taken verbatim from Canterbury Park's stall application.

“It's not a problem for Turf Paradise's trainers to agree to and sign a stall application with this language in Minnesota but it's somehow a violation of those same trainers' rights here in Arizona,” Simms writes.

According to Bob Hutton, AZHBPA president, he has asked to meet with the Arizona Department of Gaming's director, Ted Vogt, and Racing Division director, Rudy Casillas, prior to any sit-down negotiations with Turf Paradise.

“I want to make sure that if we have something in writing with Turf Paradise that they're going to regulate them,” Hutton said, of the department of gaming.

TDN reached out to the department for a response but did not hear back before deadline.

Those attempting to bring together both sides are staking out a position from the fence.

“Obviously it is a facility that needs to have some money put into it,” said Goree, of Turf Paradise. “We can't keep coming back every year making a big to-do–it needs to come up with a long-term plan for our survival.”

At the same time, Goree takes issue with a one-sided levelling of blame, using his experience in greyhound racing as a point of comparison.

“The kennels always blame the track, and the track blame the kennels. There's blame between both of them,” said Goree. “The kennels sometimes would be running dogs they shouldn't have been running. They were running dogs that should have been in adoption.”

And using the fate of greyhound industry in places like Florida–the state last year voted to successfully ban the sport–Goree warned that the very public and acrimonious nature of these negotiations weigh heavily on an industry already under intense public scrutiny for its equine safety record.

“People who want to end racing see this and they will use it,” he said. “Public perception is going to kill us.”

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In an email to Arizona HBPA members on Thursday, the organization's president, Bob Hutton wrote: “Due to the current events at Turf Paradise which have seen an unacceptable rise in horse injuries and euthanizations, the HBPA is strongly encouraging that our horsemen consider the current track conditions and uptick in injuries before you enter horses for races. We are calling for an independent third party to analyze soil samples at Turf Paradise and certify that the track is safe to run on before we can in good faith recommend anyone continue to participate in the race meet.”

Vincent Francia, the track's general manager, posting on an Arizona horse racing Facebook page Wednesday night, acknowledged the spike in injuries as the meet is winding down to a close on May 1.

“Every race meet, near the end of the meet like we are now, we experience a rash of breakdowns,” Francia wrote. “We've never been able to determine with certainty why that is. Is it the track? Are some horses over-raced and tired? Is it something we're missing?

“Right now we're experiencing strong late-afternoon winds which dry the surface of the track.” Francia continued. “It's moist underneath however which is the way it should be. Are these drying winds contributing to the problem? Again we don't know for sure. We have two water trucks that soak the main track between races. Do we need to apply more water due to these drying winds? We're looking at that too.

“Are some of our horses tired from their campaign? I haven't had time to review the pp's of of these recent fatalities. I will do so beginning tomorrow morning. The point is, the solutions to taking corrective action begin with the fact that you have horses that race over a track and you have a track that horses race over. Sounds simplistic but that's where the corrective measures begin. You start with what's in front of you.”

Francia said the main track would be closed for training on Thursday and that the addition of 250 tons of “#10 Mesh Sand” would take all day Saturday.

Turf Paradise was scheduled to race Friday afternoon.

In his letter to members, Hutton urged horsemen to get more involved by attending virtual meetings of the Arizona Racing Commission.

“For those that are unfamiliar with the governance of a track's safety standards and the enforcement that those metrics are met, this falls under the Arizona Department of Racing,” Hutton wrote. “The HBPA can make requests, observations and suggestions, but we do not have the authority to set policy or enforce protocols. Horsemen are not without a voice, however, and we encourage you to use it. All horsemen have the opportunity to attend the commission meetings, and we strongly encourage you to participate. Due to COVID-19 protocols, they are now virtual meetings that can be attended on your phone or computer.”

Francia said a question he has been asked by many trainers is when racing can return to the Arizona track's turf course.

“We will look at the effects of this action Monday,” Francia posted. “Realistically I don't think that's enough time to get the results we want. And we want to get this right. On Friday, April 23rd, we have a stakes race on the turf, so we'll be on it then, and we'll see how it plays. Following the stakes we have four dark days to continue our turf corrections. Then we enter the last four days of the race meet. I think Wednesday, April 28, we can get back on the turf and race it to the end of the meet. If the timetable changes I'll advise.

“I apologize for the inconveniences these matters have caused,” Francia added, “but the challenges are being met to keep both horses and riders safe. We have 11 days of the meet left. Let's get to the finish together.”

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“I am excited for the opportunity to contribute to efforts to save Arizona horse racing because I truly believe it is worth saving,” Weiss said. “I look forward to rebuilding the team at Arizona Downs and assembling a safe environment for horsemen and a memorable experience for fans.”

Weiss's hiring comes at a pivotal time for horse racing in the state, as the Arizona Senate is now considering a bill to modernize wagering at horse tracks and OTBs. Senate Bill 1794 would bring more than $300 million in capital investment to Arizona horse racing, including a new track at Arizona Downs, while generating more than $100 million in new state tax revenues.

Live racing returns to Arizona Downs June 1, with a 1:30 p.m. post time, and racing will take place every Tuesday and Wednesday through Sept. 15.

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