Jamie Zamora Named Racing Secretary At Zia Park

Jamie Zamora, currently racing secretary for Ruidoso Downs, has been named to that same position for the 2021 Zia Park race meet that begins on Sunday, Sept. 26, in Hobbs, N.M.

A New Mexico native, Zamora has held a multitude of racing and racing office positions in her over 40 years in the horse racing industry. Zamora has worked as a licensed groom, trainer, owner, jockey agent, program coordinator, chart caller, entry clerk, clerk of course and since 2013 has served as assistant racing secretary at both Zia Park and Ruidoso Downs.

“I'm excited to lead the Zia Park racing office for the upcoming season,” said Zamora.  “With our gaming and racing operations now coming back online to full strength we will have a much improved overnight purse schedule (nearly $200,000 per day) and a stakes program that will be more robust than last year's scaled back version.”

“Jamie has done a great job over the past several years behind the scenes in keeping the racing office running smoothly and we know she will make the most of this opportunity,” said William Belcher, Zia Park vice president and general manager.

Stall applications for the 36-day Zia Park race meet are now available at www.ziaparkcasino.com/racing. The same link contains nomination forms for the New Mexico Classic Futurity and Derby for New Mexico bred Quarter Horses with the next payment date scheduled for July 15.   A complete 2021 stakes schedule will be available by early July.

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Horsemen File Federal Suit Against New Mexico Commission

Edited Press Release

The New Mexico Horsemen's Association filed suit against the New Mexico Racing Commission in federal court late Monday, charging the regulatory body with depriving racehorse owners and trainers of their civil rights and other violations. The horsemen seek compensatory damages, legal fees and other relief the court deems appropriate.

“The horsemen finally said, 'Hold it. How many constitutional laws can you continue to violate? How many statutes can you continue to ignore?'” said Gary Mitchell, attorney for the New Mexico Horsemen's Association (NMHA). “The horsemen said, 'Enough. We don't have any other place to go but federal court. We need this to stop.'”

The NMHA, which represents about 4,000 Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse horsemen in New Mexico, already has two lawsuits pending in state court against the New Mexico Racing Commission (NMRC).

Previously precluded from communicating with the commission, contacting any commissioners or attending the regulatory agency's public meetings on, the NMHA turned to the federal court–filing against the NMRC, as well as the individual commissioners–under Section 1983 of the Civil Rights Act and the New Mexico Tort Claims Act. The action creates the potential for individual members of the commission to be held personally liable.

“The commissioners are deliberately attempting to do away with the horsemen's association,” Mitchell said. “We're prepared to prove, in court, that this is being done intentionally. They haven't hesitated to do everything in their power to shut out New Mexico's horsemen, and ultimately shut down the NMHA.”

The NMHA filed suit in the Second Judicial District Court in Bernalillo County in December to stop the commission's years-long practice of taking horsemen's purse money to pay the racetracks' liability insurance on jockeys and exercise riders, in clear violation of state law. The NMHA stated the funds amount to over $8 million. The horsemen returned to court in May after the commissioners ordered tracks to shut off the NMHA's revenue stream, derived from access to funds horsemen have earned from purses.

According to the NMHA, the funds in question are used to pay medical fees for its members, the NMHA's Political Action Committee and administrative costs, including the oversight of the purse account for the horsemen and the state's five racetracks.

“We have never taken money from the purse funds to benefit our organization,” Mitchell said. “In fact, we took our own money to pay for the accounting, collection, management, dispersal and annual audits of how this money is handled. The taxpayer was not paying for us to do all of this. We were doing it for free, paying for it through contributions from our members, and the commissioners now say 'stop.'”

He continued, “They wish to get their hands on this money and use it how they see fit–which is basically to pay the costs of running the racetrack, thereby allowing more money to go into the casinos' pockets. Sadly, the commission, which is supposed to be fair and equal to everybody, sees no obligation to be fair to the horsemen.

“Allowing gaming at racetracks in New Mexico was done to save racing,” Mitchell said. “The racetracks cannot have gaming unless they have racing. The law is very clear about it. The gaming compact is clear about it. The Gaming Control Act is clear about it. The Horse Racing Act is clear about it.”

Additionally, the NMHA states that funds have been directed into owners' earnings based on race results.

“When the race is run, the purse is paid and that now becomes the winning horseman's money,” said long-time racehorse owner and NMHA President Roy Manfredi. “By their actions, the racing commission has taken away the NMHA's ability to provide financial assistance to horsemen in need. That's the same as saying you cannot donate to the March of Dimes, the NRA or any other organization, simply because your employer doesn't like the March of Dimes or the other organization. Once the money is paid to an individual who owns a horse, that money is theirs and they can do whatever they want with it. During the pandemic, the NMHA provided $100,000 in alfalfa and grain to the horsemen when we weren't able to run.”

“All we've ever asked them to do is just follow New Mexico state statute, which are laws. This commission considers them suggestions.”

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New Mexico Racing Season to Start Apr. 23 at SunRay Park

With the Feb. 25 announcement that restrictions regarding gaming in the state of New Mexico would be loosened, the New Mexico Racing Commission announced Monday that its season is slated to start Apr. 23 at SunRay Park in Farmington, NM.

“We are very excited to get live horse racing going again in the state of New Mexico,” said newly-named Chairman of the New Mexico Racing Commission, Sam Bregman. “We look forward to getting the industry back on track.”

The New Mexico Racing Commission intends to make decisions regarding the SunRay Park purse schedule, condition book, post times, racing officials, and wagering format at its upcoming monthly meeting on Mar. 18.

 

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With Sunland Meet Cancelled, New Mexico Racing in Disarray

There hasn't been any racing in New Mexico since Dec. 23, but trainer Lynette Baldwin stayed behind, setting up shop at a training center and waiting for good news. For the longest time, there has been none.

“I kept hoping for a light at the end of the tunnel,” Baldwin said. “That's all we asked. Just give us a chance.”

On Thursday, Baldwin's situation went from bad to worse. She turned down stalls at Turf Paradise hoping that Sunland Park would eventually open. Instead, a ruling issued by the New Mexico Racing Commission allowed the track to cancel its entire 2021 meet, which was scheduled to run through Mar. 30. That also meant that the GIII Sunland Derby would not be run for the second consecutive year.

“This was a devastating decision for the horsemen,” said New Mexico Horsemen's Association Executive Director Richard Erhard. “We had no inkling that they would out and out cancel the meet. This is another nail in the coffin of New Mexico racing.”

As has been the case in many states, the New Mexico tracks went dark last March because of the coronavirus. But New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham eventually allowed them to reopen without spectators. After a two-month absence, racing returned to New Mexico on May 22 at Ruidoso Downs.

The problem for racing was that the governor has yet to give the green light for the casinos in the state to open up. With the casino monies no longer available to fund purses, Sunland management has argued that it cannot run.

Baldwin is among the trainers who opted to keep their horses in New Mexico. Others have scattered, some landing at Turf Paradise, others at Sam Houston. Dick Cappellucci is enjoying a solid meet at Turf Paradise with 14 winners, but he'd rather be in Mew Mexico.

“We're from New Mexico and that's the only place we've ever raced,” he said. “My grandfather started there and then my dad. raced there. I've been around the New Mexico tracks all my life and that's where I'd rather be. The problem is that we depend on the money from the slot machines for our purses. It accounts for about 85 to 90% of our revenues.”

After Sunland, in a normal year, New Mexico racing would move to SunRay Park, but it doesn't appear that they will be opening either. The commission has allowed them to delay issuing schedules for their overnight races and stakes and management at that track has given no indication that they are ready to open.

The best thing for racing in the state would be for Grisham to allow the casinos to reopen. New Mexico is the only state in the country that has yet to give permission for its commercial casinos to open. (Tribal casinos in the state are operating). But Grisham has given no indication that she is about to change her mind.

“It's pretty sad,” said trainer Todd Fincher, who has relocated to Sam Houston. “I'm not God and I can't make any of these decisions but these people don't understand the impact this is having. It's a really bad deal for New Mexico.”

According to Erhard, the New Mexico tracks have the option of opening, but they could only do so if they drastically reduced purses. Instead, they have stayed shut since the Zia Park meet ended late last year, and the racing commission has supported their decisions. Erhard said the consensus among his membership would be to run, no matter what the purse schedule looks like.

“If people want to run for $12 and a ham sandwich, let them,” Baldwin said. “It should be up to them, not the tracks.”

Cappellucci agrees.

“I don't know why they didn't open Sunland and give people a choice,” he said. “I would have still left, but even if they were running for $4,000 or $5,000 a race that would have given people an opportunity to run and I'm sure a lot of people would have done so.”

Fincher said that the racing commission has allowed the tracks to skirt New Mexico's statutes regarding gambling. The tracks are required to conduct racing in order to operate a casino. He believes that their failure to do so should be dealt with harshly by regulators.

“If we had a real commission, which we don't, every track that refuses to run would be lose their casino license,” he said.

After the news broke Thursday that Sunland would stay closed, Baldwin called the racing office at Turf Paradise and told them she wanted those stalls after all. Eventually, the casinos will open and New Mexico racing can return to a sense of normalcy. When that happens, Baldwin will come back. As for other trainers who have left the state, she's not sure what they will do.

“It seems like a zillion trainers have left the state and I don't know if they're coming back or not,” she said. “There's going to be a tremendous trickle down effect before this is all over.”

Erhard said that management at Ruidoso Downs is more racing friendly than the other tracks in the state and he remained optimistic that they will race when their meet is scheduled to begin on May 21. After Ruidoso, New Mexico racing is scheduled to move on to the Downs at Albuquerque before closing out the year at Zia Park.

Zia's meet is scheduled to begin Sept. 27. Perhaps by then, Grisham will have allowed the casinos to open, but no one can be sure. In the meantime, everyone is just waiting, hoping for some better news.

“This is just a lousy situation,” Erhard said. “Really lousy.”

 

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