Ruidoso Downs Race Track on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Ruidoso Downs is a horse racing track in ruidownsracing.com
/ref> It also hosts the Grade I
After a flood covered fields in gravel and silt in the small village of Ruidoso Downs, an informal race track was built on the fields in the 1940s. Bets varied from as "little as a bag of oats or $10,000 to $50,000 was being bet." A rodeo stand was moved from the village of Capitan, New Mexico to the field in 1945. Arizona investor Eugene Hensley bought the racetrack in 1953, becoming its general manager. Over the next decade the facility would undergo a number of expansions, and around 1957, the All American Futurity was created by Hensley, Carl Mercer, and cowboy musician
Official website for Ruidoso Downs Race TrackVillage of Ruidoso Tourism Office
Horse racing venues in New Mexico Tourist attractions in Lincoln County, New Mexico Buildings and structures in Lincoln County, New Mexico 1940s establishments in New Mexico {{horseracing-venue-stub
Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico
Ruidoso Downs is a city in Lincoln County, New Mexico, United States, located within the Lincoln National Forest. The population was 1,824 at the 2000 census and 2,815 at the 2010 census. Originally incorporated as a village, it became a city in ...
. The track hosts both Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing, notably the All American Futurity, the richest race in Quarter Horse racing./ref> It also hosts the Grade I
All American Derby
All or ALL may refer to:
Language
* All, an indefinite pronoun in English
* All, one of the English determiners
* Allar language (ISO 639-3 code)
* Allative case (abbreviated ALL)
Music
* All (band), an American punk rock band
* ''All'' (All a ...
in early September, which carries a purse of $1,900,000 and was won in 2014 by the New Mexico-bred gelding
A gelding is a castrated male horse or other equine, such as a pony, donkey or a mule. Castration, as well as the elimination of hormonally driven behavior associated with a stallion, allows a male equine to be calmer and better-behaved, makin ...
Too Flash For You.
History
After a flood covered fields in gravel and silt in the small village of Ruidoso Downs, an informal race track was built on the fields in the 1940s. Bets varied from as "little as a bag of oats or $10,000 to $50,000 was being bet." A rodeo stand was moved from the village of Capitan, New Mexico to the field in 1945. Arizona investor Eugene Hensley bought the racetrack in 1953, becoming its general manager. Over the next decade the facility would undergo a number of expansions, and around 1957, the All American Futurity was created by Hensley, Carl Mercer, and cowboy musician Ray Reed
Raymond William Reed (30 April 1932 – 8 May 1970) was a Rhodesian racing driver born in Gwelo, Southern Rhodesia. He was entered in the 1965 South African Grand Prix in his self-built RE (automobile), RE-Alfa Romeo in Formula One, Alfa Romeo, b ...
. Held at the racetrack on Labor Day starting in 1959, they added The Rainbow Futurity in 1964. In 1988 the majority of Ruidoso Downs Race Track was purchased by R.D. Hubbard.
Though the track had fallen into disrepair, within a year Hubbard and a business partner invested several million dollars into improving the track.
1989 also saw the addition of simulcast racing and wagering, while Hubbard bought out Allred in 1991. Soon a sales pavilion and sports theatre were constructed, which is where the Ruidoso Select Yearling Sale is held. The facilities have also housed camel and ostrich races, as well as concerts by artists such as Toby Keith and Emilio Navaira
Emilio H. Navaira III (August 23, 1962 – May 16, 2016) was an American singer-songwriter of Tejano and country music. He is the winner of one Grammy Award and one Latin Grammy Award.
Known to most by the mononym Emilio, he charted more than ...
. An adjacent casino was opened by the Hubbards in 1999. The 1937 Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-year ...
trophy won by War Admiral is typically kept on display at Ruidoso Downs.
See also
*Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico
Ruidoso Downs is a city in Lincoln County, New Mexico, United States, located within the Lincoln National Forest. The population was 1,824 at the 2000 census and 2,815 at the 2010 census. Originally incorporated as a village, it became a city in ...
References
External links
Official website for Ruidoso Downs Race Track
Horse racing venues in New Mexico Tourist attractions in Lincoln County, New Mexico Buildings and structures in Lincoln County, New Mexico 1940s establishments in New Mexico {{horseracing-venue-stub