But the 51st season of racing in Ruidoso begins Friday with renewed optimism and excitement, thanks to maybe the closest vote in the history of the New Mexico legislature. At 1 a.m., a woman in the legislature reconsidered and changed her vote. It will be next year before a commission is appointed and the casino gaming is open at the racetracks, but Wells said it will be a gigantic boost for the horse racing industry in New Mexico. The money will go back into the purses for the horses. He said casino gaming rejuvenated horse racing in both Iowa and Delaware, where just five percent of the money wagered goes into the purses for the horse races.
Bigger purses means better quality of horses and more competitive fields.
It will be much more lucrative than in the heyday in the early '80s. Wells said the demand for horses is already up in anticipation of the increase of purses. The All American Futurity has Quarter Horse racing's richest purse. Although the opening of Lone Star Park will probably take some thoroughbreds away from Ruidoso's mixed meet, the opening of the new track in Grand Prairie is actually good news for the New Mexico track. Now, we'll only overlap a couple of days because Remington moved its meet to avoid conflict with Lone Star Park.