Sunland Park Meet Postponed at Least 30 Days
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Photo: Coady Photography
Racing at Sunland Park
During a special meeting of the New Mexico Racing Commission Dec. 4, the winter/spring meet at Sunland Park that was to begin Dec. 26 was postponed 30 days with the intention to revisit the meet's status again in January, according to NMRC executive director Ismael "Izzy" Trejo.
The track, located not far from the Texas border, is a short drive from El Paso, a city where approximately 1,000 people have died from COVID-19 since the pandemic began.
Sunland Park's casino is temporarily closed by a New Mexico public health emergency order, while racing elsewhere in the state is ongoing at Zia Park in Hobbs. Zia Park racing was suspended in late November as COVID-19 worsened in the state before that track was cleared to resume Dec. 2. It runs through Dec. 23.
The resumption of racing at Zia Park came after New Mexico changed to a tiered county-by-county COVID-19 risk system.
Sunland Park had been scheduled to race next year through the end of March. This year, the track ended its 2019-20 season early in mid-March, along with other tracks in the country, with the onset of the pandemic. This meant the cancellation of the Sunland Derby (G3), the track's signature race and a qualifier on the Road to the Kentucky Derby.
With a date for racing to resume at Sunland unclear, some horsemen could opt to winter their horses at a track such as Turf Paradise, which is scheduled to begin a delayed season in January.