July 23, 2024, El Paso, Texas (KTSM) - Ruidoso Downs Race Track and Casino is set to relocate to Albuquerque for the remainder of this year's racing season after flash flooding on Saturday, July 21st ruined a portion of the building, according to a video statement released by general manager Rick Baugh.

The rest of the meet will move to the Downs of Albuquerque but will still be run as a Ruidoso Downs meet. The move is due to flooding that compromised bridges and culverts at Ruidoso Downs. Despite the heartbreak, New Mexico’s horse racing industry is uniting to help.

“This area has never experienced this kind of flooding. You can’t beat Mother Nature. You just can’t,” Baugh said in a statement. Baugh that he and his staff remain optimistic that horse racing will return to Ruidoso Downs come 2025.

Environmental Disasters in New Mexico

This summer, the Ruidoso region has had two significant wildfires on June 15 and July 10, which were followed by flooding. The surrounding terrain was severely damaged by the fires, which made the flooding that resulted from the intense rains worse. Local communities and horse racing operations have been badly damaged by these natural disasters.