Why can’t New Mexicans bet on the Kentucky Derby?
*Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with comments from the NM Racing Commission.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – If you were hoping to bet on the big race at a New Mexico casino, you’re out of luck this year. New Mexico casinos say they aren’t offering wagers on the Kentucky Derby.
So, why not? The short answer is that the state’s casinos simply aren’t going to get the simulcast signal from Kentucky. Without that signal, all bets are off. But you can still watch the races at some casinos without betting.
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Here’s the way horse racing works: States have horse associations (in Kentucky, that’s the Kentucky Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association) that send out race simulcast signals to other states. Generally, those associations can control who receives signals and who doesn’t. This year, the Kentucky Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association (Kentucky HBPA) decided New Mexico doesn’t get access, according to the New Mexico Horsemen’s Association.
“There is precedent . . . that gives the horsemen, the owners of racehorses and the trainers of racehorses, it gives them the ownership of the show that they put on,” explains Paul Jenson, a veterinarian and the president of the New Mexico Horsemen’s Association. “The casino has to have a contract with the horsemen’s group who represent the majority of the horsemen in that jurisdiction.”
Ismael “Izzy” Trejo, the executive director of the New Mexico Racing Commission, says each of the players in New Mexico – casinos, the racing commission, etc. – did their part to try to get the derby this year, but the final say was up to Kentucky HBPA.
The story circulating around the New Mexico horse racing world is that a feud between two New Mexico groups may be the reason why Kentucky HBPA cut off New Mexico’s access. KRQE News 13 called Kentucky HBPA, and the group hung up without providing comment. But a horseracing news website quoted the president of Kentucky HBPA as saying the choice to block the signal was deliberate and in reaction to the New Mexico Racing Commission’s beef with the New Mexico Horsemen’s Association.
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That feud between the two New Mexico groups goes back years, and state lawmakers even tried to ease some of the tension by passing a bill in 2023. Yet, the tension remains. The two groups have been in and out of court and arguing over racing purse money and the long-term vision for horseracing in the state. Ultimately, the dispute is impacting the entire field of horseracing.
“The money that’s bet on the Kentucky Derby here in New Mexico, it helps the Horsemen’s group’s medical benefits (a portion of it goes to their medical benefits). A portion of it goes to the purses, which is the prize money that New Mexico horsemen get to run for. And a portion of it goes to the Equine Test Fund, which is the [Racing] Commission’s fund in which we pay for drug testing to assure integrity in our sport here,” Trejo explains. So, without the simulcast signal, each of those players lose out. “The other innocent people in this saga is the race fans.”
Jenson also says New Mexicans are losing out because of the dispute. “We’re all losing. The racetracks are losing that income, the Horsemen’s Association is losing some of that [simulcast] income,” he says.
Although casinos in New Mexico won’t be able to take bets for the race, some are still planning on broadcasting the race. So, if you want to just enjoy watching the race at a casino, both Isleta Casino and the Albuquerque Downs Casino say they will have the races on TVs.
