How New Mexico racinos work
The Gaming Control Act of 1997 opened the door: licensed horse tracks could add gaming machines, and the Gaming Control Board, which began operating in July 1998, licenses that side of the business. Slot machines reached the tracks in 1999. The Racing Commission still controls the racing license, the race dates and pari-mutuel wagering.
All New Mexico racinos may operate up to 750 machines each, 600 of their own plus 150 leased from a track not using its full allotment. Live table games are not permitted, so every floor is slots, video poker and electronic versions of blackjack or roulette. Casino floors are 21 and over; betting on races starts at 18.
Where the money goes
Every month each racino pays the state 26% of its “net take” from machines, and that tax goes to the general fund. The statute sends a further 20% of net take to the horsemen’s account, which is paid out as purses. In fiscal 2024 that share alone added $52,966,398 to purses across the five tracks.
That formula is why New Mexico, a small racing state by handle, carries some of the richest quarter horse races in the country. The $3 million All American Futurity and the $1 million Ruidoso and Rainbow futurities depend on it, and so does the $500,000 Sunland Derby. Our guide to racino revenue compares the split with other states.
All five New Mexico racinos at a glance
| Venue | City | Racing | Gaming |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino | Sunland Park | Thoroughbred, quarter horse (Jan–Apr) | 700+ slots and video poker, electronic table games |
| SunRay Park & Casino | Farmington | Quarter horse, thoroughbred (Apr–May) | 400+ slots, video poker, video blackjack |
| Ruidoso Downs & Billy the Kid Casino | Ruidoso Downs | 2026 meet held in Albuquerque | 300+ slots; closed temporarily since July 2026 |
| The Downs Racetrack & Casino | Albuquerque | Quarter horse, thoroughbred (Aug–Oct) | About 750 games incl. electronic blackjack, roulette |
| Zia Park Casino, Hotel & Racetrack | Hobbs | Quarter horse, thoroughbred (Oct–Dec) | About 723 machines, 154-room hotel |
The venues one by one
Sunland Park sits on the Texas line west of El Paso and has raced since 1959. Strategic Gaming Management bought it for $301 million in October 2025, with Gaming and Leisure Properties taking the real estate. Its winter meet carries the $500,000 Sunland Derby, a Kentucky Derby points race won in 2026 by Pavlovian.
Zia Park in Hobbs belongs to PENN Entertainment, which bought it in 2007. It is the only racino in the state listing a hotel of its own, with 154 rooms, and its one-mile track closes each year’s racing. The slot floor of roughly 723 machines draws heavily from the Permian Basin and West Texas, where casinos are not legal.
The Downs Racetrack & Casino occupies part of the Expo New Mexico fairgrounds in Albuquerque and races during the State Fair. It became the busiest track in the state after Ruidoso’s floods, hosting the All American Futurity in 2024, 2025 and 2026. Its casino holds about 750 games and stays open until 4 a.m. on weekends.
SunRay Park leases 92 acres of the McGee Park fairgrounds east of Farmington and runs a short spring meet of 18 days. Revenue fell from $10 million in 2011 to $4 million in 2024, according to its owner, which led to the Clovis relocation request. Its smoke-free floor holds more than 400 slots.
Ruidoso Downs, in the Sacramento Mountains, created the All American Futurity in 1959. Floods in July 2024 and July 2025 wrecked the plant, and in January 2026 the owners said the site could not be protected. Billy the Kid Casino closed temporarily on July 19, 2026, though the Gaming Control Board left its license in place.
The 2026 horse racing schedule
The Racing Commission set 183 live days at New Mexico racinos for 2026, and the meets are staggered so that racing moves around the state through the year. Simulcast wagering fills the gaps at every open venue. For dates in other states, the national horse racing schedule is updated as commissions publish them.
| Meet | 2026 dates | Days | Race days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunland Park | Jan 2 – Apr 5 | 55 | Thursday to Sunday |
| SunRay Park | Apr 10 – May 17 | 18 | Friday to Sunday |
| Ruidoso Downs (run at Albuquerque) | May 22 – Sep 7 | 49 | Friday to Sunday, 2 Mondays, Thursday Aug 13 |
| The Downs & State Fair | Sep 4 – Oct 25 | 30 | Wed, Fri to Sun, 2 Thursdays |
| Zia Park | Oct 31 – Dec 15 | 31 | Saturday to Tuesday, 3 Fridays |
Big race days on this horse racing schedule include the Sunland Derby in February, the Ruidoso Futurity in June, the Rainbow Futurity in July and the All American Futurity on Labor Day. From 2027, the three quarter horse futurities are set to move to Lone Star Park in Texas under a framework announced in September 2026.
Clovis and the sixth racino question
Eastern New Mexico has pushed for a racino for decades. Tucumcari attorney Warren Frost spent years trying to win a license for his city, and in early 2026 the San Juan County manager argued that Clovis should compete for a sixth license the state still has available, rather than take Farmington’s.
Instead the Racing Commission backed a transfer. In October 2025 it endorsed Western Gaming’s plan to move SunRay Park’s license to a 200-acre site east of Clovis on U.S. 60/84, with a one-mile oval, a 3,000-seat grandstand, a hotel, a casino, 1,340 stalls and an RV park. It approved the move 3-0 on February 10, 2026.
PENN Entertainment objected. Lawyers for Zia Park told commissioners that PENN would invest about $200 million in its own Clovis racino and asked for an open, competitive process. Tribal casino operators also raised concerns about a racino near the Texas line, and the city of Farmington and San Juan County formally opposed the transfer.
On August 31, 2026, a district judge in Albuquerque vacated the commission’s order, finding it had no statutory power to relocate a racing license. Western Gaming says it will appeal and had planned a Clovis casino by September 2027, when its Farmington lease expires. For now SunRay’s 2027 race dates are set for Farmington, and Clovis has no racino.
New Mexico racinos and neighboring states
Texas has no racinos, so the nearest comparable venues lie further east. Oklahoma runs electronic gaming at Remington Park and Will Rogers Downs, Louisiana has four track casinos, and Arkansas turned Oaklawn into a full casino. Our explainer on what a racino is compares the models; whichever state, set limits before you play.