After a year in which New Mexico horse racing was the target of a slew of negative stories — including the deaths of quarter horses running in high-profile races and suspensions of trainers for doping — the proposed budgets from Gov. Susana Martinez and the Legislative Finance Committee have called for increased spending for the [...]

In a statewide poll conducted 12 days before the presidential election, Barack Obama still maintains a comfortable lead on Mitt Romney while the former two-term governor of New Mexico, Gary Johnson, who’s running as the Libertarian Party candidate is polling at 5 percent.
Here are the results of the poll released by the Albuquerque Journal that [...]

After a season marred by accusations that some trainers drugged horses to deadly levels, one quarter horse track in New Mexico says it will institute harsher fines and penalties and another track may soon follow suit.
“I think it’s great,” New Mexico Racing Commission Director Vince Mares told Capitol Report New Mexico on Monday (Sept. 4) [...]

New rules are in place; let’s see what kind of effect they’ll have.
On Thursday (June 21), the New Mexico Racing Commission – as expected — unanimously adopted horse racing guidelines in accordance with the nationally-recognized Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI) in the hopes of establishing clearer standards and helping to track down unscrupulous horse [...]

In one of the weirdest stories we’ve come across, the New York Times published a story Tuesday (June 19) disclosing that race horses in as many as four states — including New Mexico — have been found to have traces of a “powerful performance-enhancing potion drawn from the backs of a type of South American [...]

It looks like just about every major player associated with horse racing in New Mexico is on board with the state Racing Commission’s call for stricter standards and tougher enforcement for the sport.
On Wednesday (May 2), representatives from the five licensed tracks in the state as well as horse owners, breeders and racing interest groups [...]

Is there something funny going on with the surveys Public Policy Polling (PPP) is releasing here in New Mexico?
PPP is a national outfit associated with the Democratic Party. The North Carolina-based firm doesn’t hide that fact but insists it doesn’t allow its rooting interest for Democrats and liberal causes interfere with its polling data.
Republicans often [...]

Within the next two months, the rules and penalties concerning New Mexico horse racing might get a lot tougher. And if the legislature goes along, so might drug testing.
On Thursday (April 19), the state’s Racing Commission is considering adopting regulations from the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI) in addition to possibly increasing the number [...]

In the past few weeks two shocking stories concerning horses in New Mexico made headlines.
First, the Albuquerque Journal came out with graphic photos of four starving horses found suffering at a Los Lunas feedlot.
Second, the New York Times ran a blistering exposé of horse racing abuse across the country and pointed at New Mexico as [...]

It’s been a week since the New York Times ran a massive and devastating article about the state of horse racing in general and New Mexico in particular, painting a picture of an industry where too many horses are drugged to such an extent that the danger already built into the sport is raised to [...]