Fans unable to wager on the Kentucky Derby at racetracks in New Mexico. Here's why.

May 2—For Leo Boudreau, Saturday might as well be another day. Sitting in the Albuquerque Downs VIP lounge on Thursday afternoon, two books of race sheets spread out in front of him, he says a race like the Kentucky Derby isn't one where he finds the value he'd normally like.

"But when the Derby or the big races come up — the Preakness Stakes or the Belmont — a lot of horse racing fans, this is it for them," Boudreau, 66, nodding towards a row of televisions, told the Journal. "I've got friends that I see three, four times a year. and it's the Derby, the Preakness, the Belmont and the Breeder's Cup."

Whether he sees them this weekend is up for debate.

The Kentucky Derby will not be available for simulcast wagering at racetracks around New Mexico after the Kentucky Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, an entity representing horsemen in the Bluegrass State, chose to revoke their signal for one of the most wagered-on events in the country.

Diehard race fans like Boudreau and casual bettors now have been directed toward online platforms like Twin Spires for wagering instead of placing in-person bets based on the simulcast signal. Crowds that might have formed at tracks like the Downs, one of New Mexico's five racetracks, likely won't — even with the race still being shown on broadcast TV but with no betting provisions.

"This place would be packed come Saturday," Boudreau said. "And it's not gonna be."

The source of the revoked signal is a dispute between the New Mexico Racing Commission (NMRC), the state's regulatory body, and the New Mexico Horsemen's Association (NMHA), a nonprofit entity representing owners and trainers in the state, with the Kentucky HBPA standing in solidarity with its New Mexico counterparts. Kentucky's HBPA is the latest entity to withhold its signals from tracks in New Mexico after associations in Arizona, Ohio and Indiana have previously done so.

Per the NMRC, four entities have to provide unanimous approval for the signal to be sent: the commission, the Kentucky Racing Commission, the Kentucky HBPA and Churchill Downs, the home of the Kentucky Derby. Kentucky HBPA president Rick Hiles said in a January interview with Bloodhorse that he decided not to send the signal over a perceived violation of federal law by the New Mexico Racing Commission.

"The New Mexico Racing Commission is circumventing the Interstate Horseracing Act," Hiles said then. "When the commission took it upon itself to get around federal law, then we will stand up to this — forever."

When reached by the Journal, the Kentucky HBPA gave no comment. Multiple attempts to reach Hiles went without response.

Signed into law in 1978, the Interstate Horseracing Act (IHA) states that tracks cannot accept off-track "export signals" for simulcast purposes or send their own to other tracks without the approval of a group that represents the majority of horse owners and trainers at each meet. NMHA president Dr. Paul Jenson contends that his organization, which lists 3,000 members online, fits that bill and has done so since its inception in 1966.

"So when Kentucky sees — and other states now —when they see what the Racing Commission is doing to the horsemen here, they said, 'we've been there,'" Jenson told the Journal. "And if New Mexico can get away from that, that will undo decades of legal precedent that affects them. They will be indirectly affected in the future if the New Mexico Racing Commission can get away with cutting race days and signing the simulcast contract, instead of the horsemen signing the simulcast contract."

NMRC executive director Ismael "Izzy" Trejo disagrees. He said it's "derelict" for a government entity to be considered in violation of federal law and questioned how much the Kentucky HBPA and NMHA understood the IHA.

"Can the NMHA prove that they even have any members?" Trejo said. "Because pursuant to their bylaws, in order to retain membership of that group, you have to pay 1% of every dollar your horses make, $5 for every horse that you start and $2 in a PAC (performance) fee for every horse that you start in New Mexico. If people are supposed to be doing that to retain their membership, I'd like to know if that's been happening.

"We really question the number of members that they tell media outlets that they have."

Saturday's blocked signal represents another instance of bad blood in a feud between the NMRC and NMHA that's flared over the last five years. Jenson claims that the NMRC is aiding tracks who want to ultimately end horse racing in New Mexico and institute "Las Vegas-style gaming" instead by cutting back on race dates.

Per documentation provided by the NMHA, there were 188 race dates in 2023; prior to 2020, there was a five-year average of 272 dates from 2015-19, albeit on a steady decline.

"When you cut race days, then the top end professional people that take care of these horses can't make a living here," Jenson said. "So then you don't have the infrastructure and the support system to take care of all these horses. It just kinda dies away."

For his part, Trejo said that there's been an approximate 57% decline in racehorse breeding in New Mexico since 2007. Lesser numbers affect the viability of the product and, in turn, the number of race dates possible.

"The more horses in a race, the more that stimulates the betting handle by the public — they have more options to bet," he added. "That's basic business: you could have a TV shop that sells 1950s, 13-inch black and whites or you could have Best Buy. Best Buy is going to outsell because they have more product, better products, more expensive products and more options than the TV store that sells the old black and whites."

For now, bettors like Boudreau are caught in between. His racing sheets in front of him, he said he's lived in New Mexico for 61 years and has bet on horses for 30. There's tracks he used to love betting on — like Turf Paradise in Phoenix — that now have had their signals blocked due to similar situations.

Whether he's sitting in the lounge or speaking at NMRC meetings, he still doesn't feel heard.

"And people have nodded, 'yeah, yeah, we understand' and all that," he added. "Nothing ever happened from it. So, like I say, the horsemen here — and I know some of them — they think they know everything.

"And them knowing everything is gonna be the end of them. There's a lot more people involved than just them and the racing commission."

And at New Mexico's tracks, Saturday is shaping up to be just another day.