SunRay Park opens 2026 racing season amid uncertain future

SunRay Park and Casino opened its 2026 live racing season with a deep opening card and a bigger question hanging over the backstretch: whether Farmington will keep live racing at all. The 18-day meet began Friday, April 10, with 101 horses entered for a 10-race program, a strong start for a track that still draws horsemen, bettors and race-day crowds into San Juan County.

The season is scheduled to run through May 17, with live racing every Friday, Saturday and Sunday and a 1:15 p.m. first post. Admission is free, and the opening weekend was built around three stakes races, including the $70,000 New Mexico Breeders Stakes for 3-year-old statebred quarter horses racing 400 yards. The feature was slotted as race 10 of an 11-race program, and Woodcutt was among the horses drawing attention as it sought a third straight win after an allowance victory at Sunland Park.

The track’s racing product remains substantial. In 2025, SunRay’s opening weekend was part of another 18-day meet, and stakes purses were expected to top $900,000 across the season. That kind of card matters in Farmington not just as entertainment, but as a small economic engine for hotels, restaurants, wagering and the horsemen who ship in to run.

Yet the future of that engine is unsettled. SunRay Park president Paul Blanchard said in October that the proposed relocation was about improving racing statewide and that the current Farmington setup included days when there was “zero amount bet.” San Juan County Commissioner Terri Fortner said losing the track would be detrimental because it is a huge economic driver for the community.

The dispute moved into the legal arena by early February, when state racing regulators approved moving SunRay Park and Casino to Clovis. By March 31, San Juan County had asked a judge to block that decision. That leaves the 2026 meet in a strange position: a live racing season that still looks healthy on the track, even as the county fights to keep the sport from leaving town.