New Mexico Commission Suspends Trainer After Two Horses Die at Sunland Park

Two 2-year-old Quarter Horses from trainer Edwin A. Martinez's stable suffered catastrophic injuries in back-to-back races at Sunland Park on March 14, and both were euthanized. Two days later, the New Mexico Racing Commission moved swiftly, issuing a summary suspension against Martinez on March 16 and triggering one of the most sweeping investigative directives seen at the track this meet.

The horses, A Streakin Prada and Flower Peach, were first-time starters. Both sustained their injuries after the wire, in consecutive races. Their deaths set off an immediate regulatory response that extended well beyond Martinez's training license.

Under the NMRC's March 16 ruling, Martinez must turn over veterinary records for the past six months for all Quarter Horses entered or started during the 2026 meet at Sunland Park, and he must do so before his summary suspension hearing, which is scheduled for March 22 at 5:00 p.m. The commission is also requiring that every Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred trained, entered, or raced by Martinez during the 2026 Sunland Park meet undergo a veterinary exam by an NMRC official veterinarian, with current diagnostic radiographs of the fetlock and carpus provided to that veterinarian. Beyond the physical examinations and imaging, the NMRC is requiring mandatory hair testing for all Quarter Horses from Martinez's 2026 Sunland Park string, with Martinez responsible for all associated costs.

The reach of those directives reflects how seriously the commission treated the clustering of two catastrophic breakdowns in a single afternoon. Stewards underscored the urgency by scratching Martinez's lone entrant from the March 16 Thoroughbred card before he could run again.

According to Equibase data, Martinez is a stakes-winning Quarter Horse trainer whose career began in 2022. He has sent out winners in 28 Quarter Horse races from 308 starters, and winners in 12 Thoroughbred races from 186 starters. The NMRC has not concluded that wrongdoing occurred; the summary suspension and investigative mandates are pending the outcome of the March 22 hearing.

The action against Martinez arrives against a turbulent backdrop for New Mexico racing regulation. The New Mexico Horsemen's Association has filed multiple lawsuits against the NMRC alleging civil rights violations in a funding dispute, sought contempt charges over ethics complaints, and drawn solidarity from at least four states, including Kentucky, which have withheld simulcast signals in support of the association's position. The commission has also levied a 16-year ban on trainer Aurelio Valdez for multiple drug violations and issued a summary suspension to trainer Nancy N. Summers after a HIWU investigator found three hypodermic syringes in her tack room at Sunland Park.

Whether the March 22 hearing produces additional findings, reinstates Martinez, or extends his suspension will depend largely on what the six months of veterinary records, the imaging, and the hair testing reveal.