Turf Paradise sells out Derby Day as Arizona track stages comeback

Every seat was gone at Turf Paradise on Derby Day, and when general admission was added, the estimated crowd climbed to 7,500. For a track that had fallen so far out of sight that some people in the Phoenix area barely realized it was still operating, the sellout was more than a good day at the windows. It was evidence that the right mix of racing, atmosphere and basic fan experience can still pull people back through the gates.

That is the wager Tom Ludt and new owner Gary Hartunian are making. Hartunian, through Skyfall 7 LLC, entered a two-year lease with an extension option and brought Ludt in to run operations, but the full handoff was slowed until regulators signed off in mid-December. Once they did, Ludt made the physical plant and the on-track atmosphere the priorities, pushing to repair the track’s image, improve the day out for fans and rebuild interest in live racing.

The comeback pitch also rests on credibility. Turf Paradise had to delay the start of its 2024-25 meet by nine days, from Nov. 2 to Nov. 11, after HISA recommended the postponement because of dirt-surface problems. The track had also faced rail-safety concerns after a spring 2023 inspection found gaps and exposed edges in the railing material. Yet by the time that meet ended on Kentucky Derby day, May 3, Turf Paradise said it had posted the lowest fatality rate in its 69-year history, 0.73 per 1,000 starts, with one fatality on the main track and three on the turf among 6,981 starters. That figure sat below both the Jockey Club national average of 1.11 and the HISA average of 0.90.

The numbers matter because Turf Paradise is trying to revive more than a racetrack. Opened Jan. 7, 1956, on land envisioned by Walter Cluer at 19th Avenue and Bell Road, it was one of Arizona’s first sports franchises, according to the Arizona Department of Gaming. Jerry Simms bought the track in 2000 and added the equine swimming pool that remains on the property, but the current phase is about whether a long-neglected venue can become relevant again in a metro area of more than five million people. Turf Paradise’s December 2024 National Thoroughbred League event showed the ceiling is still there, producing $3.1 million in total bets and the track’s biggest handle of the decade. In December 2025, the Arizona Racing Commission gave Skyfall 7 a three-year commercial racing permit and teletrack permit for 36 off-track betting sites, a sign that the state sees a future worth backing if the live product can keep delivering crowds like this one.