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Good News for Sunland Park
By Ray Sanchez
Friendship can be a wonderful thing. Just ask Dustin Dix, director of operations
at Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino.
He ran into an old friend, Tom Valera, at a conference on simulcasting earlier
this year. Valera is one of the officials in California who determines which
tracks are taken for simulcasting in that state. Needless to say, Dix brought up
the subject of Sunland Park live horse races and presto! California is now
taking Sunland races at all its betting outlets.
And oh, what a boon that’s been to Sunland. The betting of Sunland races in
California is the main reason the track has seen a sharp increase in its overall
handle. After the first four live racing days, Sunland’s simulcast off-track
wagering was up 13.45 percent.
But wait, there’s more good news for the upper valley track. Las Vegas casinos
were taking Sunland races for betting only on Tuesdays. After some deft handling
and smart talking by Sunland simulcast coordinator Steve Pedigo, Las Vegas
agreed to begin taking betting on Sunland races every race day, not just
Tuesdays, beginning this weekend.
That’ll no doubt be another great boost to the simulcasting handle.
Another thing that’s got Sunland officials happy is the response to its races by
horsemen. They’re setting some kind of record this season by filling races with
horses at a 9.7 rate. That’s well above past averages. Naturally, the more
horses in a race, the more fans bet.
Live horse racing at Sunland Park will continue through April 17. There will be
a marked change in the schedule this coming week. There will be live racing on
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday but not on Saturday, Dec. 24, nor
Sunday, Dec. 25.
The regular schedule of live on racing on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and
Tuesdays will resume the following week
First race will be held at 12:25 p.m. each race day.
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