New Mexico residents will not be allowed to place bets on the 150th Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 4, since the betting signal used to place wagers is being withheld from the state. 

New Mexico gamblers cannot wager on the 150th Kentucky Derby because of Horsemen’s Association, Racing Commission dispute

The state’s citizens are barred due to an ongoing dispute between the New Mexico Horsemen’s Association and the New Mexico Racing Commission. 

Of course, the Kentucky Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA) has also withdrawn permission for the racetracks in its states to send simulcast signals to New Mexico tracks.

The Interstate Horseracing Act was signed into law by President Jimmy Carter in 1978. It allows interstate simulcasting, and the act is the only federal legislation with authority over pari-mutuel wagering in horse racing in the United States. 

According to the IHA, a racing association cannot send out its signal for off-track wagering or accept an off-track signal without permission from a group that represents the majority of owners and trainers at the track.

“I shut it down,” said Rick Hiles, the president of the Kentucky HBPA. “The New Mexico Racing Commission is circumventing the Interstate Horseracing Act. When the commission took it upon itself to get around federal law, then we will stand up to this – forever.”

SunRay Park in Farmington, Ruidoso Downs, and The Downs at Albuquerque each refused to negotiate contracts with the NMHA. 

Kentucky HBPA has halted its signal to Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Ohio and Arizona 

Furthermore, the NMHA also said the Kentucky HBPA has halted its signal to Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Ohio, and Arizona, respectively.

“The state board of the NMHA is working in conjunction with the HBPA in these other states and have successfully convinced management of their tracks to not broadcast their signal to any New Mexico racetracks,” said SunRay Park general manager Max Moreland. “And that’s cost us business, and it’s going to continue to cost us.”

For this year’s Run for the Roses, the state of New Mexico will be represented by Stronghold, a three-year-old colt, when he enters the starting gate from the No. 18 post position for the 1¼-mile race. 

Stronghold won the Grade 3 Sunland Derby on Feb. 18, finished ahead of Alotaluck, then outran Imagination to win the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby in Arcadia, California, earlier this month.

The 150th Kentucky Derby will feature a record purse of $5 million, the largest since the Grade I stakes race first began in 1875.

The first-place winner will win $3.1 million. Second place will receive $1 million while third, fourth, and fifth net $500,000, $250,000, and $150,000 respectively.

Last year’s race saw a record all-sources handle of $288.7 million, approximately $14.9 million more than the former mark of $273.8 million — set in May 2022.