Update: Meet Cancelled, One Horse Confirmed Dead After Severe Flash Flooding At Ruidoso Downs
Severe flash flooding in Ruidoso, N.M., during the evening of July 8 caused multiple barns at Ruidoso Downs to be overrun with rapidly-rising floodwaters and reportedly "washed out" the racing surface.
Social media videos from the area showed several loose horses in the flood waters, and later videos showed grooms leading horses through receding water to higher ground. A track official confirmed that one horse died as a result of the flooding, one or two more remain unaccounted for, and 10 have been treated for minor wounds.
At least three people in the town of Ruidoso died as a result of the flooding, reports cnn.com.
Ruidoso was in the midst of a Quarter Horse race meet, and was preparing to host a pair of Grade 1 races for 3-year-olds on Saturday.
"We lost the track again, it washed out our race track," Ruidoso Mayor Lynn Crawford told koat.com.
Track owner Johnny Trotter confirmed to the Daily Racing Form that the 2025 meet at Ruidoso has been cancelled.
"We can't run at Ruidoso again this year,' Trotter told DRF. 'We can't put it back together.'
Last year, nearby wildfires in June and subsequent flooding on July 20 forced Ruidoso Downs officials to petition the New Mexico Racing Commission to move the remainder of the meet, including the prestigious All-American Futurity, to the Downs at Albuquerque.
That option remains open again, said Izzy Trejo, executive director of the New Mexico Racing Commission, who added that "there are a lot of logistics involved."
New Mexico also has Zia Park in Hobbs, Sunland Park on the Texas border near El Paso, and SunRay Park in Farmington in the northwest corner of the state.
Prior to Tuesday's flood event, both the town of Ruidoso and the racetrack were still recovering from last year's South Fork and Salt wildfires that left severe burn scars and led to flooding of the racing surface and racing cancellations in 2024.
According to CNN, the area has been under 12 separate flash flood emergencies since June of 2024.
This time, the Rio Ruidoso river swelled to a preliminary reading of 20.24 feet after torrential rainfall, well above last year's record of 15.86 feet. The river rose 19 feet in less than an hour, reports accuweather.com.
Track officials reported that Ruidoso Downs itself didn't see any rain before this flooding; the water came down from rainfall in the mountains. There was a 30-minute warning to evacuate, but not enough time to get horses moved.
Ruidoso Downs spent 120 days rebuilding and renovating after last year's floods, KOAT reported last month, and only managed to reopen for racing on May 23, 2025.
KRQE reported earlier this year that after the fires and floods of 2024, Ruidoso Downs added culverts and an eight-acre retention pond to help prevent future floods.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
This story was originally reported by Paulick Report on Jul 9, 2025, where it first appeared.
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