There is likely to be no horse racing season at Rillito Downs this year, ending an 80-year Tucson tradition.
The decision, made last week by the Pima County Board of Supervisors, is due to incomplete financial audits for the past three years, according to a Jan. 24 memorandum from county administrator Jan Lesher. Other issues, however, also make it unlikely there will be horse racing in Tucson in 2024.
“The bottom line is there will not be racing this year at Rillito,” Lesher said to the Board of Supervisors. “The last communication I had with the board indicating we had a variety of requirements . . . including an audit and a variety of things. Those things have not occurred.”
Commercial races at Rillito Downs have been operated by Rillito Racing and the Rillito Park Foundation. According to the county, the foundation has not completed financial audits for 2021, 2022 or 2023.
Ed Ackerley, Rillito Park Foundation president, says there are four factors creating the pause in this year’s racing season: First, the wait on its financial audits, which Ackerley says stems mostly from administrative issues from their third-party accounting firm being “bogged down.” Second is scheduling conflicts with other Arizona racetracks whose seasons begin this spring.
Third is ongoing renovations to the clubhouse, which Ackerley says could lead to a race season delay for the year. And fourth, is the wait for an allocation of covid relief aid for the racetrack. Rillito Race Track received $167,500 through Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans approved by then-Gov. Doug Ducey before he left office, according to ProPublica. But further funds have been put on hold by Gov. Katie Hobbs, Ackerley said.
The county gave the track operators until Jan. 15 to provide the past due audits They missed the deadline. The county “will not consider granting approval for any commercial racing dates” until the audits are received, a county memo says.
Rillito race days weren’t the only races held at the Old Pueblo’s track. “County fair horse racing days,” which in the past have been held at Rillito, are operated by the Pima County Fair Horse Racing Commission.
According to a Jan. 19 memorandum from Lesher, these race days at Rillito are no longer required for the first half of this year. This resulted in the county commission requesting approval for the races to move to Turf Paradise, a track in Phoenix. The county approved the move.
Races at Turf Paradise are set for March 7, March 14, March 21 and March 28.
Just because racing won’t be in Tucson soon, that doesn’t mean they’re gone for good, Ackerley said Tuesday.
“There could be a possibility that once Turf Paradise finishes their season in the summer, then in the fall there’s a window where we could possibly run for a few weekends,” Ackerley said. “The message is, yes, racing will return. When? We don’t have a specific date, but we’re working as hard as we can and we’ll do whatever we need to do from a community-perspective to meet the requirements of the county and the state.”
Ackerley said he hopes racing will be back in here by the fall. But, he said he’s tentatively, earmarking the spring 2025 season as a return for Tucson racing.
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