All bets are off, there will be no horse racing at Rillito Park this year

TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) - A Tucson tradition that goes back 80 years, will be absent in 2024.

There will be no horse racing at Rillito Park.

“The bottom line is there will not be racing this year at Rillito,” County Administrator Jan Lesher told the Pima County Board on Tuesday. “We have a variety of requirements that were due to us by Rillito Racing, including an audit and a variety of things, but those things have not occurred.”

But she did not rule out there may be a slight, sliver of a chance, that it could still happen.

“At this point, there will not be racing,” she told the board.

“At this point” is the key wording here.

But even though she left the door open, it’s not likely to happen.

Dr. Ed Ackerley, a former President of the Rillito Foundation, which sponsors the meets, said the audit is nearly complete.

He said all the information was given to the accountants in December, but it’s a long, arduous, and complicated audit.

Unlike many other audits, the track has satellite operations, parimutuel wagering, horses coming from all over the country and other factors which complicate the state-required audit.

He said if the county cleared dates, the foundation could be up and going in a week or so but that there are other issues right now.

“We made a decision as a board the other day,” Ackerley said. “Unless a lot of things line up, if things don’t line up in a positive direction, it doesn’t make any sense for us to run because we would be fighting uphill.”

One of the things the track is concerned about is, that it’s going through some upgrades, and construction work, which if they had the season now, would be an impediment for patrons.

But the biggest impediment would be a scheduling conflict with Turf Paradise in Phoenix, which starts racing Monday.

That puts Tucson at a disadvantage when it comes to the quality of horses.

“The bulk of our stables comes from those horses running at Turf Paradise and so, not being able to get the horses we would normally get, is a problem for us,” Ackerley said. “We feel that would be a disservice to the community and to the horses.”

The foundation said even though the required audits are nearly complete, it’s also waiting for money promised by the state to make more improvements.

That’s hundreds of thousands of dollars promised by former Gov. Doug Ducey but put on hold by current Gov. Katie Hobbs.

Ackerley said they think they will still get the funding.

So, with all the outside distractions, they believe, now seems a good time to take a brief rest.

“In some ways you can almost argue a pause from time to time is not a bad thing,” he said. “We’ve got to get everything right, make sure everyone’s safe, horses are safe, if you can do that it bodes well for 2025.”

Meaning “and they’re off” will wait around until next year.