Sunland Park Racetrack holds ‘biggest race of the year’ at Fiesta del Sol

Officials say this weekend’s Festival of Racing Stakes at Sunland Park Racetrack’s Fiesta del Sol event was the biggest horse race of the year.

Peter Fluor’s horse named “Collected” won the final event. The award, $415,000.

This weekend is normally the Sunland Derby, but because of the equine herpes virus outbreak that stalled racing for 19 days, a race track spokesman says there wasn’t enough time to plan and many racers chose to go elsewhere. The kicked off the Fiesta del Sol event

Sunland Park says there have been no additional positive EHV-1 tests in more than two weeks. One horse remains in the isolation barn, but tight protocols and policies are in place to prevent an outbreak.

Despite the setback, there was a lot at stake for Sunday’s event, more than a million dollars in purses up for grabs with some of the top horse racers from around the country.