Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino opening day program happening tomorrow

SUNLAND PARK, New Mexico (KVIA) -- Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino is celebrating its opening day program tomorrow, featuring two thoroughbred stakes races, the $90,000 New Mexico State Racing Commission Stakes, and the $65,000 KLAQ Stakes.

This 55-day season will be 12:25 PM with racing on all but opening week on a Thursday through Sunday basis. Closing day is set to happen Sunday, April 6, 2025. This calendar features 38 stakes races, totaling $4.25 million.

"The sparkling jewel of the lucrative season is the $400,000 Sunland Derby (Gr. III) to be run on Sunday, February 16, 2025," a spokesperson for the racetrack explained Thursday. "The Kentucky Derby prep race offers 20 qualifying points to the winner for entry to the 2025 Run for the Roses. The 20th edition of the one and one-sixteenth mile classic anchors a huge day of racing with six stakes races worth over $1 million in purse money. The $250,000 Sunland Park Oaks, as well as the $100,000 Bill Thomas Memorial Stakes, the $100,000 Harry W. Henson Stakes, the $90,000 Peppers Pride Stakes and the $90,000 Red Hedeman Mile are also part of Sunland Park’s biggest day."

Last year, Sunland Derby winner Stronghold went on to clench a seventh-place finish in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.

"Among the top races for Quarter Horses this season are the $350,000 Championship at Sunland Park (Gr. III), which will be run on Sunday, Feb. 2. The world’s best quarter horses will collide in the 23rd running of this 440-yard featured event."

The racetrack is located at 1200 Futurity Drive in Sunland Park, New Mexico, near West El Paso.