In the latest sign that horse racing in Arizona is in danger, the Santa Cruz County Fair and Rodeo Association voted to cancel the 2024 Sonoita races, meaning the state will not have a single county fair this year (there were two last year). Patagonia Regional Times explain:
“The financial burden of hosting the event, the ongoing lack of state funding to support racing, the cancellation of racing at Tucson's Lilito Park and the decline of county racing in Arizona all influenced the committee's decision.
“Despite the $40,000 in state funding that Sonoita Race Track received last year, the fairgrounds ran a deficit on race weekend.”
As we've previously reported, Arizona Downs will likely close, Lillito Race Track will likely not run this year, and Arizona's flagship racetrack, the Turf Race Track, has been for sale for over a year and will likely run its final race. And now, a 100+ year “tradition” in Santa Cruz (i.e. the tradition of abusing and killing horses) has come to an end. All in all, good news.
