Turf Paradise race season can continue after safety repairs

The remainder of the racing season will continue as planned at Turf Paradise after industry regulators certified the north Phoenix horse track completed safety repairs ahead of a critical deadline.

Catch up quick: The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA), a regulatory body created by Congress in 2020, set a March 31 deadline for Turf Paradise to fix the safety railing along the 1-mile oval track.

• A HISA investigation found that gaps and exposed edges in the panels on the railing posed a significant injury risk if jockeys fell off their horses.

Why it matters: Had Turf Paradise missed the deadline, it would have lost the right to simulcast its races and accept mobile bets through a system called advance deposit wagering for the final six weeks of its season.

• On average, horse tracks get about 90% of their revenue through simulcasting and mobile wagering, and Turf Paradise is no different, general manager Vincent Francia tells Axios Phoenix.
• "It would've shut us down," he said.

Zoom in: Losing out on the last six weeks of racing at Turf Paradise would've been especially costly for local horsemen because Arizona Downs in Prescott Valley won't have a summer racing season this year, Francia said.

• He said the lack of summer racing at Arizona Downs is putting horse owners in "quite a state of panic."
• That means owners will have to ship horses out of state for the summer season. Last year, those costs were about $1,100 to ship each horse to Washington state, $1,200 to Prairie Meadows racetrack in Iowa and $1,500 to the Canterbury Park track in Minnesota, according to Leroy Gessmann, executive director of the Arizona Horseman's Benevolent and Protective Association.

• Francia says the money they earn in the last stretch of the Turf Paradise season will help horse owners cover those costs.

Between the lines: Arizona Downs did not submit any 2023 race dates for approval to the state's racing commission, per Department of Gaming spokesperson Max Hartgraves.

• The deadline has passed for the track to submit race dates for this year.
• Representatives of Arizona Downs did not return messages from Axios Phoenix.