Sale falls through; Turf Paradise is ticketed to close this month

Barring a late reprieve from someone who could come to the rescue, buy it and resurrect it, Turf Paradise in Phoenix will be shut down permanently at the end of this month, the racetrack’s current management announced Monday.

“The owner of Turf Paradise, Jerry Simms, announced today that after 23 years of operating the racetrack, he is retiring to spend more time with his family,” a track news release said. “There will be no more live racing or simulcasting at the Phoenix-based race track beginning Oct. 1, 2023.”

The sale of the 67-year-old racecourse and the more than 200 acres of land that go with it fell through Friday, according to KNXV. Turf Paradise general manager Vince Francia told the Phoenix TV station that James Watson, who runs CT Realty out of Newport Beach, Calif., decided not to pursue his plan announced in April to turn the property into an industrial development.

Flashback: Turf Paradise will not open for fall racing.

Francia told KNXV there were two other would-be buyers looking at the property. Asked if there was any hope they could save the track, he said, “Of all the things you can say about racing, it is built on hope springs eternal, so yes, there is hope.”

Watson said during the spring he would have considered extending the racing life of Turf Paradise another year or two if other forms of gambling were allowed to help fund the purses, but the Arizona state government did not complete any move in that direction.

Seasonal racing at Turf Paradise ended as usual in May on Kentucky Derby day. With the sale seemingly moving forward, current track management announced last month it would not follow its recent custom of opening in November during Breeders’ Cup weekend, leaving that to new owners.

The more immediate impact from Monday’s announcement will be the closing of simulcast betting outlets that must go dark at the end of the month.

“Turf Paradise also maintains 37 off-track-betting sites throughout Arizona, which televise the live product and simulcasts from other racetracks across America for the purpose of wagering,” the news release said. “In order for the OTB sites to operate, live racing is required. Since Turf Paradise will not be running a live race meet, and the contract with the Arizona Horsemen Benevolent and Protective Association terminates Sept. 30 of this year, the OTBs will have to close effective Oct. 1.”

According to a 2020 document that was the most recent posted on the Arizona Department of Gaming website, 20 other active OTB outlets would not be affected by the closing. Those locations mostly at restaurants and bars are allied mostly with Arizona Downs, a dormant but not shuttered racetrack 71 miles north of Turf Paradise in Prescott. Its co-owner Tom Auther told Axios Phoenix in April there was not enough money to open for the usual summer racing season this year.

As the only remaining Thoroughbred track in the state, Arizona Downs has been in the process of applying for racing dates in November and December.

“Once Turf (Paradise) announced that they were not going to run, the (Arizona) HBPA and Arizona Downs sat down and said, ‘Let’s try to put together a meet,’ ” Auther said last month at an Arizona Racing Commission meeting. He later said, “There’s no guarantee to anybody on this. I want to make that perfectly clear, but we’re going to give it a shot.”

Knowing he would face tough questions about the track’s finances, Auther said he hoped to come back to the commission with a plan at its next meeting, which was pushed back two weeks to Sept. 28.

Until December, Turf Paradise and Arizona Downs took a financial hit for nearly three years because of a simulcast dispute with The Stronach Group’s Monarch Content Management. Turf Paradise had the further challenge of an outstanding $320,387 tab from the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority. Some $164,776 came due as an annual fee, and another $155,611 was in the form of a penalty for an unsafe rail.

Throughout the 2010s, Simms and his brother had a very public, family feud that wound up in court. Amid back and forth accusations of criminal activity, their fight ran up more than $11 million in legal bills.

Turf Paradise was opened Jan. 7, 1956, by Walter Cluer, who made his money in construction. The succession of owners included land developer Herb Owens, aerospace entrepreneur Robert Walker, Hollywood Park and Simms.

If the track never reopens, history will record a $60,000 stakes May 6, the appropriately named Hasta la Vista, as the last race at Turf Paradise. The 6-5 favorite Tartini, a 9-year-old Giant’s Causeway gelding owned by Jeremy Ramsland, trained by Miguel Hernández and ridden by Harry Hernández, led most of the way and won the 1 7/8-mile turf marathon by 2 1/2 lengths. Dani Jackson, who with Jessica Paquette at Parx Racing have been the only two women announcing races this year in the U.S., called it. One final indignity was the failure of the electronic timing system, forcing the race to be hand-timed.

Turf Paradise follows Golden Gate Fields on the growing list of tracks that are under the threat of looming shutdowns. Golden Gate Fields in California is expected to be closed permanently by The Stronach Group in June. Arlington Park near Chicago hosted its last race for Churchill Downs Inc. two years ago next week, and its grandstand was torn down this year. South Florida-based Calder, also owned by CDI, held its final race in 2020. The New York Racing Association is expected to shutter Aqueduct after Belmont Park is completely rebuilt in the next two years.