An exciting and fun filled four days of Quarter horse and Thoroughbred horse racing kicks off this weekend at the Cochise County Fairgrounds on Leslie Canyon Road.

Bruce Whetten/The Daily Dispatch The Cochise County Horse Races get underway this weekend at the Cochise County Fairgrounds on Leslie Canyon Road. Gates open at noon each day with post time set for 1 p.m. Admission will be $3 per person; racing programs will also cost $3.

Horse racing began at the fairgrounds in 1956 and with the exception of a brief stoppage in the mid 1990’s has continued regularly drawing record crowds each year.

Cochise County Fairgrounds Manager Karen Strongin said earlier this week the race track is ready and she expects to have eight to 10 races each of the four days.

Gates open at noon both Saturday and Sunday with the first race to start at 1 p.m.

Admission will be $3 per person; racing programs will also be available for $3.

There will be food and beverage vendors available all four days in addition to pari-mutual betting which will be conducted under the supervision of the Arizona Dept. of Racing. In addition there will be live entertainment daily by Rogelio Ramirez.

“Things are on schedule out here,” Strongin said. “We’re pretty much ready.”

Some of the horses have already arrived and have been doing early morning workouts on the track while others are expected to arrive later this week.

Saturday’s races will feature the Sonoita Derby Trials; on Sunday the John Ray Memorial thoroughbred race will take place.  

The horses competing in the races this weekend will be drawn later this week

Next weekend, April 19-20, will be the El Moro de Cumpas Stakes which will feature three different races.

Strongin said the El Moro de Cumpas races have become really big races for the Cochise County Fairgrounds drawing larger and larger crowds each year.

The Fifth Annual El Moro de Cumpas Stakes, which is a 330-yard race for 3-year olds and up, will take place April 19. This race is sponsored by the Cochise County Fair Association, Strongin said. “In conjunction with the Graham County Fairgrounds we’re now doing an El Moro de Cumpas Futurity for two-year olds,” she said. “This is our second year of doing that and we’ll also be having an El Moro de Cumpas Derby which is for three-year olds.”

Strongin said both the Futurity and the Derby are really exciting races.  “The finals for those two races will be run here in Douglas on April 20,” she said.

Also on April 20 will be the Hasta La Vista Quarter Horse Shootout which is a 330-yard race for three-year olds. Each horse owner who enters must pay $10,000 to enter with a winner take all unless five or more horses participate in which the second place finisher receives their entry fee.

Thirty-six horses competed in the El Moro de Cumpas Stakes Trials in Safford this past weekend and the eight fastest have advanced to the finals where they will compete for an estimated $40,000 purse. The names of the eight qualifying horses are not yet available.

Strongin added there will also be a consolation race before the finals for those horses who did not qualify for the finals.

“There were five separate trials run in Safford,” Strongin said. “Several track records were set in the trails. … The entire race will be over in less than 17-seconds.” Strongin said the daily double will take place all four days but all bets for that must be placed before the first race.

“It can lead to some really big money,” Strongin said. “But you must pick the winner of race one and race two before the first race.”

Anyone wanting more information may call the Cochise County Fairgrounds at 364-3819.