Sunland Derby
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FEBRUARY 18, 2024
POST TIME: 12:25PM

$1.6 Million race day

The 19th running of the sunland derby promises to offer some of the most exciting racing the southwest has to offer. The $400,000 race gives the winner 20 qualifying points towards entrance into the 2024 Kentucky Derby.

2024 SUNLAND DERBY

The 64th season of live horse racing at Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino begins on Friday, January 5, 2024.

Post time during the 55-day season will be 12:25 p.m with racing on all but opening week being held on a Thursday through Sunday basis, with closing day to be held on Sunday, April 7. The opening day program will feature two thoroughbred stakes races, the $100,000 New Mexico State Racing Commission Handicap as well as the $65,000 KLAQ Handicap.

Loaded with rich stakes races, Sunland Park offers some of the most attractive races for Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses in the Southwest. The $16 million dollar season will dish out over $275,000 in purses per race day.

The sparkling jewel of the lucrative season is the $400,000 Sunland Derby (Gr. III) to be run on Sunday, February 18, 2024. The Kentucky Derby prep race offers 20 qualifying points to the winner for entry to the 2024 Run for the Roses. The 19th edition of the one and one-sixteenth mile classic anchors a huge day 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 Handicap, the $100,000 Enchantress Stakes and the $100,000 Red Hedeman Mile are also part of Sunland Park’s biggest day.

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