Jerry Simms

Turf Paradise had to cram them in on the day of the GI Kentucky Derby Day. Every seat in the track was sold out and, including those who bought general admission tickets, the estimated crowd was 7,500. While most tracks draw big crowds for the Derby simulcast and live racing, this was something new for Turf Paradise. The facility had grown into such disrepair that no one had wanted to come. Things were so bad that, according to new GM Tom Ludt, most people living in the Phoenix area did...

With Turf Paradise in the process of a racing permit transfer to a new leaseholder that puts the 69-year-old track on the cusp of a possible regime change, stakeholders who spoke about the longer-term future of racing in greater Phoenix were cautiously optimistic during Thursday's Arizona Racing Commission (AZRC) meeting. But representatives of the Arizona Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (AZHBPA) did articulate short-term concerns that at times vacillated between glass-half-full and glass-half-empty, echoing a nagging tone of uncertainty familiar to anyone who has followed the ups and downs of...

The 2024-2025 race meeting at Turf Paradise in Phoenix, Arizona, concluded on Kentucky Derby day May 3 with the lowest ever fatality rate in the 69-year history of the track, according to a release. For the entire meet, the track recorded a fatality rate of 0.73 per 1,000 starts and from the beginning of 2025 through the end of the meet, post a rate of just 0.24. The 2024 Jockey Club national average was 1.11/1,000, while the 2024 HISA national average was 0.90/1,000, the release stated. "Such accomplishments come about...

After a nine-day delay to fix safety concerns that pushed back the opening of the 2024-25 racing season at Turf Paradise from Nov. 2 to Nov. 11, horsemen, jockeys, regulators and track management were all largely in concurrence Friday that the first four days of racing at the Arizona track this past Monday through Thursday were conducted in safe and sustainable fashion. The largely positive reviews and glowing articulations of cooperation at the Nov. 15 Arizona Racing Commission (AZRC) meeting stood out in contrast to the contention and infighting that...

A director of an independent accounting firm hired by the Arizona Racing Commission (AZRC) to audit the financials of Turf Paradise as part of the track's three-year permit application testified at a Thursday meeting that if $24 million in federal and state subsidies from the COVID-19 pandemic gets backed out of the equation, Turf Paradise has operated at a net loss for the past three years. Sean Tanner, a certified public accountant who specializes in forensic accounting with Keegan Linscott & Associates, further told the AZRC that based upon projections...

According to a report in the Daily Racing Form by Matt Hegarty, the owners of Turf Paradise and local horseman have reached a deal in which the track will run about 100 cards a year for the next three years. The track's future had been uncertain since owner Jerry Simms announced last November that the track would not be opening for its regularly scheduled six-month meet. Turf Paradise General Manager Vince Francia told the DRF that there will be four days of racing each week, starting with the first weekend...

For the second time in four months, a reported sale of Turf Paradise has been called off. The track's current owner, Jerry Simms, broke the news at Friday's Arizona Racing Commission (AZRC) meeting without disclosing details or being pressed by regulators to provide any additional information. Preparations for a planned Jan. 29-May 4 race meet are still underway, though, according to testimony from track officials, commission employees, and representatives of the Arizona Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (AZHBPA). The revelation that the deal was a no-go didn't seem to come...

Turf Paradise received unanimous but conditional approval from the Arizona Racing Commission (AZRC) on Tuesday to conduct a Jan. 29-May 4 race meet. The upcoming season, however, won't be run under the auspices of the new ownership group that has been reportedly trying to buy the Phoenix track for the last two months. Instead, Turf Paradise's current owner, Jerry Simms, will still be at the helm. Simms and Arizona horsemen have had an acrimonious business relationship for the better part of two decades. But Simms vowed during the Dec. 5...

If the saga over the supposedly pending sale of now-closed Turf Paradise was a soap opera, its title would surely be "AZ the World Turns." The state's racing is hanging in the balance amid an increasingly acrimonious long-term feud between the track's owner and horsemen, leading one trainer at last Thursday's Arizona Racing Commission meeting to liken the horse community's predicament to children "being used as pawns in a divorce battle" by vindictive parents on the verge of a nasty split. Although TDN's original story about that Oct. 12 commission...

A report that a purchase-and-sale agreement for the currently closed Turf Paradise is just days away from being inked was met with skepticism, frustration and even derision from horsemen at Thursday's Arizona Racing Commission meeting. Although the track's owner, Jerry Simms, framed the ongoing negotiations as a lifeline for Thoroughbred racing in a state that currently has no operational commercial track, J. Lloyd Yother, the president of the Arizona Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (AZHBPA), said that Simms's oft-stated expectations of a new owner being able to conduct a race...

The current Turf Paradise owner is courting a new buyer who just emerged last week as a potential savior for keeping racing alive at the state's otherwise-closing cornerstone track. On Thursday, the Arizona Racing Commission (AZRC) voted to extend Turf Paradise's simulcasting privileges through Nov. 12 while regulators commenced a due diligence vetting process that could greenlight the sale. The stated goal among stakeholders is to start a race meet in January under new ownership at the Phoenix oval. The current management announced back on Aug. 1 that the 67-year-old...

Turf Paradise will no longer offer live racing or simulcasting beginning Oct. 1. Jerry Simms, the owner of the Phoenix-based track, announced Monday that after 23 years of operating the race track, he is retiring to spend more time with his family. Turf Paradise also maintains 37 Off Track Betting sites throughout Arizona, which televise the live product and simulcasts from other race tracks across America for the purpose of wagering. In order for the OTB sites to operate, live racing is required. Since Turf Paradise will not be running...