James Scully moved to Glendale from Long Island in the early 1980s and as someone who loves horse racing, has visited Turf Paradise frequently.
“I used to play the trotters in New York, so I was curious to check out the track when we moved here,” said Scully, who said he is eager to visit it this season.
When he does, he’ll see a place that continues to endure despite rumors of shutdowns and past concerns about conditions and horse safety. It launched its 70th season Nov. 10.
Phoenix businessman Walter Cluer bought 1,400 acres of barren desert, 25 miles north of the Phoenix metropolis, in 1954. What is now Bell Road and 19th Avenue was only unkept dirt roads that led to the track that opened on Jan. 7, 1956.
Fast-forward and Turf Paradise has started its 102 days of live racing for the 2025-26 season. Along with live racing, Turf Paradise has 38 off-track betting (OTB) locations ranging from Yuma to Prescott to Tucson.
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Turf Paradise in Phoenix on Oct. 19, 2025.
Jean Clare Sarmiento / KJZZ
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It’s a photo finish on Nov. 10, 2025, at Turf Paradise in Phoenix, a race track many didn’t expect would have an opening day this year.
Paul Garcia II / Cronkite News
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Horses are prepared for the next race on opening day at Turf Paradise in Phoenix on Nov. 10, 2025.
Paul Garcia II / Cronkite News
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Turf Paradise in Phoenix in 2015.
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Turf Paradise in Phoenix.
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An entrance to Turf Paradise.
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Turf Paradise in north Phoenix on Sept. 20, 2023.
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Signage at Turf Paradise.
Sky Schaudt/KJZZ
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Turf Paradise in Phoenix on Monday, Jan. 29, 2024.
Daniella Trujillo/Cronkite News
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Top of My Game finished third in the first race at Turf Paradise in Phoenix on Monday, Jan. 29, 2024.
Daniella Trujillo/Cronkite News
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Covered escalators at Turf Paradise on Sept. 20, 2023.
Sky Schaudt/KJZZ
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A horse tile mural at the Turf Paradise in north Phoenix.
Sky Schaudt/KJZZ
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The parking lot at Turf Paradise on Sept. 20, 2023.
Sky Schaudt/KJZZ
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Horses, trainers and jockeys at Turf Paradise in Phoenix on Monday, Jan. 29, 2024.
Daniella Trujillo/Cronkite News
The track is under new ownership for the first time in 25 years with California horse owner and CEO of Landmark LA Capital Group, Gary Hartunian, taking over for Jerry Simms, who has owned Turf Paradise since 2000.
Simms agreed to a two-year lease of the track and its off-track betting locations back on Aug. 29. The lease agreement can be extended on a year-by-year basis for an additional three years.
Joining Hartunian is new general manager Tom Ludt, who has been involved in the thoroughbred industry since 1991. Ludt sees the untapped potential of horse racing in Arizona.
“I’ve been in Kentucky, I ran a track in California, been to races all around the world, and Phoenix has every opportunity to be a prime market,” Ludt said. “You got the climate, you got the economics, you got the demographics. I think the opportunity is huge here, and that’s why we’re here. We’re going to rejuvenate it and bring it back to its glory days.”
To get back to those glory days of the on-track experience, Turf Paradise has to endure some battles, one being the self-handicapping wound that comes from simulcasting races and offering off-track betting.
OTB has enabled wider availability for Arizonans who can’t get to the track to watch and bet on races and has been another source of revenue for Turf Paradise. However, it has also hindered in-person attendance.
“All people have to do now is go to a local bar and they can bet on the races,” Scully said. “We’ve done less since the OTB opened up; (it) feels like not as many people go, which is just not as much fun.”
Paul Garcia II
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Cronkite News
Horses are prepared for the next race on opening day at Turf Paradise in Phoenix on Nov. 10, 2025.
The challenge of reinvigorating the on-track experience is what attracted Ludt to take on the GM position.
“It’s the reason I moved here. Our sport thrives on the on-track experience,” Ludt said. “If you walk around here, you’ll see we’re spending millions of dollars to rejuvenate this facility to create the on-track experience.
“The only way to create horse fans is for people to come watch it live and experience the fun, the joy; and it’s beautiful. We’ve got a beautiful backdrop. We’ve got three beautiful ponds in the infield. We want people to have a great time on the track, enjoy the day and the experience and come back.”
The new leadership also hopes to continue turning the page on a dark time in the track’s history.
For most of the last decade, any news coming from Turf Paradise involved horse safety, or lack thereof. From 2014 to 2018, 149 horses at Turf Paradise died from training, racing or disease, including 31 race deaths in 2018 alone.
Fatalities are quantified based on the number of deaths per 1,000 race starts, demonstrating that a horse incurred a fatal injury while competing.
In a 68-day span during the 2022 season, there were 24 horse deaths at Turf Paradise, posting a death rate of 2.92 per 1,000 race starts, more than double the national average of 1.25 that season.
Ludt and the new regime would like to mirror last year’s results, when Turf Paradise posted the lowest death rate in its history. With one horse death on the main track and three on the turf track, Turf Paradise posted a rate of 0.73 per 1,000 races in 2025, lower than the 1.11 national average.
“They led the country in the lowest fatality rate,” Ludt said. “One death is more than you want; it is not a perfect world, but we work every day to try and get to that.”
Jean Clare Sarmiento
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KJZZ
Turf Paradise in Phoenix on Oct. 19, 2025.
Through the good, the bad and the devastating, Turf Paradise has endured to survive 70 years, and on Nov. 10 it opened its doors to kick off the 2025-26 season.
Turf Paradise provides an affordable experience for families, featuring free parking, $3 programs and a general admission fee of $5. Guests aged 17 and under receive free admission.
Kyle Hollenbeck is the co-founder of BLT Culinary and is in his second year of leading the food and beverage services at Turf Paradise. Hollenbeck, who has been coming to Turf Paradise since he was a kid, is excited to be a part of the 70th anniversary.
“I’m a native,” Hollenbeck said. “So being at this track and doing this is really fun, but our goal is always to have something for the kids, the moms and the fathers to enjoy as well. We’re going to make it a family fun experience.”
To go along with the traditional race track delicacies, such as hot dogs and popcorn, Hollenbeck is bringing food from Aioli Burger, which is a restaurant that Hollenbeck cofounded.
“Aioli Burger started in the Valley 13 years ago as a food truck that is now a restaurant,” Hollenbeck said. “It is a concept we will feature this season.”
The culmination of the 70th anniversary takes place on Turf Paradise’s biggest race day of the year, coinciding with the most popular race day in the nation, The Kentucky Derby. This year’s derby is on May 2, 2026.
“The tough thing for us is that our big race is our last race of the year, which piggybacks on the Kentucky Derby,” Hollenbeck said. “We’d like them to leave that event going, man, I can’t wait for next season.”
This article first appeared on Cronkite News and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.