Live racing at Atokad reminder of past
Many wish longer race meet would return to South Sioux City track
By Molly Montag, Journal staff writer | Posted: Saturday, September 06, 2008
Oh You Sweetee takes a temporary lead in the first race of the weekend at Horsemen’s Atokad Park in South Sioux City on Friday. (Staff photos by Jim Lee)
SOUTH SIOUX CITY -- This weekend marks the last chance of the year for racehorse owners and trainers to win money on the Nebraska circuit as Horsemen's Atokad Downs in South Sioux City hosts its annual three days of live racing.
The track, which once had 25 to 30 days of racing each summer, has operated one weekend a year for several years after being closed for a time for lack of funds, general manager Fred Stinger said. Under state law, the track has to run at least one live race a year to keep its license for year-round betting on simulcast races.
Some say they wish the Siouxland track could offer the longer race meet it did years ago, but most agree it can't happen unless the state's racetracks are allowed to gain more revenue with slot machines or other forms of expanded gambling. Adding gambling opportunities at Nebraska race tracks requires a public
vote to change the state Constitution.
Sioux City racehorse trainer Dan Coughlin, who won five races at last year's Atokad meet, said racetracks need additional gambling to compete with casinos and riverboats just across the border in Iowa.
"We're getting none of the benefits (of casino gambling) and all of the problems," he said, meaning Nebraskans can spend their money wagering in other states but bring the social costs of their gambling addiction home.
Racing supporters say they plan to keep trying to get additional gambling options at the state's tracks, but so far Nebraska voters have said no.
More money for the tracks means more money for winners' purses, Coughlin said, which would be an economic boost for the state's horsemen.
"That would help the racing industry," he said.
This year's Atokad meet started Friday and continues at 2 p.m. today and Sunday. Parking, admission, and children's pony rides are free.
Slot efforts fail
Stinger said Friday that he couldn't comment on whether slot machines would automatically translate into a longer meet. However, he said the track would definitely not be able to run a longer race meeting without them.
Laurie Lage, legal counsel for the Nebraska Legislature's General Affairs Committee, said proponents of expanded gambling have not been successful in recent years. Although it made the ballot in 2004, she said an initiative to allow expanded gambling was one of two measures voted down by Nebraska residents.
A 2006 resolution that would have allowed three casinos in the state was not allowed on the ballot, Lage said, because it was deemed too similar to a failed 2004 initiative.
The South Sioux City track's three-day race meet offers $205,000 in purses, or about $11,400 a race. The richest races offer a $15,000 purse.
Jerry Fudge, director of the Nebraska Horseman's Benevolent Protection Agency, which represents trainers and owners, said Atokad's purses offer pretty good money for a Nebraska track.
Although many of the races are open to horses born and raced elsewhere, those that have raced in Nebraska are given first preference to enter. Some races are restricted to horses born in the state.
"We've done that on purpose," Fudge said. "It comes at the end of the year. It's kind of a reward for the guys who raced in Nebraska."
Horsemen's Atokad Downs is the final stop on the five-track Nebraska racing circuit, coming on the heels of the Columbus Races in Columbus, Neb.
The state's racing circuit starts every year at Fonner Park in Grand Island, then moves to State Fair Park in Lincoln and on to a short meet at Horsemen's Park in Omaha.
Eyeing Iowa
None of Nebraska's tracks is allowed to have casino-style games or slot machines.
Racetracks in several states have attempted to get slot machines installed in their facilities, pointing to the dramatic turnaround in Iowa horse racing after slots were installed in 1995 at Prairie Meadows
Racetrack and Casino in Altoona, Iowa.
Sioux City racehorse owner Ray Nacke, 72, said he wishes the South Sioux City track could offer a longer meet. He keeps three brood mares at his daughter's farm in Willis, Neb., and has one racehorse that currently competes at Nebraska tracks.
He has raced and raised horses since 1959, entering horses at Atokad Downs and Park Jefferson, a now-defunct track in North Sioux City.
The former Briar Cliff University basketball coach, who used to race horses in Iowa and Nebraska, was part of the effort to get slot machines at Prairie Meadows near Des Moines.
"Slots made a big difference in Iowa's horse-racing quality," he said.
According to information from The Jockey Club in New York, the number of racehorses born in Iowa increased more than 20 percent from 1996 to 2006 while the number born in Nebraska dropped nearly 40 percent during the same period.
An official from the Nebraska Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association said Friday that the number of horses born in the state has continued a steady decline in the past two years.
Jockey Club statistics also show that the average racehorse born in Iowa makes more starts and earns more money than those born in Nebraska.
Nebraska-bred racehorses made 321 starts in 2007 and earned an average of $7,389. Horses born in Iowa made 768 starts and earned an average of $12,480 per horse.
All-time leading Nebraska-bred horses:
Dazzling Falls -- $904,721
Who Doctor Who -- $813,871
Amadevil -- $653,534
Orphan Kist -- $632,162
Darla's Charge -- $446,605
Source: Nebraska Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders' Association
The track, which once had 25 to 30 days of racing each summer, has operated one weekend a year for several years after being closed for a time for lack of funds, general manager Fred Stinger said. Under state law, the track has to run at least one live race a year to keep its license for year-round betting on simulcast races.
Some say they wish the Siouxland track could offer the longer race meet it did years ago, but most agree it can't happen unless the state's racetracks are allowed to gain more revenue with slot machines or other forms of expanded gambling. Adding gambling opportunities at Nebraska race tracks requires a public
vote to change the state Constitution.
Sioux City racehorse trainer Dan Coughlin, who won five races at last year's Atokad meet, said racetracks need additional gambling to compete with casinos and riverboats just across the border in Iowa.
"We're getting none of the benefits (of casino gambling) and all of the problems," he said, meaning Nebraskans can spend their money wagering in other states but bring the social costs of their gambling addiction home.
Racing supporters say they plan to keep trying to get additional gambling options at the state's tracks, but so far Nebraska voters have said no.
More money for the tracks means more money for winners' purses, Coughlin said, which would be an economic boost for the state's horsemen.
"That would help the racing industry," he said.
This year's Atokad meet started Friday and continues at 2 p.m. today and Sunday. Parking, admission, and children's pony rides are free.
Slot efforts fail
Stinger said Friday that he couldn't comment on whether slot machines would automatically translate into a longer meet. However, he said the track would definitely not be able to run a longer race meeting without them.
Laurie Lage, legal counsel for the Nebraska Legislature's General Affairs Committee, said proponents of expanded gambling have not been successful in recent years. Although it made the ballot in 2004, she said an initiative to allow expanded gambling was one of two measures voted down by Nebraska residents.
A 2006 resolution that would have allowed three casinos in the state was not allowed on the ballot, Lage said, because it was deemed too similar to a failed 2004 initiative.
The South Sioux City track's three-day race meet offers $205,000 in purses, or about $11,400 a race. The richest races offer a $15,000 purse.
Jerry Fudge, director of the Nebraska Horseman's Benevolent Protection Agency, which represents trainers and owners, said Atokad's purses offer pretty good money for a Nebraska track.
Although many of the races are open to horses born and raced elsewhere, those that have raced in Nebraska are given first preference to enter. Some races are restricted to horses born in the state.
"We've done that on purpose," Fudge said. "It comes at the end of the year. It's kind of a reward for the guys who raced in Nebraska."
Horsemen's Atokad Downs is the final stop on the five-track Nebraska racing circuit, coming on the heels of the Columbus Races in Columbus, Neb.
The state's racing circuit starts every year at Fonner Park in Grand Island, then moves to State Fair Park in Lincoln and on to a short meet at Horsemen's Park in Omaha.
Eyeing Iowa
None of Nebraska's tracks is allowed to have casino-style games or slot machines.
Racetracks in several states have attempted to get slot machines installed in their facilities, pointing to the dramatic turnaround in Iowa horse racing after slots were installed in 1995 at Prairie Meadows
Racetrack and Casino in Altoona, Iowa.
Sioux City racehorse owner Ray Nacke, 72, said he wishes the South Sioux City track could offer a longer meet. He keeps three brood mares at his daughter's farm in Willis, Neb., and has one racehorse that currently competes at Nebraska tracks.
He has raced and raised horses since 1959, entering horses at Atokad Downs and Park Jefferson, a now-defunct track in North Sioux City.
The former Briar Cliff University basketball coach, who used to race horses in Iowa and Nebraska, was part of the effort to get slot machines at Prairie Meadows near Des Moines.
"Slots made a big difference in Iowa's horse-racing quality," he said.
According to information from The Jockey Club in New York, the number of racehorses born in Iowa increased more than 20 percent from 1996 to 2006 while the number born in Nebraska dropped nearly 40 percent during the same period.
An official from the Nebraska Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association said Friday that the number of horses born in the state has continued a steady decline in the past two years.
Jockey Club statistics also show that the average racehorse born in Iowa makes more starts and earns more money than those born in Nebraska.
Nebraska-bred racehorses made 321 starts in 2007 and earned an average of $7,389. Horses born in Iowa made 768 starts and earned an average of $12,480 per horse.
All-time leading Nebraska-bred horses:
Dazzling Falls -- $904,721
Who Doctor Who -- $813,871
Amadevil -- $653,534
Orphan Kist -- $632,162
Darla's Charge -- $446,605
Source: Nebraska Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders' Association
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