Fonner begins meet, reverts to a weekend schedule

Fonner Park in Grand Island, Neb., which became the center of the racing universe during the early stages of the pandemic last year, launches its new season Friday.

Fonner adjusted its racing and post time schedule to capitalize on the offtrack simulcast market in 2020 and its Monday-through-Wednesday signals became wildly popular at a time when horseplayers had few wagering options. The five-furlong track’s races were beamed into sites as far away as South Africa, and Fonner achieved all-time handle records. The most significant was a $7.2 million day on April 7.

The track will move back to its traditional racing format of Friday through Sunday this meet and welcome patrons at a 75 percent capacity level after racing spectator-free for much of last season. The 31-date season runs through May 1.

“Our standard Friday, Saturday, Sunday daytime schedule – that’s the schedule that has worked for us for 68 years,” said Chris Kotulak, chief executive officer of Fonner.

“We need seating sales, food, and beverage sales, that sort of thing. We are not marketing Nebraska Thoroughbred racing if we race Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and have a handful of people in our grandstand. That’s not what we’re about. We are here to have a sellout every Saturday, which is what we have done for decades here at Fonner Park.”

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Kotulak said he is hopeful the exposure Fonner had during last year’s unique circumstances will lead to additional play from offtrack patrons. He said the expanded wagering format put in place last year to keep up with the demands of new betting customers will again be offered this meet. Those wagers include an early and late pick four and an early pick five. Fonner will again offer its traditional jackpot pick five on the final five races on the card. The wagers all have 50-cent minimums.

“We believe we are going to have some attention that is going to fall back on us that is residual from last year,” Kotulak said. “It won’t be anything near what it was last year. We understand that. We made an impression on some people. Before the meet ended last year, people wanted logo apparel from our gift shop. And it’s already starting to happen again. We just got a call from New York for four golf shirts.”

Fonner has much to look forward to on the horizon, which is one reason the stable area’s 1,000 stalls are accounted for, said Kotulak.

“We have allocated more stalls this year than we have in recent years,” he said. “People want to get a foothold at Fonner because they know what’s coming with the casino gaming that was passed Nov. 3.”

Fonner hopes to be offering gaming at its facility late in the final quarter of 2021.

“I would say under the best circumstances, we could expect to have some sort of slot machine play going here at Fonner Park somewhere by the holidays of this year,” Kotulak said. “That would be a preliminary phase toward the final phase of developing a casino inside our existing grandstand that would evolve on the north end of the facility – a complete casino with a hotel. We intend to build a destination casino here at Fonner Park.”

Kotulak said construction would not begin until after the Nebraska State Fair, which ends on Labor Day.

Fonner’s purses for the meet are up 10 percent over last season, said Kotulak. The track’s richest race, the $75,000 Bosselman Pump and Pantry/Gus Fonner for 3-year-olds and up at a mile and a sixteenth is set for April 24. Last year, Sleepy Eyes Todd won the race and went on to capture the Grade 2 Charles Town Classic, the Lafayette at Keeneland, and the Grade 3 Mr. Prospector at Gulfstream Park.

Fonner has set up a number of safety protocols for patrons attending the races during the ongoing pandemic. Kotulak said masks will be required onsite, even though a citywide mandate to wear them is not scheduled to be renewed later this month.

“We’re delighted we can have our race fans back and enjoying the Fonner vibe,” said Kotulak.