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Despite the coming weather conditions the jockeys at the Lincoln Race Crouse are eager to show the public what they can., Photo by ©Shutterstock Sports Betting

Lincoln Race Course Has Almost Completed Its New Track

By Blake Roberts Founder & Editor in Chief Updated: 07 August 2019

Blake Roberts Founder & Editor in Chief

Blake Roberts is the founder of Betting.US and is currently heading the creative team as Editor in Chief. Born and raised in Morgantown, West Virginia, Blake is a great sports fan, with football and basketball being his favorite. He’s our trusted voice for all betting-related matters.

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Nebraska has been hit by wet weather since late winter, and now well into the summer. This has put the improvement of the Lincoln Race Course behind schedule. The improvements were supposed to include a seven-furlong track that would allow for more extended racing.

Mike Newlin, who is the general manager for both the Horsemen’s Park in Omaha and the, was unavailable for comments during the commissions’ approval of Fonner Park’s request to add historic racing machines.

Newlin said the races on November 9 will probably include short sprint races that had been run on the track in the past. This is required by Nebraska law for a simulcasting license. He also added that the track could be completed by November 9 and ready to host a full race. Even so, he feels its more than likely to just do the sprint races. “If we run a 4 1/2 or six furlongs or a mile race, we’d have to have several camera towers to meet the state requirements for all the shots that are needed,” Newlin said. Additionally, they plan to have drone viewing capabilities and images in the next couple of weeks.

I think everyone will be pleasantly surprised when they see the drone images.

said Mike Newlin general manager for the Lincoln Race Course.

We’ve really come a long way. Now that the rain has let up a little bit, we’ve been able to really get out there and work it. We look forward to having a seven-furlong track in Nebraska.

The struggling horse racing industry will definitely benefit from all this, but there are still other steps to be taken to get racing back on its feet. Another such step was the approval of historic racing machines, but that is not yet out of the woodwork because it could face court challenges as it goes further down the road.

The horse racing industry is strongly behind a petition to get casino gambling on the 2020 ballot. The states around Nebraska all have casino gambling, and Iowa is now adding sports betting in the next week or two. This is of great concern to the people at Horsemen’s Park.

They fear that will have a detrimental effect on Horsemen’s Park because the competition of having four different casinos that are just ten minutes from their front door is very concerning. To top it all off, Iowa’s sports betting raises the urgency to get a ballot initiative passed to a whole new level as it will make the vitality important additional gaming revenue possible. While historic racing machines might be among the answers, casino gambling or a combination of the two is also vital.

The estimations show that Nebraskans spend over $520 million a year on gambling in the neighboring states. That is money that can be used within the state’s borders if gambling was not an issue. This shows that casino gambling can even help things like educational funding and property tax relief.

Still, even though the Lincoln Race Course is facing many unknowns, at this point in time, it is looking at a more expanded racing slate for next year. Exactly how the schedule will look is still not known and would depend on the revenue available. Hopefully, Horsemen’s Park will not take a hit because of the Iowa sports betting and would leave the Lincoln Race Course unaffected.

It is also good to note that the breeding industry of Nebraska has also suffered recently. Some say it is just not profitable to breed racehorses there.