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Atokad Downs will be holding just one live race this season, but fans can expect something unusual that day.
The track in South Sioux City, Neb., received permission from the Nebraska Racing Commission this week to run a race without a starting gate. It will resemble a race from bygone days, when there was no gate to release the field.
“Atokad wanted to do a throwback race, and the commission granted a one-time waiver for them to try it,” Commission Chairman Dennis Lee said. “It's something other states have experimented with and been successful with.”
By state statute, each Nebraska racetrack must hold at least one live race day in order to maintain a simulcast license. Holding just one race for Nebraska-breds constitutes one live race day.
The commission dealt with the issue via conference call.
“I have some concerns about it, because it's something that's never been tried,” Lee said. “But we were willing to let them do it, and then we'll assess the results afterward.”
Lee added that it hasn't yet been determined how the field will start the race. Possibilities include an assistant starter holding the field together until the break, the horses getting a running start or the field walking in a circle until just before the break.
“The HBPA (Horsemen's Benevolent Protective Association) supported it, so we're going to give it a try,” Lee said. “It'll be different, that's for sure.”
The race will be run at 4 p.m. Tuesday.
Wallace recognition
Horsemen's Park track announcer Terry Wallace reached a milestone earlier this season at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas.
The 65-year-old called his 20,000th consecutive Oaklawn race on March 25 — a streak that extends back to 1975. He has called every race there for 35 years and also works as the track's director of public relations and handicapper.
Wallace also worked as the announcer at Ak-Sar-Ben for 13 years and has called races at Horsemen's Park since 2003. He is best known on the Nebraska circuit for his stirring calls of the Herb Riecken-trained Who Doctor Who, a gelding who won 33 career races and earned more than $800,000.
Wallace was inducted into the Nebraska Racing Hall of Fame in 2007.
Doocy recovering
Longtime jockey Tim Doocy, who posted his 5,000th career victory last year at Oaklawn, probably has seen his long riding career come to an end.
The 54-year-old suffered serious injuries while working a horse last December at Oaklawn. Another horse got loose on the track, collided with Doocy's horse and led to severe injuries for the jockey — a broken kneecap, shinbone, ankle, foot, toes and wrist.
Doocy, who grew up in the Iowa towns of Humboldt and Glenwood, rode for several years at Ak-Sar-Ben. He was the leading rider at Ak three times — 1984 (97 wins), 1985 (122 wins) and 1987 (107 wins).
Services for Coatney
Services were held recently in suburban Des Moines for Jack Coatney, a longtime trainer on the Nebraska racing circuit.
The 76-year-old Coatney was born in Auburn, Neb. He trained hundreds of horses during his career, most notably Dance on the Line — a mare that won several stakes races and had career earnings of more than $150,000.
Those stakes victories included wins at Ak-Sar-Ben in the 1993 Lassie Stakes, the 1993 Lady Sponsors Breeders Cup and the 1994 Goldenrod Stakes.
A memorial service was held at Prairie Meadows Racetrack in Altoona, Iowa.
Commission meeting
The Nebraska Racing Commission will hold its next meeting at 2 p.m. Sept. 10 at the Holiday Inn Express conference room in Columbus, Neb.
Included on the agenda are appeals by trainers Jason Wise and Marvin Johnson concerning stewards' rulings from the Lincoln Race Course meet.
— Mike Patterson
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