The Nebraska racetrack of Lincoln began as a racecourse at the State Fairgrounds in Lincoln and first started racing in the late 1940s. The Nebraska State Fair has a rich history as it was staged for the first time in 1868, although in those early days it was nomadic, travelling between Nebraska, Brownville, Omaha and on to Lincoln. By the turn of the century the organisers were looking for a permanent site, finding it in 1901 at Lancaster County Fairgrounds. An integral part of the Fair has always been horse racing, which made use of an open air grandstand with the capacity to hold almost 5400 punters and, in the early days, was known as State Fair Park. In July 2009 the link between the State Fair and horse racing was broken as the Fair sought a new site. The final year of racing at the State Fair Park racetrack was in 2012, because the ground was actually leased from the University of Nebraska and they wished to utilise the ground for students. For the 2013 season the track was renamed Lincoln Racecourse and it was to be predominantly a simulcast facility. However, the state laws prevented a simulcast facility to operate unless there was at least one actual live race meeting held annually. To overcome this law on 8th January 2013 3 horses lined up for a single race card to satisfy the law. Although it is likely that the State Fair Park will never again witness live racing, a new course was planned just a few miles away in Lincoln. Once again it aimed to offer a simulcast facility and, once again, it was necessary to satisfy the state law. So on 4th September 2015 a single one furlong race took place. |
