Atokad Park prepares for race weekend

SOUTH SIOUX CITY, Neb. (KCAU) – For the ninth consecutive year, Ho-Chunk Inc. will host live horse racing at Atokad Park, bringing out what seemed like a dying fanbase.

“The horse racing community has kind of slowed down, recently,” Ho-Chunk Capital business operations manager Marshall Bass said. “We’re trying to bring that back to life.”

For the past few months, Ho-Chunk has been preparing the Atokad race course, making sure the track is ready for the competition.

“It’s a mixture of dirt, sand and clay,” Bass said. “It kind of provides a good level of cushion for the horses to run on because obviously the number one thing that we want is safety for both the horses and the riders.”

Since purchasing the land in 2012, Ho-Chunk has been using their ownership of Atokad to bring back the horse wagering community.

“With the most recent gaming initiatives in Nebraska, they’re really starting to beef back up,” Bass siad. “People really love it when they come, and Atokad has a really big following in comparison to a lot of other tracks in the area.”

Back in 2020, Ho-Chunk Inc. announced plans to build a casino just a mile away from Atokad Park. However, in 2022 the project was delayed. But partners of Ho-Chunk said the project is rolling again.

“They are coming up with conceptual plans right now,” said Lynne McNally, CEO of Nebraska Horsemen, a partner with Ho-Chunk. “They have several different versions that they’re taking a look at. They already have new property off the highway that they’ve already purchased, and so they should be breaking ground on that facility in the next few months. I’m not really sure what the timing on the start is.”

With plans to build coming soon, Siouxland residents should soak up the horse races at the grounds while they can.

“It’ll be one of the last opportunities they have for that festival atmosphere because Ho-Chunk will have a full-blown facility in the next time period coming up,” McNally said.

The first race starts at 4 p.m. on Friday, May 10.

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