Opening date set for August 19

OGALLALA -- In about six weeks, the Lake Mac Casino, Resort and Race Track will open.

The project can be seen south of the Interstate 80 interchange at Ogallala. It includes a horse race track, presently one barn capable of housing 96-98 horse, and a temporary casino.

Cynthia Smith, Vice-President of Racing, Director of Racing, Lake Mac Race Track, offered a tour of the race track Thursday. A barn capable of housing 98 horses is nearing completion. 

The race track will feature a 5/8-mile circular track and a temporary casino location.

"Right now, we're working on the track with the contractors building the horse rail for safety and working on the surface. That's our No. 1 priority is our athletes, equine and human athletes," she said.

Smith said the facility will specialize on quarter-horses.

"We're going to run quarter-horses here. We've very excited about the American Quarter Horse. Here in Nebraska, there's a very strong number of quarter horses here in Nebraska, and we're  really excited to be able to offer competitive races and purse monies for horsemen to race their horses," she said.

Hastings Exposition and Racing, Inc. was founded in 2002 by Brian Becker. Becker is now working with the design of the Ogallala facility.

"We kept that license alive for 20 years for quarter horses, and we're building the breed. We're going to run 15 days out here," he said at the future Ogallala site Thursday.

He said gaming is necessary for horse racing to succeed.

"No tracks are going to be alive unless you have casino gaming. So, we're lucky we got that casino gaming passed. That'll help inject money into the purse money for the horses. Once we run August 19, that's going to be our grand opening and we'll open up the casino later that night, and that'll start generating money for our purse money," he said.

The resort, casino and racetrack is setting the standard, according to Becker.

"It's really a beautiful racetrack. Each barn we build is going to have 96 to 98 stalls in it with wash bays. It's a state-of-the-art facility," he said.

When completed, the facility will have a race track, casino, office and jockeys facility and a hotel.

The company is already looking at expanding with eyes on Scotts Bluff County.