GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (KSNB) – Fonner Park canceled the opening weekend of the 2025 horse racing season due to bad weather.

Chris Kotulak, CEO of Fonner Park, said they did everything they could to conduct a opening weekend, but Mother Nature had other plans.

“It was all about the weather, we wanted to wait and see if the forecast was correct and unfortunately it was,” said Kotulak. “It was too cold to be out there for animal and the caregiver.”

Kotulak added it’s very disappointing having to cancel the opening weekend.

“There’s a lot that goes not only the start of a racing season but an entire season,” said Kotulak. “We pretty much start during a racing season and start preparing for how we can do something better in the following year, so my staff and I have been going a great guns for months getting ready for our opening day.“

Kotulak shared the racing circuit in Nebraska attracts a great crowd of people.

“We get some new people that people that come along, so it’s great to see them fit into the circuit here in Nebraska, said Kotulak. ”It’s important to have a circuit and Fonner Park is very proud to be the first leg of that circuit, we house horses here for six months of the year.”

Kotulak said they’re anticipating for opening weekend of the 2025 racing season to start this upcoming weekend at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.

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