Dave and Sandy Ziola used to spend every Friday night at the State Fairgrounds during horse racing season.

For the Ziolas, who are hard-core racing fans, it was a date night, and they were sad to see the races come to an end in 2012.

So Friday was a big day for the couple, who have been married 49 years and have family members who have worked in the racing business.

The Crete residents were among a few hundred fans who braved the unseasonable heat to watch the return of full horse racing to Lincoln at Legacy Downs.

“This is great,” Dave Ziola said. “We were at the last race at the fairgrounds, and we wanted to be at the first one at Legacy Downs.

“We’ve been waiting,” he said.

The wait for the Ziolas and all local horse racing fans is finally over.

Mission is a Go won the inaugural Nebraska HBPA Derby on Friday, the first race of four on the day and the headliner, offering a purse of $20,000.

Karla Tinius didn’t bet on Mission is a Go, but she did bet on the horse that came in second, which meant her betting slip was worth a cool $7.60.

“It’s enough to buy a beverage and bet on the next race,” said her husband, Dave Tinius.

He said he’s been going to horse races in Lincoln since he was 10 years old, which means that now, at 72, he’s heading into his seventh decade as a racing fan.

The Tiniuses, who live in Lincoln, are also avid race fans, so much so they’ve attended all the races at the facility at 7055 S. First St., which up until Friday consisted of one-furlong sprints at what used to be called the Lincoln Race Course held yearly to maintain its simulcasting license.

So they were happy to finally get to attend a full race around a real track.

“We’re glad the races are back in Lincoln,” Dave Tinius said.

After four races Friday, there will be five on Saturday, starting at 1 p.m. The schedule will repeat itself next Friday and Saturday, Sept. 27 and 28.

Legacy Downs still has a long way to go to bring horse racing back to its heyday in Lincoln, when thousands of fans a day would flock to races during a season that in some years went on for more than a month.

Its one open-air horse barn doesn’t have running water or electricity yet.

And it doesn’t yet have permanent grandstands, instead relying on bleachers and tables rented from the Sandhills Global Event Center.

The bleachers were largely empty Friday, with most people seeming to prefer either sitting at the tables or milling around at the track.

But those fans seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Monica and Doug Babcock were among the many attendees decked out in Husker red.

Monica Babcock said she and her husband missed the horse races in Lincoln and decided to take in the first couple of races on Friday before heading downtown to Memorial Stadium for the Illinois-Nebraska football game.

“We had a little time and we thought we’d get out here for the first race at least,” she said.

Her husband said he was impressed with opening day.

“It’s a really good start,” Doug Babcock said.

That was the sentiment of Lynne McNally, chief executive officer of the Nebraska Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association.

Though she acknowledged that there were some adjustments to be made, “for our first day out, I’m very pleased,” she said.

“We’re hoping to have an even better day tomorrow.”