Former Trainer Todd Scherer Murdered at Fonner Park

Todd Scherer, who had worked as an assistant trainer and a groom in recent years on the Nebraska racing circuit, was found dead Thursday morning on the backstretch of Fonner Park, the victim of a shooting. He was 62.

Scherer trained from 1981 through 1994 and won 60 races in his career.

Two individuals have been arrested for their alleged role in the murder. Logan Hunts Horse, 20 of Wounded Knee, S.D., has been charged with first degree murder and two counts of use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony. On Friday, it was reported that a 16-year-old male had also been arrested for his alleged role in the murder and charged with robbery, accessory to murder and accessory to use of a weapon to commit a felony.

According to television station KNSB, police have reported that Scherer was hit with a baseball bat and shot in the torso. Hunts Horse and the boy then took Scherer's wallet which was planned prior to the shooting, according to police.

“It appears the victim and suspects knew each other and this was not a random attack,” Grand Island Nebraska Police Department Captain Dean Elliott told the station.

The Grand Island police and fire departments responded to calls and arrived on the Fonner backstretch at 10 a.m. local time. Upon arrival, they found Scherer dead with an apparent gunshot wound. The police found Hunts Horse asleep in a tack room in the barn where Scherer died and arrested him. A gun, believed to the be the murder weapon, was found with Hunts Horse.

Fonner Park CEO Chris Kotulak said that Scherer had arrived at Fonner the morning of the murder and would have likely found work as an assistant trainer or a groom.

“It is horrifying news that Todd Scherer, who was such a popular person in our Nebraska Thoroughbred industry, has been wickedly taken away from us,” Kotulak said. “Many of us grew up with Todd, including myself, and he was typically associated with good times at the racetrack. He was also known as a very dedicated and knowledgeable horsemen.

“I have visited with some of his family members, and they are understandably devastated. Fonner Park management, staff and our horsemen express our sympathies to his family.”

According to the Lincoln Journal Star, Scherer, the Nebraska native had worked at tracks in his home state and elsewhere for more than 45 years. According to the paper, Scherer worked for Steve Asmussen in 2006 and brought Storm Treasure (Storm Boot) to the paddock for that year's GI Kentucky Derby.

“I've never been connected to anything like this,” he told the Journal Star in 2006. “This race represents history to me, after watching it so many times as a kid growing up.”

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Citing HISA Concerns, Fonner Won’t Simulcast Races

With uncertainties regarding the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) still swirling, Fonner Park management announced Friday that it will not simulcast its races to locations outside of Nebraska. The meet is set to begin Feb. 10 and run through May 6.

Fonner will become the second track not sending out its signal due to questions over HISA. Last year, the Texas Racing Commission ordered its tracks to cut off simulcasting because of HISA, only to reverse the decision earlier this month after the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals denied a motion from HISA to rehear a case in which the court had held that HISA's enabling legislation was unconstitutional. However, citing a need to further review the many complexities surrounding HISA, Sam Houston, the lone track now running in Texas, has not resumed simulcasting.

In a statement released Friday, management said it took the measure “because of the many uncertainties associated with HISA in Nebraska and the nation.”

“The unreasonable and overreaching HISA rules and regulations have presented demands and obstacles that a racetrack our size cannot achieve or endure,” said Fonner Park CEO Chris Kotulak.

Under HISA rules, racetracks that do not voluntarily become a covered HISA racetrack are not permitted to send their signals out of state.

“The new increased costs to Fonner Park, plus the conflict with enforcing the variance between state and federal rules of racing, were determined unsurmountable to overcome for Nebraska's flagship Thoroughbred track,” the statement read.

“Fonner Park is a plaintiff in a large, national, multi-plaintiff lawsuit against HISA, but that lawsuit has not advanced with sufficient clarity to ensure that HISA rules would not be applicable to us,” Kotulak said. “Challenging federal regulations is a gamble my board has currently chosen not to make, as this would leave Fonner Park splayed open and at the mercy of a lengthy judicial process and costly legal circumstances that would significantly damage Fonner Park and our horsemen. We're not some gyp joint. We're a TRA racetrack. And for 70 years we've provided for our horse, horsemen and horseplayers. It's a shame it's come to this.”

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Fonner Barn Quarantined Following EHV-1 Positives

Barn R on the backstretch at Nebraska's Fonner Park has been placed under a 21-day quarantine after a pair of horses tested postive for equine herpes virus (EHV-1). Both horses were subsequently euthanized.

On Wednesday, Mar. 9, a horse residing in Barn R had a high temperature and was displaying mobility issues. A first round of testing at NVLS in Ames, Iowa, returned results that were inconclusive, requiring an additional sample to be drawn. A second horse began displaying similar symptoms the same day. On the evening of Mar. 11, lab results were released and proved positive for EHV-1.

Horses stables in Barn R are restricted from having contact with the rest of the horse population and any horses entering Fonner Park will not be able to leave the stable area until the quarantine is lifted. The track has begun sanitizing the paddock, starting gate and other common areas for horses.

“We enacted immediate protocol and now we must adhere to and increase our measures of safety,” said Fonner Park CEO Chris Kotulak. “Everyone knows they have a role to play in our return to normalcy. Sadly, there are many in the stable area now shut down from earning a paycheck to feed themselves and their horses.”

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Fonner Files: Fonner Park Rides The Wave Of Success As Meet Closes

Fonner Park CEO Chris Kotulak shares slices of life from the Grand Island, Neb., racetrack throughout the 2021 meet in the Fonner Files.

Riding the wave of an unprecedented 2020 extended season of Thoroughbred horse racing, Fonner Park concluded the 2021 season with over $4.65 million in on-track mutuel handle.

Comparing numbers to 2019, rather than the 2020 season (when Fonner Park was closed to the public after the first four weeks due to the pandemic), Fonner was up 19 percent in parimutuel handle of Fonner Park guests betting on Fonner Park races.

The handle for out-of-state wagers on Fonner Park in 2021 was roughly $15.5 million, an increase of 447 percent compared to $2.8 million in 2019. The overall national horse racing industry handle was up approximately 12 percent for March and April, but Fonner Park was up 19 percent on-track.

“This year I spent extra on marketing to the horseplayers across the nation who got exposed to Fonner Park last year during the pandemic. I wanted to remind them that we were back and still a good bet,” said Fonner Park CEO Chris Kotulak. “In 2021 average field size bumped to 7.9 from 7.3 in 2020 and large fields are always a draw to the bettor regardless of quality.”

Sleepy Eyes Todd went on to win three stakes races after his 2020 Bosselman/Gus Fonner Stakes win. Remarkably, he returned to defend his title off three multi-million-dollar, G1 races in three previous months. As a 2-5 favorite, he was beaten by 9-2 second-choice Mo Mosa, ridden by Armando Martinez and trained by Michael Maker.

Mo Mosa was named 2021 Horse of the Meet and First Alternate was the unanimous choice for champion older filly or mare after winning three stakes races in as many starts for trainer Stetson Mitchell.

“She's a blessing to me and my family and the special kind of horse horsemen pray for,” said Mitchell said.

By winning the final race of the year, Jake Olesiak won his sixth title as champion jockey, with a total of 46 wins, one more win than Armando Martinez.

David C. Anderson won his 15th champion trainer award at Fonner Park, with 36 wins from 169 starts. D and L Farms (Darcy and Lee Burghardt) won 15 races from 39 starts and earned leading owner honors.

The 2021 Feat of the Meet award was voted as Fonner Park's presence on the national stage with 2021 export handle five-times greater than 2019.

“I am convinced that the success and future of Fonner Park is directly attributed to our passionate community of staff, horsemen and race fans. Without our strong community support we could not survive,” Kotulak remarked.

Fonner Park

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