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Tom Sage Executive Director Of The Nebraska Racing And Gaming Commission To Retire

Tom Sage, the executive director of the Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission, will retire Mar. 12, the organization said in a statement which was first reported on Friday by the Lincoln Journal Star.

As the executive director of the Nebraska Racing Commission since 2008, Sage added oversight of casino gambling after voters approved a petition to allow casinos at the state's horse racing tracks in November 2020. He oversaw a staff that began with a single member to now having over two dozen employees.

Sage's career in horse racing began as a security officer in 1988 at Omaha's Ak-Sar-Ben Racetrack. He graduated in 1991 from the University of Nebraska at Omaha with a B.S. in criminal justice and started as an investigator for the Nebraska Racing Commission in 1993.

After graduating in 1995 from the Nebraska Law Enforcement Training Center, Sage became the commission's director of investigations in 2003. He was an instrumental board member for the Organization of Racing Investigators and currently is serving out his term as the chairman of the board of the Association of Racing Commissioners International.

In the Lincoln Journal Star article, Nebraska commissioner Tony Fulton called Sage a “good man” who is hard-working and diligent, and took on the task of regulating casino gambling in the state with vigor.

“This has been a very heavy lift, and he's done an admirable job,” Fulton said.

The commission also voted Friday to make Casey Ricketts, its current director of compliance, the interim executive director.

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Deja Vu At Atokad: Same Horses Run 1-2-3-4 On Consecutive Days

The same set of four Nebraska-bred Thoroughbreds competing in one-furlong races on back-to-back days at Horsemen's Atokad Downs finished 1-2-3-4 on both Saturday and Sunday.

The odd result was the product of the South Sioux City track's ownership, Ho-Chunk, Inc., needing to conduct at least one day of live racing to maintain Nebraska licensure as an active racetrack. That status as a licensed racetrack is required for conducting simulcasting and the eventual development of a racino in a different location within that city.

As in recent years, the abbreviated one-furlong sprints took place over a straightaway with a J-shaped gallop-out that is part of what remains of the full oval where Atokad previously conducted more traditional race meets from 1956 through 2012.

Three races at one-eighth-mile each were conducted on both June 3 and 4, with each race limited to four starters. Seven of the 12 entrants on Sunday had just raced the day before at Atokad on Saturday.

The second race on both Saturday and Sunday featured an identical four-horse field racing for $10,000 claiming prices with a $7,500 purse.

On Saturday, P R Girlfriend (Gold Schleiger) bested Lovesaflyin (Shadow Hawk), Inewagallikethat (Monhocracy), and Just Send Her (Mine For Gold).

The 5-year-old winning mare had been beaten by double-digit lengths in three of her last four races at Fonner Park. The runner-up, a 6-year-old mare, had finished last in three straight races at Fonner, and had been pulled up and walked off the track May 20. The third-place mare, age seven, had won two starts back at Fonner. The last-place mare was a 6-year-old maiden who had earned Beyer Speed Figures of zero in her last three races while beaten a combined 50 ½ lengths.

P R Girlfriend was hand-timed in :13 for her winning furlong on Saturday, managing a half-length victory even though she came out of the gate fourth.

Twenty-three hours and 56 minutes later, the same mares lined up again, although in different post positions.

This time P R Girlfriend “bobbled at the break but soon got clear and held safe” according to the Equibase chart. Again rallying from last, she led home an identical 1-2-3-4 order of finish, this time winning by a full length.

Owned by Mckay Stables, trained by Stanley McClain, and ridden by Jose Medina, her winning time on Sunday was :12.20.

P R Girlfriend was the second choice in the betting on both days, while third-place Inewagallikethat was the beaten favorite both days.

Each of the races handled around $2,000 with win and double betting only.

The two-day meet was billed as family-friendly outing featuring free admission and activities for kids.

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Dustyn Stortzum Named New Fonner Park Announcer

Dustyn Stortzum, a Nebraska native, has been named the new track announcer to begin the 2023 Thoroughbred racing season at Fonner Park. Stortzum replaces Grand Island native Steve Anderson, who called races for 19 years at Fonner Park but passed away in 2022 after a battle with cancer.

“I would like to thank my mentors, my parents and my sister for supporting me through all the ups and downs in my early broadcasting career,” said Stortzum. “Without their support, I wouldn't be in this position today.”

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All Six Nebraska Racetracks To Seek Casinos After Commission’s Initial Rules Approval

This Friday, the Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission voted to approve rules for casinos at the state's horse racing tracks, according to the Lincoln Journal-Star. The rules must be signed off on by the state attorney general and governor, then will go to the Secretary of State before becoming effective.

“This is kind of a very historic moment today in the history of Nebraska racing,” Dennis Lee, chairman of the Nebraska commission, said at Friday's meeting.

The Journal-Star reports that all six of the state's racetracks—located in Lincoln, Omaha, South Sioux City, Columbus, Grand Island and Hastings—will seek to add casinos.

Nebraskan voters first approved a constitutional amendment allowing casinos at the racetracks in November of 2020. No decision has been made about sports betting in the state.

Read more at the Lincoln Journal-Star.

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