EUREKA, Kansas — It’s quiet on the grounds of the Eureka Downs horse racing track on a warm October morning. The day is too hot for the horses to practice on the newly renovated track. Apart from a few trainers, and about 20 horses, the dark barns are deserted.
But that’s changing. For three weekends through early November, thoroughbreds, quarter horses, Arabian horses and more will race here. There’s a lot of anticipation in Eureka for the first Kansas horse races in 16 years.
“There's something innate in all of us that loves a little bit of competition and the grandeur of horses,” said Justine Staten, executive director of the Kansas Horse Council. “Watching them perform what they were built to do just brings everybody together, and it's a positive experience.”
Located in the small town of Eureka, an hour east of Wichita, Eureka Downs opened in 1872. It is the oldest horse racing track west of the Mississippi. The track struggled in the 1990’s, even filing for bankruptcy at one point. A Horse Racing Benefit Fund was set up to support several Kansas tracks, and Eureka Downs re-opened in 1994.
But the track’s struggles continued with the closing of the Wichita Greyhound Park and The Woodlands race track in Kansas City. These tracks paid into the Horse Racing Benefit Fund, so it quickly depleted, and the subsidy to Eureka Downs ended. The track stopped horse racing in 2010.
Last year, the Kansas Legislature approved a law to distribute a 3% tax on Historical Horse Racing gambling machines to the racing industry. These machines, located at Gilley’s Gambling Hall in Park City, allow people to bet on previously-run horse races.
The machine obscures the names and dates of the races, but some provide a handicapping form for players to select three horses, just as they would at a live race.The Historical Horse Racing machines mimic slot machines with reels, symbols and bonuses.
In Kansas, the 3% tax supports horse racing, with 30% of the tax collections going to the Kansas Horse Breeding Development Fund and 70% going to the Fair Horse Racing Benefit Fund. The benefit account funds race prizes, capital improvements and track operating expenditures.
Eureka Downs track manager Mike Weiss said that means prizes of up to $30,000 for horses that have never won a race before.
“It's attractive to horses from out of state,” Weiss said. As far away as Colorado, people have called saying, ‘Your purses are pretty good. What's going on there? I want to come race with you.’”
After sitting dormant for so long, Weiss said a lot of improvements had to be made to get Eureka Downs ready to re-open. Tornados hit the track in 2016 and 2018, so there was a lot of structure repair to do.
The track surface underwent a $2.1 million rework, with new safety features like replacing the steel railing with PVC. They updated the viewing areas and added a new video board. And community groups, like the local 4-H club, pitched in to clean and refurbish the horse barns.
Harold “Doc” Garner walks through the cool shade of those remodeled barns. He’s a member of the Greenwood County Fair Association, owners of Eureka Downs, and has been overseeing some of the renovations. Garner also worked as the track’s veterinarian in the 1960’s.
Like many Eureka residents, he has fond memories of watching races at Eureka Downs before it closed. Garner is looking forward to the economic impact racing will have on the small town of Eureka.
“It'll sell most anything to do with horses,” Garner said. “We'll have to expand our Eureka eating facilities and hotels. It's going to be quite a boon to the economy, and I think, even to the state.”
From the horse council’s perspective, Staten said the horse industry already has a good presence in the state. The council estimates there are about 120,000 horses in Kansas and about 8,700 horse owners.
“They provide jobs for veterinarians, for groomers, for trainers, for breeders, for handlers, for barn workers,” Staten said. “They are used in ranch work and as a tool that can take you places an ATV or a truck can't go.”
But those numbers were even higher before Eureka Downs closed, she said. People in the industry moved to other states to find work, and the town of Eureka was impacted significantly.
“That removal of consumers of goods and services in the state, it was noticeable,” Staten said. “But now, we're already hearing of people buying old farms and stables, ready to relocate at least part of their business back to Kansas as we start this program again.”
While it will probably take two to three years before Kansas sees the full impact, Staten said the state is in a good position, literally. Since Kansas is centrally located, the industry can draw from many surrounding states. The state is also in the middle of the animal health care corridor and grows a lot of animal feed.
“We're on kind of a new horizon ahead for expanding and growing with the resurgence of racing in Kansas,” Staten said.
But not everyone is excited to see racing return to Eureka Downs. Patrick Battuello founded the website Horseracing Wrongs in 2012 as an animal rights advocacy blog reporting on the racing industry.
On his website, Battuello just moved Eureka Downs from the closed tracks section to the operating ones. He also tracks horse deaths at racing tracks across the country, using Freedom of Information requests to find out how and when the animals died.
Battuello believes horseracing is cruel in all aspects of the sport. He said horses are confined for long periods of time in small stalls, can be injected with drugs to keep them racing and whipped to race faster on the track.
The Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission governs racing rules at Eureka Downs. That body allows for whips but limits where the horse can be struck and how often.
“If you saw someone whipping his dog in the park, you and everyone else around you would call 9-1-1,” Battuello said. “That person would be arrested on the spot for animal cruelty. Yet at the racetrack, it's all considered just part of the game.”
Battuello said he’s confirmed almost 13,000 horse deaths at U.S. tracks since 2014. For him, there’s no amount of measures the industry can take to make races safe for the horses.
He estimates there are around 17,000 thoroughbreds coming into the system. There’s not enough money to take care of them after retirement, so they can be sold to slaughterhouses and feed lots, Battuello said.
“The horses will be racing at Eureka Downs,” Battuello said. “The people will be cheering for them, and they'll have these award ceremonies at the end of these races. And many, if not most, of those horses will end up in a Canadian or Mexican slaughterhouse.”
At Eureka Downs, track officials said they don’t support selling horses to slaughterhouses and will work with owners to find horse sanctuaries and retirement programs. They also say safety standards have advanced since the last time the track was open, and the improvements they’ve made will protect the horses.
Horse owners at Eureka Downs disagree with Battuello’s picture of the industry. Cady Stortzum traveled from Nebraska to race her four thoroughbreds at the track. She’s a social media influencer, with almost 76,000 followers on TikTok. She’s trying to encourage women and a younger generation to get involved with the sport.
As she pets her favorite horse, ‘Tis Happy, Stortzum said some people don’t have the full picture of the industry.
“I think that if you spent time behind the scenes, you would realize that we treat our horses better than we treat ourselves,” Stortzum said. “They get the best care possible. If anything's wrong, we obviously won't send them to the track.”
Although their first season back is short, Weiss said it’s something to build on. Next year, he anticipates a longer season, more prize money and better accommodations at the track. Eventually, Eureka Downs could broadcast its races to other states for betting. All of that money would feed into the Kansas horse industry and boost the economy.
“You didn't build Rome one day, so we're going to keep going,” Weiss said. “There's a lot that can be done. This is the start right here, and there's no telling how far it can go.”
Roger Nomer reports from the Wichita area for the Kansas News Service. You can email him at nomer@kmuw.org.
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