Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
But Its Kimball County Fair Heyday Unfolded Long, Long Ago
Horse racing was part of the deal during the 1930 Kimball County Fair, as this Observer ad from that year shows.
In many cases, history does repeat itself. Could horse racing make a repeat appearance in Kimball County as proposed at the recent joint meting of the City Council and county commissioners?
Few people are still alive who would remember the Kimball County Fair hosted horse racing, along with many other types of racing.
Almost a century ago, horse racing existed in Kimball but only for the week of the Kimball County Fair. According to a 1930 Observer advertisement, it was only for "Kimball County Horses". In addition to horse racing at the 1930 fair, motorcycle racing also topped the list of events along with a parachute drop.
It is unclear how the horse racing was organized because for the most part only advertisements appear in the newspapers; few or no stories are written on the results.
Pari-mutuel horse racing was legalized in 1935 in Nebraska and Kimball County did not waste any time bringing pari-mutuel horse racing to the area.
The Aug. 15, 1935, Observer reported that "At the fair this year you will have a chance to see some of the best thoroughbreds in the middle west." More than 60 of the "best gallopers" ever to attend a race meet on our track. The horses were from Colorado, South Dakota and eastern Nebraska, and the article stated that there would be "six races per day and each race a hot one."
A year later, the 20th Kimball County Fair opened on August 27, 1936. Here's the Observer's report: "Sixty head of running horses were stabled on the grounds last evening. The racing committee expects 10 to 20 more from the Alliance race meet today. There will be six races. Why work for a living when you can pay your money and pick the pony?"
In addition to the horse racing, there were shetland pony races for the local kids as well as a multitude of bicycle races for all ages of kids.
In 1935 the State Racing Commission was a three member commission appointed by the governor for three years and had the "power to prescribe and enforce rules and regulations governing horse races and race meetings licensed" according to law. The legalization of horse racing was "designed to promote the horse breeding industry in Nebraska."
Many of the county fairs throughout Nebraska were the foundation of Nebraska horse racing and the Kimball County Fair was a leader in the sport.
A headline read in an August 1938 Observer, "Temporary Barns Built to Shelter 75 Race Horses." In that edition of the Observer, Kimball boasted "Owners of 75 head of race horses attracted by the state's second largest purses, are on the grounds – coming from stables as far east as Illinois and Montana on the west." The article continued with "Forty-two head were entered in yesterday's seven races. Last day entries surpassed the stall room capacity of the fair making it necessary to building temporary stables for 20 head."
In 1939, a huge advertisement said that Kimball purses were the best county purses in the state and the fastest horses would be in Kimball. The advertisement said "Six Pari Mutuel Races Daily."
But by 1940, only local kids would be racing their ponies at the fair because, the Observer reported, "Due to lack of county appropriation and Ak-Sar-Ben funds being tied up by a court order there will be no pari-mutuel race program."
