Jody Majestic (2) breaks away from the pack with Mg Silver Demand at the start of Saturday’s seventh race during the Night In Old Fredericksburg Race Meet held at the Gillespie County Fair Grounds. Over the two days of the NIOF Race Meet, 3,296 fans wagered $250,699 at the local Class III five-eighths mile track. Pari-mutuel horse racing will continue at the fair grounds with the Gillespie County Race Meet scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 8-9. Additional coverage on the weekend meet is available on pages A/B14 and A/B17 of this week's paper. — Standard-Radio Post/Matt Ward
Another weekend of live pari-mutuel horse racing is in the books following the two-day Night In Old Fredericksburg Race Meet on Saturday and Sunday at the Gillespie County Fair Grounds.
Sponsored by the Gillespie County Fair and Festivals Association, Inc., the two-day meet drew a total of 3,296 fans who wagered $250,699 on 24 races. The total payout to bettors was $194,795.
On Saturday, 1,996 fans wagered $138,688 while on Sunday, 1,300 fans wagered $112,011.
The payout to bettors on Saturday was $107,982 and $86,813 on Sunday.
“Everything seemed to run pretty smooth through the weekend,” said Robert (Henry) Sagebiel, president of the Gillespie County Fair and Festivals Association.
The NIOF Race Meet, the second of four scheduled at the Class III facility in 2015, was held in conjunction with Night In Old Fredericksburg on Saturday.
(Photographs from NIOF can be found on D1 in this issue of the newspaper.)
Sagebiel acknowledged the support of the volunteers and sponsors noting that “without the community support we couldn’t have events like horse racing and Night In Old Fredericksburg.”
And with two races meets and NIOF behind them, the fair association is focusing on hosting Scholarship Fest, the 127th Gillespie County Fair and the Fredericksburg PBR.
One of the highlights of the racing program on Sunday was the running of the 350-yard Texas Quarter Horse Association Futurity. Qualifiers for the race, with a total purse of $47,850, were determined on July 5 during the July Fourth Racing Festival.
Taking the top spot with a time of 18.191 was “Mr Effortless Reign.” Coming in second was “Surviving Legend” followed by “Miss Huerfanita” in third.
“Ss Missy Blue” actually finished first with a time of 18.059 but was disqualified to fourth.
Rounding out the field in order were “Zoomn Streak,” “Dee Dee Do Run Run,” “Famous Winner,” “Ja Sweet Reason,” “Dashin ON Bye” and “Passin Bye Ya.”
Also on Sunday was the running of the 350-yard GCFA Maiden Challenge that had a purse of $21,018. Qualifiers were also determined on July 5.
With a time of 17.885, “Jess too Tempting” came in first, followed by “Crazy for James” in second and “Pool Do” in third.
Rounding out the field were “Corona Kidd Kat,” “Carrera Tempted,” “Jess a Carrera,” “An Ocean N a Prayer,” “Goin Beserk,” “Jess Rocken” and “Think About Running”.
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