GRAND ISLAND - Horse races will be continuing next week at Fonner Park, but will look much different than fans are accustomed to.

Fonner Park CEO Chris Kotulak says the first three weekends of racing this year produced outstanding business for the track, but everything started to change last weekend once the COVID-19 crisis began to develop.

"The final weekend that we did run, we were taking precautions, we were being proactive with hygiene, safety, and awareness knowing that we were watching racetracks around the nation start to close," Kotulak said. "We were sort of escaping last weekend, but I knew going into this weekend it would be very unlikely that that would hold true, and in fact, it hasn't."

Ultimately the decision was made for the races to continue at Fonner Park, but with no spectators in attendance. Kotulak says the races will continue in this manner Monday - Wednesday for the next two weeks, and staff will assess the situation afterward.

Kotulak originally discussed racing just one day a week when talks were just beginning, but further discussions lead to the expansion of holding races for three days, with the hope that racing at unique times will help make up some of the money which will be lost by having no fans in the grandstands.

"We're not going to be making hardly any purse money here at Fonner Park with the people that are able to watch and wager on our races," Kotulak said. "The big hope is that if we race Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, we're racing at a time where far fewer race tracks are racing, now we might be an attraction, that is a big gamble and my fingers are crossed."

Kotulak says there are additional financial constraints the lack of spectators will create, which may have the possibility to create future problems for Fonner Park.

"We have to take a good, long look at this two-week trial, and unless I'm gravely mistaken, and I hope that's the case, things are really going to be far more than just a belt-tightening, we're at that stage now," Kotulak said. "But it could mean layoffs for people that are full-time employees, and we're doing everything we can to avoid that at this point, currently, it's just the seasonal employees."

So the racing may look different this spring at Fonner Park, but the show will go on as racing fans across Nebraska will have the chance to tune in from home.

"While people aren't going to be able to come to the racetrack and watch the races as they customarily could, they can go to fonnerpark.com and they can watch the races sitting from home, we're going to be putting on the same show, but the sad thing is our facility will be shuttered," Kotulak said.