from the USTA Communications Department
Columbus, OH — Saturday night (May 12), during Eldorado Scioto Downs’ 2018 opening weekend, Kirk Nichols’ Lucky Lime officially became “The People’s Horse” for the summer. Trained by Dan Ater and driven by his son Kyle, the 9-year-old gelding will have 10 percent of his earnings for the meet shared by his loyal followers who sign up for the promotion and attend at least 75 percent of his races at Scioto Downs.
USTA/Mark Hall photo
Lucky Lime will have 10 percent of his earnings for the 2018 meet at Scioto Downs shared by the followers that sign up for his promotion and attend at least 75 percent of his races this season.
“The People’s Horse” entry cards, which will be available at program stands throughout the month of May, were distributed and had to be stamped with the date to receive credit for being in attendance. Each time Lucky Lime races, participants will need to bring their card to get it stamped again.
“Jason (Roth) from the race office approached me about doing the promotion, so I called the owner, Mr. Nichols, and he was all for it,” said trainer Dan Ater. “I told him that there might be a lot of people in the winner’s circle and he told me, ‘the more the better.’”
On a night when the clubhouse and patio restaurants were sold out, the benches and new covered bleachers on the apron were packed and the Racebook was standing room only, Lucky Lime gave his new legion of followers a thrill in the fifth race on the card. Leading by two lengths in the stretch, “The People’s Horse” barely got nipped at the wire to finish second, a neck behind favorite Angelo J Fra, and earned $5,000 for the pot.
But there’s more to the story because when Roth originally approached Ater, he chose one of his other horses, Rock Out, for the promotion.
“A couple of weeks ago, I asked Jason if it was too late to change the horse since Rock Out hadn’t been racing too well and he might not be the best one to be ‘The People’s Horse,’” explained Ater. “We were giving Lucky Lime some time off and I thought that he would be a better choice because he would be rested and ready to race every week.”
Even though the track had already printed the entry cards for Rock Out, they were able to make the change in time for the start of the promotion on Saturday night.
“They told me that the cards were already done, so I asked if the big billboard (in the backstretch) was also done, but luckily it wasn’t,” added Ater.
Participants in the promotion can find out when Lucky Lime is in to race by following Scioto Downs on Facebook at @SciotoDowns and on Twitter at @EldoradoScioto.