North Dakota

North Dakota Horse Park gets finances on track as 2025 season takes shape

Published

11 months ago

December 26, 2024

North Dakota Horse Park gets finances on track as 2025 season takes shape

FARGO — Slowly, the North Dakota Horse Park in Fargo is growing its live horse racing meet and for the first time in nearly a decade, the organization that runs the track is not scrambling to make the tax payment that once loomed over it.

The Fargo track is operated by Horse Race North Dakota, a nonprofit organization that contributed when the track was built in 2003.

At a meeting of Horse Race North Dakota on Friday, Dec. 20. Cindy Slaughter, accountant and co-owner of TaxLady, which contracts with Horse Race North Dakota, said the track’s overall income is up about $93,000 from this time last year.

A fourth weekend of racing cost the track about $148,000 this year. However, that cost can be offset in the future by factors such as attendance and the amount bet on the races.

“There’s a couple of things we could do differently this year to reduce that amount,” North Dakota Horse Park General Manager Hugh Alan Drexler said.

Horses race out of the starting gates in the 5th race of the day during opening day at the North Dakota Horse Park on Saturday, July 13, 2024.

Alyssa Goelzer/The Forum

While Drexler and HRND will look to decrease costs, they will not try to do that at the expense of the horsemen, as they hope to keep purses for each race flat or increase them in 2025.

“I don’t want to cut the purses at all, that would be the last thing we would cut,” HRND President Jay Aslop said.

“That is what our goal is, to promote racing and to increase race dates,” Drexler said. “The day the finances don’t look the same, that is when we need to make a change.”

Live racing receives additional funds from the North Dakota Racing Commission. The commission will meet in February to determine the amount of funds that will be granted to the Fargo track as well as Chippewa Downs, the second horse racing track in North Dakota near Belcourt.

Overcoming financial struggles

Heavy special assessments loomed over the North Dakota Horse Park for several years after it opened.

In 2003, the city of Fargo spent $1.5 million to extend sewer, water and other infrastructure to the track. The city planned to recoup the costs with special assessments, a kind of property tax assessed to benefiting properties, but the city agreed to suspend the assessments for five years in hopes that the race track would stimulate the development of commercial and residential properties. This would spread the assessments over more property owners and create a smaller bill for the track, which in 2015 was about $1.9 million.

The track is now in repayment of its taxes, making annual payments to the city of Fargo, and accountants are confident a fourth weekend of racing in 2025 will not adversely affect the track.

“I don’t have any concerns about running a fourth weekend this year,” Slaughter said.

Horse racing will be held at the Fargo track in 2025 over four weekends, likely July 12 through Aug. 3, track officials said.

“(It will be) some combination of either Friday, Saturday or Saturday, Sunday depending on what other events are going on in the area,” said Drexler.

In 2024, attendance at the Fargo track was up overall with about 8,358 in attendance over the eight race days, up from about 8,127, in 2023.

The Fargo track held horse races on Saturday and Sunday afternoons for four consecutive weekends, starting Saturday, July 13. The weekend of July 27-28, races were held in the evening so as to not compete with the Fargo AirSho. The horse park competed for attendance each weekend as the Fargo Street Fair, Red River Valley Fair and the Renaissance Fair overlapped the schedule. The horse park’s closing weekend coincided with WeFest.

The track hosted only three weekends of racing in 2022 and 2023, as it was constricted to operating expenses and the amount of money granted for a live season by the North Dakota Racing Commission. The Fargo track hosted a four-week meet in 2021 but held only two weekends in 2020.

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North Dakota

Agristo receives $250,000 from state to develop engineering plan

Published

16 hours ago

November 28, 2025

Press Room

GRAND FORKS — Agristo, the Belgian potato processor, has been awarded $250,000 from the state to develop engineering plans for its planned Grand Forks processing facility.

The $450 million project, when completed and operational in 2028, is expected to add some 350 jobs to the area.

Agristo North Dakota LLC received the award as part of a round of funding totaling $926,800 announced by North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring Friday morning, Nov. 28. Other organizations to receive Agricultural Products Utilization Commission awards are:

Independent Data Management, of Fargo, was awarded $250,000 to improve the MyAgData electronic acreage reporting system;
The North Dakota Department of Agriculture was awarded $85,000 to help North Dakota companies promote their products at domestic and international trade shows;
ND Malting and Hops, Inc., of Williston, was awarded $76,800 for marketing;
Triple 8 Assets LLC, of Williston, was awarded $160,000 to establish a laboratory;
Rope and Oak Nature Park was awarded $40,000 to purchase equipment to establish an agritourism park near Hickson, an unincorporated township in Cass County;
Kathrein Beef Company, of New England, North Dakota, was awarded $25,000 to help establish a ranch-to-market beef business; and
Prospect Growth, Inc., of Fargo was awarded $40,000 to further develop a nanoparticle-based fertilizer.

Also Friday, the state Department of Agriculture announced $1 million in Agriculture Diversification and Development awards. Recipients are:

Anchor Ingredients received $300,000 to upgrade three Hillsboro plants with new equipment to process flour and oat hulls;
Cavendish Farms received $500,000 for the expansion of its Jamestown potato processing facility;
Tracey Hauck, of Richardton, North Dakota, in Stark County, received $150,000 to build cattle confinement barn; and
Weinlaeder Seed Company, of Drayton, received $50,000 to procure lab equipment for the expansion of a food-grade processing facility.

Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of “staff.” Often, the “staff” byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.

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North Dakota

Senators Cramer and Hoeven share Thanksgiving message

Published

1 day ago

November 27, 2025

Press Room

Senators Cramer and Hoeven share Thanksgiving message

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – Senator John Hoeven (R-ND) issued the following statement Thursday to wish all North Dakotans a happy Thanksgiving.

“Happy Thanksgiving to the people of North Dakota and families across our nation. Today we give thanks for the liberties we enjoy, the opportunities our country provides, and the hardworking spirit that defines our state. May this day bring you together with loved ones and renew a sense of gratitude and peace. From Mikey, me, and our family, we wish you a blessed and happy Thanksgiving,” said Hoeven.

U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) also released the following Thanksgiving Day video message.

“Saint Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, reminds us ‘in all things, be thankful.’ The Pilgrims embodied this spirit, even in the hardest of times. Today gives us a chance to recommit ourselves to the spirit of gratitude that’s with us always. My family wishes you and yours a great, festive, and celebratory Thanksgiving,” said Cramer on social media.

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North Dakota

North Dakota offering discounted Lyft rides for Thanksgiving holiday

Published

2 days ago

November 27, 2025

Press Room

North Dakota offering discounted Lyft rides for Thanksgiving holiday

FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live) – North Dakota will offer discounted Lyft rides through its ND Sober Ride program during the Thanksgiving holiday to keep impaired drivers off state roads.

The Vision Zero program will provide ride codes valid from Wednesday through Saturday, or while codes last. You can use Lyft code “VZTURKEY25” to receive $10 off their ride in areas where Lyft service is available.

During the recent Halloween campaign, about 150 discounted Lyft rides were used, according to program officials.

Lyft codes are unique to each campaign and can only be used once per user.

Codes and additional program information can be found at VisionZero.ND.gov.

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