Dazzling Falls: Nebraska’s Only Kentucky Derby Starter
It’s 1995. It’s a sunny, warm day on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs in Louisville, K.Y. Nineteen racehorses have just stepped foot on the racetrack for the most exciting two minutes in sports. One of them is Grade 2 Arkansas Derby winner Dazzling Falls, the first and only Nebraska-bred to compete in the Kentucky Derby.
Around 10 minutes later, Thunder Gulch won the 121st running of the Derby, with the biggest longshot in the field Dazzling Falls finishing 13th, still farther behind was 1995 Eclipse Champion 3-year-old filly Serena’s Song.
Dazzling Falls was born on February 18, 1992 for Chateau Ridge Farm and Donald E. Kroeger. Chateau Ridge Farm raced Dazzling Falls as a homebred. He was sired by Taylors’ Falls (In Reality) who had already sired Charging Falls, a multiple graded stakes winner and track record setter. Dazzling Falls was out of Nebraska-bred mare Miss Precast. He was her second foal—her first was his full-sister multiple stakes winner Falls Amiss, a winner of 15 out of 21 starts and earner of over $300,000.
Dazzling Falls was an instant success at the racetrack. He won his debut at Ak-sar-ben Race Track in Omaha and followed that up with a win in the track’s black type Laddie Stakes. His freshman year also saw victories in Ak-sar-ben’s Juvenile Stakes, the black type Prevue Stakes at Remington Park.
His 3-year-old season went off with a slow start, but by the time of the Kentucky Derby, he had won the listed Remington Park Derby and the Grade 2 Arkansas Derby. Dazzling Falls won once more at three in the Alabama Derby (Listed) at Birmingham Turf Club.
A 4-year-old season was cut short by injury. In his last start, Dazzling Falls was third in the Grade 3 Razorback Handicap at Oaklawn Park. His final career earnings are $904,622, the highest ever for a Nebraska-bred.
Dazzling Falls entered stud in 1997 in Oklahoma. In 1998, he stood in Iowa. Soon after he moved back to his home state of Nebraska to stand at Rogers Ranch in Mead to live out his days.
At stud, his best progeny was Diamond Joe. Diamond Joe wasn’t as successful as his sire, but still retired with over half a million in earnings.
Groom and pony-rider Emma Peterson was speechless when she met Dazzling Falls in July 2019, “He commands your attention.”
Peterson is a Nebraska native and has a lot of pride in the racing stock Nebraska produces.
Peterson’s experience in Nebraskan racing has exposed her to Dazzling Fall’s offspring. She says that they are levelheaded and have done well for themselves in Nebraska and surrounding states, “They are just little powerhouses.”
“I feel like I have a connection with him because we are both Nebraskans and people from the outside looking in,” said Peterson. “It’s cool to see a horse that nobody expected much from go that far.”
Dazzling Falls passed away in December 2020 at age 28.
“It was the end of an era and a start of a new chapter.” said Peterson.
Less than a year after Dazzling Fall’s passing, sports betting was legalized in Nebraska.
This was the spark to the racing industry’s resurgence in Nebraska.
Columbus Races is being rebuilt at Harrah’s Casino in Columbus with a standard one-mile oval. WarHorse Casino is currently building casinos at Horsemen’s Park and Legacy Downs (formerly Lincoln Race Course).
Casinos aren’t the only new thing bringing life to Nebraskan racing either. Stallions from all over the country are being imported to the Cornhusker State.
Notable additions are Court Vision (sire of Eclipse Champion Storm the Court), Most Mischief (son of leading sire Into Mischief and from the family of Alysheba), and multiple graded stakes winner Giant Expectations.
The foal crop in Nebraska is also on the rise, with the latest data from the Jockey Club showing 90 foals in 2021.
Casinos and higher quality horses of racing age are still years away, but there is a shining star for Nebraska with big dreams.
This summer 2-year-old Nebraska-bred gelding General Shipman toughed out back-to-back wins in his debut and the Prairie Meadows Freshman Stakes. He suffered his first defeat in the Clever Trevor Stakes (Black Type) at Remington Park when finishing fifth as the favorite. General Shipman most recently finished sixth in the Advent Stakes at Oaklawn Park.
Photos courtesy of Emma Peterson. (1) - Dazzling Falls and Peterson, (2)- Dazzling Falls.
