Arapahoe Park's Bill Powers Dies at 65

The sudden death Jan. 4 of Arapahoe Park racing director Bill Powers has left the employees of the Aurora, Colo., racetrack dealing with a huge hole in their professional and personal lives that will be hard to fill.

"He really loved working here," said Stephanie Jordan, Powers' daughter, who is head of group sales and the receptionist at the racetrack. She worked alongside her father for five years.

"He grew up in the industry, starting out as a jock's agent, and then kept rocking from there. His family and the people he worked with here were everything to him."

Powers, who was 65, was born in Stephenville, Texas. Between his start as a jockey agent and when he took his first job at Arapahoe in 1992 as its racing secretary, Powers ran a training stable for nine years that campaigned horses at Albuquerque Downs, Louisiana Downs, Ruidoso Downs, Sportsman's Park, and Sunland Park. He worked in nearly every position possible at multiple racetracks, according to family and co-workers. 

Bruce Seymore, the executive director and general manager at Arapahoe, recruited Powers while he was working at Sunland Park, getting rave reviews on Powers' knowledge and work ethic by word of mouth. Powers' skills in managing a mixed race meet were particularly valuable to Arapahoe, which runs Thoroughbreds, Quarter Horses, and Arabians during a 39-day meet that runs from late May to mid-August. 

"There is a special set of challenges and opportunities that come with a track our size," Seymore said. "With only a 39-day live meet, it is a miracle to attract horsemen and pull that off, but Bill did it every year. When trainers talked to Bill, they knew they were talking to a horseman."

Since 1995, Arapahoe Park supported several legislative efforts to bring alternative gaming to the racetrack. Though none of those initiatives passed, Powers played a vital role in managing the relationship with horsemen, who were concerned that once gaming was approved, racing would disappear.

"We've always tried to assure the horsemen every time we've put forth some legislation or whatever, 'Hey, we're going to keep going. We're just trying to get better, and we wouldn't be doing our due diligence if we weren't,'" Powers told the Denver Post in May 2015 following the defeat of a ballot initiative that would have allowed casino gaming at Arapahoe. 

Alternative gaming or not, Powers was committed to preserving live racing in Colorado.

"There are certain people who are doomsday people," Powers said in the Denver Post article. "But they're not people in the know. I'm the one that sends out the stall apps, I'm the one going over the horses applying, and it should be as good a year as we've had lately."

Seymore said Powers' contributions to the racetrack over the years could not be exaggerated.

"He didn't have an ego," Seymore said. "Everything he did was for the racetrack and the horsemen. Now I'm discovering all the things he did that I wasn't even aware of. 

"It's strange. I still come to work thinking about the things I want to talk about with Bill. It's going to be a long adjustment for all of us."