HHR

Last week, Republican Representatives Matthew Koch and Michael Meredith introduced into the Kentucky state legislature a sweeping gambling bill with several key components, including legalized fixed-odds wagering in Kentucky along with efforts to essentially expand and modernize its gambling infrastructure. Unlike the fluctuating odds that make up pari-mutuel betting, fixed odds is a form of betting in which the payout odds are set and agreed upon at the time the wager is placed. Crucially, they do not change. Among other aspects of the bill, it requires tracks and tote companies...

The latest salvo in the fight over the legality of a suite of Racing On Demand slot machine-style pari-mutuel games that were removed from Santa Anita by state Department of Justice (DOJ) law enforcement officers Saturday afternoon was fired Tuesday by the track, which filed a writ of mandate against the DOJ in the Los Angeles Superior Court. There had been 26 such machines in total operating in the Santa Anita grandstand pavilion since last Thursday. They offered $1 bets and required gamblers to select the first three finishers of...

Historical Horse Race (HHR) gambling is not explicitly legal in Florida. But on Oct. 28, an online sportsbook in that state run by the Seminole Tribe quietly rolled out an offshoot of it that, like versions of HHR that are purse-producing economic engines in states like Kentucky and Arkansas, mimics the look and feel of slot-machine play while generating payouts based on the results of archived races. Except in this new suite of betting opportunities, the results that drive the gameplay don't come from a library of past Thoroughbred races....

The issue of computer assisted wagering (CAW) is not new and it is clearly time that it be revisited given the extent to which it has grown. Bettor concerns are valid and the question has always been whether anyone, large or small, is given an unfair advantage that is not available to anyone else. Phrases and words like "racketeering," "pool-rigging enterprise," and "insider bettors" conjure up images of insider trading and criminal activity which, if proven, could then warrant criminal prosecution and make those convicted ineligible for a racing license....

There are "active discussions" between representatives of Churchill Downs Inc. and officials in Louisiana to reach some kind of agreement to see the owners of Fair Grounds continue to operate live racing at the track, according to a report Friday in DRF. Earlier this week, CDI's chief executive, Bill Carstanjen, sent a letter to the Louisiana State Racing Commission (LSRC) and to some of the state's high-ranking politicians, warning that the track's inability to operate historic horse racing machines (HHR) at its OTBs put the company in a precarious economic...

Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI) has escalated its recent threat of pulling out of racing at Fair Grounds in New Orleans. "Given the legislature's ease with which it approved legislation that is directly adverse and harmful to the economic interests of Fair Grounds, the opposition by elected officials to engage in meaningful solutions in collaboration with the Fair Grounds, and the forthcoming adjournment of the legislative session, CDI is left with no choice but to request an appearance before the LSRC to begin the next steps for voluntarily surrendering the racing...

Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI), which in recent seasons has ended racing at such high-profile tracks as Arlington and Calder over alleged profitability issues, on Tuesday threatened to pull out of Fair Grounds over a recent court ruling that bars it from using a certain type of slot machine, saying the ban would cause it to lose money at the New Orleans track and 13 off-track-betting outlets it owns. Reporting by Anthony McAuley and Tyler Bridges at NOLA.com first broke the news, which emerged out of an "emergency" Louisiana Racing Commission...

Slated to be Kentucky's only Quarter Horse venue, Revolutionary Racing is pouring $10 million into Sandy Ridge Racetrack which is currently under construction in Ashland, the investor said via a Friday press release. Built on 182 acres behind Sandy's Racing & Gaming--a $75 million entertainment facility that Revolutionary opened 11 months ago--the developer plans to request 2026 race dates from the Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation. "We are excited to begin this phase of our project, which will be unlike anything else in the state," said Larry Lucas, chairman...

Both Churchill Downs ($120,000) and Keeneland Race Course ($100,000) are projecting maiden special weight (MSW) purses this autumn to be level with the money paid out at the same meets in 2022. Those figures were revealed by representatives of the two tracks Thursday during a meeting of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF) advisory committee. The Churchill MSW purses for this year's two fall meets (Sep. 14-Oct. 1 and Oct. 29-Nov. 26) have been unchanged since 2020. In 2020, Churchill offered split MSW purse values in September-$97,000 during the pandemic-rescheduled...

FRANKLIN, Ky. - With huge purses offered during a mighty short season all run over a distinctive European-style turf course, the FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs has emerged as a gem of American racing. It's different, to be sure. Once an obscure little meet quietly contested at a track called Dueling Grounds in a small town on the border with Tennessee, much closer to Nashville than Kentucky's big cities, Louisville and Lexington, it has flourished, gotten noticed and embraced. This year it features six graded stakes, three of them with...

A Pari-Mutuel Wagering Taxation Task Force has been established in the Kentucky General Assembly to "study the taxes and rates related to horse racing, the impact that changing the rates would have, and the funds relating to the horse industry which receive historical horse racing tax receipts [and] determine if any changes should be made." The task force will be co-chaired by Kentucky State Senator Damon Thayer and House of Representatives member Adam Koenig. The Kentucky Equine Education Project (KEEP) issued a statement in support of the action Tuesday: "The...

The gaming corporation that owns Churchill Downs Racetrack is abandoning plans to build a $300 million hotel and historical horse race (HHR) gaming facility on the first turn of the track. Instead, Churchill Downs Inc. (CDI) will focus on a three-phase expansion of its Louisville-area properties, with expected completion dates for each project dovetailing with the runnings of the next three GI Kentucky Derbies. Bill Carstanjen, CDI's chief executive officer, said during a Thursday earnings conference call that he was not at liberty to divulge details about the new projects...