The latest twist in Kentucky’s Instant Racing saga has seen the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, the state’s racetracks and the Department of Revenue file a motion to have the highest court in the state hear an appeal into the legality of the controversial machines
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On December 29, 2010, Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate ruled that the state's plan for wagering on such machines amounts to a form of legal pari-mutuel wagering – not an illegal expansion of gambling.
The slots-like machines allow gamblers to wager on previously-run or 'historical' horse races. A group called the Kentucky Family Foundation has been fighting the implementation of the machines, claiming that it is an expansion of gambling in the state.
On January 20, the Kentucky Family Foundation announced its intention to appeal Judge Wingate’s decision to the Court of Appeals. The pro-Instant Racing group has elected to push the matter to the state’s top court because the matter is of "great and public importance."
Kentucky Family Foundation spokesman Martin Cothran has said the foundation will not oppose the motion to transfer.
(With files from the Lexington Herald-Leader)
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