Last week, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission approved Kentucky Downs' request to install slots-like 'instant racing' machines in which gamblers bet on 'historical' or previously-run races. The owner of another state race has discussed implementing the machines as well
, but has said everything except that he will be doing it.
An article by the Evansville Courier & Press explains that Ellis Park may be following in Kentucky Downs' footsteps on the matter.
Although the KHRC gave Kentucky Downs the green light to install the machines, the venture could be for not, as the matter is currently going through the court system. If the machines are deemed illegal in the courts, the machines will have to be pulled from the track, and the raceway owners will then be forced to absorb a seven-figure loss.
"From my perspective, I don't think we can wait a year-and-a-half or two years to get through the Court of Appeals and then maybe the Supreme Court," Ellis Park Owner Ron Geary was quoted as saying in the article. "We're definitely looking to find a way to do it.
"We've worked with (Kentucky Downs President) Corey Johnson to help gather data, and he's done a ton of the research on the issue. We're two or three months behind him, but we hope to make a final decision soon and get moving."
The article states that one of the stipulations for the track to be eligible to install the machines would be to increase simulcasting days at the track.
"We'll go before the Racing Commission in September, after our meet, and that's when we would request both the Instant Racing approval and the additional simulcasting dates," Geary was quoted as saying. "We'd still have to order the machines, which we'd like to do on a lease-buy agreement, and they might take four months to get here.
"But my thinking still would be having them going in November, December, January or February. I'd like to be more definite, but there's still a lot of work to do timing wise."
(With files from the Evansville Courier & Press)
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