Gambing news from http://www.courier-journal.com/
Besides watching local returns on election night, Kentucky racing industry officials will be paying as much attention to results from Ohio -- where voters will decide whether to allow slot machines.
The vote Nov. 7 on a proposed constitutional amendment could lead to installing slots at the Buckeye State's seven racetracks and creating two freestanding casinos in the Cleveland area.
If approved, the Ohio Learn and Earn initiative would increase purses for races, potentially siphoning away Kentucky horses that otherwise would race at Ellis Park in Henderson, at Turfway Park in Florence or even at Churchill Downs in Louisville.
"You're about to see a major bloodletting if they pass that," said Marty Maline, executive director of the Kentucky Horsemen's Benevolent & Protective Association.
In the 1990s, Ohio voters twice rejected casino proposals. And separate polls conducted last month by two Ohio newspapers, the Columbus Dispatch and the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, showed the proposal trailing.
Still, Kentucky industry officials are closely watching the campaign and fear the fallout.
Churchill Downs President Steve Sexton said the most immediate impacts would be felt at Turfway and Ellis "with a potential impact on the lower claiming levels at any regional tracks," including Churchill.
"If there were any state that had a gaming initiative we would be watching it closely because the more states that implement gaming at racetracks, the more competition there's going to be in the marketplace for stables of horses," Sexton said. "… The fact that Ohio has an initiative and they are bordering Kentucky makes it that much more important."
Churchill is part of a Kentucky horse-industry coalition that pushed unsuccessfully for casino gambling during the 2006 General Assembly.
The coalition, the Kentucky Equine Education Project, decided recently to wait until the 2008 legislative session to make another major push for gaming, rather than lobby during next year's short session.
Proponents of the Ohio measure say it would produce $2.8 billion in annual gross revenue by 2012 based on 31,500 slot machines. Of that, $852 million would be dedicated to college scholarships and $170.5 million for purses at racetracks.
The state's budget office, however, estimates Ohio couldn't support that many slot machines. It estimates gross revenues in the first full year would be as much as $1 billion, with $65 million for purses.
Purses in the state last year totaled $47 million, the Ohio State Racing Commission reported.
If purses at River Downs in Cincinnati increased to the gaming-aided levels of Mountaineer Race Track and Gaming Resort in West Virginia, Maline said horsemen in Northern Kentucky, Louisville and Lexington would skip small Kentucky tracks like Ellis.
"That spells disaster for our small racetracks, and I don't think it speaks real well for Churchill," Maline said.
Lexington horse owner Jack Smith agreed, noting that Kentucky already loses horses to Mountaineer. If purses are larger in the summer at River Downs than at Ellis Park, Smith said, "no horse is going to travel from this part of the state" to the Henderson, Ky., track.
Passage of the Ohio amendment would be "horrific" for Kentucky racing, Smith said. "Who in our world would have ever imagined that purses at River Downs could be better than a Kentucky track?"
Other than River Downs' major stakes, Smith said he generally considers entering horses at the Cincinnati track only to try to break their maiden against a potentially softer field than would be found in Kentucky, or to run in a maiden on the turf course.
Turfway Park President Bob Elliston said the impact on the Florence track of higher purses at River Downs wouldn't be as great because their seasons don't overlap. But Ohio tracks like Beulah Park and Thistledown could lure Kentucky horsemen, he said.
In the Cincinnati area, approval of slot machines would give River Downs and the Lebanon Raceway harness track an infusion of money that could be used to upgrade facilities, something Elliston has said Turfway can't do right now.
"Ohio could make a major step forward if they're successful," he said.
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