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Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, others object to Churchill Downs-Keeneland plan for two new tracks


Staff report

The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission and other groups are pushing back on the plan announced by Churchill Downs and Keeneland to build two new race track facilities in Oak Grove and Corbin.

A statement released by Franklin S. Kling Jr., president of the racing commission, and Vice Chairman John C. Roach said the commission has said repeatedly it would not consider “any applications for new racetrack facilities in Kentucky.”

“Despite that communication,” the statement said, “Churchill and Keeneland have chosen to submit an application. . .

“At this time neither of us have any plans to take ay action related to this application or any other application for a new racetrack facility. It is our hope that in the future we will be able to develop a process and criteria to determine whether any new racetrack facilities are needed in the Commonwealth.”

Corey Johnsen, president of Kentucky Downs in Franklin, also objected to the Churchill Downs-Keeneland plan.

Corey Johnsen

“We are disappointed at the announcement of Churchill Downs and Keeneland’s plans to pursue a racetrack license in Oak Grove,” said Johnsen, “Nashville is the primary market for Kentucky Downs. A track a short drive away in Oak Grove would provide undue competition to Kentucky Downs’ already-established and successful historical horse racing, simulcasting and live-racing operations.

“It makes no sense to put a new track in an existing track’s market. We would never consider applying for a racetrack license in close proximity to Louisville or Lexington, such as Elizabethtown or Georgetown.

“We just completed a record-shattering meet, paying horsemen the best purses in North America while getting accolades from horseplayers for keeping our takeout rates low. We have worked hard to be a good citizen and improve the entire Kentucky circuit. In the past, Kentucky Downs has sent Kentucky-bred purse supplements to the state’s other thoroughbred tracks, including Churchill Downs and Keeneland. In cooperation with the Kentucky HBPA, we moved $3 million in purses and KTDF funds to Ellis Park the past two summers, kindling that track’s own record meets, thereby keeping racehorses and jobs in the commonwealth to the benefit of everyone, including Churchill and Keeneland’s fall meets.”

Concept drawing of Oak Grove facility

Richard Nelson, Executive Director of the Commonwealth Policy Center says, “This announcement is premature due to the pending legal case concerning instant racing in Franklin Circuit Court and the fact that the 2016 General Assembly rejected a bill to establish the regulatory framework for instant racing in Kentucky.”

Nelson believes this type of gambling is very different than live horse racing because it’s available every day, it’s more addictive, and casino-style gambling acts as a drain on local economies.  

Alan Mallach, a former Senior Fellow at the Center for Community Progress in New York, told the Lexington Herald-Leader, “Casino gambling does not create a single new dollar. Every dollar dropped into a slot machine is a dollar not spent on something else. It’s not like you’ve got an auto plant and you’re building cars to be shipped and sold around the world.”

In a 2012 article in U.S. News and World Reports, John Warren Kindt, Professor of Business and Legal Policy at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign says, “Sports gambling is also known as the “gateway drug” to gambling addiction.”

“This may seem like a good idea to casino interests,” Nelson said. “But the best version of Kentucky doesn’t put our families at risk.”


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2 Comments

  1. Nicolas Martin says:

    In a free country one does not have to get permission to open a race track.

  2. Perry Hammer says:

    Why would you not refurbish and put a dirt track and it Kentucky down instead of building two new ones and get the money from Tennessee which they’re not getting which they built years ago Latonya which is Turfway Park turned out to be a flop cuz there ain’t no money in Ohio then you had riverdowns a dump and the horses was s*** now you got a chance to come up with some top-rated horses for the grass and a dirt track of they put it in at a fantastic place I know this because I have work there I’ve been a valid from mr. Fowler

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