Keeneland has moved closer toward launching historical race wagering both in Lexington with harness track partner The Red Mile and on a planned new Quarter Horse track in the Corbin, Ky. area.
On Dec. 2 the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission approved plans by The Red Mile and Keeneland to launch historical racing games, a form of Instant Racing, next year in Lexington. In receiving approval for that joint venture, Keeneland withdrew a previous request that would have allowed the track to build an Instant Racing facility on its property.
Instead, The Red Mile has nearly doubled the size of plans for its previously announced facility from 40,000 square feet to 72,000 square feet, which will house 1,000 of the machines that look like video lottery terminals but base payouts on a pari-mutuel formula.
The two tracks announced plans for the facility in October. Officials said plans call for the facility to be open before Keeneland's 2015 fall meet. The plan is for revenue generated by Instant Racing for purses at the facility will be split 50-50 between Standardbred and Thoroughbred racing.
Meanwhile, Keeneland also took another step forward in its plans to launch a Quarter Horse track in the Corbin area in 2016 when the KHRC approved Keeneland to enter into an option agreement to purchase the license and assets of current Standardbred track Thunder Ridge Raceway in Eastern Kentucky.
Keeneland chief operating officer Vince Gabbert said plans are to offer Standardbred racing in 2015 at the current Thunder Ridge location and then close that track. The license would then be used to open a new Quarter Horse track in the Corbin area. Gabbert said Keeneland is looking at two properties in that area.
The plan for the new track would be to offer a short Quarter Horse meet each year, with eight to 12 weekend days beginning in the summer of 2016, and have a facility with 500 to 700 Instant Racing games. Revenue generated for purses would be split equally between Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred racing.
Keeneland will have to come before the KHRC as it moves forward with its plans. For instance, it will have to receive approval on moving the license and on the selected site.
With the closing of Thunder Ridge, Keeneland said it told harness horsemen it will work to add some Standardbred dates at The Red Mile or some other opportunities.
"We want to be helpful for them. Our goal at Keeneland is to do what's best for the industry as a whole, whether it's Quarter Horses, Standardbreds, or Thoroughbreds," Gabbert said. "We want the industry in this state to thrive. Part of that mission is to put on the best quality of racing we can, whatever breed that might be. But we also want to put as much purse money into Keeneland as we can."
Also at Tuesday's meeting, KHRC staff reported equine fatality numbers for the Keeneland fall meet, which featured a return to a dirt surface for the main track. There were two fatalities suffered while racing on the main track. There were a total of 1,351 starts, dirt and turf, at the fall meet.
Last year, there was one fatality during the fall meet, which employed a Polytrack surface.
There also were three fatalities during morning training hours at the Keeneland fall meet, but only one of those was a catastrophic breakdown on the main track. The other fatalities involved a horse getting loose going to the track and a horse on the training track, also a Polytrack surface.
William Farmer, chief state veterinarian, said this is the first full year the KHRC has tracked equine fatalities suffered during training hours. Farmer said he was pleased with the performance of the new dirt surface at Keeneland, and noted the number of non-fatal injuries was down.
Also, the KHRC approved the license renewal requests of five advance deposit wagering companies: AmWest Entertainment, Ebet, Lien Games Racing, TVG, TwinSpires, and XpressBet.