WAVE 3 TV Louisville, KY | Kentucky horse racing fans react to Ohio casino vote

Kentucky horse racing fans react to Ohio casino vote

By Janelle MacDonald - bio | email
Posted by Charles Gazaway - email

LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - Ohio voters are rolling the dice on casinos. They approved a casino bill Tuesday on the fifth try to get the measure passed. You can bet the folks who have been pushing hard for expanded gaming in the Bluegrass were holding their breath on that vote.

Already, the cry is going up that more competition from another neighbor will further hurt Kentucky's horse tracks.

Bob Jennings, enjoying the fall meet at Churchill Downs Wednesday, said it's the horses not the betting that keep him coming back to the Downs. Still, Jennings thinks a lack of gaming in the Bluegrass is putting his pastime in jeopardy.

“If we're going to keep on, we're not going to have any horses left to run if we keep letting everything go to different states," said Jennings.

It's the same thing the folks at Churchill have been telling anyone who will listen for months.

"It's a different type of gaming than we can offer here in Kentucky. What we're looking for is a level playing field," said John Asher, Churchill Downs vice president of communications.

Asher admitted the biggest impact will be on tracks closer to Ohio, like Turfway Park, still he said, "if it impacts the Kentucky industry, it impacts all of us."

He said the last couple of months have already shown the slide.

"Our dates requests for next year, is 25 percent smaller as an industry, 25 percent fewer racing dates in Kentucky," Asher said. "That's because of concerns over purse money, concerns over shortage of horses."

According to Asher, another competitor so close will only further the problem despite the fact Ohio will have casinos, not expanded gaming at Buckeye tracks.

Ken Bostei, visiting Churchill from Northern Kentucky resident agreed.

"Gamblers are gamblers," said Bostei.

Asked what he thought about the vote of his neighbors to the north, Bostei wasn't mincing words. "I think they're smarter than Kentuckians are. Why so, because the horse racing, we need gambling."

Opponents to expanded gaming say it is not the answer to the horse industry's troubles and could cause further social problems in the state.

Wednesday, the Family Foundation, which opposed lawmakers passing expanded gaming in Kentucky, said the vote in Ohio underscores the need of a vote by the people if it is going to happen here.

Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear Wednesday said, "Ohio's citizens are going to reap the benefits of thousands of new jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenue."

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