Ellis Park applies for gaming machines

LEXINGTON, Ky., – Ellis Park in Henderson, Ky., has asked the state to authorize its plans to install 250 gambling devices that use the results of previously run races to determine payouts.

The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission is scheduled to vote on the application at a meeting on Monday. The application is expected to be approved.

Ellis Park is the second track in Kentucky to apply to operate the devices, which are called Instant Racing machines by their manufacturer. Earlier this year, the commission approved an application from Kentucky Downs in Franklin, Ky., to install and operate 300 of the machines. That track’s gambling facility opened in early September.

Ron Geary, the owner of Ellis Park, declined to comment about the application on Thursday.

An anti-gambling group, the Family Foundation, has challenged the commission’s decision earlier this year to allow tracks to install the devices, contending that the devices violate a state constitutional ban on gambling aside from the lottery and horseracing. The group’s suit is expected to be heard later this year.