Illinois board OKs rules for historic racing machines

CHICAGO – The Illinois Racing Board on Thursday approved a set of rules that would govern racetracks’ operation of historic racing machines in the state. The action came during a meeting at Hawthorne Racecourse.

Hawthorne Racecourse in Stickney, Ill., and downstate Fairmount Park have pushed for approval to operate instant racing machines, which now are legal in several states and have massively boosted race purses at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas and at Kentucky Downs. Hawthorne president Tim Carey, however, says his track is pursuing instant racing only as a fall-back alternative to operating a racino at the Chicago-area track.

“Make no mistake – we would still prefer a casino,” Carey said Friday morning.

The rules, which are published on the IRB’s website, now are subject to a public comment period before going through the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review, or JCARR, an entity that reviews governmental regulations. If the rules are approved by JCARR, interested Illinois race tracks would immediately be permitted to operate historic racing machines.

The Illinois legislature won’t be involved because historic racing is being considered by the IRB as an extension of established Illinois statutes governing parimutuel wagering. That position could, however, face legal challenges from Illinois casinos.

Critics contend the machines are virtually indistinguishable from slots. They operate by replaying old races, the specifics of which are kept hidden from bettors, who nevertheless can access de facto past-performance data before playing wagers into a parimutuel pool. Bettors can choose to bypass the data portion of the game, and the horses in the races are linked to slot-machine icons such as cherries or apples that display concurrently during the “race.”

The Illinois Thoroughbred Horseman’s Association voiced concern regarding three areas of the proposed rule.

If the machines use only races run in Illinois, they’d be generating Illinois parimutuel handle on Illinois races, so revenue they generate would count against recapture deductions racetrack operators take under state law. The recapture law dates to 1995, when full-card simulcasting was approved in Illinois. It allows tracks to take money from purse accounts to compensate for the loss of betting on live races to out-of-state simulcasts. That number last year was $11 million, and historic racing machines at tracks could cut roughly 80 percent from the recapture deductions, if the machines are restricted to Illinois races.

The horsemen’s group also has questions regarding handle splits from the machines as well as the minimum race dates that would be required to continue operating the machines.

Meanwhile, Arlington is “not taking a position” on the historical racing push right now, according to general manager Tony Petrillo.

“There’s a bigger opportunity that seems to be possible and we’ll wait and see and weigh all our options.”

The bigger opportunity is the May legislative session, when general gambling expansion is expected to be taken up by the new Illinois legislature. If racetracks are cut in on the expansion the historical racing option will fade away. If they’re left out, Carey said Hawthorne will push to begin operating historical racing machines in January 2020.

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