Keeneland results used in EquiLottery trial

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The results of races from Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Ky., this spring will be used to determine the winners of a state lottery game during its test run, according to the track and the game’s designer, EquiLottery.

The game, called Win Place Show, is scheduled to be offered by the Kentucky State Lottery for a 90-day period beginning March 24, with tickets available at 45 locations in the state. On days during the trial when Keeneland is running live, the results of one of its races each day will be used to determine payouts for the lottery game. Keeneland’s live meet is scheduled to run from April 4-April 26, on a Wednesday through Sunday schedule (though dark on Easter Sunday, April 21).

The Win Place Show game, developed by Brad Cummings, a co-founder of The Paulick Report, will pay out based on the first three finishers in the race. Players of the game will receive three different random numbers for each $2 ticket, and the game will pay off in three ways: if the numbers match the first three finishers in order; if the numbers match the first three finishers in any order; or if two of the ticket numbers match any two of the first three finishers.

Payouts for all three results will be distributed from 50 percent of the ticket sales. As a result, the payouts will in most cases be far less than the corresponding payouts for the two payout results that have comparable parimutuel bets at Keeneland (straight trifecta, three-horse trifecta box).

Tickets for the designated race will be sold up to race time, according to Cummings. After the race is off, any tickets sold will apply to the next day’s race. If a ticket includes a scratched horse, that ticket will be able to be redeemed for another ticket on a subsequent race, Cummings said.

The results of the 90-day trial will determine whether the game is expanded statewide. Cummings said tracks that agree to participate in the game if and when it is launched statewide will be given a percentage of the tickets sales as a broadcast fee.