Kentucky casinos given approval to reopen June 8

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Kentucky’s racetrack-owned casinos will be allowed to reopen beginning on Monday at a limited capacity, Ky. Gov. Andy Beshear announced on Thursday night, but operational difficulties in coming into compliance with COVID-19 protocols will delay the openings at many of the casinos until later in the week.

The Kentucky casinos are critical to generating subsidies for purses that go to owners and breeders of Kentucky-bred horses. A portion of the revenues generated by the gambling devices, which are known as historical horse racing machines, goes into the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund, which is being depleted due to the shutdown of casinos in the state in mid-March and, subsequently, the re-opening of Churchill Downs for spectator-free racing on May 16.

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A casino at The Red Mile harness track in downtown Lexington will likely open on Thursday, according to Vince Gabbert, the chief operating officer of Keeneland, which operates the Lexington casino in partnership with The Red Mile. All of the employees of the casino will need to be tested before they can return to work, Gabbert said, which would make a Monday opening impossible.

Jennie Rees, a spokeswoman for a number of tracks in Kentucky, said that Ellis Park plans to open its casino as of Monday, while Kentucky Downs in Franklin plans to open its casino on Wednesday. Ellis Park, which will open its simulcasting parlor Wednesday, is the next track scheduled to return to racing on the Kentucky circuit, with a live meet scheduled to open June 28.

Churchill Downs, which owns and operates a casino called Derby City Gaming in Louisville, did not respond to a request for comment. The publicly traded company rarely comments on developments affecting the company’s business plans while stock markets are open.

All of Kentucky’s tracks submitted a single operational plan to Gov. Beshear in order to present a unified front, Gabbert said.

“We’re all following the same template, so I think that helped in making the decision to allow us to re-open,” Gabbert said.

The reopening order will allow the casinos to operate at one-third capacity. Gabbert said that The Red Mile will make 300 of its gambling devices available for operation, out of a total of 900, in order to make sure customers comply with social-distancing guidelines. The casinos will also put in place policies to prevent people from congregating at entrances and exits and other areas of the floor, Gabbert said.

Ellis Park plans to have 150 HHR terminals in operation when it reopens, according to Rees.

Historical horse racing machines, which are designed to resemble slot machines, have generated approximately $50 million in purses and breeders’ awards since they were first installed in 2011 at Kentucky Downs. They have since been embraced by every other track in the state, and they generate tens of millions of dollars annually for their operators.

KEEP, a horseracing lobbying group, said in a statement that it “applauds” the government’s decision to allow the casinos to re-open.

“HHR has single-handedly transformed the horse racing industry in Kentucky,” said a statement from KEEP’s executive director, Elisabeth Jensen. “HHR’s impact on the industry has set it apart from competing states by creating a magnet that is drawing horse operations from around the country to the Commonwealth.”

A number of states have moved recently to reopen casinos, though with restrictions on capacity and with social-distancing requirements.