Kentucky Horse Racing Commission approves increase in minimum mount fee

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission on Tuesday approved a revision of its rules on mount fees that will raise the minimum losing mount fee to $125, setting the revisions on a path to final approval sometime next year.

Although the revisions are not expected to receive final approval by the state’s Legislative Research Commission for “seven to nine months,” according to the KHRC legal counsel, Jennifer Wolsing, the revised rate schedule will go into effect Nov. 29 due to a separate agreement between The Jockeys’ Guild and the state’s horsemen that was negotiated three weeks ago.

The new mount fee rate schedule will replace a two-tiered system that has been in effect since 2021 in which the minimum losing mount fee was $100 at Churchill and Keeneland and $60 at Turfway and Ellis. The new system also will require a $500 minimum losing mount fee for any race with a purse of $1 million or more.

The KHRC’s Rules Committee had recommended that the commission adopt the revised rules.

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Also at the meeting, the KHRC approved the racing licenses and live racing schedules for its five Thoroughbred tracks, along very similar lines as the year prior. The one exception was Ellis Park, which received approval for 18 mandatory days and “30 optional dates,” with a requirement that Churchill Downs Inc., which owns the track, come back to the KHRC by the end of the year with a firm schedule.

Gary Palmisano, CDI’s executive director of racing, said that Ellis was considering switching from a Friday-through-Sunday schedule to a Saturday-to-Monday schedule. The track needed the award of the optional dates to “allow us more time to do our due diligence” and consult with horsemen on the change in schedule.

The KHRC requires racing dates to be approved by Nov. 1.

Palmisano also said that Ellis has committed to running three days per week and will run July 4-7, which will result in Ellis holding at least 25 live race dates in 2024.

“If purse money looks good, we can certainly come back here and request the added optional dates,” Palmisano said.

Ellis conducted 24 live race dates in 2023 under its own meet, but the track held additional race dates awarded to Churchill Downs in June after Churchill canceled the remainder of its live race meet due to safety concerns.

Kentucky Downs, the rural track on the border with Tennessee, once again requested seven live racing days. The track also received approval for three “optional dates” in case the track needs to reschedule any race dates due to weather. Kentucky Downs runs exclusively on turf.

Prior to approving the licenses, the KHRC approved new conditions of licensure. Notably, under the new conditions, racetracks will be required to notify the KHRC of any “abnormal wagering incident.” Wolsing, the KHRC’s legal counsel, said that any “past-posting event” or any “suspected manipulation through computerized robotic wagering” would fall under the incidents that would require notification.

* According to Dr. Nicholas Smith, the chief veterinarian of the KHRC, there was one racing fatality and one training fatality in Kentucky from the start of Ellis’s meet in June through the close of Churchill’s September meet at the end of the month, a period that also includes the live race meet at Kentucky Downs. Both fatalities occurred at Ellis Park. The racing fatality was due to a musculoskeletal injury, while the training fatality was a sudden death, Smith said.

Beginning in April, 13 horses died at Churchill Downs through the end of May, a spate that led to the decision by Churchill to cancel the remainder of its spring race meet.

* The KHRC announced at the beginning of the meeting that Dr. Bruce Howard, the KHRC’s equine medical director since 2019, would be retiring. Howard joined the KHRC in 2013 as a regulatory veterinarian and was promoted to chief regulatory veterinarian in 2016. Prior to joining the KHRC, Howard was a veterinarian at the Rood and Riddle Equine Clinic for 23 years.

“Those are going to be big shoes to fill,” said Jonathan Rabinowitz, the chair of the KHRC.

Jamie Eads, the KHRC’s executive director, called Howard “a strong advocate for the health and safety of the horse” throughout his tenure.

“You will be missed by the entire industry, and thank you for your service,” Eads said.

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