Kentucky legislature approves fixed-odds betting, ban on stallion cap

A bill allowing Kentucky racetracks to offer fixed-odds betting on their races to Kentucky residents passed the state legislature late on Wednesday night. The bill also bans The Jockey Club from imposing a cap on the number of mares that can be covered by a stallion.

The two provisions were part of a large gambling bill that also raised the legal age limit for making a sports bet in Kentucky from 18 to 21 and authorized betting on fantasy-betting contests.

It was unclear on Thursday morning if Kentucky tracks have immediate plans to offer fixed-odds bets on their races.

Fixed-odds betting on racing is currently legal in three states, but the reception from bettors has been disappointing to supporters of the bet type, which allows gamblers to receive a set price on a horse at the time the bet is placed. Under the pari-mutuel system, prices fluctuate until the moment betting closes.

A spokesperson for Churchill Downs Inc., which owns three of the five Thoroughbred tracks in the state, declined to comment on the fixed-odds provision on Thursday.

“Since the session is not over until April 15th, it would be premature to comment on legislation at this point,” said Breck Thomas-Ross, the senior director of communications for CDI.

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Ted Nicholson, the general manager of Kentucky Downs in Bowling Green, said that the track has not yet had any formal discussions but said that those talks will likely take place within the next several weeks.

At Keeneland, in Lexington, track officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but officials there have said in the past that they did not actively lobby for the fixed-odds provision.

The provision affecting a stallion cap was added to the bill after the chairman of The Jockey Club, Everett Dobson, made remarks earlier this year repeating that the organization planned to continue to explore ways to limit the number of mares bred by a single stallion. The Jockey Club has cited its concern that the genetic pool of the Thoroughbred breed is rapidly contracting due to the recent growth in stallions that cover hundreds of mares.

The bill also requires The Jockey Club to issue a report to the legislature by Dec. 1 that would study the feasibility of a mare cap under language stating that “the long-term viability, genetic diversity, and soundness of the Thoroughbred industry are matters of substantial economic and cultural importance” to the state. The study would have to be produced in consultation with breeders and “international authorities.”

In a statement released on Thursday night, The Jockey Club said that it supported the portion of the bill requiring the study.

“We have been advocating for the kind of science-based, industrywide approach that the statutory change and the accompanying resolution envision on a national and international level,” the statement said.

In 2020, The Jockey Club approved a limit of 140 mares for a single season, effective with any stallion born in 2020, but the rule was immediately challenged in court by several top Central Kentucky stallion stations. The rule was rescinded in 2022.

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