Kentucky panel tables reform action

The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission on Monday tabled a list of requirements that racetracks would have to meet as a condition of licensing because of concerns over the wording of the document and the impact the demands would make on tracks.

The requirements included demands that racetracks share with the commission the knowledge of any investigation by any racing-related or government agency about activities at the tracks. In addition, the requirements would have prevented racetracks from accepting wagers from any simulcasting site where parimutuel tellers were allowed to cancel wagers after a race had already started.

Racetrack officials at the meeting said that they supported the requirements in theory, but they also raised concerns about the language in the document and the short time frame in which the requirements were developed. Both commission officials and racetrack officials said that the document that was to be voted on at the meeting had been distributed for the first time at the meeting. The initial document was distributed to racetracks for comment on week ago.

The racing commission has been attempting to address concerns about the integrity of parimutuel betting since Mike Maloney, a professional bettor who wagers at Keeneland, presented evidence late last year that he was able to bet on a race run at Fair Grounds in Louisiana after it had already started.

The requirement that Kentucky tracks not conduct business with tracks with cancel-delays would shut out simulcasting sites in California and New York. In those states, and at other tracks, unions representing parimutuel tellers have insisted on the cancel-delay to protect tellers who may punch out a ticket in error just before bets are closed at the start of a race.