Revolutionary Racing gets Quarter Horse racing license in Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission on Tuesday unanimously approved a conditional license application for a company that intends to build a Quarter Horse track and casino in the eastern end of the state.

Revolutionary Racing Inc., a company that in 2018 bought Colonial Downs in Virginia and later sold the track and its off-track betting licenses to Churchill Downs Inc. after installing historical horseracing machines at the facilities, was awarded the license under a handful of conditions that were not divulged during the Tuesday meeting. The company had previously said in a commission meeting that it expected to spend $55 million building the Quarter Horse track and its casino.

The license was the last available under existing state law. In Kentucky, only racing license-holders can operate historical horseracing machines, devices similar to slot machines that have generated tens of millions of dollars in profits annually for most license-holders in the state.

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During the Tuesday meeting, commission officials told members that the license application had the support of most racing constituencies in the state, as well as the support of a number of state legislators, who in February approved a resolution calling for the last license to be awarded to a Quarter Horse racing operation.

A racing license in Kentucky also gives the license-holder the right to seek approval for a satellite facility. Other racetracks in the state have used that ability to open smaller casinos in the areas approved for satellite locations.

The new Quarter Horse track and casino will be located in Ashland, which is near the borders of both West Virginia and Ohio. Casino-style gambling is legal in both states, including at racetracks.

Also at the meeting, the commission approved allocating funds from its Backstretch Improvement Fund to Ellis Park to buy and install air conditioners at its backside dorms.

Marty Maline, the executive director of the Kentucky Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, said after the meeting that his organization had noted the lack of air conditioners in the dormitories at a recent meeting with management of Ellis. Racing commission officials then worked with Ellis to get the money for the air conditioners from the commission-administered fund.

“We still have August to get through, and as you know, the heat can be pretty oppressive there,” Maline said.

Bill Landes, a racing commissioner, chastised Ellis prior to the vote being taken, saying that the lack of air conditioners should have been addressed by the track “on humanitarian grounds” prior to the meet starting.