Purses at Kentucky racetracks have soared in the past two years due to revenue from historical horseracing machines—and more growth is expected as Churchill Downs Inc., Kentucky Downs and Ellis Park add more than 4,000 of the machines over the next three years.
In addition, average handle per race at Kentucky tracks increased by double digits at nearly every meet run so far this year, according to Daily Racing Form data. “There is something incredible going on in Kentucky right now that people haven’t noticed by and large. It’s mind-boggling, the numbers that are being put up,” said Steve May, director of parimutuel wagering for the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. “
Marty Maline, executive director of the Kentucky Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, said the increasing purses and handle are leading more horsemen to settle in Kentucky. He said, “They want to be home, and this is giving them the opportunity to stay home.”
Kentucky Downs was the first track to install historical horseracing machines after the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission approved them in 2012. Other tracks took their time to offer the games. Churchill Downs officials feared the machines would cause legislators to reject full-blown casinos, so it didn’t apply to operate the games until 2018 when it opened a casino near Louisville.
Last year, Churchill received the last racing license in Kentucky for a harness track and casino in the southwest portion of the state. This year, it purchased Turfway Park and announced plans to install 2,500 machines. Most recently, Churchill said it would build a casino and hotel at its flagship racetrack in Louisville, including 3,000 of the machines .
According to KHRC data, the total number of machines operating in Kentucky jumped from 679 in the 2015 fiscal year to 2,829 in the 2019 fiscal year ending in June–a 316 percent increase. Total handle rose 446 percent over the same time frame, to $2.03 billion. Kentucky Downs also has transferred millions of dollars of its own purse money to other Kentucky tracks.
Kentucky Downs continues to lead the nation in average purse amounts with an average of $236,000 per race this year, up 12.8 percent over last year, and up 36.8 percent over its own average purse just two years ago. At Keeneland, average purses increased more than 5 percent at each of the track’s two meets this year.
Still, Turfway Park continues to lag with an average purse of $11,000 for the past three years. However, Churchill will loan the track money from its own purse account, doubling the average purse for the upcoming meet to $24,000, in anticipation of the revenue Turfway’s historical horseracing machines will generate in the future. Analysts said the average purse at Turfway will double again when the devices are up and running. Maline said, “There’s no question Turfway Park is going to be an important part of the circuit now. The purses there are just going to continue to escalate.”
On the handle side, national handle was down 2.78 percent through the third quarter while handle per race at Churchill’s spring and September meets was up 10.5 percent and 17.4 percent, respectively. Kentucky Downs’ handle set another record, up 13.3 percent, to $825,000 a race. Handle at the spring meet at Keeneland was down 1.7 percent but it rose 11.1 percent at the fall meet. At Ellis, handle was up 21.7 percent.
May said, “It’s the quality of racing. And that’s going to get even better down the road. You are going to have more horses staying here in the summer and winter, and that means more horses for the other meets as well. It’s just a much better racing product, and there’s more to come.”
