LEXINGTON, KY– The Family Foundation is calling on all horse racing tracks who are engaged in so-called “historical horse racing” to cease operations until it is determined that the gaming being conducted is in conformity with law. This declaration comes in the wake of today’s decisive 7-0 decision by the Kentucky Supreme Court striking down a controversial system of gambling used at several facilities in the state.
“The Family Foundation is grateful to the justices for seeing through the smoke screen generated by the tracks and the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission that for years has masked a form of gambling that ignored the clear legal definition of pari-mutuel wagering,” said Martin Cothran, spokesman for the group.
“This decision reaffirms that words have meaning and that even the state’s most powerful industry can’t turn the plain language of the law upside-down for its own economic benefit. We are grateful to the justices on the Court for their common sense ruling that the rule of law still prevails.”
Cothran pointed to the work of former State Rep. Stan Cave as decisive in the victory. “Ten years is a long time to see a legal issue resolved by the courts, but watching Stan Cave square off against the state’s most powerful industry with a legion of high-priced attorneys was inspiring. He didn’t slay just one Goliath, but a whole host of them.”
“In light of this decision, we are calling on all horse racing tracks that are running historical racing parlors to cease operations until it can be demonstratively shown that their activities are legal. The time for flouting the law is over.”
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