No easy fix for historical racing, says family advocacy group

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LEXINGTON, KY– The Family Foundation asked today why it was that operators of a “historic racing” game struck down by the Kentucky Supreme Court last week are now claiming they can easily fix the machines to make them legal. “We’re supposed to believe that tracks operating ‘historic racing’ parlors fought a ten-year court fight that must have cost them millions of dollars in attorney’s fees when all they had to do was make an easy software fix,” said Martin Cothran, spokesman for the group who challenged the machines in court and won when the state’s High Court found the machines illegal in a stunning 7-0 decision last week.

The Kentucky Supreme Court decision in the case pitting The Family Foundation against the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission and several horse racing tracks found that the Encore Gaming system did not meet the state’s requirements for pari-mutuel wagering. The Court found that that the games did not meet two of the four criteria for pari-mutuel wagering: that bettors bet among themselves and that they bet on a single event.

“Now we’re supposed to believe that after a long and expensive legal battle, they’re just going to take the backs off these things, turn a few screws and fuse a few circuits, and everything is going to be okay. Does anyone really believe this?”

Cothran said his group has learned to have little confidence in the agency responsible for regulating the racing industry. “This state needs the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission to be something more than a rubber stamp for the industry it is regulating. And any attempt by the industry to slip out from under this Court decision needs to be carefully scrutinized, not just accepted at face value.”

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