Awards are on the way to Kentucky's Thoroughbred breeders participating in the commonwealth's Thoroughbred Breeders' Incentive Fund (KTBIF) program. The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) announces the release of $16.2 million through the KTBIF.

“Our horse farm families are the backbone of our racing industry, and I'm proud to support the Incentive Fund that keeps mares and foals in Kentucky,” said Gov. Andy Beshear.

According to the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association, the Kentucky Equine industry generates $6.5 billion and supports more than 60,000 jobs.

In fact, 2023 was a good year for business. Highlights include:

• Kentucky-bred horses won 63% of all graded stakes races in the U.S.
• Kentucky-bred horses won 298 graded stakes races with 68 of them held at one of Kentucky's five Thoroughbred racetracks.
• Kentucky-bred horses have won the last nine Kentucky Derbies and last seven Kentucky Oaks.
• Kentucky-bred horses took home the hardware in all three legs of the Triple Crown: Mage (Good Magic) won the Kentucky Derby; National Treasure (Quality Road) won the Preakness and Arcangelo (Arrogate) won the Belmont S.
• Pretty Mischievous (Into Mischief) won the Kentucky Oaks.
• Kentucky-bred Cody's Wish (Curlin) won the 2023 Horse of the Year Eclipse Award Winner.
• Mage and Pretty Mischievous both will receive a $50,000 KTBIF bonus.

The KTBIF was implemented in 2005 to ensure the strength of Kentucky's equine industry by awarding funds to individuals who choose to breed a Thoroughbred mare in Kentucky. To qualify, the mare must be bred to a Kentucky registered stallion, remain in the state during her full gestation and foal in Kentucky.  Final award amounts are then based on the foal's eventual earnings at the racetrack.

The KTBIF is funded through a percentage of the sales tax paid when a stallion is bred to a mare in Kentucky. Since the fund's inception, more than $234 million has been distributed to Kentucky breeders for winning eligible races worldwide.

A list of the 2023 award winners, along with the amount awarded and other interesting statistics, can be found on the KHRC website by clicking here.

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Abdala, who has owned Thoroughbreds for 10 years after getting started in horse ownership with Standardbreds, told TDN in a Feb. 8 phone interview that he still doesn't understand why Turfway officials accepted his entry for the 0-for-9 Magnolia Wind (Central Banker) in a $30,000 maiden-claiming race Jan. 4 if the stewards later deemed the 4-year-old filly to be ineligible.

The eligibility issue arose after the Jan. 4 race when Magnolia Wind was going to be entered again, and Turfway stewards Barbara Borden, Ron Herbstreit, and Brooks Becraft III learned that Abdala had an appeal pending with the Maryland Racing Commission over Magnolia Wind's race-interference disqualification from first to second in a $30,000 maiden-claimer at Laurel Park Nov. 9.

In that Laurel race, the 12-1 Magnolia Wind led all the way in a 5 1/2-furlong grass sprint. According to the Equibase chart, she “drifted out near the sixteenth pole, dug in and prevailed.”

“She won the race,” Abdala said. “But the stewards said we were 'herding,' which I thought was ridiculous because both riders were riding to the wire, nobody checked, and we held on. I appealed it, but the hearing wasn't going to be until Feb. 6.”

In the interim, after Magnolia Wind had gone nearly two months without a start, Abdala said he told Dunham, who has been a licensed trainer for 33 years, “She's good right now, we've got to race her.”

Although Magnolia Wind trains at Fair Hill in Maryland, Abdala did not want to run her on the dirt somewhere closer to home, because that's not her best surface, he explained.

“That's why I went out to Turfway, because she needs the Tapeta or the turf,” Abdala said.

Because Magnolia Wind's record on Equibase clearly showed the she had zero lifetime wins, “I assumed that the horse was eligible as a maiden,” Abdala said.

“I told my trainer to put her in, and he put her in. He entered her [electronically via] the computer. And we never said anything to anybody [about the Maryland appeal], because I didn't know we had to. They accepted the entry. Then we drove that filly nine hours to get to Turfway.”

The long journey appeared to pay off. Magnolia Wind ran second at 5-1 odds.

“And now they come after me saying that we knew she wasn't eligible, and that we're unlawful,” Abdala said.

Abdala said that after being notified of the ineligibility, he didn't come away from a conversation with Borden, Herbstreit, and Becraft with a clear understanding of why the Turfway's racing office officials or the stewards didn't bear some responsibility for allowing the entry in the first place.

TDN emailed Borden, the chief state steward, plus Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) executive director Jamie Eads, asking for some context behind the ruling and for clarification about why the Jan. 4 entry was approved by Turfway officials.

A different KHRC spokesperson replied with an email that outlined some of the sequence of events on “background only.” Because what was disclosed in that email could not be attributed to a specific KHRC official, the entire explanation has not been provided here. A follow-up request by TDN asking if the KHRC wanted to provide any response for the record did not yield a reply prior to deadline for this story.

The Turfway stewards' report for that date that is signed by all three stewards and posted on the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission website makes no mention of the ineligibility.

But the subsequent Feb. 2 stewards' ruling disqualified Magnolia Wind from second place and ordered her $5,331 in purse earnings redistributed.

“I'm an accountant, a CPA, and I have an accounting firm,” Abdala said. “We have a lot of horse racing people as clients. I've asked everybody, and they all told me, 'Abby, your horse was eligible.'”

Abdala said he is no longer pursuing any appeals in Maryland or Kentucky regarding his twice-DQ'd filly.

“I didn't want to cause trouble or anything, and I want the filly to be able to race,” Abdala said. “So I just dropped everything–I dropped the hearing in Maryland, and I dropped the [potential appeal] at Turfway. I just want her to run. It's detrimental to her. After I dropped everything, they said they'll accept our entry now.”

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The post read: “I have instructed my attorneys to dismiss the appeal related to the disqualification of Medina Spirit in the 2021 Kentucky Derby. Zedan Racing owner, Amr Zedan, and I have decided that it is best to positively focus on the present and future that our great sport offers. We thank the KHRC (Kentucky Horse Racing Commission) and Churchill Downs for listening and considering our point of view and we are grateful for the changes and clarity that HISA brings to our sport.”

Ever since Medina Spirit was disqualified over the positive for the medication betamethasone, Baffert and Zedan have tried to have the disqualification overturned. Their primary argument was that the medication got into the horse's system through a topical cream used to combat skin rashes. Baffert and Zedan's lawyers would eventually build more than two years of court cases and administrative appeals around the contention that the betamethasone that showed up in Medina Spirit's post-race positive test was the type that came from a permissible topical ointment and not via some other restricted means, like an intra-articular injection.

In September, Zedan and Baffert filed a petition for a judicial review of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commissions's disqualification of the colt from his win in the 2021 Kentucky Derby. The petition was filed in Franklin Circuit Court in Kentucky and also includes a protest over Baffert's suspension in Kentucky.  Zedan and Baffert claim in the petition that the “laboratory limit of detection” used to identify betamethasone in Medina Spirit “is contrary to the plain terms of KHRC regulations and is void as arbitrary and capricious.”

They also argued that KHRC's exercise of rule making and adjudicatory powers is illegal and that the penalties against Zedan “are unconstitutional, arbitrary and capricious.”

One month earlier, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) closed the 27-month regulatory saga involving Medina Spirit's Kentucky Derby drug disqualification by unanimously voting to deny appeals by trainer Baffert and Zedan Racing Stables while accepting a hearing officer's recommended order that the penalties originally imposed by the Churchill Downs stewards be affirmed in their entirety. From there, Zedan and Baffert began to try to win their case through the courts.

“The KHRC did what it does best–rubber stamped its own foregone conclusion. I will discuss with Mr. Baffert, but believe it is highly likely the matter is appealed so that it can finally be presented to an impartial Court,” Baffert attorney W. Craig Robertson III said at the time.

It was not clear Monday why Zedan and Baffert apparently changed their minds and decided to drop their case.

It is possible that their dropping the case was a peace offering in what has been an ugly battle between Churchill Downs and Zedan and Baffert that at times took on a personal tone. Churchill first banned Baffert from the 2022 and 2023 Derby. In a surprising move, Churchill announced in July that the Baffert ban was being extended until at least Dec. 31, 2024.

“Mr. Baffert continues to peddle a false narrative concerning the failed drug test of Medina Spirit,” Churchill said at the time in a statement.

Churchill also recently announced that any horse trained by someone banned by the track (Baffert is believed to be the only one under such a suspension) will be ineligible to compete in the Derby if still in that trainers barn as of Jan. 29.

Throughout the dispute, there was widespread speculation that Churchill's harsh treatment of Baffert was in response to the lawsuits. With those lawsuits now having been dropped, it will be interesting to see how Churchill reacts and what doors might open for Baffert and his owners.

Following the news that the case had been dropped, Churchill Downs officials said that the development would have no bearing on Baffert's current status. “Today's dismissal of appeal does not change the current suspension or deadline to transfer horses for the upcoming 150th Kentucky Derby,” read a statement forwarded by Churchill's Darren Rogers.

pic.twitter.com/5RUsOSHMjD

— Bob Baffert (@BobBaffert) January 22, 2024

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The board's unanimous approval included a conditional “optional dates” placeholder for Ellis Park's July and August calendar that has to be solidified into a three-dates-per-week commitment before the end of this year.

The gaming company Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI), which owns Ellis, Churchill Downs Racetrack, and Turfway Park, had requested additional time to figure out if swapping Fridays for Mondays will be feasible for 2024.

So Ellis got awarded 18 mandatory dates (which will be run on Saturdays and Sundays) and 30 optional dates. Waqas Ahmed, the KHRC's executive deputy director, told commissioners that he expected Ellis would eventually end up picking up seven more mandatory dates from that optional allotment of 30.

“The obvious goal at Ellis is to run three days a week,” Gary Palmisano, Jr., CDI's  executive director of racing, said during the KHRC meeting. “As we approached the race dates application deadline, the idea was tossed around of potentially running Saturday, Sunday, Monday rather than [this season's] Friday, Saturday, Sunday.”

Leaving that placeholder for now, Palmisano said, “is going to allow our team a little bit more time to conduct some due diligence [and] make sure the horsemen are on board; make sure test barn workers can get there; make sure we can actually cover potential Monday racing.”

CDI must notify the KHRC by Dec. 31 as to how it will satisfy the commission's condition that calls for “at least” three days of racing per week at Ellis in 2024.

Assuming Ellis ends up with 25 mandatory dates, the total number of race dates in Kentucky will rise slightly in 2024 compared to the assigned dates for 2023, up from 211 to 215. The total mandatory dates for the other tracks are Churchill (83), Turfway (67), Keeneland (33) and Kentucky Downs (7).

Here's a chronological look at the state's 2024 Thoroughbred schedule:

Turfway: Jan. 3-Mar. 30 on a Wednesday-Saturday evening schedule.

Keeneland: Apr. 5-26 on a Wednesday-Sunday schedule.

Churchill Downs: Apr. 27-June 30 on a Wednesday-Sunday schedule, with exceptions on GI Kentucky Derby week and the Memorial Day holiday week.

Ellis Park: July 4-Aug. 27 with Saturdays and Sundays anchoring the schedule, plus additional dates to be announced and an opening-day Thursday card on Independence Day.

Kentucky Downs: Aug. 29-Sept. 11 for seven dates with three “optional” dates in case of rainouts.

Churchill: Sep. 12-29 on a Wednesday-Sunday schedule.

Keeneland: Oct. 4-26 on a Wednesday-Sunday schedule.

Churchill: Oct. 27-Dec. 1 on a Wednesday-Sunday schedule.

Turfway: Dec. 4-28  on a Wednesday-Saturday evening schedule with a Christmas Day  exception.

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It's disappointing that Churchill Downs has decided to use its private property exclusion rights in the manner it has. Not only has Churchill Downs initially applied these rights to suspend Mr. Baffert for a period eight times as long as that imposed by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (the body responsible for implementing the rules of racing), Churchill Downs decided in July 2023 to apply these rights indefinitely to a validly licensed trainer with no regulatory violations since his initial suspension. Extending the suspension and leaving it open to review at the end of 2024 is unprecedented.

I am not aware of other sports where the tracks, arenas or stadiums can dictate what athletes, coaches or owners are allowed to compete in their facilities. When NASCAR penalizes drivers, crews or other team members for infractions, does Daytona Speedway, Bristol or other tracks randomly ban those same drivers and crews for additional length of times? Imagine if Jerry Jones, who owns Texas Stadium, was allowed to ban a specific athlete, coach or team from competing at Texas Stadium because he wasn't happy with punishment the NFL governing committees meted out for a late hit, a personal foul or Deflategate. What if MLB, NHL, NBA/WNBA, MLS or any other competitive sport league allowed for arena owners to do this for petty offenses under the guise of specific conduct being detrimental to the sport? It's ludicrous and unimaginable!

With the advent of HISA we now have a national governing body in place that is developing consistent standards across all states. The Kentucky state rules that existed at the time of the original suspension with respect to betamethasone, a controlled substance, have been superceded by HISA regulations. Mr. Baffert was suspended for 21 picograms (or .021 nanograms) of betamethasone in Medina Spirit. The most recent HISA regulations now use a screening limit of .20 nanograms of betamethasone in horses before any action would be taken. It's ridiculous to me for Churchill Downs to extend Mr. Baffert's suspension given that 21 picograms is almost 90% below the threshold!

I have had the opportunity to work with many world class public and private companies during my career as a partner at a large global firm, having worked closely with C suites and boards on over 500 transactions. I have never seen behavior like this from a board in my career. The allegations around the “false narrative” that the Churchill Downs board has used to defend this action indicate to me there is something deeper and more personal. It appears that Churchill Downs is sending a message to all horsemen and horsewomen not to cross Churchill Downs or proffer alternative points of view lest similar suspensions, far in excess of what is deserved, will be meted out to them. This bullying and abuse of power is not in the best interests of the sport.

It's not just the trainer that suffers either. By extending the suspension, Churchill Downs is not just punishing Mr. Baffert, but Churchill Downs is punishing me. There is significant value that has been lost. Similarly, Churchill Downs is punishing my partners. Churchill Downs is punishing other owners with horses with Mr. Baffert. Churchill Downs also is punishing Mr. Baffert's employees and their families. Churchill Downs is punishing fans, old and new, many of whom are drawn to the sport because of Mr. Baffert.

The bigger issue at play here is the upside down relationship between Churchill Downs and the athletes/horses, the coaches/trainers/breeders and owners. Churchill Downs is nothing without them. I am not alone in this opinion. It would be a shame to see the history of Churchill Downs diminished because of the bullheadedness of a few.

With the upcoming 150th anniversary, the story isn't going to be just about who's there, but who's not and why.

Gregg Slager, Waves Edge Capital, LLC

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The news, first reported by Bloodhorse, noted that the petition was filed in Franklin Circuit Court in Kentucky Tuesday and also includes a protest over Baffert's suspension in Kentucky.

BloodHorse reported that Zedan and Baffert claim in the petition that the “laboratory limit of detection” used to identify betamethasone in Medina Spirit “is contrary to the plain terms of KHRC regulations and is void as arbitrary and capricious.”

They also argue that KHRC's exercise of rule making and adjudicatory powers is illegal and that the penalties against Zedan “are unconstitutional, arbitrary and capricious.”

The post Baffert/Zedan File New Medina Spirit Appeal appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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CDI will operate Race and Sports Books at its racetracks and Historical Racing Machine (HRM) facilities in Kentucky which include:

• Churchill Downs Racetrack: 15 sports betting kiosks, 168 sq. ft. video screen, 20 large format televisions;
• Derby City Gaming & Hotel: 15 sports betting kiosks, 300 sq. ft. video screen, 12 large format televisions;
• Ellis Park Racing & Gaming: 5 sports betting kiosks;
• Newport Racing & Gaming: 10 sports betting kiosks, 20 large format televisions;
• Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel: 20 sports betting kiosks, 300 sq. ft. video screen, 8 large format televisions;
• Turfway Park Racing & Gaming: 15 sports betting kiosks, 300 sq. ft. video screen, 16 large format televisions.

CDI's new sports betting kiosks will be located among existing bar and simulcast areas for guests to place wagers. Each of CDI's HRM venues will implement a “Bet & Jet” feature that offers guests designated parking spaces for 15 minutes in order to quickly and easily place their in-person sports wager.

“CDI is excited to bring our experience operating retail sports wagering experiences to Kentucky with many thanks to the Kentucky General Assembly, Governor Beshear, the KHRC and the Kentucky Public Protection Cabinet for their efforts in making this a reality,” said Bill Carstanjen, CEO of CDI,”

In addition to retail sports betting, the KHRC also approved temporary licenses for three online sports wagering service providers that will operate in partnership with CDI's racetracks: FanDuel, Penn Sports Interactive and Fanatics. Approved service providers can begin accepting online wagers on Thursday, Sept. 28.

The post CDI To Open Six Race And Sports Books At Kentucky Properties Sept. 7 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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A temporary license grants up to one year of operation in the state while under continued review. With the approval of these licenses, Kentucky bettors now know the retail facilities where they can place a sports wager and which mobile applications will be licensed in the state.

“The countdown continues as we move closer to sports wagering with retail locations opening in just 16 days,” said Gov. Andy Beshear. “Thank you to the KHRC commissioners for their dedication to getting this done right and getting it done in time for the opening of the NFL season.”

“We are excited to open sports wagering on our target date as we continue working through this careful process dedicated to wagering integrity and protecting bettors in the state of Kentucky,” said KHRC Chairman Jonathan Rabinowitz.

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But the legal battle to restore Medina Spirit's win in America's most historic and important horse race appears to be just now ramping up.

That's because now that the KHRC's decision is final at the state administrative level, it is ripe for being elevated to the court system and challenged by the losing parties.

Medina Spirit crossed the wire first in the 2021 Derby but subsequently tested positive for betamethasone in a KHRC post-race drug screening.

The Aug. 22, 2023, final order denying the appeals on behalf of Baffert and Medina Spirit's owner, Amr Zedan, officially elevates Mandaloun as the official winner of the 147th Derby.

Not only does the denial of the appeals uphold Medina Spirit's DQ, it lets stand the 90-day KHRC suspension that Baffert already served in 2022 but wanted expunged from his record. Also upheld was the $7,500 fine the KHRC imposed upon Baffert.

Baffert did not respond to TDN's request for comment prior to deadline for this story.

But the Hall-of-Fame trainer's attorney, W. Craig Robertson III, said he will soon be outlining next-step legal strategies with Baffert.

“It's disappointing that the KHRC engaged in no analysis whatsoever of the Hearing Officer's Findings of Fact or Conclusions of Law,” Robertson wrote in an email. “Neither did the KHRC's Order address any of the many objections we raised to the Hearing Officer's ruling.

“Instead, the KHRC did what it does best–rubber stamped its own foregone conclusion. I will discuss with Mr. Baffert, but believe it is highly likely the matter is appealed so that it can finally be presented to an impartial Court,” Robertson wrote.

Eight days after the 2021 Derby, Baffert first disclosed the betamethasone positive at a press conference outside the barn where Medina Spirit was stabled at Churchill Downs. In doing so, he was getting out in front of the official announcement that would come later by the KHRC.

In Kentucky, betamethasone is classified as a Class C drug (on an A-through-D scale with A being the most severe). It is prohibited in any amount in a post-race test.

At first, on May 9, 2021, Baffert chose to implicate various non-specific circumstances as the underlying culprit in the positive test. Two days later, on May 11, Baffert's legal team issued a press release stating that Medina Spirit was treated with the betamethasone-containing ointment Otomax as late as the day before his Derby win to help deal with a skin lesion.

Baffert and Zedan's lawyers would eventually build more than two years of court cases and administrative appeals around the contention that the betamethasone that showed up in Medina Spirit's post-race positive test was the type that came from a permissible topical ointment and not via some other restricted means, like an intra-articular injection.

The Twitter account for Zedan Racing posted a statement on Tuesday that underscored that this method-of-delivery argument would continue to be a central plank in any future court case.

“Today's decision by the KHRC finding the use of a commonly used topical ointment to be a medication rule violation relating to Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit was expected. We now look forward to a court's review and legal analysis of the express rules and basic constitutional principles involved. We genuinely believe that the wisdom and guidance that a court can provide will bring clarity benefitting all industry partners and particularly trainers and veterinarians.”

Although no KHRC ruling was issued in the first nine months after Medina Spirit's positive finding, the gaming corporation Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI), in June 2021 barred Baffert from competing at its portfolio of tracks for two years.

Medina Spirit died on Dec. 6, 2021, collapsing to the track after working five furlongs at Santa Anita Park. A necropsy conducted by the California Horse Racing Board stated that a “definitive cause of death was not established despite extensive testing.”

In 2022, Baffert initiated a federal lawsuit that challenged CDI's ban. The case dragged into 2023, when it was dismissed.

The KHRC finally held its hearing on Medina Spirit's positive test on Feb. 14, 2022, and issued the rulings against Baffert and Zedan a week later.

When stay requests pending appeals filed with the KHRC were denied, Baffert and Zedan took the matter to court, with the KHRC case unfolding around the same time as Baffert's unsuccessful lawsuit against CDI.

In the spring of 2022 Baffert failed to get an injunction against the KHRC that would have kept him from serving his suspension, so he stepped away from training between early April and early July of that year to sit out his penalty.

The KHRC appeals then led to six days of evidentiary hearings in August 2022. The process got delayed a month later when the hearing officer had to recuse himself after one of Baffert's attorneys bought a horse at auction that the hearing officer co-owned.

A new hearing officer, Eden Stephens, took over, and in May 2023 issued a report that concluded that “the stewards' decision was made on reliable, substantive evidence that the horse, Medina Spirit, was administered and carried the prohibited substance, betamethasone” and that “the KHRC's regulations do not state that any route of administration excuses a post-race betamethasone positive.”

It took nearly three more months before the KHRC's vote on the hearing officer's recommendations made it onto the Aug. 22, 2023, monthly meeting agenda. In the interim, CDI extended its private-property banishment of Baffert through 2024.

On Tuesday, the KHRC did not discuss any specifics of the appeals prior to the unanimous voice vote to reject them. The item was listed last on the meeting agenda, and it occurred after a break for the commission to have discussions in an executive session.

When the KHRC reconvened in open session, chairman Jonathan Rabinowitz asked if any commissioners wanted to “abstain due to conflicts of interest, or perceived conflicts of interest.” Four did: Michael Dudgeon, Lesley Howard, Charles O'Connor and Catherine Parke.

Rabinowitz then called for a vote “approving a final order as stated.” But exactly what the KHRC commissioners were voting on was not read into the public record.

TDN had to subsequently ask for and receive a copy of the order from KHRC staff after the meeting to learn what it stated.

“The Hearing Officer's Recommended Order is approved, adopted, and incorporated herein by reference as a part of this Order,” the five-page document read, in part. “Petitioners' appeal is therefore DISMISSED. This is a FINAL AND APPEALABLE ORDER…”

The document listed the procedures for just such an appeal, which, according to state statue, must happen in a Kentucky circuit court within 30 days after issuance of the final order.

The post Medina Spirit’s Derby DQ Upheld at KHRC Level, Ripening Case for Court Challenge appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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A list of approved retail facilities and mobile applications will be released Aug. 22, following the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) meeting.

“The countdown is on. We are just three weeks away from sports wagering in Kentucky,” said Gov. Beshear. “We are ready to deliver the quality entertainment experience Kentuckians asked for, while bringing money to the state to support pensions and free up funds that can be used to build a better Kentucky.”

Sports Betting Timeline:

Tuesday, Aug. 22, at 1:30 p.m. EDT: KHRC will meet to vote on license applications. This vote will determine which retail facilities and mobile applications will be approved for use in Kentucky.

Monday, Aug. 28, at 6 a.m. EDT: Kentuckians can pre-register an account with approved mobile applications. Allowing pre-registration eases strains on electronic systems that can sometimes happen when many people try to register at once.

Thursday, Sept. 7, at 10 a.m. EDT: Wagerers can place an in-person bet at licensed retail facilities.

Thursday, Sept. 7, at 6 a.m. EDT: Wagerers can only deposit money into their pre-registered account with approved mobile applications.

Thursday, Sept. 28, at 6 a.m. EDT: Approved mobile applications can start taking wagers.
Kentucky chose a tiered implementation, which has been used in multiple states and which allows for testing of policies and procedures before the full rollout that includes mobile applications.

“The KHRC is excited to open sports wagering and is working efficiently to meet the necessary deadlines. This is a careful process dedicated to wagering integrity and protecting bettors in the state of Kentucky,” said Kentucky Horse Racing Commission Chairman Jonathan Rabinowitz.

The post Sports Betting Three Weeks Away in Kentucky appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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