Tag: KTDF

Pari-Mutuel Bill Approved by Kentucky House Committee

Kentucky House Bill 607, which contains a provision to greatly benefit horseplayers by effectively eliminating breakage, was overwhelmingly approved Wednesday morning by a Kentucky House of Representatives committee. HB 607 also standardizes the tax rate on all pari-mutuel wagers placed in Kentucky and also makes claiming races eligible for Kentucky-bred purse subsidies. The bill must still be approved by the full House before being sent to the Senate.

Representative Adam Koenig, whose district in Northern Kentucky is near Turfway Park, is a primary sponsor of the bill, which also has the capacity to significantly increase revenue to the state General Fund while allowing horse racing to thrive.

“In a couple of years, we're looking at a $27-million increase, probably at a minimum,” Koenig told the committee, noting that's in addition to the $62 million projected to flow to the state from pari-mutuel taxes in 2022. “So the money is coming in from the industry. I think I found some creative ways generating additional money without hurting the product.”

The bill is the product of last year's legislative interim task force on pari-mutuel wagering that was chaired by Koenig and Kentucky Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer, a long-time supporter of the Kentucky racing industry. Created following the passage of legislation that protected Historical Horse Racing (HHR) in the state, the task force was charged with identifying ways to increase state revenues without negatively impacting purses and without discouraging racetracks from investing in HHR operations and associated capital projects.

Penny Breakage A Positive Development…

A key element of HB 607 is the virtual elimination of so-called breakage, where tracks round down winning payoffs to the nearest dime based on a $1 wager. Under HB 607, tracks would be required to pay off to the nearest penny, resulting in greater amounts of money returned to horseplayers. Koenig cited the example of 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify paying $7.80 to win in the GI Kentucky Derby, a figure that would have been $7.92 with penny breakage.

“That is the bettors' money,” Koenig said. “I've been very interested since last year's HHR debate in making sure the bettors are taken care of. We took care of everyone else. Everyone is getting healthy on this except for the bettors, and this is how we're going to help the bettors. They're going to get paid to the penny rather than every 20 cents. In addition to taking care of the bettors, it will make Kentucky the place in North America to wager. If you're someone who wagers a lot of money, why would you bet anyplace else?” (Click here to watch Adam Koenig on a recent episode of the TDN Writers' Room podcast).

Also easily passing the “L&O” committee Wednesday were bills that would legalize betting on sports in Kentucky and provide funding for problem gambling.

Additionally, HB 607 calls for the taxation of pari-mutuel wagers at 1.5%, the same rate assessed for HHR gaming. The bill raises the current rate for bets placed through ADWs from 0.5%. The tax rate on simulcast wagers placed at a Kentucky track on an out-of-state race would drop from 3%. The majority of bets are now placed through ADWs, while simulcasting has shrunk considerably as horseplayers opt for the convenience of wagering online.

KTDF Supplements Expanded…

Currently, money from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF) is restricted to non-claiming races, but HB 607 cancels that stipulation, a policy change that has been strongly advocated for by the Kentucky HBPA in an effort to raise purses for the lower-level races in which many horsemen compete.

Rep. Al Gentry, a member of the pari-mutuel wagering task force, called making claiming races eligible for KTDF supplements “very, very important and one of the big pieces of the bill.”

Given that HHR has helped Kentucky to be in a position to offer some of the highest purses in the world, and with HHR revenue expected to grow with the expansion of satellite facilities, HB 607 also stipulates that after KTDF money reaches $40 million and the Kentucky Standardbred Development Fund its $20 million in a year, the rate going to purses would decrease, with the difference channeled to the state's General fund.

“We believe in two or three years, when the Historical Horse Racing facilities are more mature, that we're looking at $20 million additional in the General Fund,” Koenig told the committee. “The increase in the ADW tax from one-half to 1 1/2% will immediately generate $4 million a year. That's the growth area, so that will continue to go up over time.”

 

 

 

The bill also:

 

  • Provides funding to the equine programs at the University of Kentucky and Bluegrass Community and Technical College. The University of Louisville business school's Equine Industry Program already receives funding from pari-mutuel wagering.

 

  • Eliminates the 15-cent per person admission tax racetracks currently pay even if they don't charge admission (which is every track except Churchill Downs and Keeneland).

 

  • Requires tracks to maintain a “self-exclusion” list–where individuals such as problem gamblers can say they don't want to be allowed into a track or HHR facility for a given period of time–to be shared with the racing commission and the other tracks and HHR properties.

The post Pari-Mutuel Bill Approved by Kentucky House Committee appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Significant Purse Increases for ’21 Keeneland Spring Stakes

Keeneland has announced a revamped stakes schedule for its 15-day 2022 Spring Meet, which will be held from Apr. 8-29. A total of 19 stakes will be run, and all have received purse increases for a total of $7.7 million in total stakes purses. Among notable changes are that the Apr. 9 GII Toyota Blue Grass S., Keeneland's main GI Kentucky Derby prep, will once again offer a $1-million purse (it was $800,000 last year); and the $600,000 GI Central Bank Ashland ($400,000 in 2021) will be contested on opening day.

Contributing to the purse increases is $1.5 million from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF), pending approval from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. Purses for several stakes have doubled for 2022–including the Apr. 15 GI Maker's Mark Mile ($300,000 to $600,000); Apr. 16 GIII Stonestreet Lexington S. ($200,000 to $400,000); and Apr. 23 GIII Ben Ali S. ($150,000 to $300,000).

“Keeneland is thrilled to offer such a lucrative Spring Meet stakes schedule for horsemen, horseplayers and racing fans,” Keeneland President and CEO Shannon Arvin said. “Keeneland is coming off a record-breaking 2021 in terms of wagering, which we are reinvesting in purse money to further elevate our racing program. We look forward to world-class racing this April setting the stage for a huge racing year that will continue with the Fall Meet in October and the return of the Breeders' Cup World Championships on Nov. 4-5.”

Post time for the Spring Meet will be 1:00 p.m. each day. The track will be dark on Easter Sunday, Apr. 17.

“Keeneland in the spring is about 3-year-olds blossoming into talented runners, and we have focused on enhancing those stakes in particular to attract the best sophomores in the country,” Vice President of Racing Gatewood Bell said. “Moving the Central Bank Ashland to opening day makes the start of the Spring Meet extra special and provides a showcase for this historic Grade I event, which is the division's first Grade I race of the year. And the fact that Easter Sunday falls on the second Sunday of the meet–when Keeneland is closed for racing–allows us to present a blockbuster opening weekend with 10 stakes worth a total of $4.55 million.”

Visit www.keeneland.com for more information.

The post Significant Purse Increases for ’21 Keeneland Spring Stakes appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Lawmakers Discuss Adding KTDF Money to Claiming Races

In a meeting in Frankfort Friday, the Pari Mutuel Wagering Taxation Task Force, led by State Senator and majority floor leader Damon Thayer, outlined the advantages of allowing Kentucky-breds in claiming races to receive purse supplements.

Claiming races currently are not eligible to have Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF) supplements added to their purses.

“You need claiming horses in order to provide the opportunities for allowance and stakes horses,” said Rick Hiles, president of the Kentucky Horsemen's Benevolent & Protective Association (KHBPA). “It's time to acknowledge their important role and to let all horses born in the state and sired by a stallion in the Commonwealth benefit from being a Kentucky-bred.”

In Kentucky, claiming races make up about half of the races but account for only 17% of total purses. The KTDF supplements, which often comprise 25 to 50% of a non-claiming race, are paid out only to registered Kentucky-breds. Those are horses born in the commonwealth and sired by a Kentucky stallion.

Thayer explained the best way to implement the policy was through legislation enabling the expansion, but the KHRC and KTDF advisory committee would oversee the parameters.

The Kentucky HBPA projects that KTDF on claiming races would add between $5 million-$10 million a year to those purses, if applied at the approximate percentages of other races. Claiming horses also provide a stream of revenue to the state's General Fund via the six% state sales tax applied every time a horse is claimed. Through Nov. 13, a total of 923 horses had been claimed in Kentucky for a total of $22,400,500 with 27 days of racing left in the 2021. That accounts for $1,362,030 in sales tax.

The post Lawmakers Discuss Adding KTDF Money to Claiming Races appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Turfway MSW Purses Could Nearly Double to $60,000

Turfway Park executives are projecting purses for maiden special weight (MSW) races to nearly double to about $60,000 for the upcoming dual meets that will be run December through March.

Last season, Turfway paid out just $32,000 for MSW races while conducting meets heavily compromised by both the COVID-19 pandemic and a massive grandstand rebuild that kept the northern Kentucky oval closed to on-track spectators.

Turfway's 2021-22 MSW purse projection was disclosed Tuesday during a Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF) advisory board meeting by Tyler Picklesimer, the track's director of racing and racing secretary.

Picklesimer did caution that Turfway's MSW purse figure is not yet finalized, qualifying his estimate by saying “I'm guessing $60,000-ish” when asked by KTDF chair Bill Landes III what to expect.

But Picklesimer also added that Turfway's stakes program could be in for an upgrade too: “I think we're going to bring back the historic stakes schedule of years ago; you know, a stakes every weekend,” he said during the Oct. 5 videoconference.

Although Turfway's projections were met with praise by some industry stakeholders and KTDF board members, it must be noted that last season's MSW purses fell well short of what a company executive had told the KTDF to expect.

One year ago this week during a similar KTDF meeting, Turfway executives had expressed a desire to hold average daily purses steady from 2019-20 to 2020-21 levels, which would have put MSW purses in the $46,000-$48,000 range. The actual figure of $32,000 ended up being about 30% lower than that estimate.

Rick Hiles, who is the president of the Kentucky Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association and also a KTDF advisory committee member, said that Turfway's longer-term future now seems so bright that the track should consider upgrading its backstretch area to get ready for the influx of outfits that will want to race there once the frontside construction project is complete.

“If it's true what Tyler said that [MSW races] are going to be around $60,000, that will exceed Gulfstream and Fair Grounds racetrack right there for purses, so a lot of the Kentucky guys that have been going south may elect to stay home because of expenses,” Hiles said.

Chip Bach, Turfway's general manager, concurred with Hiles that stabling improvements are overdue at his track, but he explained they are on the company's radar for future upgrades.

“No one knows that we need work on our backside more than we do,” Bach said. “There's nothing that's been approved yet, but I know that there are things in motion seeking approval and there are plans being brought up. So our eye is definitely on it. I agree with [Hiles] 100% that we've got an old barn area and we want to attract people to it, and right now we need to make some improvements.”

But the much bigger grandstand, clubhouse and gaming facility build-out will still be the dominant project at Turfway for at least the next nine months.

“The target I keep hearing is July 1,” Bach said of a potential completion date for the new Turfway. “There are supply chain issues. There is COVID; labor force issues. So it's really hard to drive a stake on a target date given all that's going on in the world. But everybody's very optimistic how it's proceeding right now.”

As for what horse people can expect in December, Bach confirmed that “you'll be seeing what you saw last year. We have these 'trophy suites' for the judges, for the announcer, for the stewards. We just have a major construction program 15 feet away from it. We won't have parking built for it yet. So there's not a real good way to get fans safely in to park and watch the races. We will make accommodations for some owners and trainers.”

Bach said heated tents that have see-through frontage to watch the races could be an option for license-holders. “But of course, we get a lot of snow in the winter time at Turfway, so some of these tent companies are reticent to lease us a tent in December and January,” he explained, citing fears of damage from the elements. “So we're still trying to figure out how to accommodate everybody.”

Construction is also on the horizon at Ellis Park, which is about to undertake a wastewater mitigation project with guidance from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to create horse wash stations on the backside and a retention pond to capture the runoff.

After that, according to Jeff Inman, the general manager at Ellis Entertainment LLC, “the expansion of the turf course will be the first in our line of improvements.”

Lights to race twilight or night programs are also on Ellis's to-do list, as is a new tote board, Inman said.

Inman outlined the timeline for the work like this: “The poles are partially constructed. We don't have lights. Some of the issue with that has to do with the wiring of the poles and the generators. Those generators, due to flood conditions, have to be placed about 15 feet in the air. Because of the EPA work that we have going on in the infield that we're going to have along with the turf course, it makes procedural sense…to start and complete the turf expansion and the horse wash water project for the EPA…before we finalize the wiring for the lights.”

Also during Tuesday's KTDF meeting, Ben Huffman, the director of racing at Churchill Downs, projected that his track's MSW purses for the upcoming November meet would be “probably in the $120,000 range,” which would be the same as at Churchill's just-concluded September meet.

During the pandemic-distorted 2020 November meet, Churchill carded $85,000 MSW races.

For November, Churchill will still be without a turf course, which has been in the process of replacement since the summer.

“It was a bit challenging filling the cards in September without a turf course, no question about it,” Huffman said. “There are plenty of turf horses on our grounds. But all in all, we did good in September and I think we're going to be okay this November. There will be days when it's going to be a little challenging. But we do want to attempt to fill the normal allotment of total races for the November meet.”

During the Oct. 5 meeting, the committee unanimously approved requests from Turfway and Churchill for KTDF funding, which means a recommendation from the advisory committee to release the purse money will be forwarded to the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, which votes on the actual disbursement at its next meeting.

The KTDF is funded by three-quarters of 1% of all money wagered on both live Thoroughbred races and historical horse race (HHR) gaming, plus 2% of all money wagered on Thoroughbred races via inter-track wagering and whole-card simulcasting.

The post Turfway MSW Purses Could Nearly Double to $60,000 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights