The new farm will be named Lindy Farms at Bryan Station. Lindy will also retain its farm in Somers, CT. Philip Antonacci trains the thoroughbred string. His brother, Frank M. Antonacci is Lindy President.

Philip Antonacci said that final plans for the new farm remain in flux. He expected that its residents would be about 75% Standardbreds and 25% Thoroughbreds and the primary emphasis at first will be as a breeding farm. The farm does not have any training tracks, but Antonacci said that could be part of its future, while acknowledging that the new farm should help Lindy grow its Thoroughbred operation.

The Antonacci family is already heavily invested in Kentucky racing as it owns the Red Mile in Lexington as part of a partnership. The Red Mile's Historical Horse Racing Machines have played a major part in the growth of both Standardbred and Thoroughbred racing in the state.

“The purchase of this property is the next step in our family's involvement and commitment to the Bluegrass and Lexington communities,” the family said in a statement. “Lindy Farms at Bryan Station will be a world-class dual breed facility combining the rich equine history of Lexington with the esteemed racing and breeding legacy of Lindy Farms. We will be mindful stewards of the land and look forward to deepening our commitment to this wonderful community and making the city of Lexington, Fayette County and Commonwealth of Kentucky proud.”

Bryan Station describes itself as a “unique equestrian boarding facilities” with rental homes available on the property.

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Online sports wagering, which is expected to eventually account for 90% of an estimated $23 million in sports betting tax and licensing revenues for the state, will be rolled out Sept. 28.

Those dates were confirmed at Monday's Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) meeting at The Red Mile in Lexington, at which the commission unanimously voted in both “emergency” and “ordinary” sports betting regulations.

The emergency regulations will allow the state's tracks to apply for sports betting permits and get up and running by the start of the lucrative football season, while the ordinary regulations will go through a public comment and revision process and will eventually replace the set of emergency rules.

By Kentucky law, sports gambling must be done through the state's licensed tracks, which are allowed to partner with up to three sportsbooks each. The brick-and-mortar permit can be applied to either a track's main location or a licensed satellite facility.

Unlike Kentucky's historical horse race gaming and simulcasting, which both by statute guarantee a revenue stream for horse racing purses, sports betting provides no such direct boost.

In lieu of getting a direct cut of booking sports wagers, Kentucky horsemen will be banking on the potential benefit from crossover opportunities that could convert sports bettors into horseplayers.

With a law signed Mar. 31, Kentucky becomes the 37th state to have legal sports betting.

Six of the seven states bordering Kentucky already take wagers on sports.

The law allows Kentucky tracks to be licensed as sports betting facilities for a $500,000 initial fee and an annual renewal of $50,000.

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Prewitt was formerly the Director of Racing with Caesars Entertainment, overseeing racing operations at five properties, as well as serving as a track announcer and as part of several broadcast teams on harness racing's biggest days.

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Caesars also announced plans to open Central Kentucky's only brick-and-mortar retail sportsbook locations, subject to regulatory approvals from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.

“Keeneland and Red Mile are iconic horse racing venues with an important legacy in the state of Kentucky,” Eric Hession, President of Caesars Digital, said. “Customers in the region have long enjoyed our world-class Caesars destinations and, most recently, our horse racing wagering app, Caesars Racebook. Working with these historic institutions provides an unmatched opportunity to reach sports and racing fans in the state, and we look forward to working with the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission as we prepare to launch later this year.”

Keeneland President and CEO Shannon Arvin said, “Keeneland's venture with Caesars Sportsbook holds exciting potential and furthers our mission to introduce new audiences to horse racing. Caesars is a globally respected brand, and we value their commitment to racing and their expertise in sports wagering.”

Red Mile Chief Operating Officer Shannon Cobb commented, “At Red Mile Gaming & Racing we are excited to continue introducing this historic harness track to new audiences. Opportunities with sports wagering on site, added to live racing, simulcasting, and HHR Games accomplish goals we have worked toward for several years. Our relationships with Keeneland and Caesars in this venture could not be more valued.”

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According to an administrative ruling dated Sept. 12 and signed by Waqas Ahmed, the KHRC's director of pari-mutuel wagering and compliance, United Tote “provided improper totalizator services” on races conducted at Oak Grove (July 17-19) and The Red Mile (July 31).

The first of those violations occurred two days after Kentucky first rolled out its mandate that dime breakage be replaced by bettor-friendly penny breakage.

According to the ruling, the mistakes also occurred despite the fact that United Tote “completed pre-meet totalizator tests with KHRC personnel using the correct breaks.”

The ruling stated that on July 20, United Tote submitted an Oak Grove incident report “showing that prices were calculated with ten-cent breaks instead of the required penny breaks, with a $1,916.56 liability owed to the public.”

Then on July 31, a separate incident report from The Red Mile stated “that prices were calculated with ten-cent breaks instead of the required penny breaks” but only for “remote sources outside of Kentucky that wagered on Race 2 onward on that date.” The liability owed to the public was $2.529.21, according to the KHRC.

According to the ruling, “ordinarily, the fine would total $1,000 for each day of violation; however, due to mitigating factors, that amount is reduced to $500 from July 17 through July 19  and July 31. According to the KHRC, those factors were:

“Oak Grove Racetrack has been conducting pari-mutuel wagering before the new breakage requirement that went into effect on July 14. The above events only impact the last three race dates of this track's 2022 race meet.

“[United Tote] calculated and paid the correct prices for all Kentucky sources for the wagering conducted on Red Mile Racetrack's meet. However, the penny break was not applied to Race 2 onward for all other sources due to a software defect.

“The violations were not intentional [and] the [United Tote] fully cooperated with the KHRC on determining the liability due,” the ruling stated.

Bettors will theoretically get repaid through the mandated pool seeding, which must occur “at a harness racetrack in the calendar year 2022 [with] all details…approved by the KHRC.”

In addition, United Tote “must submit its process for complying with regulatory requirements related to providing totalizator services,” the ruling stated.

It was unclear at deadline for this story whether United Tote is appealing the penalties.

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The Kentucky Proud Series was created around harness racing at the state's county fairs, with the Corbin at The Red Mile meet hosting Tuesday's eight $25,000 series finals. Those follow seven weeks of fair meets that serve as qualifying legs, with the highest point-earners making the divisional finals.

This is where Kentucky's young standardbred horses get started. Currently, all the racing for 2- and 3-year-old trotters and pacers is on the state's fair circuit (which includes the Mercer County racing staged last week at The Red Mile) until this week when overnight races and the Kentucky Sires Stakes series preps begin.

“That's the start of our foundation with our 2- and 3-year-olds,” said trainer Marna Shehan of Hopkinsville, Ky. “They don't have to go as fast in the beginning. They get their gate schooling, they learn how to sit in a hole and about passing and getting beat. It's the same thing as kids playing sports – competitiveness. They learn to get better. They learn to try harder.

“When you raised the horse, it's like sending a kid off to first grade. That's our pride. Yes, we don't have million-dollar horses. For us, it's OK to race at the fairs and actually make a living at it…. Back in the day, we'd split $4,000 three ways and go for $1,300. Now we split and still go for $4,000 or $5,000” for each race.

In addition to Tuesday's Kentucky Proud finals, $15,000 prep races were carded Monday for the Kentucky Sire Stakes Championship and Commonwealth Series that are part of The Red Mile's regular meet in August and September. Horses targeting the Grand Circuit — the industry's prestigious series of big-money stakes — should start showing up.

To be eligible for the fair and the sire stakes series, a horse must have been sired by a stallion that stood in Kentucky in the year of conception or whose dam resided at least 180 days in the commonwealth in the offspring's year of conception. Those looser requirements have brought horses back to the state and made it more desirable to board or keep a standardbred mare in the state for at least half of the year.

“For 2- and 3-year-olds, that's all I do,” trainer-driver Randy Jerrell of Kevil, Ky., said at The Red Mile. “They get a chance to learn how to race around the fairs at the half-mile track. Then it's always great to get to come here. A lot of these Grand Circuit horses, they're on farm tracks and put on their toes. I look at it as we're doing the same thing.”

Purses for Kentucky's fair racing used to be funded by uncashed pari-mutuel tickets, which have dramatically declined with the advent on online wagering. Now it's funded in part by revenue from play on historical horse racing. That has resulted in substantial increase to the fair purses, including more than $780,000 this year.

One of the fair finals' heaviest favorites figures to be the Jerrell-trained and driven 3-year-old pacing filly Single Girl, who is 7 for 7 this season after her 4 1/2-length victory last week and 15 for 21 for her career.

Though by the Indiana stallion Always A Virgin, Single Girl is the epitome of Kentucky Proud. The filly was bred by and born at owner Missy Robertson's Copper Cap Farm in Paris, Ky., where in addition to her one standardbred mare (My Best Girl), she also has three thoroughbred and two warm-blood mares. Single Girl is leased for racing to Janet Banks of Lexington.

“She's an unbelievable filly,” Banks said. “We had no idea we'd do this good this year as a 3-year-old. We love the fair racing. It's more of a family atmosphere. We look for Kentucky horses that can race at the fair.”

Normally Robertson sells her babies but wanted to keep a daughter of My Best Girl for eventually breeding, hence the leasing arrangement. She remains very much a part of the pacer.

“Kentucky has taken a hit in harness racing, so this is kind of pumping it back up and making local breeders have something to shoot for,” Robertson said. “We spend so much energy and money raising these things here in this state. And it's a darn shame to have to send them to New York, New Jersey and all these other places to make a living. It's great to be able to get them started off well here. We like to watch our horses races. We're breeders and sportsmen and we love the game.”

Jerrell also won last week with 4-for-5 Senor Sharpsburg, a 2-year-old pacer bred by Red Mile track announcer Gabe Prewitt, and with the 3-year-old trotter Timo Kemp, who paid $55.60 to win. Timo Kemp is owned by Jerrell and his sister, Joni Jordan.

“I think we're getting a lot more interest back,” Jordan said of the Kentucky Proud Series. “I've had people ask me about getting into the business. It's good for the state, and I'm glad they're building a track at Corbin. I'm really excited about it.”

The fairs also give Kentucky harness horsemen eight weeks of racing that they otherwise wouldn't have.

“This is very much 'Kentucky proud' racing,” said trainer Jackie Gray of Lebanon, Ky. “We're proud of it.”

Also Tuesday, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission is honoring staff members who died in recent years. They are: former executive directors Lisa Underwood and John Ward, licensing administrator Allen Slayback, state veterinarians Dr. John Taormina and Dr. Jennifer Kaak, enforcement investigator Don Kolioutas, detention barn assistant John Asbury and veterinary technician Burnis Caudill.

The Corbin at The Red Mile meet runs Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays in July and is part of the collaboration between Kentucky Downs' ownership and Keeneland to build a harness track in Corbin, Ky., and a historical horse racing track extension in nearby Williamsburg. First post is 1 p.m. ET.

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“I couldn't be more pleased with the response,” Mack said. “We have an overwhelming number of stalls applied for — more than we have stalls. We're delighted with the response for a new meet. Looking forward to seeing all the horsemen and to hit the ground running coming July 4.”

Ron Winchell and Marc Falcone, Kentucky Downs' majority owners and managing partners, are building a harness track in Corbin in southeastern Kentucky in partnership with Keeneland Race Course. The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission granted the owners dates at The Red Mile while the Corbin facility is being constructed. A satellite Historical Horse Racing gaming operation also will be built in nearby Williamsburg to create money for purses as well as jobs in the region.

“Marc and Ron believe in this industry and really want to make a big difference,” said Ted Nicholson, Kentucky Downs' vice president for racing who will oversee the Corbin at The Red Mile meet. “This is the first step. We thank the racing commission for granting us the dates until Corbin can be up and running and can't say enough about The Red Mile for working with us.”

Winchell said that he believes harness racing can mirror the growth that Kentucky Thoroughbred racing has experienced since Kentucky Downs introduced Historical Horse Racing into the state in 2011.

“That includes expanding entertainment and job options in the southeastern part of the Commonwealth,” Winchell said. “We so believe in this project and its bright future that we didn't want to sit out a year while building the track. By funding a 2021 Corbin meet at The Red Mile, we are showing our commitment to harness racing.”

The meet will include two days showcasing Kentucky's county-fair circuit, offering racing for 2- and 3-year-old trotters and pacers. The Mercer County Fair races will be conducted at the meet on July 13. The highest point-earners from the seven-stop fair circuit will face off in the $200,000 series finals on July 20.

The Corbin at Red Mile meet also will include prep races for the Kentucky Sire Stakes Championship and the Commonwealth Series. Both series are for Kentucky-sired horses, as well as the foals of mares who spent at least 180 days in Kentucky in the year of the foal's conception.

The meet's regular races, not counting those funded by the Kentucky Sire Stakes program, is scheduled to average about $45,000 a card while being underwritten by the owners of the Corbin track.

“This is a much-needed boost to harness racing in Kentucky,” Mack said. “We were down at one point to having only one track, The Red Mile, after some of the others closed. Then we added Oak Grove last year and now the new Corbin meet. It's giving Kentucky-sired horses better money to go for, and it's going to provide more days of racing in the state, which was desperately needed.”

Entries for the July 4 opening card will be taken July 1.

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This strategic partnership sees both parties put their combined shoulders to the wheel around KRM Wagering's progressive historical horse racing (HHR) wagering terminals at its Red Mile Gaming & Racing facility in Lexington, Kentucky. The new agreement continues a longstanding relationship with KRM that started with its successful launch of HHR operations back in 2015 to improve fan engagement and return value to horse racing stakeholders in an increasingly competitive wagering and entertainment market.

Since then, the Red Mile facility has become popular with racegoers for both its historical racing terminals, as well as traditional live and simulcast wagering solutions. Customers can choose to play on terminals which draw from a deep well of historical racing data, statistics and archive video footage to produce pre-recorded races in a format appealing to gaming-oriented consumers while corresponding with the fair and familiar pari-mutuel betting model.

Before and during the pandemic, by delivering these quick-fire on-demand betting opportunities, HHR proved pivotal to maintaining local employment and sustaining revenues for increased purse levels to help keep Kentucky horse racing competitive with other major racing states. Red Mile remains the iconic home of the Kentucky Futurity, one of the three jewels in Trotting's Triple Crown, fusing a proud racing heritage with state-of-the-art simulcasting and pari-mutuel HHR gaming terminals which have bolstered this venue as a premier retail and entertainment destination throughout the year.

PariMAX and AmTote are market-leading products from 1/ST TECHNOLOGY, racing's largest and most innovative gaming technology company, and the leading wagering technology force in North America.

Keith Johnson, Chief Revenue Officer at 1/ST TECHNOLOGY – PariMAX & AmTote, said: “1/ST TECHNOLOGY, with its PariMAX and AmTote business units, is thrilled to extend its relationship with Red Mile. This new agreement allows PariMAX to provide its continuing evolution of HHR products, delivering even more appealing and fully pari-mutuel innovative wagering experiences on HHR content, for the benefit of Red Mile, the Kentucky horse racing industry, and the US horse racing industry as a whole.”

Shannon Cobb, Chief Financial & Operating Officer at Red Mile Gaming & Racing, added: “The Red Mile is happy to enter into the next phase of its relationship with PariMAX and AmTote with this latest agreement. PariMAX continues to deliver unique and innovative HHR products and features that our patrons demonstrably enjoy, and this agreement will just expand upon that for the years to come.”

1/ST TECHNOLOGY's world-class products, led by AmTote and PariMAX, rank among the most trusted names across gaming, technology, horse and greyhound racing. AmTote's technology and services already play host to the majority of racetrack operators in North America – and are currently in operation at Santa Anita Park, Gulfstream Park, Saratoga Race Course, Belmont Park, Aqueduct and Woodbine, alongside many others, processing more than $18 billion in pari-mutuel and fixed-odds wagering around the world each year.

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In fact, “endorsed” may not be a strong enough term. It wouldn't be that much of a stretch to say Churchill Downs Inc. and The Red Mile have masterminded a quiet coup d'etat of an existing harness horsemen's organization and that the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission obsequiously rubber-stamped it in April, giving legitimacy to a nebulous entity called the Kentucky Harness Association.

Approval of this dubious move is on the agenda of the Kentucky General Assembly's Legislative Research Commission at the state capitol in Frankfort on Thursday. There's no reason to believe the commission will do anything but accept the changes recommended by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.

There is so much wrong with this, not the least of which is that Churchill Downs Inc. appeared to work in collaboration with the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission on language for the regulation that helps create this new organization while neutralizing the longstanding harness horsemen's representative.

Last Nov. 22, Mike Ziegler, executive director of racing for Churchill Downs Inc., sent an email to Marc Guilfoil, executive director of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, stating: “Per a conversation between John and Secretary Russell, attached are the proposed regulation changes in a word document for the track extension regulation and the Standardbred horsemen group.”

The email was acquired from the commission via public records requests.

Interestingly, Nov. 22 is also the date of a  letter Ziegler sent to Guilfoil saying that “it has been brought to our attention that the Kentucky Harness Association has requested approval from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission to serve as an association representing Standardbred horsemen in the Commonwealth. Churchill Downs Incorporated is fully supportive of this request.”

It's amazing how Ziegler and Churchill Downs Inc. simultaneously went from having something “brought to our attention” to actually proposing language for the regulation to make it happen – all on the same day.

In that Nov. 22 email from Ziegler to Guilfoil, “John” would be John McCarthy, a powerful lobbyist in Frankfort representing Churchill Downs Inc. “Secretary Russell” would be Gail Russell, then secretary of the Public Protection Cabinet for lame duck Gov. Matt Bevin, who lost his bid for reelection on Nov. 5, 2019.

While the wheels were set in motion during Bevin's tenure as governor, his successor, Andy Beshear, will share in the blame if these changes are approved by the general assembly.

By their own admission, this new Kentucky Harness Association had a grand total of three members when the issue came before the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission for recognition. Let me repeat that: three total members.

The person said to be the organizer of the Kentucky Harness Association, Bob Brady, is brother-in-law of Ken Jackson, a member of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. Jackson voted in favor of recognizing the organization started by his brother-in-law that could be charged with negotiating contracts on behalf of hundreds or thousands of horse owners and trainers.

Brady and Jackson are partners in a Lexington-based Standardbred auction company co-owned with the entity that owns The Red Mile harness track. The latter endorsed Brady's new organization, an association it might negotiate contracts with. This is about as incestuous as you can get.

It should also be noted that Jackson, in his role with the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, made the motion in 2018 to award the Oak Grove casino and harness license to Churchill Downs Inc., which partnered with the Keeneland Association on the proposed project. There were other viable bidders.

Why should anyone in the Thoroughbred industry care about what organization represents harness owners and trainers at a small Kentucky casino/racetrack?

If you are a Thoroughbred owner or trainer, don't think this can't happen to you. I've seen this movie play out in Florida, where loopholes in state law are exploited to create bogus race meetings that operate with the approval of sham horsemen's organizations. The organizers do this to exploit revenue from casinos, card rooms or simulcasting and they don't have to share revenue with the sham horsemen's organizations. Can this happen in Kentucky? I wouldn't bet against it.

Churchill Downs pulled a bait and switch scheme at Calder Race Course in Florida, getting horse owners and trainers to support a slots machine referendum and then, after public approval, tearing down the grandstand and eventually connecting the casino license the horsemen helped secure to a jai-alai permit.

I can't blame Churchill Downs Inc. for trying to overthrow a legitimate harness horsemen's organization and replacing it with hand-picked toadies. Company executives are only trying to maximum revenue to shareholders and increase the potential for their own bonuses. They are not looking out for the best interests of the horse industry.

That's my view from the eighth pole.

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