LEXINGTON, Ky. — It’s a good crowd for a weeknight on a recent Monday evening at Red Mile. I signed up for the Red Mile rewards club, got my player’s card and with a spin of the promotion wheel landed on $100 in free bets. After spending $9 on a hamburger and fries at Frankie’s Bar & Grill, I headed to the gaming machines.
Even though they are historical horse racing (HHR) machines, I found no horses there. Or very few horses, anyway. The games are more like slot machines with one important difference. Instead of the outcomes being determined by a random number generator, winnings are determined by previously run horse races. Instead of betting against the house, I’m betting against other bettors, qualifying the game as a pari-mutuel wagering, which is legal in Kentucky.
And while it is a stretch to say the money made by the tracks from these HHR games has been critical to Thoroughbred racing in Kentucky, the popularity of these gaming machines and venues have acted as a much-needed booster shot for the industry.
