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Churchill Downs is blaming a lack of revenue from additional gaming, such as slot machines as the reason they have decided to cut the number of race days and purse sizes for their spring season.

The spring meet will be reduced by seven days.  The track just received approval from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.  Kentucky, home of the Kentucky derby is no different from the rest of the country, or the world for that matter, with a horse racing industry that is shrinking day by day.  Slot machines have been the saving grace for racing venues all over; allowing them to pay for overhead costs and increase purses, which is the best way to draw big races.

Officials of Churchill Downs say that is precisely the reason they are forced to cut racing days.  Without legislation that allows them to operate slot machines their purses will remain low and uncompetitive. 

On the other hand there are some, like Ed DeRosa of the Thoroughbred Times News, that believe even slot machines will not be enough to resolves all of the operational problems at the Kentucky track.

“I think they help the businesses that run racing and I think they help the horsemen who race for the purses that slots fuel,” said DeRosa.

“But from a standpoint of do slots make racing interesting and get more people interested in racing, absolutely not.”

DeRosa believes cutting races may be the best thing Churchill Downs could have down.  This allows them to increase the purses on the races that will be run this spring.  DeRosa notes that several tracks have turned to slot machines as a quick fix and have been very disappointed by the results.

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