Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Kentucky Racing Seeks Funds

April 24, 2008

Kentucky's horse racing regulators are trying to figure out how to keep paying the bills without asking the state's racetracks to pony up.

Among the portions of Kentucky's $19 billion budget vetoed last week by Gov. Steve Beshear was one provision that would have prohibited the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority from charging an assessment on smaller racetracks.

However, KHRA executive director Lisa Underwood said Monday there are no plans to start imposing the fees. Instead, a task force being created by the governor is expected to report back by December on ideas about how to keep the agency's funding afloat in the midst of a state budget crisis.

"We are very mindful some of the smaller tracks in particular are having budget difficulties and we will definitely take that into account going forward," Underwood said. "This governor absolutely believes we ought to be properly funded so we can restore our regulatory mission. I think we're going to be fine, but we've got to come up with a long-term solution."

But one Republican state senator, Damon Thayer of Georgetown, said a task force is unnecessary. He plans soon to propose a measure that would use a large chunk of the taxes Kentucky charges on parimutuel betting as a way to give the racing authority a permanent funding source.

"We're the only major racing state I know of where the entity being regulated actually funds a lot of the regulator's obligations," Thayer said. "They need more than they have had in the past to protect the integrity of Kentucky horse racing through enforcement of laws regarding medication use in racehorses."

In its final scheduled meeting before the May 3 Kentucky Derby, the racing authority met briefly before going into closed session for nearly two hours. Underwood wouldn't discuss the subject of the closed session because no action was taken.

Underwood acknowledged, however, that an investigation remains active concerning trainer Patrick Biancone, who was suspended for violating horse drug rules. The investigation, she said, deals with Biancone's role in purchasing a Lexington horse training facility while still under the ban.