Top Stories Louisville

FRANKFORT, Ky. — While the idea of video slots remains dead, how about “instant racing?” On an 11 to 1 vote Thursday, a Senate committee approved Senator Damon Thayer’s new version of a prior bill, to OK instant racing, currently in place only at the Oaklawn Park track in Arkansas.

The game involves betting on past races, with horses’ previous performances included, but without their names or jockey info, until you’ve put down money and started seeing video of the race. Thayer says it’s not expansion of gambling, since betting horse races is already legal.

Thayer hopes to use the program to fill the coffers of Kentucky’s Thoroughbred Development Fund and Standardbred Development Fund, and increase purses too.

81% of money bet on instant racing would go into prizes… with a 1.5% tax or “development fee” going to those funds. A 1.5% tax would also be applied to online bets through “advance deposit wagering” services like twinspires dot com… and the in-person parimutuel tax at Churchill Downs and Keeneland would drop from 3.5% to 1.5.

FRANKFORT, Ky. — While the idea of video slots remains dead, how about “instant racing?” On an 11 to 1 vote Thursday, a Senate committee approved Senator Damon Thayer’s new version of a prior bill, to OK instant racing, currently in place only at the Oaklawn Park track in Arkansas.

The game involves betting on past races, with horses’ previous performances included, but without their names or jockey info, until you’ve put down money and started seeing video of the race. Thayer says it’s not expansion of gambling, since betting horse races is already legal.

Thayer hopes to use the program to fill the coffers of Kentucky’s Thoroughbred Development Fund and Standardbred Development Fund, and increase purses too.

81% of money bet on instant racing would go into prizes… with a 1.5% tax or “development fee” going to those funds. A 1.5% tax would also be applied to online bets through “advance deposit wagering” services like twinspires dot com… and the in-person parimutuel tax at Churchill Downs and Keeneland would drop from 3.5% to 1.5.

FRANKFORT, Ky– The commonwealth’s lethal injection protocol could be firmly in place by May. That, after a joint legislative subcommittee raised no objections to the 3-drug method used to execute condemned prisoners, or to other aspects of the procedure.

The panel heard from the Department of Corrections about changes made to the execution plan after a recent public hearing, and heard objections from opponents of capital punishment, on parts that weren’t amended.

The execution method must be reviewed by 2 more legislative committees, then will go to Governor Beshear no later than May 7th for his signature, or veto. The bluegrass is trying to re-establish its execution protocol, after the state Supreme Court threw out the procedures last fall for being improperly adopted.

Some of the changes that were made, involved giving inmates better day-of-death access to their families and to clergy. One the capital punishment opponents wanted but was rejected by the subcommittee would keep death chamber curtains open throughout the procedure, so media witnesses could accurately report what happens in the process. Sen. Joey Pendleton said that could result in a “media frenzy” at each execution.