Slots May Join Juleps And Hats And Ky. Race Tracks

However, the prospects of whether slots will become a Derby tradition along with flashy hats and mint juleps remains as uncertain as a horse race with no clear favorite.

The proposal, backed by Gov. Steve Beshear and House Speaker Greg Stumbo, won House passage Friday during a special session of Kentucky's General Assembly. The measure would allow Kentucky's tracks to install video gambling terminals that offer casino-style games like slots and poker.

But the legislation faces a big hurdle in the Senate, where the top leader said it lacks support. Senate President David Williams opposes legalizing slots and floated an alternative to prop up tracks by imposing a tax on lottery tickets and taxing out-of-state gambling on Kentucky races.

Churchill — seen as a citadel of horse racing — has erected luxury boxes and will test racing under the lights three nights this summer. But rolling out video slots would be revolutionary for the track steeped in 135 years of history.

"It probably would be the savior," Bill Todd, a race fan from Louisville, said Thursday while scanning the odds flashing on a TV screen for the next race at Churchill. "At the moment, it's the only thing anybody can really think of in terms of money coming into the track and into the industry."