Slots May Join Juleps And Hats And Ky. Race Tracks

In a state where bucolic horse farms are nestled in the Bluegrass region, the status of Kentucky's racing industry has becoming a nettlesome issue. In touting expanded gambling, Kentucky racing officials say horses are being lured away to states where casino-style gambling subsidizes purses. Kentucky tracks also face competition for gambling patrons from nearby riverboat casinos in Indiana and Illinois.

The struggles have forced Churchill to trim seven lightly attended racing days from its spring meet because revenues are down 20 percent, not including Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks days. Churchill also announced plans to reduce purses in six graded stakes races.

Churchill Downs spokesman John Asher declined to comment about the prospects of getting slot machines, but others in the industry have spoken up.

"I came from a state where we thought Kentucky was kind of the horse racing world," said Chip Woolley, the New Mexico-based trainer of Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird.

"I came out here only to find out Kentucky is barely hanging on by its fingernails."

At Sunland Park, a New Mexico track near El Paso, Texas, daily purses have mushroomed from about $30,000 a decade ago to more than $260,000 since slot machines arrived, said track racing director Dustin Dix. A casino floor featuring the slots offers a view of the racetrack as well as simulcast racing.