During a presentation to members of the horse industry at the Kentucky Horse Park Oct. 20, Kentucky Senate President David Williams and Sen. Damon Thayer, both Republicans, proposed constitutional amendments regarding the future of the state's horse industry.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Five months after horse industry officials lobbied for funds from the United States Department of Agriculture's Emergency Conservation Program to assist with property damage to dozens of Central Kentucky Thoroughbred farms due to a January ice storm, the USDA delivered some negative news.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
The Kentucky House Appropriations and Revenue Committee June 18 sent racetrack gaming legislation to the full House of Representatives for consideration.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
The Kentucky Thoroughbred Association and its executive director have been dismissed from the federal antitrust lawsuit brought by Churchill Downs Inc. against multiple horsemen's groups.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Democratic Kentucky Rep. Greg Stumbo was sworn in Jan. 7 as the state's speaker of the House, giving some in the Thoroughbred industry hope that alternative gaming may soon exist in the Bluegrass State.
Thursday, January 08, 2009
An agreement has reportedly fallen apart for signal distribution of the upcoming Churchill Downs fall meet to advance deposit wagering entities, according to horsemen representatives involved in the negotiations.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Churchill Downs Inc. has amended its lawsuit against Florida horsemen and the Thoroughbred Horsemen's Group to include certain Kentucky horsemen associations and officers, an action in which all defendants are charged with violating federal antitrust laws.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
The head of a Kentucky horsemen's association said his group withheld approval for the Churchill Downs signal to go out to a pair of offshore rebate shops for the undercards of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) and Kentucky Oaks (gr. I), and is aggravated that the track is blaming horsemen for a decline in handle on the two programs.
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
It's difficult to gauge the immediate effect of the ongoing dispute with Kentucky horsemen on the Churchill Downs' spring meet, as handle on racing from the opening weekend at the Louisville track was down only slightly from 2007, according to one data source.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Consider this chilling scenario: Customers of several advance deposit wagering companies - and possibly some large off-shore rebate shops - won't be able to place wagers on the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) through those entities.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Seven new organizations representing owners and trainers in states including Kentucky, Florida, and Maryland have joined the Thoroughbred Horsemen's Group, with a mutual goal of reforming the industry's wagering revenue distribution system in order to sustain live racing in North America.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
In an attempt to recruit people to support the proposed constitutional amendment for expanded gaming, the Kentucky Equine Education Project urged its members to attend a Feb. 26 committee meeting hearing for the bill, as well as a horse trailer caravan "rally" the same day in Frankfort.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Craig Carter, a 26-year veteran in diagnostic veterinary medicine, is the new director of the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture's Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
The Lexington-Fayette County Planning Commission held a final public hearing before making a decision on the details of the 2006 comprehensive plan. In its current form, the plan excludes the expansion of the Urban Service Area, as well as the "urban reserve" concept.
Friday, January 19, 2007
In general, reaction in the Thoroughbred industry has been positive to a Kentucky bill that is designed to protect horse buyers from being defrauded.
Friday, January 27, 2006
Three Kentucky horse industry groups have agreed to finance an economic impact study to help determine how a new state breeders incentive fun should be crafted.
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher Thursday appointed a panel to study workers' compensation coverage for jockeys and exercise riders, which he said is a legislative priority for 2006.
Thursday, May 12, 2005
A proposal to create a breeders' incentive fund for Kentucky and a modification on the tax of yearlings and 2-year-olds is one step closer to reality after the State senate unanimously approved Gov. Ernie Fletcher's tax bill 37-0 Feb. 28.
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
The Kentucky Thoroughbred Association notified its membership of its agenda for the upcoming Kentucky legislative session during a Jan. 23 meeting at the Keeneland sales pavilion.
Monday, January 26, 2004
"In the final analysis, we do not understand this disease," said Dr. Bruce Webb, an entomologist at the University of Kentucky who has been a leading researcher into the problem of Mare Reproductive Loss Syndrome.
Tuesday, January 06, 2004
Racing industry officials in Kentucky are taking a wait-and-see approach in the wake of the election of Republican Congressman Ernie Fletcher as governor, but a few said Fletcher's representation of the horse industry in Washington, D.C. bodes well for Kentucky.
Thursday, November 06, 2003
With an economic impact pegged at about $3.4 billion, the equine industry has been called the most important in Kentucky. Some legislators would like to keep it healthy--even help it grow--but they've acknowledged they don't have all the answers.
Wednesday, June 18, 2003
The Kentucky Thoroughbred Association (KTA) is working in conjunction with the University of Kentucky, horsemen, and veterinarians to develop a computer program that would help the equine industry detect health problems like mare reproductive loss syndrome more rapidly.
Friday, January 31, 2003
Mid-gestation abortions have generated concern in Central Kentucky, but according to officials, the 50 fetuses received in the last five months by Kentucky's Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center in Lexington do not represent a significant increase over past years.
Thursday, December 19, 2002
No one in Kentucky knows exactly how many horses or farms make up what is now the state's number one agricultural industry, but the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, in partnership with some of the state's equine leaders, hopes to change that.
Monday, November 25, 2002
Elementary-age students are being introduced to the Thoroughbred through "Kids Connection to Thoroughbreds," a program in Fayette County public schools.
Wednesday, April 24, 2002
Kentucky horsemen were urged Feb. 27 to participate in a grass-roots campaign to contact legislators and urge them to support legislation that would authorize electronic gaming devices at the state's eight racetracks. The bill was introduced in the House of Representatives Feb. 26.
Wednesday, February 27, 2002
The chances of alternative gaming at Kentucky racetracks will lie in the hands of lawmakers, but as of mid-January, racetrack officials and horsemen's groups were said to be close to agreement on revenue splits, a crucial component of any legislation that may be introduced.
Tuesday, January 22, 2002
Preliminary data from the Kentucky Department of Agriculture shows that, following required quarantine and testing of imported horses, approximately 205 overseas Thoroughbred mares were received in the state in 2001 compared with 248 mares 2000. Exact totals will be available in a few weeks.
Wednesday, January 09, 2002
Federal and state officials are drafting regulations for federal loans that will be available for eligible farmers impacted by mare reproductive loss syndrome.
Friday, December 28, 2001
Fact or fiction: The typical Central Kentucky Thoroughbred farm owner has a palatial spread, hundreds of horses, and money to burn? According to the results of a demographic survey commissioned by the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association and the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders, it's fiction. The general population, though, may believe it to be true.
Monday, November 19, 2001
Financial and legislative endeavors tied to mare reproductive loss syndrome (MRLS) continue in Kentucky, while in Washington D.C. the farm aid bill, which includes some assistance for people impacted by foal loss and also designates the horse as livestock, passed the House Oct. 4.
Monday, October 08, 2001
Language that calls for low-interest loans for owners and breeders impacted by mare reproductive loss syndrome is included in a farm bill now under consideration by the House Agriculture Committee. The bill may be ready the week of July 30.
Friday, July 27, 2001
The horse racing industry is concerned a resolution that could be introduced in a Kentucky General Assembly committee could lay the foundation for tribal gaming in the commonwealth.
Friday, February 16, 2001
