LOUISVILLE (WFIE) -
Some news Friday Ellis Park officials did not want to hear.
After months of thinking that racing machines would become a part of everyday business, a state court has overturned the decision that allowed the machines.
"We've been working hard to save the signature industry of Kentucky, and keep the real true status of being the horse capital of the world. And that has slipped away from us," said Ellis Park owner Ron Geary.
Geary says the Family Foundation of Kentucky's challenge to the legalization of instant racing hurts the state's horse racing industry.
"Their actions are putting at harm about 100,000 families in Kentucky. A lot of horse owners, horse breeders, people that work at race tracks, they're leaving the state to go to other states that have gaming that increases their purse money," Geary told 14 News.
Geary says that gaming includes legalized instant racing. He says tracks he's visited in other states are doing very well with the incorporation of the game. And that more revenue is always good for business.
"Without some source if alternative gaming revenue, they pay purses greater than what we do at any track in Kentucky."
Geary says that the decision handed down Friday was made in order to give the Family Foundation more time to research and make a case for why instant racing should be illegal.
It's also worth noting that Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate, the man who will review this case, is the same man who originally approved the game for Kentucky tracks.
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