Governor Laura Kelly's expected signature on a pending bill will bring live horse racing back to the state Kansas.

© Coady Photography

TOPEKA, KS–APRIL 8, 2024–A bill is headed to Governor Laura Kelly's desk for her signature that will bring live horse racing back to Kansas. Early estimates predict purses to be as good as any race meet in the country while Kansas Bred horses could be a highly sought after commodity.

Last year the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission granted Golden Circle a license to operate historical horse racing machines at the site of the old Wichita Greyhound Park.

The legislation, championed by Senator Chase Blasi of Wichita and Rep. Duane Droge of Eureka, directs the 3% tax on the operation of these HHR machines to directly benefit horse racing.

Two thirds of this revenue will be credited to the Horse Fair Racing Benefit Fund to potentially conduct two 20 day race meets. The other third will be credited to the Kansas Breeders Development Fund to pay state bred purse supplements and mare and stallion awards.

Unlike slot machines, where a percentage of the net revenue of the machines after payoffs is often used to supplement purses in other racing jurisdictions, historical horse racing machines operate from a parimutuel pool. So the 3% tax is taken from the total "handle", the money that is put into the machines as the initial "bet"

"This is a huge deal for horse racing and agriculture in general for Kansas" says Rita Osborn, President of Kansas Quarter Horse Racing Association, "This will allow Eureka Downs to have racing like we've never seen before here in the state".

In addition, an appropriation of $2 million for the remodeling of Eureka Downs was approved by the legislature last week. Plans are in progress to build a state-of-the-art racetrack and new barns in 2024 in order to be prepared to conduct live racing as soon as funds become available from the operation of Golden Circle's historical horse racing, which is scheduled to open in September of 2025.

"It's way too early to tell when we will race here but most likely sometime in 2026" Osborn said. "But we aren't ruling out a short fall meet in 2025. Time will tell".