Revolutionary Racing applies to open racetrack in Kentucky

The company that reopened Colonial Downs in Virginia has submitted an application for the last racetrack licence in Kentucky.

US.- Revolutionary Racing, the company that reopened Colonial Downs in Virginia, has applied to open a quarter-horse track and casino in Ashland in eastern Kentucky, near the borders of both West Virginia and Ohio. Revolutionary Racing presented its plans at a meeting of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. Only one licence remains available in Kentucky.

Larry Lucas, one of the founders of Revolutionary Racing, told the KHRC that the group would spend $55m on the facility. He said that operating a quarter-horse track would avoid competition with tracks on the state’s yearlong Thoroughbred circuit. There are limited opportunities for quarter-horse racing east of the Mississippi.

There was no firm answer as to how many race dates the track would hold, Lucas said the track planned to offer $500,000 a day in purses. Purses would be subsidised by the casino operation.

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Prentice Salter, another founder of Revolutionary Racing, told the commission that the company’s “first priority has always been, first and foremost, to build first-class facilities.” He said the company projects an annual handle of $500m through the casino operation.

The company has already provided supplemental information to its initial application, and, according to Jonathan Rabinowitz, the chairman of the KHRC, the commission is “just about to begin the due-diligence process” to evaluate the company’s application.

Revolutionary Racing bought Colonial Downs for $20m in 2018 in partnership with Peninsula Pacific, which eventually acquired the remaining interests in the Virginia properties. Early this year, Churchill Downs Inc. agreed to buy nearly all of Peninsula Pacific’s assets for $2.5bn. 

See also: Churchill Downs to invest $200m in Kentucky paddock renovation