With so much emphasis being placed in recent years on the burgeoning growth in the legal and regulated online sports betting and casino industries across the USA, some again found themselves fearing that the impact of these new gambling options would sound a death knell for horse racing.
America’s longest-standing form of legal gambling is doing just fine, thank you. And for that, horse racing can thank horse racing.
The advent of historical horse racing machines (Instant Racing or HHRs) are proving to be a game changer for the industry and in the long run, could very well be the savior of the sport.
To shed light on this development, horse.bet invited veteran journalist Robert Duff to explain what historical horse racing machines are, why they are not like online slots, and how they are changing the industry.
What Are Historical Horse Racing Machines – Not Slots
Though they look remarkably similar to slot machines, historical horse racing machines don’t operate at all like the slots. Outcomes on slot machines are determined via random number generators. With historical horse racing machines, the outcome is determined by the real result of an actual race from the past.
Historical horse racing machines are programmed with up to as many as 60,000 previously-run horse races dating all the way back into the 1990s. All of the historical data from each of these many races is randomized and anonymized.
When you step up to a machine and get set to wager on a race, you’ll be presented with the form charts and past performances for every horse entered in the race. You’ll also get the percentages for the jockeys/drivers and trainers.
What you won’t get is the name of any of the participants, or the site of the race, anything that might help you to identify the past race on which you’ll be wagering. However, once you’ve placed your bet, then all of that data will be revealed to the bettor.
Wagering on a race being contested on a historical horse racing machine operates in the same manner as if you were betting on an actual live race about to take place on a track. All the money is wagered into a pari-mutuel pool and the odds will be determined by the wagers bet into that pool. You can make all of the same bets as you would on a real race – win, place, show, across the board, exacta, trifecta.
Kentucky Offers Blueprint For All HHR Machines Can Offer
Historical horse racing machines have actually been in existence for nearly a quarter century. They draw their roots back to Arkansas. Oaklawn Park in that state was the first track to offer the HHR machines in 2000.
Other states offering wagering through HHR machines are Kansas, Kentucky, New Hampshire, Virginia and Wyoming.
It’s Kentucky that all of those in the horse racing industry are watching with eyes agape. In the Bluegrass State, historical horse racing machines have engineered a remarkable revival for the sport.
In 2023 alone, $963 million in revenue was generated in Kentucky through historical horse racing machines. Not so long ago, The Red Mile, Kentucky’s most prominent harness racing facility, was down to 14 live dates per year. This year, thanks to the track’s 900 HHR machines, they will be racing more than 30 dates.
Horse Racing Helping Horse Racing
Critics of the horse racing betting industry like to refer to it as a welfare state. They point to the need for revenue from non-horse racing entities such as VLTs, slot machines and racinos being required at track in order to keep the sport afloat.
That’s the beauty of historical horse racing machines from the point of view of the racetracks. In this instance, horse racing is being rejuvenated by horse racing.
Of the money wagered via HHR machines, 91% is paid out to bettors. That’s a lower return to player than slot machines, which generally average between 94-96%. A portion of the other nine percent is invested into the state’s horse racing industry through breeding, sires stake programs and purses.
This influx of cash is not only encouraging people in the industry to relocate their farms to Kentucky, it’s also caught the attention of other major horse racing jurisdictions such as New Jersey (as per NJ.bet) and Ontario, who are looking into what it will take to get historical horse racing machines legalized in order to provide a boost the sport in their area.
