FRANKFORT, Ky — There are thousands of instant racing machines in Kentucky, but are they legal?

The legality of the historical horse racing machines was the topic of a Kentucky Supreme Court hearing Friday. The instant racing machines use a historical horse racing model meaning players are betting on past races. Under Kentucky law, only pari-mutuel wagering is allowed. 

The Family Foundation argued in front of the justices that the machines being used do not fit the definition of pari-mutuel wagering, which is a form of betting where all bets are placed into the same pool. 

“What you have is a fiction where by the tracks and proponents are saying this is betting on an old horse race,” said Stan Cave, attorney for the Family Foundation.  “What they are really betting on are randomly selected numbers associated with the previous horse race.”

In 2014, the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission has the right to license pari-mutuel wagering on historical horse racing machines but left it up to the trial court to determine if instant racing machines were an expansion of gaming which would be illegal under Kentucky law. 

“We’ve had an expansion of gaming that is running something in the neighborhood of $2-2.5 billion dollars in wagering handle with no legislative action whatsoever,” said Cave. 

The hearing Friday was to determine if these machines are in fact pari-mutuel. Proponents say it is because it is betting on old horse races and say a ruling against the machines could be a blow to the horse racing industry. 

“Horse racing would lose a large funding source specifically HHR contributes millions of dollars in the form of excise taxes in the form of breed development funds, to equine medical research just innumerable things that we use in the horse racing industry and also a substantial amount of this money is used in the general fund,” said Jennifer Wolsing, attorney for the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. 

It could be a couple months before a decision is reached.