Ellis Park Will Reopen

That's RIGHT! Ellis Park has struck a deal that will have them reopening on July 11, 2008 which is this Friday.
From Bloodhorse:
"Kentucky HBPA said Ellis Park will pay an amount equal to 6% of ADW handle to purses or one-third, whichever is greater." "Purses there were cut 20% because the Kentucky HBPA and Kentucky Thoroughbred Association couldn’t come to terms on ADW revenue with Churchill, which owns its own ADW system, TwinSpires.com."

This is great for the owner Ron Geary as I don't really think he wanted to close his racetrack. What I do think is that he definitely wasn't going to get bullied by the state of Kentucky. He would have rathered close then the track then get bullied. For him he could have develop the track into a new adventure, while the state looses their revenue source. The other thing worth noting in this article is why Kentucky is so hung up on Advanced Wagering Deposit. Purses were cut at least 20% at Churchill Downs because they wouldn't come to terms with Advanced Wagering Deposits with Churchill Downs. I think the main issue is that because they own Twinspires.com, they don't want ADW to be allowed other than Twinspires.com otherwise what is the point of having it. Well I guess we at least get to watch 39 days of horse racing live from Ellis Park this summer.

What will be interesting is how ADW will be handled with Turfway Park which opens September 3 2008 and Keeneland opens right after Turfway Park closes. This is because both of these tracks have exclusive deals with TVG that allow ADW through TVG.