Verticals / Historical horse racing
Historical horse racing
Historical horse racing machines are legal and live in 5 states: Arkansas, Kentucky, New Hampshire, Virginia and Wyoming, as of Oct 11, 2026. 2 states allow it in a limited form.
Historical horse racing machines.
LiveLegal, not launchedLimitedContestedProhibitedNot authorizedRepealedNA
By state
| State | Status | Launched | Model | Current tax | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arkansas | Live | Monopoly State | No distinct tax identified for historical-horse-racing/instant-racing terminals as a separate category. Oaklawn's pre-2018 'electronic games of skill' were reportedly taxed at an 18% rate under prior law, but since Amendment 100 (2018) converted Oaklawn to a full casino licensee, any surviving instant-racing product is, at minimum, not shown as a separately taxed line and is presumed folded into the casino's overall 13%/20% net-casino-gaming-receipts tax. NET_REVENUE (retail) | Oaklawn began offering "instant racing" (wagering on replays of previously run horse races via slot/video-poker-style terminals) after 1999 legislative authorization, giving Oaklawn an early form of HHR-like gaming years before the broader 2005 "electronic games of skill" framework or the 2018 full-casino conversion under Amendment 100. This research did not confirm whether instant racing remains a legally distinct product from Oaklawn's current casino slot floor. | |
| Kentucky | Live | Monopoly State | 1.5% HANDLE (retail) | The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission reinterpreted "parimutuel wagering" in 2010 to permit Instant Racing/HHR terminals; the Kentucky Supreme Court upheld the Commission's general authority to authorize wagering on historical races in Appalachian Racing LLC v. Family Trust Foundation of Kentucky, Inc. (Ky. 2014), but in 2020 ruled that at least the Exacta Systems HHR product was not truly parimutuel. The General Assembly responded in 2021 by amending the statutory definition of parimutuel wagering to explicitly include historical horse racing. HHR parlors operate at Kentucky Downs (since Sept. 2011), Ellis Park (2012), The Red Mile/Keeneland (Sept. 2015), and Derby City Gaming (2018), among others. | |
| New Hampshire | Live | Competitive | 12% HANDLE (retail) | Historic horse racing ("Instant Racing") terminals authorized in 2021 at licensed charitable-gaming facilities (game operator employer licensees). Wagers are on a pari-mutuel basis; licensee commission capped at not more than 12% of the pari-mutuel pool; breakage and problem-gambling funds go to the Governor's Commission on Addiction, Treatment, and Prevention; per-wager cap of $25; at least 2 terminals required; machines run only during licensed charitable-gaming hours. | |
| Virginia | Live | Apr 2018 | Monopoly State | Not a single flat-percentage tax. Va. Code § 59.1-392(U) has the licensee retain 1.30% of each historical-horse-racing pari-mutuel pool as the total takeout, which is then sub-distributed: 0.56% to the locality where the racetrack is located (split 0.28%/0.28% between satellite and racetrack localities for satellite-facility wagering before 2026-07-01, then 0.56% to the satellite's locality after that date); 0.01% to the Problem Gambling Treatment and Support Fund; four separate 0.025% shares (0.10% total) to the Virginia Breeders Fund, the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine's equine programs, the Virginia Horse Center Foundation, and the Virginia Horse Industry Board; and the remainder (0.63% of the pool) paid to the Commonwealth as a license tax -- none of the 1.30% is retained by the licensee as its own revenue. OTHER (retail) | HHR terminals ("Rosie's Gaming Emporium") tied to Colonial Downs; Racing Commission capped the network at 3,000 machines statewide across ~6 Rosie's locations (plus the track). |
| Wyoming | Live | Competitive | 1.9% HANDLE (retail) | Per the Wyoming LSO's own interim-committee memo (PDF fetched and parsed directly), HHR actually has two distinct compliance episodes, confirming (not contradicting) this file's prior account while adding a second, previously unrecorded one: the Pari-Mutuel Commission first authorized "Instant Racing" terminals by rule change; after ~2 years the Cheyenne Police Dept. issued a cease-and-desist and the dispute reached the Wyoming Supreme Court, which ruled in 2006 that the Commission exceeded its rulemaking authority in authorizing the terminals. The 2013 Legislature then specifically authorized HHR by statute and gave the Commission rulemaking authority. Separately, in 2015 the Commission had concerns about "bonus round" software in operating terminals; an AG informal opinion found them non-compliant, the Commission shut them down, and operators introduced compliant replacement software shortly after. HHR has operated largely without compliance issues since. Unlike skill-based amusement games (4 machines/establishment, $3 max wager, $3,000 max payout, 21+), the memo confirms Wyoming statute sets NO cap on HHR terminal count/location, maximum wager, or maximum jackpot, and HHR/pari-mutuel wagering is lawful at 18 (not 21). | |
| Kansas | Limited | Monopoly State | 3% HANDLE (retail) | Parimutuel wagering on historical horse races is authorized by statute only at a single organization-licensee facility located in Sedgwick County (Gilley's, Park City), through commission-approved "historical horse race machines." No random-number generator may be used; results must derive from actual historical races. | |
| Oregon | Limited | Originally a percentage-of-wager-revenue distribution to racing organizations under HB 2613 (2013); 2021 Or. Laws SB 165-B (enrolled), amending ORS 462.155 and 462.725, replaced that percentage split with fixed annual dollar payments by the licensee: $200,000/year to the Oregon Racing Commission, $20,000 to an Oregon-bred-horse purse account, $150,000 to the Oregon Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, $50,000 to the Oregon Quarter Horse Racing Association, and $50,000 to a special track fund, each rising 3% annually starting in 2022. No revenue is currently flowing under this provision because Portland Meadows, the only track that had offered historical-racing wagering, closed June 30, 2019, and the Racing Commission's 2022 denial of HHR terminals at the proposed Flying Lark complex (Grants Pass) means no licensee currently conducts historical-racing wagering in the state. OTHER (retail) | HB 2613 (2013) authorized 'historic horse racing' (replay-based pari-mutuel wagering) specifically for Portland Meadows. That is distinct from slot-machine-style HHR terminals: in Feb. 2022, following a Dept. of Justice opinion that 225 HHR machines would constitute both a casino and a lottery under the Oregon Constitution, the Racing Commission voted unanimously to deny TMB Racing's proposed HHR machines at the planned Flying Lark complex in Grants Pass. A 2023 Racing Commission audit found Oregon's gaming statutes 'ambiguous' and called for updates. | ||
| California | Contested | Santa Anita Park installed 'Racing on Demand' historical horse racing terminals in Jan. 2026; the CA DOJ seized 26 machines two days later, treating them as illegal slot machines reserved exclusively to tribal Class III gaming. Santa Anita sued AG Rob Bonta in LA County Superior Court, arguing the seizure was unconstitutional and relying on a 2006 Office of Legislative Counsel opinion on 'Instant Racing' and a 2024 CHRB-approved '3x3' wager. No ruling confirmed as of this research. | |||
| Hawaii | Prohibited | No pari-mutuel/racing framework exists. | |||
| Louisiana | Prohibited | Act 437 had permitted HHR machines at licensed off-track betting facilities statewide without a parish vote. In March 2025 the Louisiana Supreme Court affirmed a lower-court ruling that Act 437 was unconstitutional because HHR is a "new form of gaming" not authorized before October 15, 1996, and the 1996 constitutional amendment requires parish-level voter approval before any new gaming form can take effect in that parish. The ruling eliminated roughly $6 million/year in purse subsidies at Fair Grounds (about 19% of total purses); Churchill Downs announced plans to surrender its HHR-related racing and off-track betting licenses, and operators would need to win parish referenda to reinstate HHR machines. | |||
| Minnesota | Prohibited | Minn. Stat. § 240.01 explicitly excludes "historical horse racing" from the definitions of horse racing, pari-mutuel betting, and advance deposit wagering. The Racing Commission approved HHR terminals for Canterbury Park in April 2024, but that approval was subsequently overturned. | |||
| Utah | Prohibited | HHR terminals meet the statutory definition of "video gaming device" (chance-based payout, not substantially skill-affected); possessing or operating one is a crime. | |||
| Idaho | Repealed | 2013 law authorized "instant racing"/HHR terminals at non-tribal tracks (Les Bois Park, Greyhound Park); ~250 machines installed. The 2015 Legislature passed S.B. 1011 to repeal that authorization; Gov. Otter vetoed it, but the Idaho Supreme Court held in Coeur D'Alene Tribe v. Denney (Sept. 10, 2015) that the veto was filed too late, so S.B. 1011 became law automatically and the machines were removed. | |||
| Alabama | Not authorized | No statute authorizes historical horse racing machines; not part of any identified pending legislation. | |||
| Alaska | Not authorized | No pari-mutuel/racing framework exists. | |||
| Arizona | Not authorized | No statute or Department of Gaming authorization for historical horse racing machines was located; Title 5, Chapter 1 governs only live pari-mutuel racing. | |||
| Colorado | Not authorized | No Colorado statute authorizes HHR machines; no track has installed them as of 2026. | |||
| Connecticut | Not authorized | A secondary regulatory tracker (Vixio) identifies only eight states as having authorized historical horse racing as pari-mutuel wagering since 1999 (most recently Kansas, 2022); Connecticut is not among them, and no CT-specific HHR statute, bill, or terminal was found. CT's tribal-compact structure (see vgt) also bars slot-like devices outside the two tribal casinos. | |||
| Delaware | Not authorized | Delaware has not authorized historical horse racing machines; video lottery terminals at the 3 racinos occupy the analogous slot-machine role. | |||
| District of Columbia | Not authorized | No HHR-machine statute exists in DC; HHR terminals would fall under the general gambling-device prohibition absent specific authorization. | |||
| Florida | Not authorized | No statute authorizes historical-horse-racing (HHR) terminals in Florida. A related scheme, "barrel racing" pari-mutuel events paired with slot-machine licensure at Creek Entertainment Gretna (Gadsden County), was rejected by Florida courts/regulators as a basis for expanding slots outside Broward/Miami-Dade; this is distinct from HHR-machine wagering, which remains unauthorized statewide. | |||
| Georgia | Not authorized | No HHR machines are authorized; Georgia has no pari-mutuel racing infrastructure to host them. | |||
| Illinois | Not authorized | Illinois has not authorized historical horse racing (HHR) terminals; the Illinois Racing Board's site has no HHR program, and HHR is not referenced in the Horse Racing Act or Video Gaming Act. | |||
| Indiana | Not authorized | Indiana is not among the states that have authorized HHR machines (Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, New Hampshire, Virginia, and Wyoming are typically cited); Indiana racinos operate standard slot machines under IC 4-35, not HHR terminals. | |||
| Iowa | Not authorized | No reference to historical horse race machines found in Iowa Code ch. 99D or 99F provisions reviewed. | |||
| Maine | Not authorized | No HHR statute identified among the Title 8 chapter 31 sections (slot/table games) reviewed this session. | |||
| Maryland | Not authorized | No Maryland statute currently authorizes historical horse racing (HHR) terminals. HB 1048 / SB 982 (2025) would have let sports-wagering-licensed racetracks and off-track betting (OTB) sites accept HHR wagers as pari-mutuel betting on up to 4,000 Lottery-approved terminals (SB 982's sponsor sought to define HHR within the existing 'sporting event'/sports-wagering framework specifically to avoid the constitutional-referendum process that a new casino-style gaming category would otherwise require); HB 1048's committee hearing was canceled and neither bill was enacted in 2025. A 2026 successor, SB 639 (with companions SB 982/HB 1240), would carry the concept forward but reportedly requires a November 2026 public referendum before taking effect. Supporters (OTB owners) argue HHR would keep wagering dollars in-state; opponents (casino operators) argue the terminals are functionally slot machines that would be taxed far below the 42-58% casino VLT rate (a proposed ~15% HHR rate matching sportsbooks). | |||
| Massachusetts | Not authorized | Reclassified from `legal_prelaunch` to `not_authorized` this audit: the bill has passed only one chamber (House, July 8, 2026) and has not been enacted, so per the status-rules "pending/committee-stage bill is never legal_prelaunch" rule it belongs here instead, with the bill tracked in the legislation.pending_summary fact. The House passed HHR authorization for existing racing licensees (chiefly Raynham Park and Suffolk Downs' simulcast operation) on July 8, 2026 as part of a $561M economic development bill, with no statutory cap on terminal count and MGC regulation "consistent with, and not greater than" pari-mutuel rules. Senate action/final enactment not confirmed as of this research pass; opposed by the state's casinos and by the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe. | |||
| Michigan | Not authorized | No historical horse racing (HHR) authorization has been enacted. SB 661 (2019) passed the Senate 38-0 and would have authorized HHR terminals at licensed tracks (1% wagering tax), and a 2021 four-bill package including SB 396 (Sen. Lauwers) would have authorized and taxed HHR at 19% of adjusted gross receipts as a pari-mutuel-style electronic gaming system, but neither bill was enacted into law. No track currently holds a live-racing license (Northville Downs closed Feb. 2024), further narrowing any practical path to HHR absent new legislation. | |||
| Mississippi | Not authorized | No statute authorizes historical horse racing (HHR) terminals in Mississippi; gaming devices are confined to MGC-licensed casino premises under the Gaming Control Act. | |||
| Missouri | Not authorized | No statute authorizes HHR terminals in Missouri. | |||
| Montana | Not authorized | 2019's SB 183 authorized only study/rulemaking by the Board of Horseracing and expressly stated "nothing in this section may be construed to allow the board of horseracing to offer historical horseracing"; that rulemaking authority terminated June 30, 2021. A 2021 follow-up bill (SB 189) would have authorized HHR machines tied to racing-industry funding, but its final enactment was not confirmed in this research. | |||
| Nebraska | Not authorized | No HHR-machine statute identified; Nebraska's 'games of chance' framework (slots, table games, ETGs, sports wagering) at racetrack casinos does not separately reference historical horse racing machines. | |||
| Nevada | Not authorized | No Nevada statute or Gaming Control Board regulation authorizes historical horse racing (HHR) terminals; a second research pass (targeted search) found no HHR-specific Nevada legislation or licensing action. Nevada's broad commercial slot-machine licensing under NRS 463 makes an HHR workaround unnecessary, unlike HHR states that otherwise ban slots. | |||
| New Jersey | Not authorized | No statute authorizes historical horse racing (HHR) terminals; racetrack operators and industry attorneys have discussed the HHR model (and its potential overlap with prediction markets) but no NJ track has deployed HHR machines. | |||
| New Mexico | Not authorized | No New Mexico statute or Gaming Control Act provision authorizes historical horse racing (HHR) machines. The 2015 tribal compacts' Section 11(D)(2) exhaustively lists the only forms of non- tribal Class III gaming the State may permit without triggering compact-wide consequences -- state lottery, fraternal/veterans-organization machines, limited nonprofit fundraising, and licensed-racetrack pari-mutuel wagering plus a capped number of racetrack gaming machines -- and does not mention HHR. | |||
| New York | Not authorized | No New York statute authorizes historical horse racing (HHR) machines; New York's video lottery terminals (VLTs) at racetracks are a distinct, pre-existing category whose results are determined centrally by Lottery-facility computers, not historical race data. Nearly identical 2025 bills (Senate S6969 and Assembly A11432) would add a new Racing, Pari-Mutuel Wagering and Breeding Law § 912 letting franchise/racing corporations and regional OTBs operate HHR under Gaming Commission rules, folding HHR handle into existing pari-mutuel distribution; as of this research the Assembly version had been referred to the Committee on Racing and Wagering with no indication either bill had passed. Batavia Downs has discussed pushing for HHR legalization. | |||
| North Carolina | Not authorized | No HHR statute has been enacted. In 2023, the Senate Rules and Operations Committee stripped an HHR provision from an amended version of House Bill 347 (the mobile sports-betting bill) before it became law, and no separate 2025-2026 HHR legalization bill was identified; general prohibitions on unlicensed gambling devices and the sweepstakes/video-gaming-machine ban (§ 14-306.4) would otherwise apply to HHR terminals. | |||
| North Dakota | Not authorized | SB 2347 (2025), which would have authorized historic horse racing (HHR) terminals and eliminated simulcast dog racing, failed in the Senate 16-31 on Feb. 13, 2025. | |||
| Ohio | Not authorized | No Ohio statute authorizes historical horse racing (HHR) machines; a 2007 "instant racing" proposal for the state's tracks did not result in enacted legislation, and no HHR statute exists in ORC Ch. 3769 as reviewed. | |||
| Oklahoma | Not authorized | Oklahoma's racetrack electronic devices are "electronic amusement games" under Title 3A, not historical-horse-racing (HHR) terminals as defined/marketed in states like Kentucky/Wyoming; no HHR-specific authorization was found. | |||
| Pennsylvania | Not authorized | Pennsylvania has not authorized historical horse racing machines; truck-stop VGTs and casino slots occupy the analogous non-casino/retail slot-style niche instead. | |||
| Rhode Island | Not authorized | No Rhode Island statute authorizes historical horse racing (HHR) terminals. Rhode Island's video lottery terminals (VLTs) at the Lincoln and Tiverton casinos are a separate, Lottery-operated category with centrally determined outcomes, distinct from HHR's use of historical race-result data; no source reviewed describes HHR machines operating or being authorized in Rhode Island. | |||
| South Carolina | Not authorized | No HHR statute or licensed terminals; HHR-style machines would fall under the general gambling-machine prohibition in §§12-21-2710 and 16-19-50. | |||
| South Dakota | Not authorized | No HHR statute or Commission license category identified. | |||
| Tennessee | Not authorized | ||||
| Texas | Not authorized | HHR machines are not authorized under the Texas Racing Act. No legislation has been enacted to permit them, notwithstanding periodic industry proposals. | |||
| Vermont | Not authorized | No statute authorizes historic horse racing terminals; would fall under the general pari-mutuel ban and gambling-machine prohibition. | |||
| Washington | Not authorized | Resolved on follow-up research (2026-10-11), previously `unknown`. Fetched the current RCW 67.16 (Horse Racing) chapter table of contents directly: it lists all 36 current and historical section titles, including RCW 67.16.260 ("Advance deposit wagering") and RCW 67.16.200 ("Parimutuel wagering at satellite locations -- Simulcasts"), but no section anywhere authorizing, defining, or regulating historical horse race (HHR) machines or terminals. RCW 9.46.010's declaration of policy authorizes only bingo, raffles, amusement games and specified no-consideration lotteries beyond the separately-chaptered pari-mutuel and tribal frameworks, so an unlisted wagering device such as an HHR machine is not authorized. A reputable industry tracker (Vixio) on HHR regulation nationwide, fetched directly, identifies Kansas (2022) as the most recent of 8 states to have "established HHR as a form of pari-mutuel wagering" and does not mention Washington anywhere. No HHR bill, WHRC rule, or Emerald Downs HHR program was found. | |||
| West Virginia | Not authorized | No West Virginia statute authorizing historical horse racing (HHR) machines was identified; a general historical-horse-racing legal-status reference source covering several states did not list West Virginia as authorizing them. | |||
| Wisconsin | Not authorized | No HHR statute identified; ch. 562 pari-mutuel definition does not reference historical race replay wagering. |
Machine results
Sources
- Kentucky Handle and Excise Tax Report for June, 2019 · Kentucky Horse Racing Commission · retrieved Oct 11, 2026