LEXINGTON, Ky. — The moment Albert Clay says the words, he takes them back. He has just spoken of thoroughbred racing as "the sport of kings." Now he rushes to amend.
"That's the wrong term," says Clay, who breeds horses here in Kentucky's fabled bluegrass pastures. "That gives the impression that everyone in racing is rich."
Clay means the phrase to evoke instead an image of horse racing as a noble sport--rich in tradition, refined, classy; a sport for connoisseurs. But that's an image the thoroughbred industry may no longer be able to afford.
For the sport of kings in Kentucky has fallen on hard times--and is counting on 25-cent slot machines, neon lights and plastic token cups to bail it out.
As state lawmakers opened their legislative session last month, horse industry lobbyists began pushing for a bill to let them build casinos at racetracks--adding Las Vegas glitter to such famed blueblood venues as Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby, or the ivy-clad Keeneland race course here in Lexington.
Bringing Double Wild Cherry slots to a place like Keeneland (which bans denim from several of its grandstand restaurants) may sound like heresy, acknowledges David Banks, who runs a local stable. "But if you increase your bottom line by huge amounts, you can swallow the heresy a little easier."
And boosting the bottom line is urgent business for the Kentucky horse industry.
A mysterious disease that struck pregnant mares last spring killed more than 5,000 horses in the state, wiping out one-third of the foals that would have been born this season.
Also, the recession has hit the industry hard, dampening bidding at auctions. At Keeneland's Breeding Stock Sale in November, perhaps the most closely watched auction in the nation, the average price for horses was down 20% compared with the previous year.
Meanwhile, slot machines in neighboring states are attracting Kentucky gamblers in droves, soaking up cash that might otherwise be wagered at the races. Indiana and Illinois have authorized half a dozen casinos along the Ohio River, which borders Kentucky. Among the recent arrivals: Caesars Glory of Rome, billed as the world's largest riverboat casino and located just minutes from Churchill Downs. Last year, Kentuckians spent more than $350 million gambling on the riverboats.
Perhaps the most devastating blow, however, has been the slipping prestige of the Kentucky racing circuit.
