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Iowans may be able to bet online on races at nearly every US horse track

Sports

June 3rd, 2022 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – State regulators have approved a contract that may soon allow Iowans to place online bets on races at most horse tracks in the United States. A handful of companies are already licensed in Iowa to accept online bets on horse races outside the state. Prairie Meadows, the only parimutual horse track in Iowa, is working with Churchill Downs Technology to license the company’s TwinSpires smart phone app and website for use in Iowa. Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission administrator Brian Ohorilko says TwinSpires not only offers betting on the Kentucky Derby that’s run at Churchill Downs, but on races at nearly every one of the country’s horse tracks.

“That would be another parimutual online company that could be operating in the state soon and it’s something that I think a number of the horse players will be excited about,” Ohorilko says. Iowa law requires revenue sharing at Prairie Meadows, so the owners and trainers of horses that race at the Altoona track get a percentage of gambling proceeds. Ohorilko says before now, that had been a stumbling block in negotiations between Prairie Meadows and TwinSpires.

“So there is, also, a little bit of excitement from the horse industry in that it could generate additional dollars for their stakeholders in the form of purse money,” Ohorilko says. A 300-thousand dollar purse will be paid out to the top finishers in the Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap on July 9th. The live horse racing season at the track began in May and ends in early October. TwinSpires recently launched an online casino and an app to take bets on college and professional sports. TwinSpires draws its name from the two steeples that top the grandstand at Churchill Downs.