Kentucky Historical Horse Racing Revenue Up 11% In Sept

Historical horse racing (HHR) machines in Kentucky generated $91m in revenue in September, an increase of 11% from the same month last year, according to figures reported by SectorWire. 

Excluding Marshall Yards, which opened in February and has only been trading for seven months, growth was 9.2%. 

It was another solid month for the state's racetrack-based gaming, which sits alongside the regulated online casino market in neighbouring states.

Churchill Downs Venues Grow 5.9% Same-Store

Churchill Downs Incorporated operates eight of the state's HHR venues, and said revenue across them rose 5.9% on a same-store basis. Its flagship Derby City Gaming in Louisville remains the largest and most lucrative in the state but was close to flat, up just 0.5% from September 2025. Its 1,249 devices averaged $473 each per day.

The company's own third-quarter results, released on 28 October, show the same direction of travel across the quarter. 

Revenue from its Kentucky HRM venues rose $11m year on year, driven by a $7m increase from its southwestern Kentucky venues, $2m from northern Kentucky, $1m from western Kentucky and $1m from Louisville. Our earlier report on the record third-quarter revenue covers the wider group.

Venue By Venue

Oak Grove was the standout, surging 11.5% to $14.9m, averaging $409 per machine per day across 1,209 machines. Turfway Park was the third-largest venue with $6.1m, up 7%, averaging $260 per day across 777 machines.

Derby City Downtown jumped 10.2% to $1.7m, with its 370 machines averaging $150 per day. Newport edged up 1.4% to $3.1m, averaging $230 per day across 450 machines. Owensboro rose 9.7% to $4.5m, averaging $257 across 591 machines, and Ellis Park gained 8% to $2.1m, averaging $251 across 277 devices.

Marshall Yards, the newest venue, was the lowest earner at $1.5m, with its 221 machines averaging $223 per day.

What The Numbers Show

The spread between venues is wide. Derby City's per-machine average of $473 a day is more than double that of Derby City Downtown at $150, and well ahead of the $223 to $260 averages at Marshall Yards, Newport, Ellis Park, Owensboro and Turfway Park. 

Growth has also come from new capacity rather than just stronger play at existing sites: the gap between the headline 11% and the 9.2% figure that excludes Marshall Yards is explained entirely by the newest venue.

HHR machines look and play like slot machines but pay out from pools based on the results of previously run races. Kentucky has become one of the largest HHR markets in the country, and monthly figures like these are watched closely by operators and investors. 

The September figures were reported by SectorWire from the monthly numbers; the underlying regulator data was not available to us when this article was written. Anyone gambling should set limits in advance and know where to find support if play stops being fun.